'PFC CSKA Sofia' is the biggest and most successful football club in
Bulgaria. CSKA stands for Central Sport Club of the Army. Most of its home matches take place at the
Bulgarska Armia (Bulgarian Army) Stadium. The club was officially founded on
May 5,
1948.
Address and team information
Address:
Dragan Tzankov Boulevard 3 Bulgarska Armia 1504
Sofia,
Bulgaria
Tel: 02 963-34
Fax: 02 963-3902
Official sponsor
Vivatel
Equipment
Uhlsport
Currently the team's home kit is red and away kit is white. Also the club uses its third kid in black.
A various combinations of red and white can be seen through the years. But red remains the basic colour of the team.
Honours
★ '
Bulgarian Championship: 30'
★
★ 1931, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2005
★ '
Bulgarian Cup: 21'
★
★ 1931, 1941, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1961, 1965, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2006
★
★ Best results: European Champions' Cup (now called
Champions League) Semi-finals in 1966/67 and 1981/82 seasons;
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Semi-final in 1988/89 season.
Establishment and first steps
On
October 28,
1923 in Sofia the clubs
Atletik Sofia (founded in
1910 as Klub Futbol) and
Slava Sofia (founed in
1916)has merger to Oficerski Sporten Klub
Aatletik Slava 1923(Officer's Sport Club Atletic Slava 1932, short
AS-23 under the petronage of Ministry of the war. In
1931 AS-23 wins Bulgarian chanpionship and The Tsar's Cup, in
1941 again The Tsar's Cup. The stadium of AS-23 has named 'Atletik park' (finished in
1938) is on the spot were is present stadium „Bulgarska armia“.
With the partnership of
Mihail Mihaylov from
Shipka's direction, The
AS-23, the united team of
Shipka-Podeda and
Spartak Orlandotsi are merge into
Chavdar Sofia. The unifying protocol has sined in
November 9,
1944 in
Sofia. For chairman of the club has chosen
gen.
Vladimir Stoychev
The unifying protocol of Chavdar
'Chavdar' plays with azure kits. The clubs stadium was 'Atletik park' renamed to 'Chavdar'. Chavdar relegate to second division in 1947. With help from Mihail Mihaylov (who works in Minisrty of war) Chavdar has become departmental club to Central house of the troops taking the name 'CDV'. For Chairman of the club is chosen
major Ivan Mirski.
In may 1948 an agreement was signed between the football players of "Septemvri" and the team of "Chavdar" for uniting by the name "Septemvri pri CDV" (Central house of the troops). The board of the newly created club included: honorable chairman - general leutenent Georgi Damjanov, the minister of defense, chairman - general major Bojan Balgaranov; deputy chairman - colonel Tashev, Petar Mihajlov, Alexander Valchev and Ljubcho Kralev. The board included 5 more members. The contract was signed on the 5th of May and that is considered to be the birthday of the club.
First ever official game took place on May 19th 1948 against
Slavia Sofia at the Junak() stadium - 1:1 The struggle for the first title started in May and finished in the beginning of September 1948.
Septemvri pri CDV(Sofia) eliminated Aprilov Gabrovo and
Spartak Varna on its way to the finals.
The team reached the national finals, where it faced
Levski Sofia losing 1:2 in the first match. The decisive match was on September 9th. Referee - Stephan Danchev. Team of Septemvri pri CDV: Stephan Gerenski, Borislav Futekov, Manol Manolov, Dimitar Cvetkov, Nikola Alexiev, Nako Chakmakov (captain), Dimitar Milanov, Stojne Minev, Stephan Bozkov, Nikola Bojilov, Kiril Bogdanov. Goals scored: Dimitar Milanov(2) and Nako Chakmakov. A marvellous victory 3:1. Nako Chakmakov brings the victory with a last minutes goal.
That was the first significant champion year for
CSKA Sofia.
History and Achievements
The club has met much domestic and international success making it the most successful
Bulgarian club in history. Through the years the club merged with "DFS Cherveno Zname" in 1962 and with "DFS Septemvri" in 1968. CSKA has won the Bulgarian championship 30 times. The club's greatest domestic triumph was an unbroken string of national victories between 1954 and 1962 (a record written in the ''
Guinness Book of Records''). CSKA Sofia presence on
European scene starts with a glorious victory over
Dinamo Bucharest 8:1 on oct.21st 1956. Significantly, the club also reached two times the Semi-final stage 1967 and 1982 in the UEFA European Champions Cup (today known as
Champions League) and once the Semi-final stage in the
UEFA Cup Winner's Cup in
1989. CSKA managed to eliminate an acting European Champion three times:
Ajax Amsterdam,
Nottingham Forest, and
Liverpool FC respectively. In addition, CSKA eliminated over the years clubs such as
Juventus FC,
Real Sociedad,
Monaco,
Parma FC,
Bayer Leverkusen,
Olympiakos and many others and played memorable matches with
Internazionale,
Bayern Munich,
Atletico Madrid,
Borussia Dortmund,
Valencia CF,
Barcelona CF etc. The Club is still ranked 25th in the Champions' Cup All-Time Rankings. Two players managed to win the
European Golden Boot while playing in CSKA - the CSKA all-time goals record holder
Petar Zhekov (in
1966, scoring 36 times) and the famous
Hristo Stoichkov (in 1989 with 38 goals).
CSKA “hatched” many famous players, generating various dreamteams through the decades. Most notably for their international success were the two waves of
Dimitar Penev’s discoveries; the first one including
Hristo Stoichkov,
Luboslav Penev and
Emil Kostadinov in the late 80’s and the second one -
Stiliyan Petrov,
Dimitar Berbatov and
Martin Petrov, introduced to the first team by Penev in the late 90’s.
Cup final scandal
On
June 19,
1985, the final game of the
Bulgarian Cup between
CSKA Sofia and city rivals
Levski Sofia took place at the
Vasil Levski National Stadium. During the game both teams demonstrated extremely poor sportsmanship; the match saw several brutal fights and an attack on a referee. CSKA won the game, but the players' behavior percipitated a major scandal. By decree of
Central Committee of the
Bulgarian Communist Party, both teams were disbanded. CSKA Septemvriisko Zname was renamed "Sredets" and Levski-Spartak was renamed "Vitosha". Both teams were playing under these names for several years. Additionally, several major players including
Kostadin Yanchev,
Borislav Mikhailov,
Plamen Nikolov,
Emil Spasov,
Emil Velev and yet unknown
Hristo Stoichkov were prohibited from participating in club games for varying periods of time. In 1988 the name CSKA was restored.
Name
CSKA has carried a plethora of names in its history. In chronological order they are:
★ ''Септември при ЦДВ'' /September to Central House of the Troops/ in 1948 and 1948/49.
★ ''Народна войска'' /People's Troops/ in 1950.
★ ''ЦДНВ'' /CDNV - Central House of the People's Troops/ in 1951 and 1952.
★ ''Отбор на софийския гарнизон'' /Team of the Sofian garnison/ in 1953.
★ ''ЦДНА'' /CDNA - Central House of the People's Army/ from 1954 and until the 1961/62 season.
★ ''ЦСКА Червено знаме'' /CSKA Red Flag/ between 1962/63 and 1967/68.
★ ''ЦСКА Семптемврийско знаме'' /CSKA September Flag/ between 1968/69 and 1984/85.
★ ''ЦФКА Средец'' /CFKA Sredets - Central Football Club Of The Army/ from 1985/86 and until 1988/89
★ ''ЦСКА София'' /CSKA Sofia - Central Sports Club Of The Army/ from 1989/90.
Bulgarian Army Stadium
The team's home stadium, "
Bulgarska Armia", was completed in 1967 and stands on the same spot as its predecessor, "Atletik Park." A plan for major renovation has been adopted.
Current lineup
''As of June 2007''
Squad changes 2007/08 season
'In:'
★
Georgi Chilikov - from
C.D. Nacional
★
Todor Yanchev - from
Randers FC
★
José Rui - from
C.D. Nacional
★
Quido Lanzaat - back from
MSV Duisburg
★
Marquinhos - from
Belasitsa Petrich
★
Kevin Amuneke - from
Vitória Setúbal
★
Nikola Vujadinović - from
Radnički Pirot
★
José Luis Garcés - from
C.F. Os Belenenses
★
Claudinei Alexandre Aparecido - Nei - from
Naval 1º de Maio
★
Filipe Machado - from
União de Leiria
'Out:'
★
Tiago Silva - to
K.R.C. Genk
★
Eugen Trică - to
CFR Cluj
★
Evgeni Yordanov - to
Amkar Perm
★
Jose Emilio Furtado - to
F.C. Penafiel
★
Guillaume Dah Zadi - to
Changchun Yatai - on loan
★
Rosen Kolev - to
Reading F.C.
★
Daniel Morales - to
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
★
Mihail Alexandrov - to
Borussia Dortmund
Famous players
The best 55
An extended team of the best 55 players for 55th anniversary of CSKA. Players are ordered by number which they played.
★ No 1 -
Georgi Velinov,
Stefan Gerenski,
Stoyan Yordanov,
Georgi Naydenov,
Yordan Filipov
★ No 2 -
Ivan Vasilev,
Ivan Zafirov,
Kiril Rakarov,
Dimitar Tsvetkov,
Borislav Futekov
★ No 3 -
Boris Gaganelov,
Trifon Ivanov,
Georgi Iliev - Michael,
Manol Manolov,
Kiril Stankov
★ No 4 -
Tsonyo Vasilev,
Georgi Enisheynov,
Nikola Kovachev,
Hristo Marinchev,
Georgi Tsvetkov
★ No 5 -
Stefan Bozhkov,
Georgi Dimitrov - Dzheki ,
Panteley Dimitrov,
Radoslav Zdravkov,
Bozhil Kolev
★ No 6 -
Nikola Aleksiev,
Dimitar Penev,
Boris Stankov,
Gavril Stoyanov,
Plamen Markov
★ No 7 -
Tsvetan Atanasov,
Tsvetan Yonchev,
Emil Kostadinov,
Dimitar Milanov,
Stefan T. Stefanov
★ No 8 -
Kiril Bogdanov,
Georgi Dimitrov - Chervenia,
Asparuh Nikodimov,
Hristo Stoichkov,
Nako Chakmakov
★ No 9 -
Spas Dzhevizov,
Petar Zhekov,
Panayot Panayotov,
Lyuboslav Penev,
Nikola Tsanev
★ No 10 -
Nikola Bozhilov,
Georgi Denev,
Ivan Kolev,
Lachezar Tanev,
Dimitar Yakimov
★ No 11 -
Dimitar Marashliev,
Stoycho Mladenov,
Vasil Romanov,
Stoyne Minev,
Krum Yanev
Coaches history
Trivia
★ The first ever coach of CSKA Sofia
Konstantin Nikolov - Zamorata was a heavyweight boxfighter.
★ During the first years of the club the ball for the kick-off has been often dropped by plane over the field
★ Even nowadays sometimes the team comes on field accompanied by a Bulgarian army march due to the club's army origin and heritage
★ CSKA Sofia enjoys a symbiotic relationship with FC Liverpool.
★ CSKA Sofia has always played in 1st and never in lower division
★ CSKA Sofia holds the biggest win in APFG (
Bulgarian A Professional Football Group) 12:0 over
Torpedo Ruse
★ The stand for the most loyal team supporters is the North terrace and it's known as "Sektor G"
★ CSKA Sofia has been marked several times in the ''
Guinness World Records''
★ The club stadium is nicknamed "The army"
★
Scottish writer
Irvine Welsh appeared on
Slavi's Show with a CSKA Sofia fan club T-shirt
★ There are over 1000 trophies in the CSKA Museum of glory in 29 sports. About one hunderd of them are football trophies and awards.
★ CSKA Sofia holds the largest number of football records in Bulgarian football
★
Petar Zhekov has scored 144 goals for CSKA during 1968-1975
★ CSKA Sofia won all possible domestic trophies during season 1988-89 : Champion title, Cup of Bulgaria, Cup of the Soviet army, Bulgarian supercup and the Republic spartakiada cup.
★ CSKA Sofia is famous for winnig a lot of friendly international tournaments. Recently the club is co-promoter of Play Station tournament in Soifa.
★
Dimitar Yakimov was often called "the poet of football" due to his great football techniques
★
Dimitar Penev was honnored as "The coach of 20th century" for Bulgaria
★ The famous offensive trio of CSKA -
Hristo Stoichkov,
Emil Kostadinov and
Luboslav Penev have played a major role in the
Bulgaria national team success in the
90's.
★ According to the National fan club data CSKA Sofia has 785 fan clubs at home and abroad, with around 180 000 members
★ The music group Ladytron features a song called "CSKA Sofia" on their 2001 album ''604''
External links
★
Official website
★
Official forum
★
CSKA Sofia Ultimate Internet Fan Club
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