PFC Litex Lovech

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Litex
Litex Lovech.svg
Full nameProfessional Football Club Litex Lovech
Nickname(s)Оранжевите (The Oranges)
Short nameLitex
Founded1921; 101 years ago (1921)
as Hisarya Sports Club
GroundGradski Stadion, Lovech, Bulgaria
Capacity8,100
OwnerLitex Commerce JSC
ChairmanDanail Ganchev
ManagerZhivko Zhelev
LeagueSecond League
2020–21Second League, 7th
WebsiteClub website

Litex (Bulgarian: 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 , which has a capacity of 8,100 seats, electric floodlights and permission to stage European matches. As one of the successful Bulgarian clubs outside the capital Sofia, Litex have won the domestic championship four times and the Bulgarian Cup on four occasions. Together with CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia, Litex was also the third football club to represent the country regularly in the European Club Association.

History[]

1921–1996[]

The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya and began playing league football two years later, in 1923. Over the years, the club has changed its name several times. From 1957 it was named Karpachev, before becoming Osam in 1979. Under that name the club played constantly in the B Group, the second division of Bulgarian football and was near to promotion several times. A notable player during this period was Plamen Linkov, who broke the club's appearance record, playing 575 matches and scoring 167 goals respectively.

In 1990, after Bulgaria's transition to market economy, privately owned company LEX became the main sponsor of the club. During the same year, the new owners changed the name of the football club to LEX. The 1993–94 B Group proved to be impressive for the club, as the team finished first in the second division and qualified for the A Group, a notable milestone never done before in the club's history. LEX's debut season in the A Group was also noteworthy, as the team ranked 11th at the end of the season. The next season however proved to be unsuccessful and the club, renamed Lovech, was relegated to the B Group.

Litex's former top goalscorer Dimcho Belyakov.

Grisha Ganchev ownership (1996–2016)[]

In June 1996, the club was purchased by Grisha Ganchev, petrol businessman and a citizen of Lovech, and it was renamed to Litex. The takeover was immediately followed by a flurry of bids for high-profile players. Ferario Spasov was named as the new Litex coach. He led the club back to the A Group at their first attempt. During the 1996–97 season Litex also reached the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup and the final of the Bulgarian League Cup, which was lost after a penalty shoot-out.

Litex players with the Bulgarian Cup in 2009.

In 1997, Litex was promoted for the second time to the top division and immediately became Bulgarian champions, finishing the season 5 points ahead of the second-placed Levski Sofia, unprecedented in the Bulgarian football history. The striker of the team Dimcho Belyakov also became top goalscorer with his 21 goals contributed during the season. In addition, midfielder Stoycho Stoilov received the Best Player of the League award. In the club's first appearance in European club competition, Litex eliminated Swedish club Halmstads BK 4–3 on aggregate, reaching the second qualifying round, where it was knocked out by Spartak Moscow.

A year later Litex successfully defended their league title, losing only two league games during the course of the season. They became the first provincial club to win back-to-back league titles since the 1920s. During their campaign, Litex also inflicted the biggest defeat in CSKA Sofia's history, an 8-0 thrashing at the Lovech Stadium.

During the first decade of the 21st century, Litex won the Bulgarian Cup four times—in 2001 after defeating Velbazhd Kyustendil 1–0 in extra time, in 2004 against CSKA after a penalty shoot-out, in 2008 after a 1–0 win over Cherno More Varna,[1] and in 2009, after a 3–0 thrashing over Pirin Blagoevgrad.[2] In early August 2007, Litex signed a three-year sponsorship and advertising contract with Bulgarian mobile operator GLOBUL and started the 2007–08 season with the logo of the mobile service i-mode on the team's kits. In December 2007, Litex became the first Bulgarian club to have a branded mobile phone game, Litex Football. Before the start of the 2008–09 season, Litex lost the Bulgarian Supercup final with 0-1 from CSKA Sofia after a goal from Kiril Kotev in the 65th minute. A season later, Litex again failed to win the Bulgarian Supercup final, this time against domestic title holders Levski Sofia.

Litex with the A PFG title in 2010

In 2009–10, Litex became champions of Bulgaria for the third time in their history, finishing the season with 12 points advantage over the runners-up CSKA Sofia.[3] On 12 August 2010, Litex defeated Beroe 2–1 to finally secure the Bulgarian Supercup, the last remaining domestic trophy never won before by the club. In 2010–11 Litex retained their fourth league title, securing the championship after a 3–1 away win against Lokomotiv Sofia on 21 May 2011.[4]

Expulsion and new beginning (2015–present)[]

In the summer of 2015, Grisha Ganchev stepped down from his position as an owner, only to reallocate his main investments to Bulgarian football club CSKA Sofia, which was struggling financially with unpaid debts during the time. As a result, his son Danail took over at Litex, with previous shareholder, Bulgarian joint stock company Sport 96, remaining as a subsidiary of Litex Commerce JSC.

On 16 December 2015, the Bulgarian Football Union expelled Litex Lovech from the A Group.[5] The decision was taken in response to an incident that occurred during Litex Lovech's 12 December tie with Levski Sofia, when chairman Stoycho Stoilov controversially pulled the squad off the field in protest after two players were sent off with Lovech leading 1–0.[6] On 20 January 2016 the team was administratively relegated to the B Group for the following 2016–17 season. Litex's players however were allowed to complete their participation in the Bulgarian Cup and finish the 2015–16 season with the club's reserve squad, Litex Lovech II, playing in the B Group.

On 27 May 2016, the company that represented PFC Chavdar Etropole, PFC Chavdar EAD, was renamed PFC CSKA-1948 AD.[7] On 6 June 2016, the representative of PFC Litex Lovech, PFC Litex-Lovech AD, was renamed PFC CSKA-Sofia EAD,[8] with PFC CSKA-1948 AD being written in as its owner. That company later successfully applied to take part in the reformed First League,[9] as PFC CSKA Sofia. The shift was made because the former company that represented PFC CSKA Sofia, PFC CSKA AD, did not gain a professional license, and later went bankrupt, ceasing operations as of 9 September 2016. PFC Litex Lovech was demoted to the Third League, taking the place of FC Botev Lukovit.[10]

On 4 July 2016, former Litex player Zhivko Zhelev was appointed as a manager of a team that consisted mainly of academy players.[11] Litex managed to win its first match of the new season. The squad also played in the 2016–17 Bulgarian Cup, eliminating First League outfits Slavia Sofia and Cherno More on their way to the semifinals,[12] where Litex lost to reigning five-time champions Ludogorets Razgrad on an aggregate score of 0–11. Litex also was promoted to the Second League, after winning the North-West Group of the Third League.

League positions[]

Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFG

Recent league statistics[]

Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup
2007–08 A Group 4 16 9 5 51 26 56 Winner
2008–09 A Group 4 17 7 6 53 26 58 Winner
2009–10 A Group 1 22 4 4 59 17 70 Third round
2010–11 A Group 1 23 6 1 56 13 75 Semifinals
2011–12 A Group 5 17 8 5 57 28 59 Semifinals
2012–13 A Group 5 15 5 10 56 24 50 Quarterfinals
2013–14 A Group 3 21 9 8 74 37 72 Quarterfinals
2014–15 A Group 4 16 6 10 49 36 54 Quarterfinals
2015–16 A Group 10 0 (8) 0 (9) 0 (3) 0 (29) 0 (19) 0 (33) Semifinals
2016–17 Third League (III) 1 25 2 1 114 9 77 Semifinals
2017–18 Second League (II) 10 10 9 11 26 26 39 Quarterfinals
2018–19 Second League (II) 5 12 9 9 43 26 45 Round of 32
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

Stadium[]

Lovech Stadium

Litex Lovech's home ground is the Lovech Stadium, a football stadium in Lovech. Built in 1962, the ground underwent a total reconstruction in 1999 and was brought to a suitable standard to host international matches later that year. The stadium has a capacity of 8,000 seating places with pitch dimensions of 105 to 68 meters. The venue's record attendance of 12,500 was achieved during a domestic league match against Levski Sofia on 19 April 1998. The record attendance in the European club competitions was achieved against English club Aston Villa on 18 September 2008, when around 8,000 spectators supported the team.

In the summer of 2010, a massive reconstruction of the venue started. New side stands with roof covers were built and the media sectors were expanded in order to meet the UEFA guidelines for Champions League matches. On 12 July 2010, the stadium was awarded with a Category 3 ranking by UEFA. The reconstructions continued in the summer of 2011, when the main stand of the stadium was completed.

Honours[]

Domestic[]

First League:

Second League:

Third League:

Bulgarian Cup:

Bulgarian Supercup:

European[]

UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League:

European record[]

Competition S P W D L GF GA GD
UEFA Champions League 4 16 8 1 7 29 28 + 1
UEFA Europa League 13 56 23 12 21 76 60 + 16
Total 17 72 31 13 28 105 88 + 17

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 5 January 2022

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 Yulian Veskov
3 DF Bulgaria BUL Aleksandar Angelov
4 DF Bulgaria BUL Dzheyhan Zaydenov
5 DF Bulgaria BUL Petko Ganev
7 FW Bulgaria BUL Radoslav Zhivkov
8 MF Bulgaria BUL Stefan Nedelchev
9 FW Bulgaria BUL Redzheb Halil
10 MF Bulgaria BUL Hristo Radkov (on loan from CSKA Sofia)
11 DF Bulgaria BUL Galin Minkov
14 MF Bulgaria BUL Petar Chalakov
15 DF Bulgaria BUL (on loan from CSKA Sofia)
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF Bulgaria BUL Ivan Ivanov
17 MF Bulgaria BUL Mark-Emilio Papazov (on loan from CSKA Sofia)
19 MF Bulgaria BUL Mitko Mitkov
21 FW Bulgaria BUL Iliyan Kapitanov
22 DF Bulgaria BUL Plamen Nikolov (captain)
23 MF Bulgaria BUL Nikola Georgiev
34 DF Bulgaria BUL Aleksandar Buchkov
77 MF Bulgaria BUL Anton Uzunov
97 DF Bulgaria BUL Kristiyan Atanasov
99 GK Australia AUS (on loan from CSKA Sofia)
MF Bulgaria BUL Kaloyan Stoilov (on loan from CSKA Sofia)

For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2020–21 and Transfers summer 2021.

Notable players[]

Had international caps for their respective countries, or held any club record. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.

Managerial history[]

This is a list of the recent Litex Lovech managers:

Name From To Honours
Bulgaria Stoycho Mladenov June 2004 Nov 2004
Israel Itzhak Shum 15 November 2004 May 2005
Serbia Ljupko Petrović 1 July 2005 12 June 2007 1 Bulgarian Cup
Bulgaria Ferario Spasov June 2007 Nov 2007
Serbia Miodrag Ješić Nov 2007 May 2008 1 Bulgarian Cup
Bulgaria Stanimir Stoilov 1 June 2008 28 August 2009 1 Bulgarian Cup
Bulgaria Angel Chervenkov 1 September 2009 5 August 2010 1 Bulgarian A PFG
Bulgaria Petko Petkov (interim) 5 August 2010 1 September 2010 1 Bulgarian Supercup
Bulgaria Lyuboslav Penev 2 September 2010 24 October 2011 1 Bulgarian A PFG
Bulgaria Atanas Dzhambazki 24 October 2011 31 December 2011
Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov 5 January 2012 5 June 2013
BulgariaSerbia Zlatomir Zagorčić 1 July 2013 31 March 2014
Serbia Miodrag Ješić 31 March 2014 25 May 2014
Bulgaria Krasimir Balakov 26 May 2014 10 July 2015
Serbia Ljupko Petrović (interim) 10 July 2015 5 August 2015
Romania Laurențiu Reghecampf 6 August 2015[13] 3 December 2015
Serbia Ljupko Petrović 3 December 2015 3 January 2016
Bulgaria Lyuboslav Penev 22 January 2016 2 June 2016
Bulgaria Zhivko Zhelev 4 July 2016 Present

Notable stats[]

Plamen Linkov, the club's top scorer

Most appearances for the club

Rank Name Apps
1 Bulgaria Plamen Linkov 575
2 Serbia Nebojša Jelenković 307
3 Bulgaria Vitomir Vutov 245
4 Bulgaria Zhivko Zhelev 225
5 Bulgaria Nikolay Dimitrov 210

Most goals for the club

Rank Name Goals
1 Bulgaria Plamen Linkov 167
2 Bulgaria Stefan Yurukov 84
3 Bulgaria Svetoslav Todorov 70
4 Bulgaria Hristo Yovov 54
5 Bulgaria Dimcho Belyakov 48

First professional league top scorer with the club

Year Name Goals
1999 Bulgaria Dimcho Belyakov 21
2000 Bulgaria Svetoslav Todorov 19
2006 Slovenia Milivoje Novakovič 16
2010 France Wilfried Niflore 19
2014 Colombia Wilmar Jordán 20

Notes: Last update 16 May 2010

All-time top scorers in A PFG[]

  • Updated 13 December 2014[14]
Rank Name Goals scores Games played Assists Goals per game Years played
1 Bulgaria Svetoslav Todorov 56 127 22 0.44 1997–01, 2009–12
2 Bulgaria Stefan Yurukov 55 113 11 0.49 1996–97, 1998–02, 2003–04
3 Bulgaria Hristo Yovov 45 97 20 0.46 2000–04
4 France Wilfried Niflore 39 72 11 0.54 2008–11
5 Bulgaria Dimcho Beliakov 35 67 11 0.52 1994–97, 1998–99, 2004
6 Bulgaria Zhivko Zhelev 31 196 7 0.16 1996–07
7 Colombia Wilmar Jordán 29 54 7 0.54 2013–15
8 Bulgaria Zoran Janković 29 64 17 0.45 2000–02, 2004, 2007–08
9 Bulgaria Georgi Milanov 28 106 20 0.26 2009–13
10 Bulgaria Krum Bibishkov 27 60 6 0.45 2007–09

References[]

  1. ^ "Litex claim third Bulgarian Cup". UEFA.com. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  2. ^ "Stoilov guides Litex to cup glory". UEFA.com. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  3. ^ "Litex can party like it is 1999". UEFA.com. 2 May 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  4. ^ "Litex retain Bulgarian crown". UEFA.com. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Litex thrown out of Bulgarian league". BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Bulgarian champions may quit league". BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  7. ^ Бизнесмен от Смолян е с 38 100 акции в новия ЦСКА
  8. ^ "В Ловеч ще бъде създаден нов футболен клуб".
  9. ^ "First Division Clubs in Europe" (PDF). uefa.com. UEFA. p. 21. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Въртележка: Литекс ще рита във "В" група с лиценза на Ботев Луковит".
  11. ^ Литекс сформира нов отбор, назначи треньор
  12. ^ ""Литекс" отстрани "Славия" и стигна 1/8-финалите за Купата на България" (in Bulgarian). dnevnik. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Soccer-New Litex coach Reghecampf eyes domestic double". Reuters. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  14. ^ Ваюши и Десподов от Литекс влязоха в историята Football24.bg, 13 August 2013

External links[]

Official websites
Supporters website
Information and statistics
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