Oldest capital derby or Oldest

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

derby is the name of the football match between the oldest still existing teams in the capital of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground ...

and

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...

. Matches between the two sides have been played almost continuously ever since a football league in Bulgaria has existed. The two teams regularly competed for the title before World War II. Levski have never been relegated from the top flight, while Slavia have missed only one season, for political reasons. This is the most played match in Bulgarian football.

History

Slavia and Levski are the two oldest, still-existing football teams from Sofia. Both teams won the Bulgarian Republican Championship several times prior to the Second World War. Slavia managed to win six national titles before 1945, while Levski won three national titles, and one Bulgarian Cup. The two teams are also among the most successful when it comes to the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament ...

. Levski has won a record 26, while Slavia has won 8. They have also played against each other twice in the finals of the competition. The first final between them occurred in 1996. The match did not even finish, with Slavia being awarded a

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in their favor, due to Levski deciding to abandon the game in the 75th minute. 22 years later, the two sides again met in the final, in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. The game ended in a goalless draw, after which Slavia won on penalties, thus winning their eight title overall. In

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, the two rivals met again in the quarter-finals of the tournament, with Slavia winning once again by the score of 2–1. However, Levski is the dominant force in this rivalry, historically.

Official match statistics

Head-to-head ranking in First League (1948–2022)

• Total:

with 12 higher finishes,

with 61 higher finishes (as of the end of the 2021–22 season).

Trophies

Notes: * Bulgarian Cup section includes Soviet Army Cup as major Cup tournament. * Soviet Army Cup section includes the period after 1982 as secondary Cup tournament. * People's Republic of Bulgaria Cup section includes the period before 1982 as secondary Cup tournament. * ''Italics'' indicates defunct tournaments.

Statistics

Biggest wins

Slavia wins

4–1 - 1925/1926; 1931/1932; 26 October 1958; 24 March 1990

Levski wins

5–0 - 1941/1942; 28 October 2005 Notes: * Slavia

win with 4:0 in 1996 Bulgarian Cup Final is not included.

References

External links

Bulgaria Cups Overview - Bulgarian Cups
RSSSF.com
Levski vs other teams full statistics - Bulgarian tournaments
levskisofia.info {{Bulgarian football rivalries Football derbies in Bulgaria PFC Levski Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia