FC Vitosha Bistritsa
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| Full name | Football Club Vitosha Bistritsa | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Бистришките тигри (The Bistritsa Tigers) | |||
| Short name | Vitosha | |||
| Founded | 1958 | |||
| Ground | Stadion Bistritsa | |||
| Capacity | 2,500 | |||
| Chairman | Sergey Tashkov | |||
| Head coach | Asen Bukarev | |||
| League | First League | |||
| 2018–19 | First League, 13th | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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FC Vitosha (Bulgarian: ФК Витоша) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Bistritsa, Sofia City Province, which competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football, following their promotion from the Second League in 2017. 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–present: 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 last place in the regular season, with only one win. Since the number of matches were reduced by half for the season, Vitosha were mathematically relegated even before the relegation phase started. This ended their three-year stay in the Bulgarian top tier.
Honours
Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League
Winners (1): 2012
Players
Current squad
As of 1 February 2020[update]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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- For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2019 and Transfers winter 2019–20.
Foreign players
Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the A PFG however only three can be used during a match day. 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.
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EU Nationals |
EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) |
Non-EU Nationals
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Goalscoring and appearance records
Most appearances for the club in First League
Most goals for the club in First League
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Personnel
Manager history
| Dates | Name | Honours |
|---|---|---|
| 1959–2007 | Unknown | |
| 2007–2014 |  Yasin Mishaui
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1 Amateur Cup title |
| 2014 | Nikolay Todorov
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| 2014–2015 | Borislav Georgiev
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| 2015–2018 | Kostadin Angelov
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| 2018–2019 | Rosen Kirilov
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| 2019 | Engibar Engibarov
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| 2019– | Asen Bukarev
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Current technical body
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Slavcho Galev |
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| Chief Executive | Kostadin Angelov |
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| Head Coach | Asen Bukarev |
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| Assistant Coach | Daniel Peev |
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| Goalkeeper Coach | Valentin Zahariev |
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| Condition Coach | Vacant | |
| Doctor | Vacant | |
| Administrator | Simeon Krastanov |
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League Stats
Seasons
2017–18 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season
2018–19 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season
League positions
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
- ^ Boiko Borissov and Vitosha FC to face Nottingham United in a Friendly The Sofia Echo 2010-08-17. Retrieved on 2011-07-28.
- ^ Bulgaria's versatile PM eyes player of year award Reuters 2011-11-28. Retrieved on 2011-11-29.
- ^ Bulgarian PM named country's best footballer AFP 2011-12-5. Retrieved on 2011-12-6.
- ^ BNT Taxi (in Bulgarian) Archived 2012-05-25 at the Wayback Machine BNT 1 2011-12-9. Retrieved on 2011-12-9.
- ^ Bulgarian PM Wins Amateur Football Cup, Ministers Cheer Novinite.com 2012-5-30 Retrieved on 2012-08-13.
- ^ Ботев (Враца) и Витоша (Бистрица) се завръщат във Втора лига
- ^ Витоша Бистрица с нова емблема
- ^ Витоша (Бистрица) с нов генерален спонсор
- ^ "Сензация! "Бистришките тигри" изхвърлиха "шейховете" от Първа лига" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 2 June 2017.
