FC Lovech explained

Clubname:FC Lovech
Upright:0.7
Fullname:Football Club Lovech
Nickname:Люляците (The Lilacs)
Founded:
as Hisarya Sports Club
Ground:Gradski Stadion, Lovech, Bulgaria
Capacity:8,000
Manager:Zhivko Zhelev
League:Second League
Season:2023–24
Position:Second League, 11th
Website:http://pfclitex.com/
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FC Lovech (Bulgarian: ФК Ловеч) is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club and was known as Litex Lovech from 1996 to 2024.

The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion, which has a capacity of 8,100 seats, electric floodlights and permission to stage European matches. As one of the successful Bulgarian clubs outside the capital Sofia, Lovech have won the domestic championship four times and the Bulgarian Cup on four occasions. Together with CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia, Lovech was also the third football club to represent the country regularly in the European Club Association.

History

1921–1996

The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya and began playing league football two years later, in 1923. Over the years, the club has changed its name several times. From 1957 it was named Karpachev, before becoming Osam in 1979. Under that name the club played constantly in the B Group, the second division of Bulgarian football and was near to promotion several times. A notable player during this period was Plamen Linkov, who broke the club's appearance record, playing 575 matches and scoring 167 goals respectively.

In 1990, after Bulgaria's transition to market economy, privately owned company LEX became the main sponsor of the club. During the same year, the new owners changed the name of the football club to LEX. The 1993–94 B Group proved to be impressive for the club, as the team finished first in the second division and qualified for the A Group, a notable milestone never done before in the club's history. LEX's debut season in the A Group was also noteworthy, as the team ranked 11th at the end of the season. The next season however proved to be unsuccessful and the club, renamed Lovech, was relegated to the B Group.

Grisha Ganchev ownership (1996–2016)

In June 1996, the club was purchased by Grisha Ganchev, petrol businessman and a citizen of Lovech, and it was renamed to Litex. The takeover was immediately followed by a flurry of bids for high-profile players. Ferario Spasov was named as the new Litex coach. He led the club back to the A Group at their first attempt. During the 1996–97 season Litex also reached the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup and the final of the Bulgarian League Cup, which was lost after a penalty shoot-out.In 1997, Litex was promoted for the second time to the top division and immediately became Bulgarian champions, finishing the season 5 points ahead of the second-placed Levski Sofia, unprecedented in the Bulgarian football history. The striker of the team Dimcho Belyakov also became top goalscorer with his 21 goals contributed during the season. In addition, midfielder Stoycho Stoilov received the Best Player of the League award. In the club's first appearance in European club competition, Litex eliminated Swedish club Halmstads BK 4–3 on aggregate, reaching the second qualifying round, where it was knocked out by Spartak Moscow.

A year later Litex successfully defended their league title, losing only two league games during the course of the season. They became the first provincial club to win back-to-back league titles since the 1920s. During their campaign, Litex also inflicted the biggest defeat in CSKA Sofia's history, an 8–0 thrashing at the Lovech Stadium.

During the first decade of the 21st century, Litex won the Bulgarian Cup four times—in 2001 after defeating Velbazhd Kyustendil 1–0 in extra time, in 2004 against CSKA after a penalty shoot-out, in 2008 after a 1–0 win over Cherno More Varna,[1] and in 2009, after a 3–0 thrashing over Pirin Blagoevgrad.[2] In early August 2007, Litex signed a three-year sponsorship and advertising contract with Bulgarian mobile operator GLOBUL and started the 2007–08 season with the logo of the mobile service i-mode on the team's kits. In December 2007, Litex became the first Bulgarian club to have a branded mobile phone game, Litex Football. Before the start of the 2008–09 season, Litex lost the Bulgarian Supercup final with 0-1 from CSKA Sofia after a goal from Kiril Kotev in the 65th minute. A season later, Litex again failed to win the Bulgarian Supercup final, this time against domestic title holders Levski Sofia.In 2009–10, Litex became champions of Bulgaria for the third time in their history, finishing the season with 12 points advantage over the runners-up CSKA Sofia.[3] On 12 August 2010, Litex defeated Beroe 2–1 to finally secure the Bulgarian Supercup, the last remaining domestic trophy never won before by the club. In 2010–11 Litex retained their fourth league title, securing the championship after a 3–1 away win against Lokomotiv Sofia on 21 May 2011.[4]

Expulsion and Daniel Ganchev era (2015–2024)

In the summer of 2015, Grisha Ganchev stepped down from his position as an owner, only to reallocate his main investments to Bulgarian football club CSKA Sofia, which was struggling financially with unpaid debts during the time. As a result, his son Danail took over at Litex, with previous shareholder, Bulgarian joint stock company Sport 96, remaining as a subsidiary of Litex Commerce JSC.

On 16 December 2015, the Bulgarian Football Union expelled Litex Lovech from the A Group.[5] The decision was taken in response to an incident that occurred during Litex Lovech's 12 December tie with Levski Sofia, when chairman Stoycho Stoilov controversially pulled the squad off the field in protest after two players were sent off with Lovech leading 1–0. [6] On 20 January 2016, the team was administratively relegated to the B Group for the following 2016–17 season. Litex's players however were allowed to complete their participation in the Bulgarian Cup and finish the 2015–16 season with the club's reserve squad, Litex Lovech II, playing in the B Group.

On 27 May 2016, the company that represented PFC Chavdar Etropole, PFC Chavdar EAD, was renamed PFC CSKA-1948 AD.[7] On 6 June 2016, the representative of PFC Litex Lovech, PFC Litex-Lovech AD, was renamed PFC CSKA-Sofia EAD,[8] with PFC CSKA-1948 AD being written in as its owner. That company later successfully applied to take part in the reformed First League,[9] as PFC CSKA Sofia. The shift was made because the former company that represented PFC CSKA Sofia, PFC CSKA AD, did not gain a professional license, and later went bankrupt, ceasing operations as of 9 September 2016. PFC Litex Lovech was demoted to the Third League, taking the place of FC Botev Lukovit.[10]

On 4 July 2016, former Litex player Zhivko Zhelev was appointed as a manager of a team that consisted mainly of academy players.[11] Litex managed to win its first match of the new season. The squad also played in the 2016–17 Bulgarian Cup, eliminating First League outfits Slavia Sofia and Cherno More on their way to the semifinals,[12] where Litex lost to reigning five-time champions Ludogorets Razgrad on an aggregate score of 0–11. Litex also was promoted to the Second League, after winning the North-West Group of the Third League.

Return to Lovech Municipality (2024–present)

On 17 May 2024, Litex Commerce JSC announced that they will return the ownership of the club to the Lovech Municipality and the team would drop the company name.[13] On 30 May 2024, the deal was finalised and the club become owned by Lovech Municipality.[14] Zhivko Zhelev was announced as the new manager of the club on 17 June 2024.[15] On 18 July the team announced that the new name would be FC Lovech, despite the chance to return to the old name Osam Lovech.[16]

League positions

ImageSize = width:1600 height:60PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyyDateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/2025ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1960

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:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1962 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1962 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "V Group" from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963 shift:(0,-4) text:11 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:11 from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1966 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1968 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1968 till:01/07/1969 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1969 till:01/07/1970 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1970 till:01/07/1971 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1972 till:01/07/1973 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1974 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group" from:01/07/1973 till:01/07/1974 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1973 till:01/07/1974 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "V Group" from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1975 till:01/07/1976 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1978 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1980 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1994 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group" from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1996 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A Group" from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group" from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:4 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:4 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:4 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:3 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:10 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/2016 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A Group" from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "3rd" from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:7 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:9 from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2024 till:01/07/2025 shift:(0,-4) text: from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2025 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "2nd League"

Recent league statistics

SeasonLeaguePlaceWDLGFGAPtsBulgarian Cup
2007–08A Group41695512656Winner
2008–09A Group41776532658Winner
2009–10A Group12244591770Third round
2010–11A Group12361561375Semifinals
2011–12A Group51785572859Semifinals
2012–13A Group515510562450Quarterfinals
2013–14A Group32198743772Quarterfinals
2014–15A Group416610493654Quarterfinals
2015–16A Group100 (8)0 (9)0 (3)0 (29)0 (19)0 (33)Semifinals
2016–17Third League (III) 1 25 2 1 114 9 77 Semifinals
2017–18Second League (II) 10 10 9 11 26 26 39 Quarterfinals
2018–19Second League (II) 5 12 9 9 43 26 45 Round of 32
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

Stadium

See main article: Lovech Stadium. FC Lovech's(Or then Litex Lovech)home ground is the Lovech Stadium, a football stadium in Lovech. Built in 1962, the ground underwent a total reconstruction in 1999 and was brought to a suitable standard to host international matches later that year. The stadium has a capacity of 8,000 seating places with pitch dimensions of 105 to 68 meters. The venue's record attendance of 12,500 was achieved during a domestic league match against Levski Sofia on 19 April 1998. The record attendance in the European club competitions was achieved against English club Aston Villa on 18 September 2008, when around 8,000 spectators supported the team.

In the summer of 2010, a massive reconstruction of the venue started. New side stands with roof covers were built and the media sectors were expanded in order to meet the UEFA guidelines for Champions League matches. On 12 July 2010, the stadium was awarded with a Category 3 ranking by UEFA. The reconstructions continued in the summer of 2011, when the main stand of the stadium was completed.

Honours

Domestic

European

European record

See main article: PFC Litex Lovech in European football.

Competition
UEFA Champions League4168172928+ 1
UEFA Europa League13562312217660+ 16
Total 17 72 31 13 28 105 88 + 17

Players

Current squad

For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2023–24 and Transfers summer 2024.

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries, or held any club record. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.

Bulgaria
Europe
South America
Africa

Managerial history

This is a list of the recent Litex Lovech managers:

NameFromToHonours
Stoycho MladenovJune 2004Nov 2004align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Itzhak Shum15 November 2004May 2005align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Ljupko Petrović1 July 200512 June 2007align=left style="font-size: 80%"1 Bulgarian Cup
Ferario SpasovJune 2007Nov 2007align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Miodrag JešićNov 2007May 2008align=left style="font-size: 80%"1 Bulgarian Cup
Stanimir Stoilov1 June 200828 August 2009align=left style="font-size: 80%"1 Bulgarian Cup
Angel Chervenkov1 September 20095 August 2010align=left style="font-size: 80%"1 Bulgarian A PFG
Petko Petkov (interim)5 August 20101 September 2010align=left style="font-size: 80%"1 Bulgarian Supercup
Lyuboslav Penev2 September 201024 October 2011align=left style="font-size: 80%"1 Bulgarian A PFG
Atanas Dzhambazki24 October 201131 December 2011align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Hristo Stoichkov5 January 20125 June 2013align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Zlatomir Zagorčić1 July 201331 March 2014align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Miodrag Ješić31 March 201425 May 2014align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Krasimir Balakov26 May 201410 July 2015align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Ljupko Petrović (interim)10 July 20155 August 2015align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Laurențiu Reghecampf6 August 2015[17] 3 December 2015align=left style="font-size: 80%"
3 December 20153 January 2016align=left style="font-size: 80%"
22 January 20162 June 2016align=left style="font-size: 80%"
4 July 201622 June 2022align=left style="font-size: 80%"
22 June 202216 March 2023align=left style="font-size: 80%"
16 March 202326 June 2023align=left style="font-size: 80%"
27 June 202316 October 2023align=left style="font-size: 80%"
Alen Tupajić 16 October 202313 June 2024align=left style="font-size: 80%"

Notable stats

Most appearances for the club
RankNameApps
1 Plamen Linkov575
2 Ferario Spasov350
3 Nebojša Jelenković307
4 Plamen Nikolov268
5 Vitomir Vutov245

Most goals for the club

RankNameGoals
1 Plamen Linkov167
2 Stefan Yurukov84
3 Svetoslav Todorov70
4 Hristo Yovov54
5 Dimcho Belyakov48

First professional league top scorer with the club

YearNameGoals
1999 Dimcho Belyakov21
2000 Svetoslav Todorov19
2006 Milivoje Novakovič16
2010 Wilfried Niflore19
2014 Wilmar Jordán20

Notes: Last update 13 April 2023

All-time top scorers in A PFG

width=20 Rankwidth=150 Namewidth=30 Goals scoreswidth=30 Games playedwidth=30 Assistswidth=40 Goals per gameYears played
1 Svetoslav Todorov56127220.441997–01, 2009–12
2 Stefan Yurukov55113110.491996–97, 1998–02, 2003–04
3 Hristo Yovov4597200.462000–04
4 Wilfried Niflore3972110.542008–11
5 Dimcho Beliakov3567110.521994–97, 1998–99, 2004
6 Zhivko Zhelev3119670.161996–07
7 Wilmar Jordán295470.542013–15
8 Zoran Janković2964170.452000–02, 2004, 2007–08
9 Georgi Milanov28106200.262009–13
10 Krum Bibishkov276060.452007–09

External links

Official websites
Supporters website
Information and statistics

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UEFA.com. Litex claim third Bulgarian Cup. 14 May 2008. 14 May 2008.
  2. Web site: UEFA.com. Stoilov guides Litex to cup glory. 26 May 2009. 26 May 2009.
  3. Web site: UEFA.com. Litex can party like it is 1999. 2 May 2010. 2 May 2010.
  4. Web site: UEFA.com. Litex retain Bulgarian crown. 21 May 2011. 21 May 2011.
  5. News: Litex thrown out of Bulgarian league. BBC. 16 December 2015.
  6. News: Bulgarian champions may quit league. BBC. 16 December 2015.
  7. https://www.plamak.bg/%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD-%D0%BE%D1%82-%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BD-%D0%B5-%D1%81-38-100-%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B8-%D0%B2-%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%8F/ Бизнесмен от Смолян е с 38 100 акции в новия ЦСКА
  8. Web site: В Ловеч ще бъде създаден нов футболен клуб. 31 May 2016 .
  9. Web site: First Division Clubs in Europe. uefa.com. UEFA. 13 October 2016. 21.
  10. Web site: Въртележка: Литекс ще рита във "В" група с лиценза на Ботев Луковит.
  11. http://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=612318 Литекс сформира нов отбор, назначи треньор
  12. News: "Литекс" отстрани "Славия" и стигна 1/8-финалите за Купата на България. 22 September 2016. dnevnik. bg.
  13. https://topsport.bg/litex/liteks-stava-obshtinski-klub.html Литекс става общински клуб
  14. https://gong.bg/bg-football/vtora-liga/multimedia/video/kraj-na-erata-grisha-ganchev-v-liteks-793787 Край на ерата "Гриша Ганчев" в Литекс
  15. https://sportal.bg/news-2024061614461804807 Познато име застава начело на Литекс
  16. https://sportal.bg/news-2024061815101086154 Литекс си смени името, ето как ще се казва
  17. News: Soccer-New Litex coach Reghecampf eyes domestic double . . 7 August 2015.
  18. http://football24.bg/novina/115278-vaiushi-i-despodov-ot-liteks-vlyazoha-v-istoriyata Ваюши и Десподов от Литекс влязоха в историята