POFC Botev Vratsa

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Botev (Template:Langx) is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football.

The club was founded in 1921. Since 1948, Botev have played their home games at Stadion Hristo Botev. It is situated in the Hristo Botev sport complex, in the east part of Vratsa. The stadium originally had 25,000 seats. After a recent reconstruction, which took place in 2008, 2009, 2015 and in 2022, the stadium has 9 reconstructed seated sectors with a total of 8 935 seats.

Botev's longest continuous period in the top tier was 26 consecutive seasons between 1964 and 1990. The club's highest ever league finish came in 1970–71 when it finished third in the top flight.

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 were founded in the city. In 1957 most of the sport clubs in the city are joined to form FC Botev Vratsa. Between 1957 and 1964 Botev Vratsa is a member of Bulgarian second division. In 1964 the club entered the Bulgarian top division and played there for 26 seasons.[1] The team of Vratsa has 788 games in the top flight of Bulgarian football.

Botev's most glorious moment came 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, then representing Yugoslavia, 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. After the 1989–90 A Group season, Botev was relegated to B Group. In the next 19 years, the club participated in either the second or the third Bulgarian division.

Botev managed to return to the top flight in 2011, after they won the eastern group of the 2010–11 B Group, thus ending a 21-year absence from the top level of Bulgarian football. The 2011-12 A Group season was successful because Botev avoided relegation, finishing 12th, which was the main goal of the club. The next season was less successful, with Botev finishing 13th, which meant that they were relegated after a two-year spell in the top flight. In the next couple of years, Botev Vratsa bounced between the second and third tiers, until 2018, when the team managed to return to the top flight, by winning the 2017-18 Second League. This ended a 5-year absence from the top flight.

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 Iliya 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.

Colours, signs and symbols

Botev is known as one of the "green" teams in Bulgaria, but red is just as characteristic in the club's history. Until 1971, the home colours were red and black vertical stripes. To commemorate the 50th anniversary, officials decided to re-brand the entire image of Botev by selecting green as main colour from 1972 on. At the same time, the club logo was also changed, selecting a lion as its centerpiece to commemorate the revolutionary flags of the Hristo Botev revolutionaries. Until that point, the portrait of Hristo Botev himself was used as club logo. The most recent re-branding of the club was in 2009, when the fans initiated a return of the lion to the club logo, almost 15 years after it had been removed. The new logo, which incorporated the original graphic from 1971 was crafted by lifelong fan Aleksandar Alekov.[2]

Honours

Domestic

League positions

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 from:01/07/1954 till:01/07/1955  shift:(0,-4) text:4
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 from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963  shift:(0,-4) text:6
 from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964  shift:(0,-4) text:1
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 from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1965  shift:(0,-4) text:9
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 from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979  shift:(0,-4) text:12
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 from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983  shift:(0,-4) text:11
 from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984  shift:(0,-4) text:10
 from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985  shift:(0,-4) text:4
 from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986  shift:(0,-4) text:12
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 from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989  shift:(0,-4) text:13 
 from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990  shift:(0,-4) text:16
 from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1990  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group" 
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 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994  shift:(0,-4) text:13
 from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1994  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"
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 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1998 color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "V Group"
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 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002  shift:(0,-4) text:8  
 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003  shift:(0,-4) text:16
 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/2003  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"
 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005  shift:(0,-4) text:16
 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006  shift:(0,-4) text:3
 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007  shift:(0,-4) text:2
 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008  shift:(0,-4) text:4
 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2009 color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "V Group"
 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010  shift:(0,-4) text:6
 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2011  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"
 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013  shift:(0,-4) text:13
 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2013  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group" 
 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014  shift:(0,-4) text:6
 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015  shift:(0,-4) text:13
 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2015  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"
 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016  shift:(0,-4) text:2
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 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017  shift:(0,-4) text:10
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 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019  shift:(0,-4) text:9
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 from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022  shift:(0,-4) text:13
 from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/2024 till:01/07/2025  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/2025 till:01/07/2026  shift:(0,-4) text:
 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2026  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "1st League"

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European record

Matches

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1971–72 UEFA Cup 1R Template:Flagicon Dinamo Zagreb 1−2 1−6 2−8
1983 Intertoto Cup Group 8 Template:Flagicon Hammarby 1–2 1–2 3rd
Template:Flagicon Arminia Bielefeld 0–1 0–4
Template:Flagicon Bryne 1–0 3–0


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UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup 1 2 0 0 2 2 8 - 6
UEFA Intertoto Cup 1 6 2 0 4 6 9 - 3
Total 2 8 2 0 6 8 17 - 9

Players

Current squad

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<templatestyles src="Template:Football squad player/styles.css" /> Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Template:Fba/core Hamza Allal
4 DF Template:Country data KOS Arian Kabashi
5 MF Template:Fba/core Nikolay Stefanov
6 DF Template:Fba/core David Suárez
9 MF Template:Fba/core Daniel Genov (captain)
10 MF Template:Fba/core Spas Georgiev
11 DF Template:Fba/core Martin Achkov
15 FW Template:Fba/core Miroslav Marinov
16 GK Template:Fba/core Saturnin Allagbé
21 MF Template:Fba/core Boubacar Traorè
22 MF Template:Fba/core Antoan Stoyanov
25 GK Template:Fba/core Dimitar Evtimov
No. Pos. Nation Player
26 MF Template:Fba/core Mehdi Boukassi
28 MF Template:Fba/core Quentin Bena
29 DF Template:Fba/core Martin Bachev
32 DF Template:Fba/core Martin Dichev
70 DF Template:Fba/core Dilyan Georgiev
77 MF Template:Fba/core Kristiyan Yovov (on loan from Levski Sofia)
97 FW Template:Fba/core Vladislav Naydenov
98 MF Template:Fba/core Ewerton Potiguar
— GK Template:Fba/core Lyubomir Vasilev
— DF Template:Fba/core Milen Stoev
— DF Template:Fba/core Rosen Marinov
— MF Template:Fba/core Bozhidar Penchev

For recent transfers, see List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2025.

Foreign players

Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League, however only five non-EU nationals 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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Notable players

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Managers

Kit

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (chest / back)
2019–2022 Template:Flagicon Erreà WINBET
2022–2023 Template:Flagicon Zeus WINBET / SportRespect
2023–2024 Template:Flagicon Nike
2024– Template:Flagicon Erima WINBET

References

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  1. ↑ "B" Group archive Template:Webarchive
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External links

Template:Sister project

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