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'Levski Sofia' or simply Levski () is Bulgarian football club, playing in the capital, Sofia. Being one of the top football teams in the country, as well as the most popular one, Levski has won 25 League titles and 26 National cups. Levski is the only team that has never been relegated from the Bulgarian top division, and to have a positive balance against all teams in the national competitions. Internationally Levski has reached three Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals and two UEFA Cup quarter-finals. In 2006, it became the first club from the country to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
History
Early years and Reforms
Sport Club Levski from Sofia was founded in 1911 by a group of students at the Second Male High School in Sofia, with football as the major sport practiced. The club was officially registered on May 24, 1914, the date now celebrated as its birthday. The club's name was chosen in honor of the of Bulgarian freedom Vasil Levski. It was proposed by one of its founders – Boris Vasilev.
In 1914, the first officially elected management of the club was the following: Vladimir Grigorov – Chairman; Georgi Manolov – Deputy Chairman; Krum Dinkov – Secretary; Boris Vasilev – Cashier; Stefan Toshkov and Atanas Yankov – Members; Kostadin Manolov – Manager. During the first few years Levski consisted of the following key players: K. Gigorov – Goalkeeper; K. Manolov and K. Dinkov – Defenders; S. Stoyanov and B. Vasilev – Midfielders; V. Grigorov, C. Genev, P. Stoyanovich, G. Manolov and D. Sirakov – Forwards.
In 1914 Levski lost its first official match against FC 13 Sofia by 0:2. The next documented match of Levski was played on 1st April 1915 against Slavia Sofia, another defeat - this time by 0:1. In that period (1914-1920) football wasn't a popular sport in Bulgaria, so there isn't any other information from the period concerning the club. In the summer of 1921, the Sofia Sports League was founded. It united 10 clubs from Sofia, marking the beginning of organized football competitions in the city. The Blues won the first match in the championship for the season 1921/1922, held on September 18, 1921, against Athletic Sofia with the score of 3:1. Levski captured the first place in the league in 1923 after a dramatic 3:2 win over bitter rival Slavia Sofia and successfully defended the title in the following season.
The first National Championship was held in 1924 with Levski representing Sofia. The team went on to win the title in 1933, 1937 and 1942, and established itself as one of the most popular football clubs in Bulgaria. Levski also became the holder for all times of the Ulpia Serdica Cup by virtue of winning it for the third time in a row in 1933. In 1929 Levski became the first semi-professional football club in Bulgaria, after 12 players staged a boycott of the team in demand of financial remuneration and insurance benefits. The same year Levski met its first international opponents, losing to Gallipoli Istanbul 0:1 and winning against Kuban Istanbul 6:0. In 1936 the club toured Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries. Some of the most notable players to wear the blue shirt in the pre-war years were Asen Peshev, Asen Panchev, Nikola Dimitrov, Petar Ivanov, Vasil Spasov, Borislav Tsvetkov and Lyubomir Aldev.
After World War II, Levski became one of the two top clubs in Bulgaria. After winning the championship in 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1953 Levski would not capture the domestic title again until the mid 1960s. In 1949 the authorities changed the club's name to Dinamo following the Soviet traditions, but after the destalinization of Bulgaria, it was reverted back in 1957. The 1960s were marked with return to success both on the domestic and on the international stage. Levski's academy would become the most successful in national youth competitions for the years to come, and the results became first seen in the likes of Georgi Asparuhov, Georgi Sokolov, Biser Mihailov, Kiril Ivkov, Ivan Vutsov, Stefan Aladzhov and Alexandar Kostov, assisted by experienced veterans like Stefan Abadzhiev, Dimo Pechenikov and Hristo Iliev, who celebrated winning the championship in 1965, 1968 and 1970, and the 7:2 triumph over new bitter rival CSKA in 1968. The tie against Benfica Lisbon in the European Cup in 1965 remained memorable for the Eusebio versus Georgi Asparuhov clash, and the recognition that the Portuguese great gave to his Bulgarian counterpart.
Following the new wave of political reform in the Eastern Block after the Prague Spring, in 1969 and against the wishes of the majority of its supporters, Levski was merged with Spartak Sofia and put under the auspice of the Bulgarian interior ministry. The name of the club was once again changed, this time to Levski - Spartak.
This controversy, along with the untimely and tragic death of club icon Georgi Asparuhov together with teammate and fellow great Nikola Kotkov in a car crash in 1971, did not diminish seriously the success of the club or its fan base in the next decade. A new crop of youngsters in the likes of Kiril Milanov, Dobromir Zhechev, Pavel Panov, Todor Barzov, Voin Voinov, Ivan Tishanski, Georgi Tsvetkov, Plamen Nikolov, and Rusi Gochev not only found their place in the first team, but brought new titles in 1974, 1977 and 1979. On the international stage the quarterfinal appearances in the Cup Winners Cup in 1970 and 1977, and in the UEFA Cup in 1976, together with the victories over Ajax Amsterdam, FC Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid demonstrated the new international competitiveness of Levski.
Levski's youth academy received the full credit of the whole Bulgarian football community by sending during the 1980s into the national team the new stars of The Blues: Petar Kurdov, Emil Spasov, Mihail Valchev, Emil Velev, Nasko Sirakov, Nikolay Iliev, Borislav Mikhailov and Bozhidar Iskrenov, who won the domestic championship in 1984 (an unprecedented domestic treble), 1985 and 1988. The back to back triumphs over VfB Stuttgart in 1983 and 1984, along with the quarterfinal appearance in the Cup Winners Cup in 1988, were especially celebrated by Levski's supporters.
The name of the team was changed to Vitosha by the authorities following the disruptions during and after the Bulgarian Cup final in 1985. The game ran on high emotions fueled by the streak of consecutive victories of Levski over CSKA in the 2 years prior to the game (though CSKA won the Bulgarian Cup game 2-1. The controversial decisions of the referee led to confrontations both on the field and on the stands. By decree of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party some of the leading players of both The Blues and the Reds were suspended from the sport for life. The champinship title of the club for 1985 was suspended.
Normalization and New era
The suspensions were lifted shortly after, but regardless of the universal refusal of supporters to recognize and chant the new name of the team, it wasn't until 1989 and the Fall of the Berlin Wall that the club officially abolished the artificially imposed and hated title Vitosha and returned to being simply Levski. The normalization of sport activities in the country and the removal of the political influences on the football community were especially favorable to the results of The Blues. The team composed of the newcomers Plamen Nikolov, Petar Hubchev, Tsanko Tsvetanov, Emil Kremenliev, Zlatko Yankov, Georgi Slavchev, Ilian Iliev, Daniel Borimirov, Stanimir Stoilov and Velko Yotov and the return of the veterans Plamen Getov, Nikolay Todorov and Nasko Sirakov, dictated the game in the domestic championship by winning the title in 1993, 1994 and 1995. Memorable wins by big margins over challengers Lokomotiv Sofia – 8:0, CSKA – 7:1 and Botev Plovdiv – 6:1, clearly demonstrated Levski's complete superiority. Home games in European Competitions against Rangers FC and Werder Bremen turned into true holidays for supporters. Levski contributed with 5 first team players (Petar Hubchev, Tsanko Tsvetanov, Emil Kremenliev, Zlatko Yankov and Nasko Sirakov) and three reserve players (Plamen Nikolov, Petar Aleksandrov and Daniel Borimirov) to the Bulgarian national team that ended on fourth place in the unforgettable American summer of the World Cup 1994.
Financial distress and the increasing interest of the Bulgarian mafia into the game troubled Levski in the following few years. Players like Marian Hristov and Doncho Donev did well for the club, but failed to win the domestic title or record success Aleksandrov]] and Georgi Ivanov won the title in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The club once again became a force to be reckoned with in Europe, and had memorable clashes with Hajduk Split, Juventus Turin, Galatasaray Istanbul, Dynamo Kyiv, Slavia Prague and Liverpool FC.
Another relatively unsuccessful period lasted until 2005. Then the young new manager and former player Stanimir Stoilov organized a team of Levski's academy products Zhivko Milanov, Milan Koprivarov and Valeri Domovchiyski, the experienced Elin Topuzakov, Georgi Petkov, Stanislav Angelov and Dimitar Telkiyski, the fans' favorites Hristo Yovov, Daniel Borimirov and Georgi Ivanov, who came back after spending time abroad, , reached the quarterfinal stage of the UEFA Cup, knocking out AJ Auxerre, winning against Olympique de Marseille and finishing ahead of the reigning title holder CSKA Moscow in the group stage, triumphing over Champions League participants Artmedia Bratislava and Udinese Calcio, before being knocked out by Schalke 04 in a controversial tie.
Levski playing Chelsea F.C. at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in the UEFA Champions League 2006-07
Levski, as the champions of Bulgaria, started their UEFA Champions League 2006-07 participation from the second qualiftying round, where they eliminated Georgian champions Sioni Bolnisi, defeating them 2-0 both home and away. In the third round, Levski faced Italian team Chievo Verona who are taking part in the tournament because of other clubs' sanctions as part of the 2006 Serie A matchfixing scandal. Levski eliminated Chievo after a decisive 2-0 win in Sofia and a secure 2-2 draw on Italian soil, thus becoming the first Bulgarian club to ever reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. There they face last year's winners FC Barcelona from Spain, English champions Chelsea F.C. and German powerhouse Werder Bremen. They first played Barcelona at Camp Nou, and lost 5-0 to a classy Spanish team. They then lost 1-3 to Chelsea in their own ground, Didier Drogba scoring three times for the visitors and Marian Ognyanov being the author of Levski and Bulgaria's first Champions League goal later in the match. The team lost twice by Werder Bremen and then suffered a 0-2 loss in Sofia versus the champion Barcelona by both teams playing very good match in a full stadium.
Stadium
Initially, the club did not possess a field of its own and training was held on an empty space called ''The Hillock'' (''Могилката/Mogilkata''), where the National Palace of Culture was built later. In 1924 the Sofia Municipality provided the club with the rights to an empty field on the outskirts of the city, and a decade later the stadium named “Levski” was finally completed. It provided for 10,000 spectators and was regarded as the finest sport facility in the city.
In 1949 the stadium was nationalized and later the Vasil Levski National Stadium was built on the site. The team would move to the “Dinamo” gruond, which was located at the site of the modern Spartak swimming complex. In 1961 after districting the team moved to “Gerena” neighborhood. There a new stadium was completed in 1963, renamed in 1990 in honor of Levski’s most beloved former player Georgi Asparuhov.
In 1999 the stadium emerged from serious reconstruction as an all-seater for 29,280 spectators. The field measures 120x90 meters. However, the team plays most of its important games versus foreign teams on the national stadium "Vasil Levski".
The club president Todor Batkov has recently demanded that Levski should receive "Rakovski" stadium on loan. This should be done on account that the first club stadium was nationalized and Levski have never been repaid.
Honors and records
★ Champion of Bulgaria 25 times: 1933, 1937, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007.
★ National Cup Winner 26 times: 1942, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007.
★ Doubles 13 times: 1942, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1970, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2007.
★ Ulpia Serdika Cup (Cup of capital city Sofia) holder - 4 times: 1926, 1930, 1931, 1932
★ Bulgarian Supercup holder - 2 times: 2005, 2007
★ Treble 2 times: 1984, 2007
★ UEFA Cup - 1/4 Final: 1975/1976, 2005/2006
★ Cup Winners' Cup - 1/4 Final: 1969/1970, 1976/1977, 1986/1987
Team Trivia
★ "The Bulgarian derby", the most notorious Bulgarian football rivalry is Levski Sofia vs CSKA Sofia. It is also known as Вечното Дерби/The Eternal Derby. Both teams' fans have been often involved in feuds and acts of vandalism.
★ Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia are the two most most dominating teams in Bulgarian football's new history. Often the battle for the championship is between these two teams.
★ The team's name was given by the name of the Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski. This is also the name of Bulgaria's National stadium, where the club plays most of its international matches.
★ Levski is the only team that has never been relegated from the Bulgarian top division.
★ Levski is the only team in Bulgaria that has a positive balance against every other present club in the country.
★ Levski holds the record for having won most times the National cup: 26 times
★ Levski is the Bulgarian team that sells most season tickets to its supporters - for season 2006-2007 they were about 4000!
★ Levski is the Bulgarian team that holds the record for most played matches in one season in the European Club Tournaments - 14 UEFA Cup matches in 2005/2006
★ Levski is the Bulgarian team that has achieved biggest home and away victories in the European Club Tournaments - 12:2 in Sofia versus Reipas (Finland) and 7:1 in Lahti versus the same team.
★ Levski is the only team that has managed to score 5 goals in one match against FC Barcelona - 5:4 in Sofia on March 17, 1976 - UEFA Cup 1/4 final.
★ Levski holds the domestic record for most scored goals in one season - 96 in 2006/2007
Colors
| Firstly, the club colors are red and yellow. With bough from Romania kit, the team played to 1920 - shirts with vertical red and yellowlines, black shorts and black socks.In the years after the First World War the fabric became too expensive, so the yellow-red colored shirt was switched with the cheaper in that time blue one, which is still used today. |
Historical results
★ 'Levski' 6-3 CSKA Sofia, 1962
★ 'Levski' 7-2 CSKA Sofia, 1968
★ 'Levski' 2-1 MSV Duisburg, 1975 Uefa Cup
★ 'Levski' 2-1 Ajax, 1975 Uefa Cup
★ 'Levski' 5-4 Barcelona, 1976 Uefa Cup quarter final
★ 'Levski' 12-2 Reipas Lahti,1976 record win in the Cup Winners' Cup tournament
★ 'Levski' 2-0 Boavista, 1976 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
★ 'Levski' 2-1 Atletico Madrid, 1977 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
★ 'Levski' 1-0 Stuttgart, 1983 Uefa Cup
★ 'Levski' 2-1 Rangers F.C., 1993 Uefa Champions League
★ 'Levski' 7-1 CSKA Sofia, 1994
★ 'Levski' 3-1 Bayern Munchen , 1994 , a match played for the 80-th anniversary of Levski
★ 'Levski' 5-0 CSKA Sofia, 1998 Bulgarian Cup Final, 50-th anniversary of the rival
★ 'Levski' 1-0 AJ Auxerre, 2005 Uefa Cup First Round
★ 'Levski' 1-0 Olympique de Marseille, 2005 Uefa Cup Group stage
★ 'Levski' 2-1 Udinese, 2006 Uefa Cup Round of 16
★ 'Levski' 2-0 Chievo, 2006 Uefa Champions League Third qualifying round
★ 'Levski' 10-0 Chernomorets Burgas Sofia 2007 Bigest win in A PFG
Sofia's leading team
In the matches between Sofia's leading 4 football clubs, Levski has positive balance against the others.
★ :
'119' matches; '48' wins, '33' draws, '38' defeats; '180:166' goals
'118' matches; '56' wins, '39' draws, '23' defeats; '202:125' goals
'112' matches; '67' wins, '25' draws, '20' defeats; '212:103' goals
Note: The statistics includes only the League results.
★
'166' matches; '74' wins, '43' draws, '49' defeats; '257:218' goals
Current team
Players in 'bold' have international caps.
 |
| Levski Sofia'2007 |
(C)
Reserve & Youth Squad
Recent transfers
'In:'
'Out:'
Technical staff
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Stanimir Stoilov | Coach |
| Tsanko Tsvetanov | Assistant Coach |
| Emil Velev | Assistant Coach |
| Valentin Zahariev | Goalkeeping Coach |
| Yasen Ekimov | Fitness Coach |
| Nasko Sirakov | Manager / Head of the sport technikal issues in Levski |
| Konstantin Bazhdekov | Manager / Head of financial issues in Levski |
| Rusi Gochev | Academy Technical Manager |
| Said Ibraimov | Chief Scout |
| Jan Filipov | Doctor |
Player records
Most appearances for Levski
''As of match played 7 April 2007. Players in bold are still currently playing for Levski.''
| # | Name | Career | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stefan Aladzhov | 1967 - 1981 | 483 | 4 |
| 2 | Emil Spasov | 1974 - 1990 | 415 | 111 |
| 3 | Pavel Panov | 1969 - 1981 | 383 | 177 |
| 4 | Kiril Ivkov | 1967 - 1978 | 375 | 15 |
| 5 | Aleksandar Kostov | 1956 - 1971 | 344 | 85 |
| 6 | Hristo Iliev | 1954 - 1968 | 326 | 132 |
| 7 | 'Elin Topuzakov' | 1996 - present | 308 | 22 |
| 8 | Stefan Abadzjiev | 1953 - 1968 | 299 | 45 |
| 9 | Plamen Nikolov | 1977 - 1992 | 296 | 6 |
| 10 | Voin Voinov | 1971 - 1981 | 295 | 50 |
Most goals scored for Levski
| # | Name | Career | Appearances | Goals | Goals/Game Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nasko Sirakov | 1981 - 1994 | 258 | 206 | 0.80 |
| 2 | Pavel Panov | 1969 - 1981 | 383 | 177 | 0.46 |
| 3 | Georgi Asparuhov | 1959 - 1971 | 238 | 153 | 0.64 |
| 4 | Georgi Ivanov | 1997 - 2007 | 197 | 116 | 0.59 |
| 6 | Emil Spasov | 1974 - 1990 | 415 | 111 | 0.27 |
| 7 | Dimitar Yordanov | 1956 - 1965 | 207 | 104 | 0.50 |
| 8 | Misho Velchev | 1981 - 1987 | 169 | 102 | 0.60 |
| 9 | Aleksandar Kostov | 0.24 | |||
| 10 | Georgi Sokolov | 1958 - 1969 | 237 | 83 | 0.35 |
Recent history
:
| Season | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Cup | Europe | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997/1998 | 1D | '2' | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 73 | 27 | '64' | winner | CWC | Qualifying Round | |
| 1998/1999 | 1D | '2' | 30 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 55 | 11 | '74' | Third Round | CWC | First Round | |
| 1999/2000 | 1D | '1' | 30 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 66 | 17 | '74' | winner | UC | Second Round | |
| 2000/2001 | 1D | '1' | 30 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 63 | 13 | '69' | Semi-final | CL | Qualifying Phase 2 | |
| 2001/2002 | 1D | '1' | 36 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 77 | 27 | '56' | winner | CL | Qualifying Phase 3 | Then UC - First Round |
| 2002/2003 | 1D | '2' | 26 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 61 | 19 | '60' | winner | CL | Qualifying Phase 3 | Then UC - Second Round |
| 2003/2004 | 1D | '2' | 30 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 59 | 18 | '72' | Quarter-final | UC | Third Round | Bulgarian Super Cup holder |
| 2004/2005 | 1D | '2' | 30 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 76 | 19 | '76' | winner | UC | First Round | |
| 2005/2006 | 1D | '1' | 30 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 71 | 23 | '68' | Third Round | UC | Quarter-Final | Bulgarian Super Cup holder |
| 2006/2007 | 1D | '1' | 30 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 96 | 13 | '77' | winner | CL | Group Stage | |
| 2007/2008 | 1D | '-' | - | - | - | - | - | - | '-' | CL | Qualifying Phase 2 | Bulgarian Super Cup holder | |
UEFA ranking
★ 58 Udinese
★ 59 Hamburger SV
★ '60' 'Levski Sofia'
★ 61 Real Betis
★ 62 Blackburn Rovers
★ Full List
'Current National League ranking'
★ 13 Turkish League
★ 14 Czech Republic League
★ '15' 'Bulgarian League'
★ 16 Greece League
★ 17 Swiss League
★ Full List
Distinguished managers
Selected former players
==Bulgarian Footballer of the Year winners==
★ 1965 – Georgi Asparuhov
★ 1970 – Stefan Aladzhov
★ 1974 – Kiril Ivkov
★ 1975 – Kiril Ivkov
★ 1977 – Pavel Panov
★ 1984 – Plamen Nikolov
★ 1986 – Borislav Mikhailov
★ 1999 – Aleksandar Aleksandrov
★ 2000 – Georgi Ivanov-Гонзо
★ 2001 – Georgi Ivanov
See also
★ Bulgarian Football Union
External links
★ Official club website
★ 'Levski.com' - the old official site
★ The biggest Levski Sofia forum with over 5000 registered users
★ PFC 'Levski.eu' - The Best unofficial website entirely in English
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