Velbazhd Kyustendil ( bg, Велбъжд Кюстендил) is a
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 ...
n
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Kyustendil
Kyustendil ( bg, Кюстендил ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see.
The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, ...
. The club currently competes in the
A RFG Kyustendil, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football.
The club was founded in 1919. Velbazhd have spent the majority of their playing history between the second and third tiers of the Bulgarian football league system. They won first promotion to the
A Group
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
in 1954, and have played a total of 7 seasons in the top flight, with a longest continuous spell of six seasons (1995–2001). This is generally seen as the club's most successful period. Velbazhd finished third in
A Group
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
,
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
and
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, competed in the
Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
in the 2000–01 season, and reached 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 ...
final in
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
.
History
![Plamen petrov](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Plamen_petrov.JPG)
Velbazhd was formed in 1919, though the club changed its name in the following year to Sport Club Motsion. In 1928 they changed their name to Sport Club Borislav. From 1940 to 1945 the club is called Pautalia. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
they changed their name to Cherveno zname. In 1956 the club was renamed to Levski. In 1970 the club returned to its original name Velbаzhd, but from 1995 to 1999 again called Levski, under the ownership of
Georgi Iliev.
In 1953 they were promoted to Bulgarian football's
top division for the first time in their history. The 1954 season saw Velbazhd make their first appearance in the top flight of Bulgarian football. This first season was less successful and they were relegated back to the
B PFG
The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...
, finishing on 12th place.
In
1994–95 season, Velbazhd won their second promotion to
A PFG
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
. In
1998–99 season they finished 3rd, their highest ever league finish. In the following season Velbazhd also finished 3rd. The club's forward
Mihail Mihaylov became
A PFG
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
top scorer with 20 goals.
In 2001 Velbazhd reached 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 ...
Final for the first time, beating
Marek Dupnitsa
FC Marek ( bg, ФК Марек) is a Bulgarian football club based in Dupnitsa, currently playing in the Third League, the third level of the Bulgarian football league system. It was founded in 1947 following the unification of four local clubs. ...
,
Metalurg Pernik,
Spartak Pleven
OFK Spartak ( bg, ОФК Спартак) is a Bulgarian municipal association football club from the city of Pleven founded on 10 September 1919. It currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. The team's grea ...
and
Lokomotiv Sofia
Lokomotiv 1929 ( bg, Локомотив 1929) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football.
Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refou ...
for a place in the final. However, they lost the final 1–0 to
Litex Lovech
Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club.
The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...
.
Following the
2000-01 season, the owner of Velbazhd, Georgi Iliev decided to merge the club with
Plovdiv
Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...
-based team
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...
, and move the new club to Plovdiv, with the intention of reviving Lokomotiv Plovdiv, who were struggling in the
B group
The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...
. Thus, starting from the
2001-02 season, Lokomotiv Plovdiv began playing in the
A Group
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
, while Velbazhd disappeared.
In 2002, local fans from the city of Kuystendil decided to re-found the club, starting from the third tier,
V Group. The club has been mostly competing at or below the third level since then.
Honours
Domestic
Bulgarian A Group:
* Third place (3):
1998–99,
1999–00,
2000–01
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 ...
:
* Runners-up (1):
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
European record
League positions
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Third or 3rd may refer to:
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* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
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Places
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In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
"
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from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "3rd
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
"
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 color:yellow shift:(0,14) text: "Regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
"
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "3rd
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
"
Current squad
''As of 1 September 2015''
Notable former players
The following is a list of notable footballers who have played for Velbazhd, with over 60 appearances, over 30 goals or having received recognition by their country in the form of international caps while playing for the club.
, -
, valign="top",
;Bulgaria
*
Antoni Zdravkov
* Plamen Petrov
*
Daniel Hristov
*
Georgi Petrov
* Ivo Mihaylov
, width="33",
, valign="top",
*
Ilian Stoyanov
Ilian Stoyanov ( bg, Илиaн Стоянов; born 20 January 1977) is a former Bulgarian football defender. In Bulgaria he is also known as Collovati, because of his haircut in the past, reminiscent of that of former Italian midfielder Fulvio ...
* Velko Hristev
*
Petar Kolev
*
Boyko Velichkov
*
Mihail Mihaylov
, width="33",
, valign="top",
;Kyrgyzstan
*
Nematjan Zakirov
;Macedonia
*
Vančo Trajanov
Note: ''For a complete list of Velbazhd Kyustendil players, see
:PFC Velbazhd Kyustendil players.''
References
{{reflist
Velbazhd
Kyustendil
1919 establishments in Bulgaria