OFC Spartak Pleven

OFK Spartak (Template:Langx) is a Bulgarian municipal association football club from the city of Pleven founded on 10 September 1919. It currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. The team's greatest achievements are the Bulgarian Cup final in 1957 and the third place in the Bulgarian Championship during the following season.

Spartak Pleven made its debut in the A Group during the 1952 A Group season. Spartak established itself as one of the most consistent teams in the Bulgarian A Group, only missing five seasons of top flight football between 1952 and 1988. However, after 1989, Spartak began gradually declining, mostly due to financial constraints, with the club only managing to play three top flight seasons since then, most recently during the 2001–02 season.

History

Spartak Pleven was created in 1919, by a student from Pleven, Dragomir Nestorov. He along with a couple of friends founded the club under the name "Skobelov".

The year 1931 remains important for the club's history. This is because then the club changed its name to "Belite Orli". In 1941, the club was given their first ground by the Pleven municipality.

Things began to change in 1944, when the new government in Bulgaria began to interfere in sports as well. In 1946, it was decided that Belite Orli should be renamed to "Republikanec". However, the fans of the club were against the new name and in a meeting, it was decided to change the team's name to "Spartak Pleven", which it still carries today. In 1949, other football teams began to appear in the city, such as "Lokomotiv" and "General Vinarov". However, it was decided that all the teams should be united into one, strong team, so the name "Septemvri" was given to the new team. The team even managed to promote to the elite the same year. However, less than a year later, it was decided that Spartak Pleven would separate and act as a club on its own.

It was decided that there would be a qualifying tournament for the club's in Pleven to decide which team would participate on a professional level. Torpedo Pleven won that tournament and went to A PFG, while Spartak would start from the regional groups. However, the team quickly managed to promote back to professional football, gaining a place in the Bulgarian elite by 1951. Beginning in 1952, Spartak became a consistent member of the Bulgarian top tier. In 1958, Spartak achieved its greatest success, finishing third. Only two seasons later, however, Spartak was relegated, ending a nine-year stay in the A Group.

It didn't take long for Spartak to return to the top level. The team finished first in the 1961 B Group, thus promoting back after just one year in the second level. The next five seasons were spent in the A Group, although a 7th-place finish was the most that Spartak could achieve. In 1966, the team was relegated again to the B Group. Spartak was again among the best teams in the second level, finishing first once more in 1967, thus returning to A Group.

Beginning in the 1967–68 season, Spartak managed another nine-year stay in the A Group. This period wasn't however remembered for any significant results, as two nine-placed finishes in 1971 and 1975 were the best the team could achieve. Another relegation followed at the end of the 1976–77 season. This time it took two seasons for Spartak to return to the A Group.

The next five seasons were spent in the A Group. Although Spartak managed to produce some noteworthy results, the club was also involved in bribery schemes with other teams from the elite, which resulted in an administrative relegation in 1983. Spartak originally finished 5th. The team managed to recover quickly though, returning to the A Group after just one year. Spartak managed to remain in the top level for four more seasons, although it mostly placed towards the bottom of the table, eventually relegating after the 1987–88 A Group season.

The next eight years were spent outside the top level. Spartak was in serious danger of relegating to the third tier on some occasions, such as the 1989–90 season, when Spartak finished 12th. Spartak eventually began improving its performance in the upcoming years, eventually managing to earn promotion back to the A Group at the end of the 1995–96 season. Spartak only managed to stay two years in the top level, again dropping to the second level after the 1997–98 A Group. It took three years for Spartak to again regain its status in the top level. The 2001–02 A Group season ended in relegation, however.

To date, the 2001-02 season remains the last one for Spartak in the A Group. Since then, Spartak Pleven has been bouncing between the second and third tiers.

The record low came in 2009, when the club declared bankruptcy. This led to Spartak being reformed and started playing from the amateur leagues. In 2012, Spartak returned to the second level, but an immediate relegation followed. Another promotion to the B Group came in 2015, but again this was short-lived, with relegation coming in 2017.

At the end of the 2018–19 season, Spartak finished first in the North-West third league and managed to gain promotion to the second tier for the 2019-20 season. The team, however, experienced difficulties in the second tier, both financially and performance wise. Spartak largely remained in the relegation zone, struggling to survive. They were even deducted three points for not showing on a game. In May 2020, the Bulgarian Football Union decided to cancel the remainder of the season due to the coronavirus epidemic outbreak in Bulgaria. At the time, Spartak was in 16th place (second to last), which meant relegation to the third tier, after just one year in the second league.

After two seasons in the Third League, Spartak returned to the second level as champions of the 2021-22 Northwest Third League.

Honours

• First League:
  • Third place: 1958
• Bulgarian Cup:
  • Runners-up: 1957
• Second League:
  • Winners (5): 1960–61, 1966–67, 1977–78, 1983–84, 2000–01
• Third League:
  • Winners (4): 2011–12, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2021–22

League positions

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1600 height:65 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/2026 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1951 Colors =

 id:bl1  value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5)
 id:bl2  value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3)
 id:rs  value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6)
 id:rn  value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1)

PlotData=

 bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center
 from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/1951  shift:(0,-4) text:4
 from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/1951  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group
 from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952  shift:(0,-4) text:4
 from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1953  shift:(0,-4) text:6
 from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1954  shift:(0,-4) text:11
 from:01/07/1954 till:01/07/1955  shift:(0,-4) text:9
 from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956  shift:(0,-4) text:8 
 from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1957  shift:(0,-4) text:4
 from:01/07/1957 till:01/07/1958  shift:(0,-4) text:3
 from:01/07/1958 till:01/07/1959  shift:(0,-4) text:7
 from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1960  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group"
 from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"
 from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1962  shift:(0,-4) text:8
 from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963  shift:(0,-4) text:9
 from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964  shift:(0,-4) text:10
 from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1965  shift:(0,-4) text:7
 from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1966  shift:(0,-4) text:16
 from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1966  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group"
 from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group" 
 from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1968  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/1968 till:01/07/1969  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/1969 till:01/07/1970  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/1970 till:01/07/1971  shift:(0,-4) text:9
 from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972  shift:(0,-4) text:13
 from:01/07/1972 till:01/07/1973  shift:(0,-4) text:11
 from:01/07/1973 till:01/07/1974  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975  shift:(0,-4) text:9
 from:01/07/1975 till:01/07/1976  shift:(0,-4) text:16
 from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1976  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group"  
 from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977  shift:(0,-4) text:4
 from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1978  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1978  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group" 
 from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979  shift:(0,-4) text:11
 from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1980  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981  shift:(0,-4) text:5
 from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982  shift:(0,-4) text:9
 from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983  shift:(0,-4) text:5
 from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1983  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group"  
 from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group" 
 from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985  shift:(0,-4) text:9
 from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988  shift:(0,-4) text:16
 from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1988  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group"  
 from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989  shift:(0,-4) text:11 
 from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991  shift:(0,-4) text:10
 from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992  shift:(0,-4) text:8
 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993  shift:(0,-4) text:7
 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994  shift:(0,-4) text:3
 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995  shift:(0,-4) text:8
 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996  shift:(0,-4) text:3
 from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1996  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"
 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998  shift:(0,-4) text:15
 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1998  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group"  
 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999  shift:(0,-4) text:9
 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000  shift:(0,-4) text:2
 from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/2001  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"
 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002  shift:(0,-4) text:12
 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group"
 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004  shift:(0,-4) text:7
 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005  shift:(0,-4) text:4
 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:5
 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008  shift:(0,-4) text:9
 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009  shift:(0,-4) text:16
 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2009  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"
 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010  shift:(0,-4) text:2
 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010  color:yellow shift:(0,14)  text: "Regional"
 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011  shift:(0,-4) text:5
 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2012  color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "V"
 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013  shift:(0,-4) text:6
 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B"
 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014  shift:(0,-4) text:4
 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2015  color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "V"
 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016  shift:(0,-4) text:13
 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016  color:white shift:(0,14)  text: "B"
 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017  shift:(0,-4) text:14
 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "2nd"
 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018  shift:(0,-4) text:8
 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2019  color:red  shift:(0,14)  text: "3rd"
 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020  shift:(0,-4) text:16
 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "2nd"
 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021  shift:(0,-4) text:5
 from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022  shift:(0,-4) text:1
 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2022  color:red  shift:(0,14)  text: "3rd"
 from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023  shift:(0,-4) text:11
 from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024  shift:(0,-4) text:10
 from:01/07/2024 till:01/07/2025  shift:(0,-4) text:11
 from:01/07/2025 till:01/07/2026  shift:(0,-4) text:
 from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2026  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "2nd"

</timeline>

Players

since 14 June 2025Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)

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	Konstantin Grahlyov
6	MF	Template:Fba/core	Victor Ivanov
7	MF	REDIRECT Template:Country data Palestine	Monir Al Badarin
8	MF	Template:Fba/core	Rusi Chernakov
9	FW	Template:Fba/core	Ivelin Nikolaev
10	MF	Template:Fba/core	Vasil Shopov
11	FW	Template:Fba/core	Hristian Petkov
12	GK	Template:Fba/core	Boyan Dishkov
16	DF	Template:Fba/core	Ivan Bakalski
18	MF	Template:Fba/core	Mihail Todorov

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	FW	Template:Fba/core	Yani Pehlivanov
20	DF	Template:Fba/core	Toncho Georgiev
22	MF	Template:Fba/core	Preslav Georgiev
24	FW	Template:Fba/core	Preslav Antonov
26	DF	Template:Fba/core	Daniel Stoyanov
30	GK	Template:Fba/core	Dimitar Stefanov
33	MF	Template:Fba/core	Valentin Nedyalkov
66	MF	Template:Fba/core	Slavi Petkov
—	DF	Template:Fba/core	Ivan Ivanov

For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2024–25 and Transfers summer 2025.

Past seasons

Season	Level	League	Place	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Bulgarian Cup
2009–10	IV	A Regional Group	2	18	5	3	75	26	59	not qualified
2010–11	III	V Group	5	15	6	9	49	27	51	not qualified
2011–12	III	V Group	1	27	2	1	111	10	83	Third round
2012–13	II	B Group	6*	11	9	6	33	25	42	Second round
2013–14	III	V Group	4	20	5	5	66	27	65	not qualified
2014–15	III	V Group	1	23	2	1	92	8	71	not qualified
2015–16	II	B Group	13	9	9	12	35	42	36	Second round
2016–17	II	Second League	14	9	6	15	44	52	33	First round
2017–18	III	Third League	8	10	9	11	39	46	39	not qualified
2018–19	III	Third League	1	26	1	3	75	11	79	not qualified
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

European Record

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1964–65	Intertoto Cup
		Group Stage	Template:Flagicon Karl–Marx–Stadt	0–0	2–6	4th
			Template:Flagicon Tatran Prešov	2–2	0–0
			Template:Flagicon Odra Opole	1–1	0–2
1981	Intertoto Cup
		Group Stage	Template:Flagicon Werder Bremen	2–3	0–1	3rd
			Template:Flagicon Malmö	2–0	1–3
			Template:Flagicon Zürich	4–1	0–3

Notable stats

Most First League apps: # Name Matches 1 Template:Flagicon Pusho Dimitrov 301 2 Template:Flagicon Krasimir Lazarov 257 3 Template:Flagicon Pavel Chelestinov 256 4 Template:Flagicon Sasho Varbanov 253 5 Template:Flagicon Petar Boyanov 251 6 Template:Flagicon Petko Todorov 244 7 Template:Flagicon Stoyan Zdravkov 220 8 Template:Flagicon Boris Novachev 204 9 Template:Flagicon Dimcho Dimov 204 10 Template:Flagicon Vencho Sabotinov 203

Most First League goals: # Name Goals 1 Template:Flagicon Plamen Getov 108 2 Template:Flagicon Sasho Varbanov 75 3 Template:Flagicon Stoyan Zdravkov 64 4 Template:Flagicon Pavel Chelestinov 56 5 Template:Flagicon Krasimir Lazarov 40 6 Template:Flagicon Petar Boyanov 25 7 Template:Flagicon Vasil Minkov 25 8 Template:Flagicon Blagoi Krastanov 24 9 Template:Flagicon Milen Goranov 24 10 Template:Flagicon Petar Kostov 20 –