Spartak Plovdiv

PFC Spartak Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Спартак Пловдив) is a Bulgarian football club based in Plovdiv, which currently plays in the third tier of Bulgarian football, the Third League. The club was established in 1947 and folded its senior team in 2016, before being 'refounded' in 2017. Spartak currently plays its home matches at the 3,000-seat Todor Diev Stadium in the Kichuk Parizh district of Plovdiv. The stadium is named after the club's all-time greatest player Todor Diev.

Established in 1947, following the communist takeover in Bulgaria, Spartak was first enrolled in the second tier in 1952, before achieving promotion to the A Group a year later. In the following years, Spartak established itself as a force in the first tier. In 1958, Spartak won its first major trophy, the Bulgarian Cup, beating Minyor Pernik in the final. Spartak Plovdiv’s greatest achievement came in 1963, however, when the team surprisingly won the Bulgarian league. The following year, Spartak participated in the Balkans Cup, where the team finished as runner-up.

Following these achievements, Spartak was dissolved in 1967 to the surprise of many, when the club was merged into Botev Plovdiv. The team was re-founded in 1982 as an independent club, starting from the third tier. In 1995, Spartak returned to the top level of Bulgarian football, 27 years after its last appearance in the A Group. Spartak survived only two seasons, however, and it was relegated in 1997. After that, the team suffered financial problems and has been playing in lower leagues mostly since then.

History

Spartak was founded on 15 November 1947, after being evolved from three earlier Plovdiv clubs – Levski, Septemvri and Udarnik. The club name is a reference to the Roman slave hero Spartacus. This reference also explains the club's nickname – The Gladiators ( bg, Гладиаторите). The first team colours of the club were chosen the same year, and soon Spartak was characterized by a blue, red and white check jersey.

The 1950s and 1960s were Spartak's golden age, spending that time in the A PFG. The club has been once champions of Bulgaria ( in 1963), coming second the previous year, and Bulgarian Cup winners (in 1958).

The club participated in the European Cup competition for the first time in 1963-64 against FK Partizani Tirana (0:1, 3:1) and vs PSV (0:1, 0:0). The second continental participation was in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1966-67 vs S.L. Benfica (1:1, 0:3). In 1964, Spartak reached the Balkans Cup final, losing to FC Rapid București after two legs – 1:1 at home and 0:2 away.

In 1967 Spartak was merged with SSK Akademik and Botev Plovdiv into a new club – AFD Trakia. An independent Spartak did not re-emerge until 1982. The club spent the period from 1982 to 1994 in the second and third divisions. In the 1993–94 season Spartak finished 2nd in B PFG, and qualified again for the A PFG, after 27 years of absence from top football. But two seasons later, the team relegated again to B PFG. The club merged in 1998 with Komatevo Sokol`94 and were renamed Spartak-S`94. This remained the club's official name till the 2001–02 season.

Spartak dissolved its senior squad in 2016, due to financial problems. In 2017, the club was restored, starting from the fourth tier of football, Regional A OFG Plovdiv. In the same year, the club introduced an updated crest, displaying the helmet of Spartacus, after whom the club is named. In 2020, the club promoted to the Third League, but was relegated the next season. After one year, Spartak again reached the Third League.

League positions

ImageSize = width:1600 height:65
PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/2022
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1952

Colors =
id:First_tier value:green legend:First_tier
id:Second_tier value:white legend:Second_tier
id:Third_tier value:red legend:Third_tier
id:Fourth_tier value:yellow legend:Fourth_tier
id:Fifth_tier value:blue legend:Fifth_tier
id:Does_not_exist value:black legend:Does_not_exist

PlotData=
bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center
from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group"
from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1953 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1954 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/1954 till:01/07/1955 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1957 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1957 till:01/07/1958 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1958 till:01/07/1959 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1962 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1965 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1966 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1967 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A Group"
from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1982 color:black shift:(0,14) text: Dissolved
from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1984 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V Group
from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986 shift:(0,-4) text:14
from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1989 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group"
from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1992 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V Group
from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1994 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group"
from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1996 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A Group"
from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group"
from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/2005 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V Group
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2011 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group"
from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2016 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V Group
from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2018 color:black shift:(0,14) text: Dissolved
from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 color:blue shift:(0,14) text: B Regional
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: " A Regional"
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:17
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " 3rd"
from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:
from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 color:yellow shift:(0,14) text: " A Regional"

Honours

Domestic

First League:
* Winners (1): 1962–63
* Runners-up (1): 1961–62

Bulgarian Cup:
* Winners (1): 1958
* Runners-up (2): 1955, 1959

European

Balkans Cup:
* Runners-up (1): 1964

Players

European record

Kit manufacturers

References

External links

Official club website



{{BG V AFG

Association football clubs established in 1947
Spartak Plovdiv
1947 establishments in Bulgaria
Association football clubs disestablished in 2016
2016 disestablishments in Germany