FC Vitosha Bistritsa

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FC Vitosha Bistritsa
FC Vitosha Bistritsa emblem.png
Full nameFootball Club Vitosha Bistritsa
Nickname(s)"The Bistritsa Tigers"
Short nameVitosha
Founded1958 (1958)
GroundStadion Bistritsa
Capacity2,500
ManagerNikolay Hristozov
LeagueThird League
2020–21Second League, DNF (relegated)
WebsiteClub website

FC Vitosha (Bulgarian: ФК Витоша) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Bistritsa, Sofia City Province, which competed in the Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football. It is named after the Vitosha mountain range, where Bistritsa is located.

The club became notable for having Bulgaria's prime minister, Boyko Borisov, as a registered player of the squad in the lower divisions.[1][2][3] The increased popularity of the club due to Borisov's presence led to its coach and players being featured on the TV series BNT Taxi in 2011.[4]

History[]

1958–2007: Regional divisions[]

The club was founded in 1958 and played in the regional divisions until 2007 when it gained promotion to the third division. In the 1972–73 Bulgarian Cup they entered the preliminary round but eventually lost to Pirin Blagoevgrad with a 3-0 result.

2007–2016: Amateur division and B Group breakthrough[]

From 2007 to 2016 the team played regularly in the V Group. In May 2012, Vitosha claimed the Amateur League Cup for the first time in their history, eliminating Dve Mogili 2–1 in the final match.[5] During the 2012-13 V Group, the club ranked second in the South-West V Group and achieved promotion to Bulgaria's professional B Group for the first time in their history.

During the 2013–14 Bulgarian Cup, Vitosha eliminated Bansko with an aggregate score of 3-1 to advance to the Round of 16 of the Bulgarian Cup for the first time ever. Previously, their highest achievement had been reaching the Round of 32 in the 1972 Bulgarian Cup.

2016–2020: Professional league and academy development[]

Vitosha finished the 2015–16 V Group in second place after CSKA Sofia, but due to the adoption of a new league structure for the Second League, they were promoted again.[6] In the meantime, the club started investing in a youth academy consisting of five youth teams for the 2016–17 season and reconstruction works on the club's stadium. On May 3, 2017, Vitosha presented an update of their current club crest.[7] A few days later, on May 8, 2017, they also signed a sponsorship agreement with Bulgarian gambling company Efbet for the upcoming two seasons.[8]

On June 2, 2017, Vitosha won the play-off relegation match against Neftochimic Burgas and achieved promotion to the top division for first time in their history.[9]

Despite their poor performance during the regular season, finishing last with the worst defense and attack, and gaining only one victory, Vitosha avoided relegation from the 2017–18 First League, winning the play-offs against Pirin Blagoevgrad and Lokomotiv Sofia. Vitosha improved their performance in the next season, avoiding relegation once more.

However, the 2019-20 season was disastrous for Vitosha. The team finished in the last place in the regular season, with only one win. Since the number of matches was reduced by half for the season, Vitosha was mathematically relegated even before the relegation phase started. This ended their three-year stay in the Bulgarian top tier.

On 28 September 2020, after several matches from the new season were completed, the first team was dissolved while keeping only the youth teams.[10]

2021–present: academy development and amateur leagues[]

On 25 May 2021 the team announced that they would join the Third League playing the most with youth academy players and Nikolay Hristozov as manager.[11]

Honours[]

Bulgarian First League:

Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League

  • Gold medal icon.svg Winners (1): 2012

Bulgarian Cup

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 10 August 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Bulgaria BUL Valentin Galev
23 FW Bulgaria BUL Emil Gargorov
— DF Bulgaria BUL Kristiyan Uzunov
— DF Bulgaria BUL Evgeni Zyumbulev
— MF Bulgaria BUL Georgi Amzin
— MF Bulgaria BUL Mihail Petrov
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Bulgaria BUL Tomi Kostadinov
— MF Bulgaria BUL Kristiyan Kochilov
— MF Bulgaria BUL Stanislav Petrov
— FW Bulgaria BUL Radoslav Iliev
— FW Bulgaria BUL Tsvetomir Vachev

Foreign players[]

Up to one non-EU national can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Second League. Those non-EU nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim Bulgarian citizenship after playing in Bulgaria for 5 years.

EU Nationals

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)

Non-EU Nationals

Goalscoring and appearance records[]

As of 1 December 2019

Most appearances for the club in First League

Rank Name Career Appearances
1 Bulgaria Chetin Sadula 2013– 69
2 Bulgaria Rumen Gyonov 2014– 68
3 Bulgaria Lachezar Kotev 2016– 67
4 Bulgaria Todor Gochev 2017– 62
5 Bulgaria Georgi Amzin 2014– 60
– Bulgaria Stefan Hristov 2017–2019 60
7 Bulgaria Grigor Dolapchiev 2017– 56
8 Bulgaria Kristiyan Kochilov 2015– 55
– Bulgaria Ivaylo Lazarov 2016–2019 55
10 Bulgaria Petko Tsankov 2017–2019 54
As of 1 December 2019

Most goals for the club in First League

Rank Name Career Goals
1 Bulgaria Grigor Dolapchiev 2017– 11
2 Bulgaria Stefan Hristov 2017–2019 9
3 Bulgaria Emil Gargorov 2019– 7
4 Bulgaria Ivaylo Lazarov 2016–2019 6
5 Bulgaria Chetin Sadula 2013– 5
6 Bulgaria Daniel Peev 2017–2018 4
7 Bulgaria Daniel Kutev 2017– 3
8 Bulgaria Ivan Valchanov 2018–2019 2
– Bulgaria Iliya Dimitrov 2019– 2

Personnel[]

Kostadin Angelov who was head coach of the team between 2015 and 2018.

Manager history[]

Dates Name Honours
1959–2007 Unknown
2007–2014 Bulgaria Yasin Mishaui 99991 Amateur Cup title
2014 Bulgaria Nikolay Todorov
2014–2015 Bulgaria Borislav Georgiev
2015–2018 Bulgaria Kostadin Angelov
2018–2019 Bulgaria Rosen Kirilov
2019 Bulgaria Engibar Engibarov
2019–2020 Bulgaria Asen Bukarev
2020 Bulgaria Kostadin Angelov
2021– Bulgaria Nikolay Hristozov

Current technical body[]

Position Name Nationality
Head Coach Nikolay Hristozov Bulgaria
Assistant Coach Yordan Varbanov Bulgaria
Goalkeeper Coach Valentin Galev Bulgaria

League Stats[]

Seasons[]

2017–18 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

2018–19 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

2019–20 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

League positions[]

Bulgarian V AFGFirst Professional Football LeagueSecond Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFG

Past seasons[]

Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup
2010–11 V Group (III) 3 27 4 7 70 24 85 not qualified
2011–12 V Group 6 19 4 13 53 36 61 not qualified
2012–13 V Group 2 22 5 3 52 10 71 not qualified
2013–14 B Group (II) 11 7 7 12 22 24 28 Second round
2014–15 V Group (III) 4 18 6 6 57 22 60 not qualified
2015–16 V Group 2 23 5 4 72 16 74 not qualified
2016–17 Second League (II) 3 15 8 7 37 23 53 First round
2017–18 First League (I) 13 2 11 24 22 68 17 First round
2018–19 First League 13 13 5 19 35 50 44 Second round
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

References[]

  1. ^ Boiko Borissov and Vitosha FC to face Nottingham United in a Friendly The Sofia Echo 2010-08-17. Retrieved on 2011-07-28.
  2. ^ Bulgaria's versatile PM eyes player of year award Reuters 2011-11-28. Retrieved on 2011-11-29.
  3. ^ Bulgarian PM named country's best footballer AFP 2011-12-5. Retrieved on 2011-12-6.
  4. ^ BNT Taxi (in Bulgarian) Archived 2012-05-25 at the Wayback Machine BNT 1 2011-12-9. Retrieved on 2011-12-9.
  5. ^ Bulgarian PM Wins Amateur Football Cup, Ministers Cheer Novinite.com 2012-5-30 Retrieved on 2012-08-13.
  6. ^ Ботев (Враца) и Витоша (Бистрица) се завръщат във Втора лига
  7. ^ Витоша Бистрица с нова емблема
  8. ^ Витоша (Бистрица) с нов генерален спонсор
  9. ^ "Сензация! "Бистришките тигри" изхвърлиха "шейховете" от Първа лига" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 2 June 2017.
  10. ^ ИЗВЪНРЕДНО: Закриха Витоша (Бистрица), напуска Втора лига
  11. ^ Витоша (Бистрица) се завръща на футболната карта

External links[]

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