POFC Botev Vratsa

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

POFC Botev Vratsa
Full nameProfessional Municipal Football Club
Botev Vratsa
Nickname(s)Зелените лъвове
(The Green Lions)
Founded1921 (1921)
GroundStadion Hristo Botev
Capacity25,000 (6,417 seated)
OwnerVratsa Municipality
ChairmanHristo Iliev
Head coachGennaro Iezzo
LeagueFirst League
2020–21First League, 12th of 14
WebsiteClub website

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 the first half of 2008 and in 2009, the stadium has 7 reconstructed seated sectors with a total of 6 417 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 together 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 from Croatia 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. In 1989–90 Botev was relegated to second division. In the next 19 years the club participated in either the second or the third Bulgarian divisions.

Botev managed to return to the top flight in 2011, after they won the 2010-11 B PFG, thus ending a 21-year absence from the top level of Bulgarian football. The 2011-12 A PFG 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 leagues, 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 Ilya 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

Bulgarian First League:

Bulgarian Second League:

Bulgarian Cup:

European

UEFA Cup:

Season Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
1971–72 1 Dinamo Zagreb 1–2 1–6 2–8

League positions
First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian Second LeagueBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football Group

Players

First-team squad

As of 17 March 2022

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  COL Federico Barrios
2 DF  BUL Valeri Hristov
3 DF  BRA Luiz Felipe
5 DF  BUL Kostadin Nichev
6 MF  BUL Antonio Georgiev
10 MF  BUL Teodor Georgiev
11 FW  BUL Viktor Vasilev
15 FW  BUL Miroslav Marinov
17 MF  BUL Chavdar Ivaylov
18 DF  BUL Iliya Milanov
20 FW  FRA Mohamed Bentahar
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 FW  BUL Hristian Petkov
22 DF  BUL Diego Ferraresso
24 MF  BUL Stefan Gavrilov
28 FW  BUL Krasimir Todorov
33 GK  BUL Hristo Georgiev
76 GK  BUL Krasimir Kostov (captain)
77 DF  BUL Martin Nikolov
88 MF  BUL Yoan Baurenski (on loan from CSKA Sofia)
94 MF  BUL Yuliyan Nenov
99 FW  COL Brayan Perea

For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2020–21 and Transfers summer 2021.

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.

Managers

Current technical body
Name Role
Ivaylo Dimitrov Head Coach
Radoslav Boyanov Assistant Coach
Iliyan Vasilev Goalkeeping Coach

References
  1. "B" Group archive Archived 2008-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Botev Vratsa history". botevvratsa.com. Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  3. "Italian head coach signs Botev Vratsa (in Bulgarian)". Livesport.bg. Archived from the original on 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  4. "Botev Vratsa appoint the new manager". Gong.bg. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  5. "Ясен Петров обеща да върне Ботев (Вр) в елита". topsport.bg. 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  6. Georgieva, Maria (2013-12-05). "Бойко Величков пое Ботев Враца". 7sport.net. Archived from the original on 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
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