PFC Slavia Sofia
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| Full name | Professional football club Slavia Sofia | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Whites The White Avalanche | ||
| Founded | 10 April 1913 | ||
| Ground | Ovcha Kupel Stadium, Sofia | ||
| Capacity | 25,556 | ||
| Owner | Mladen Mihalev | ||
| Chairman | Ventseslav Stefanov | ||
| Head coach | Vladimir Ivanov | ||
| League | Bulgarian First League | ||
| 2015–16 | A Group, 4th | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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PFC Slavia Sofia (Bulgarian: ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the Parva Liga. Slavia's home ground is the Ovcha Kupel Stadium with a capacity of 25,556. The team's colours are white and black. Established on April 10, 1913, Slavia is currently the oldest sports club in the capital of Bulgaria.
Domestically, the club has won the Bulgarian Championship seven times and the Bulgarian Cup seven times. It has also come second in the championship ten times and reached the cup final three more times.
Among the team's international successes are a Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1967 and a quarter-final in 1981, as well as two consecutive Balkans Cup trophies in 1986 and 1988.
History
On April 10, 1913, a group of young people living near a Russian Monument in Sofia and representatives of the local capital clubs Botev and Razvitie, in a coffee-house – Alabin str. in Sofia, decided to establish an incorporated sport club – the first organized sport club in Sofia.[1] The new incorporated club has named Slavia. Dimitar Blagoev – Palio, a 21-year-old student, was elected as the first president of the club. As members of the first club administrative council were elected Emanuil Geshev, Ferdinand Mihaylov, Tsvyatko Velichkov, Georgi Grigorov and Todor Kalkandzhiev.
A few days later, was elected the first football team of the club - Stefan Lalov, Ilia Georgiev, Emanuil Geshev, Todor Kalkandzhiev, Stefan Chumpalov, Dimitar Blagoev – Palio (all of them from Botev) and Pavel Grozdanov, Ferdinand Mihaylov, Boris Sharankov, Asen Bramchev, Dimitar Cvetkov (all of them from Razvitie). The first sport dresses of the club were white shirts and black shorts. Since 1924 the team plays with white shirts and white shorts and up to present days it is popular as the "White pride". On August 11, 1913, Slavia plays its first match versus the local team Savata and wins by 1–0.
After the First world war, Slavia began to become more successful. On June 5, 1928, the team won its first champion title, winning with 4–0 the final match against Vladislav Varna. The title was won by Slavia five more times until 1946, these were achieved in 1930, 1936, 1938–39, 1941 and 1943.
Slavia won the Bulgarian Cup for first time in 1952. By winning the 1963 Bulgarian Cup Final, Slavia qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the club's first appearance in European competition. They were drawn against Hungarian club MTK Budapest in the first round. Slavia were knocked out of the competition 2–1 on aggregate. Its most important achievements in Europe during 1966–67 Cup Winners' Cup campaign when Slavia eliminated Swansea City, RC Strasbourg and Servette, before being eliminated by Rangers at the semi-finals.[2] The team consisted of great players such as goalkeeper Simeon Simeonov, Ivan Davidov, Aleksandar Shalamanov, Dimitar Largov, Dimitar Kostov and Aleksandar Vasilev.
In 1969 Slavia was merged with Lokomotiv Sofia under the name ZhSK Slavia. Two years later the two clubs split again after splitting was supported by 100,000 fans.
In the 1980–81 season, led by Chavdar Tsvetkov and Andrey Zhelyazkov,[3] Slavia reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup before losing 6–3 on aggregate to Feyenoord Rotterdam. In 1986, Slavia won Balkans Cup. In the final they beat Greek side Panionios 5–3 on aggregate. In 1988 Slavia won Balkans Cup for second time in his history.[4]
In 1994 Stoyan Kotsev, the former Slavia midfielder, was appointed as new manager. After finishing fourth in 1995, they went on to win the A PFG title in 1995–96. Slavia finished with 5 points more than the second, Levski Sofia. This marked Slavia's first Bulgarian title since 1943. In the 2010–11 season, Slavia reached the Bulgarian Cup Final, beating Ludogorets Razgrad, Etar 1924, Chernomorets Burgas and Pirin Blagoevgrad. However, they lost the final 1–0 to CSKA Sofia.[5]
League positions
Stadium
In the first 10 years after Slavia was founded, the club played in the stadium of his predecessor SC Razvitie. On 3 October 1923, Slavia became the owner of land to the Russian Monument in Sofia, where was the first ground of the club. They played their home games there for the next few decades, until they moved to southwest Sofia in the 1960s.
On 12 March 1958, started the construction of Slavia Stadium. Mayor of the sixth area in Sofia and president of the Slavia women's basketball team, Dimitar Tinev presided at the laying in place of the first stone. The stadium is built in a residential area Ovcha Kupel, served by regular bus services 6 km from Sofia city center. Slavia Stadium has undergone many changes over the years and it presently has a capacity of 25,556.
Honours
Domestic
- Winners (7): 1928, 1930, 1936, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1996
- Runners-up (10): 1926, 1932, 1934, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1967, 1980, 1990
- Third place (12): 1940, 1942, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1982, 1986, 1991, 1997
European
- Semifinalist: 1967
- First place in group four: 1977
Current squad
As of 25 October 2016[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 2016.
On loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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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
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EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) |
Non-EU Nationals |
Technical staff
| Name | Role |
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 Aleksandr Tarkhanov
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Coach |
 Vladimir Ivanov
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Assistant Coach |
| Martin Kushev
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Assistant Coach |
| Radostin Stanev
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Goalkeeping Coach |
| Lyuben Angelov
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Doctor |
Notable stats
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Managerial history
This is a list of the last Slavia managers:
| Name | Nat | From | To | Honours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dobromir Tashkov |
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1963 | 1969 | – |
| Dobromir Tashkov |
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1973 | 1974 | – |
| Hristo Mladenov |
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1978 | 1980 | – |
| Oleh Bazylevych | 
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1987 | 1988 | – |
| Miroslav Mironov |
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Oct 1999 | May 2000 | – |
| Žarko Olarević | 
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May 2000 | 23 Nov 2000 | – |
| Kiril Kachamanov |
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23 Nov 2000 | 25 Sept 2001 | – |
| Žarko Olarević |
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25 Sept 2001 | 18 Dec 2002 | – |
| Miodrag Ješić |
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18 Dec 2002 | 23 Aug 2003 | – |
| Ratko Dostanić |
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24 Aug 2003 | 23 Sept 2004 | – |
| Atanas Dzhambazki |
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23 Sept 2004 | 29 March 2005 | – |
| Petar Houbchev |
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29 March 2005 | 10 Nov 2005 | – |
| Alyosha Andonov |
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10 Nov 2005 | 2 July 2006 | – |
| Ratko Dostanić |
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3 July 2006 | 26 Dec 2006 | – |
| Alyosha Andonov |
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26 Dec 2006 | 6 June 2007 | – |
| Stevica Kuzmanovski | 
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6 June 2007 | 2 June 2009 | – |
| Velislav Vutsov |
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2 June 2009 | 18 May 2010 | – |
| Emil Velev |
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19 May 2010 | 28 May 2011 | – |
| Martin Kushev |
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28 May 2011 | 29 Nov 2012 | – |
| Velislav Vutsov |
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30 Nov 2012 | 5 June 2013 | – |
| Asen Bukarev |
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5 June 2013 | 20 Oct 2013 | – |
| Milen Radukanov |
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21 Oct 2013 | 31 Aug 2014 | – |
| Ivan Kolev |
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1 Sep 2014 | 30 Nov 2015 | – |
| Vladimir Ivanov (caretaker) |
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30 Nov 2015 | 18 Dec 2015 | – |
| Aleksandr Tarkhanov |
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18 Dec 2015 | 2 Nov 2016 | – |
| Vladimir Ivanov |
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3 Nov 2016 | present | – |
References
- ^ "Славия започва с топка назаем" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. 10 April 2008.
- ^ "Slavia Sports Club turns 100". bnr.bg. 10 April 2013.
- ^ "Zhelyazkov salutes centurions Slavia Sofia". uefa.com. 10 April 2013.
- ^ "Славия в надпреварата за Балканската клубна купа" (in Bulgarian). pfcslavia.com.
- ^ "Bulgarian Cup win ends CSKA Sofia drought". uefa.com. 25 May 2011.
External links
| League competitions | |
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| Cup competitions | |
| Defunct competitions |
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| National teams | |
| Regional Amateur Football Groups | |
| Lists | |
| Awards | |