FC Vitosha Bistritsa explained

Clubname:FC Vitosha Bistritsa
Fullname:Football Club Vitosha Bistritsa
Nickname:"The Bistritsa Tigers"
Short Name:Vitosha
Ground:Stadion Bistritsa
Capacity:2,500
Manager:Nikolay Hristozov
League:Southwest Third League
Season:2022–23
Position:Second League, 17th (relegated)
Website:www.fcvitosha.bg
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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 Southwest Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football. It is named after the Vitosha mountain range, where Bistritsa is located.

Vitosha was founded in 1958, however, the club spent the majority of its history playing in lower leagues. In 2017, Vitosha managed to promote to the First League for the first time ever. The club was relegated after the 2019–20 season and re-founded in 2021.

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.

2016–2020: From third tier to first tier, then dissolution

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 of their maiden season in the top tier, where Vitosha finished 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.

The 2019-20 season was disastrous for Vitosha, however. The team finished in the last place in the regular season, with only one win. Since the number of matches in the second phase was reduced by half for the season, Vitosha was mathematically relegated even before the relegation phase started. This ended their three-year stay in the Bulgarian top tier.

On 28 September 2020, after several matches from the new season were completed, the first team was dissolved while keeping only the youth teams.[10]

2021–present: Re-founding and amateur leagues

On 25 May 2021 the team announced that they would join the Third League playing the most with youth academy players and Nikolay Hristozov as manager.[11] At the end of the 2021–22 season, Vitosha finished in second place in the Southwest Third League, but the team was promoted to the Second League after Tsarsko Selo, which was relegated from the First League, announced its dissolution, thus leaving an empty spot in the Second League. The Bulgarian Football Union gave Vitosha the place in the Second League, since they had accumulated the most points out of all second-placed teams from the regional third leagues.

During the 2022–23 season, while competing in the Second League, Vitosha also qualified for the Bulgarian Cup. Vitosha made a surprising performance by eliminating first tier side Botev Vratsa in the round of 32, after eliminating Chernolomets Popovo in the first round. Vitosha set up a meeting with another First League team, Lokomotiv Sofia in the round of 16.[12]

Honours

Players

Foreign players

Up to one non-EU national can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Second League. 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.

EU NationalsEU Nationals (Dual citizenship)Non-EU Nationals

Goalscoring and appearance records

Most appearances for the club in First League

RankNameCareerAppearances
1 Chetin Sadula2013–202069
2 Rumen Gyonov2014–201968
3 Lachezar Kotev2016–202067
4 Todor Gochev2017–201962
5 Georgi Amzin2014–60
Stefan Hristov2017–201960
7 Grigor Dolapchiev2017–201956
8 Kristiyan Kochilov2015–202055
Ivaylo Lazarov2016–201955
10 Petko Tsankov2017–201954

Most goals for the club in First League

RankNameCareerGoals
1 Grigor Dolapchiev2017–201911
2 Stefan Hristov2017–20199
3 Emil Gargorov2019–7
4 Ivaylo Lazarov2016–20196
5 Chetin Sadula2013–20205
6 Daniel Peev2017–20184
7 Daniel Kutev2017–20203
8 Ivan Valchanov2018–20192
Iliya Dimitrov2019–20202

Personnel

Manager history

DatesNameHonours
1959–2007Unknown
2007–2014 Yasin Mishaui99991 Amateur Cup title
2014 Nikolay Todorov
2014–2015 Borislav Georgiev
2015–2018 Kostadin Angelov
2018–2019 Rosen Kirilov
2019
2019–2020 Asen Bukarev
2020 Kostadin Angelov
2021– Nikolay Hristozov

Current technical body

bgcolor=Positionbgcolor=Namebgcolor=Nationality
Head coach Nikolay Hristozov
Assistant coach Yordan Varbanov
Goalkeeper coach Valentin Galev

League stats

Seasons

2017–18 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

2018–19 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

2019–20 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

League positions

ImageSize = width:900 height:60PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyyDateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2024ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2008

Colors = id:First_tier value:green legend:First_tier id:Second_tier value:white legend:Second_tier id:Third_tier value:red legend:Third_tier id:Fourth_tier value:yellow legend:Fourth_tier id:Fifth_tier value:blue legend:Fifth_tier id:Does_not_exist value:black legend:Does_not_exist

PlotData= bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:8 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:3 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2013 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "V Group" from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group" from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2016 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "V Group" from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "Second League" from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2020 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "First League" from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text: from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 color:black shift:(0,14) text: "Dissolved" from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "3rd" from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "2nd" from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024 shift:(0,-4) text: from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "3rd"

Past seasons

SeasonLeaguePlaceWDLGFGAPtsBulgarian Cup
2010–11V Group (III) 3 27 4 7 70 24 85 not qualified
2011–12V Group 6 19 4 13 53 36 61 not qualified
2012–13V Group 2 22 5 3 52 10 71 not qualified
2013–14B Group (II) 11 7 7 12 22 24 28 Second round
2014–15V Group (III) 4 18 6 6 57 22 60 not qualified
2015–16V Group 2 23 5 4 72 16 74 not qualified
2016–17Second League (II) 3 15 8 7 37 23 53 First round
2017–18First League (I) 13 2 11 24 22 68 17 First round
2018–1913 135 19 35 50 44Second round
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://sofiaecho.com/2010/08/17/947794_boiko-borissov-and-vitosha-fc-to-face-nottingham-united-in-a-friendly Boiko Borissov and Vitosha FC to face Nottingham United in a Friendly
  2. https://news.yahoo.com/bulgarias-versatile-pm-eyes-player-award-163721368.html Bulgaria's versatile PM eyes player of year award
  3. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/bulgarian-pm-named-countrys-best-footballer-171059978.html Bulgarian PM named country's best footballer
  4. http://bnt.bg/bg/productions/75/edition/18534/bnt_taksi_9_dekemvri_2011 BNT Taxi (in Bulgarian)
  5. http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=139806 Bulgarian PM Wins Amateur Football Cup, Ministers Cheer
  6. https://topsport.bg/bg-football/botev-vratsa-i-vitosha-bistritsa-se-zavrashtat-vav-vtora-liga.html Ботев (Враца) и Витоша (Бистрица) се завръщат във Втора лига
  7. https://gong.bg/bg-football/vtora-liga/vitosha-bistrica-s-nova-emblema-430536? Витоша Бистрица с нова емблема
  8. https://topsport.bg/b-group/vitosha-bistritsa-s-nov-generalen-sponsor.html Витоша (Бистрица) с нов генерален спонсор
  9. Web site: Сензация! "Бистришките тигри" изхвърлиха "шейховете" от Първа лига . sportal.bg . 2 June 2017 . Bulgarian.
  10. https://www.novsport.com/news3185220_1441.html ИЗВЪНРЕДНО: Закриха Витоша (Бистрица), напуска Втора лига
  11. https://topsport.bg/vitosha/vitosha-bistritsa-se-zavrashta-na-futbolnata-karta.html Витоша (Бистрица) се завръща на футболната карта
  12. Web site: Витоша (Бистрица) изхвърли Ботев (Враца) от турнира за Купата с дузпа в последната минута . sportal.bg . 19 November 2022 . bg.