POFC Botev Vratsa
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| Full name | OFC Botev Vratsa | ||
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| Founded | 1921 | ||
| Ground | Hristo Botev Stadium, Vratsa | ||
| Capacity | 32,000 | ||
| Chairman |  Veselin Ivanov | ||
| Manager | Sasho Angelov | ||
| League | Western B PFG | ||
| 2008-09 | North-West V AFG, 1st (Promoted) | ||
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Botev Vratsa (Template:Lang-bg), founded in 1921, is a Bulgarian football club from the city of Vratsa. The club currently plays in Western B Professional Football Group, the second level of Bulgarian football.
Botev Vratsa is one of the most prominent football clubs in Bulgaria, playing its home matches at Hristo Botev Stadium. The team's home stadium was built in 1948. It is situated in the Hristo Botev sport complex, in the east side of Vratsa. The stadium originally holds 32 000 seats. After a recent reconstruction, which took place in the first half of 2008 the stadium has 3 reconstructed seated sectors with a total of 6000 seats.
History
Botev Vratsa Football Club was founded in 1921 by Nikola Kunov, Ivan Abuzov, Nako Paunov, Gergo Boytchev, Todor Orozov, Hristo Lighenski and Angel Rachinski. The place of foundation is a playground near the Old market in Vratsa. Between 1921 and 1956 various sport clubs are founded in the city. In 1957 most of the sport clubs in the city are joined together to form FC Botev Vratsa. Between 1957 and 1964 Botev Vratsa is a member of Bulgarian second division. In 1964 the club enters the Bulgarian top division and plays there for 26 seasons. [1] The team of Vratsa has 788 games in the top flight of Bulgarian football.
Botev's most glorious moment comes in 1971, when the team finished third in Bulgarian top division, after CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia. Botev did, however, represent Bulgaria in the 1971-72 UEFA Cup where they lost in the first round to Dinamo Zagreb from Croatia 2-8 on aggregate. The first game in Vratsa, in the presence of 35 000 spectators, ended with a 2-1 loss. The second game in Zagreb finished 6-1.
The biggest success in the Bulgarian Cup is a semi-final in 1960-61, 1974-75 and 1984-85.
In 1989-90 Botev was relegated to second division. In the next 19 years the club participated in either the second or the third Bulgarian divisions.
Among the club's legendary players is Martin Petrov, considered by most Botev fans as the greatest player to have ever been involved with the club, and one of the greatest Bulgarian players. The list of other famous players to have come from the clubs' youth system consists of Ilia Valov, Valentin Iliev, and Valentin Stanchev. Nikolay Penkov is the player with most league appearances for the club - 334. The player with most league goals for the club is Georgi Kamenov, with 150 goals for Botev.
2008-09 Season
In May 2009, after 6 years in the Bulgarian third division, OFC Botev Vratsa were finally promoted to the Bulgarian B Professional Football Group (Second division).
The team managed a record 28 games without a loss and secured the top spot two weeks before the end of the season. During the campaign, OFC Botev recorded some astonishing results, defeating FC Sitomir Nikopol by 9:0, OFC Levski 2007 by 7:0 and scoring the most goals by a visiting team away at FC Bali 2002 - 8:2. In June 2009, following a suggestion by the fan club, the team changed its official logo to commemorate the promotion.
Honours
- Bulgarian Championship
- Third place - 1971
- Fourth place - 1985
- Fifth place - 1977
2009/2010 Team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Fans
Despite playing in the third division of Bulgarian football, FC Botev is still one of the most popular non-capital based football clubs in Bulgaria. Its fans are famous for their non-violent support and fair-play doctrine. The "Botev Vratsa Forever" fan-club is well-known to organize trips in support of the Bulgarian National team with destinations such as Bucharest, Zagreb, Budapest, etc. The fan club has established connections with fans from all over Europe and is in active partnership with the fans of second-division Dutch club Go Ahead Eagles (Deventer).
Notable players
Martin Petrov- Valentin Iliev
- Georgi Kamenov
- Petar Kamenov
- Ilia Dragomirov
- Ilia Valov
- Valentin Stanchev
References
External links
- Official website - in Bulgarian
- Unofficial website - in Bulgarian
- Botev Vratza Picture Gallery - in Bulgarian
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| Regional Amateur Football Groups | |
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