FC CSKA 1948 Sofia

The club was founded on 19 July 2016, at a meeting at the Central Military Club in Sofia. The members of the Constituent Assembly announced partnership with Errea and a new crest close to CSKA Septemvriisko Zname.[2]

On 21 August 2016, FC CSKA 1948 won its first cup in a friendly four-team tournament in Kokalyane. The team defeated Akademik Sofia 1–0 in the final.

In its first official game for the 2016–17 season in A OFG Sofia (capital) South, CSKA 1948 won 8–0 against Lyulin Sofia. The club began playing its home games at Vasil Levski Stadium, but later during the season used the stadiums in Obelya and German. CSKA 1948 won its group and became champion of the whole A OFG Sofia (capital) after victory 4–3 against Nadezhda Dobroslavtsi. Then, on 7 June 2017, the team played with Bratsigovo in order to qualify for the Third League and won after penalties (7–6).[3] Beside that, CSKA 1948 reached the final for the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League, which they lost on 25 May 2017 to the club from the Third league FC Chernomorets Balchik.[4]

For their first season in the third division of the Bulgarian football (2017–18), the club moved to Dragalevtsi Stadium, in order to comply with the requirements of the respective league. After very strong performance, on 19 May 2018 CSKA 1948 secured its place in Second Professional League.[5] The team finished with 29 wins, 5 draws and no losses, as two players of the Reds became goalscorers of the South-West Third League - Andon Gushterov and Petko Petkov. Also, CSKA 1948 had again a good campaign for the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League, this time reaching the semi-finals.

For the beginning of the 2018–19 season in the Second Professional League, CSKA 1948 moved to Vasil Levski Stadium due to the higher league it is playing in. Strong selection of professional players was done, as the goal for the season is qualification for First League. After four rounds, manager Valentin Iliev, who managed the club from the very beginning, was replaced with Petko Petkov. CSKA 1948 eventually finished fourth, three points below the promotion playoff place, which was occupied by Arda Kardzhali. Although CSKA didn't promote to the elite in their first attempt, the team established itself as a strong contender for promotion.

For the 2019–20 season, CSKA started the season on a high note, defeating local rivals Lokomotiv Sofia 2–0 at home. This was followed by an away win at newly promoted Spartak Pleven with a score of 1–4. Another dominant 2–0 win against Spartak Varna earned the team three out of three wins in their first three matches. An away win against Montana, followed by a home destruction of OFC Pomorie extended their winning steak to 5 games. CSKA's spectacular form continued, as the team defeated Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa and Strumska Slava in the following rounds. The team then beat fellow Sofia rivals Septemvri Sofia 5–0 at home. The first defeat of the season came in the tenth round, when CSKA 1948 lost 1–0 to Litex Lovech. After a 2–0 home win against Chernomorets Balchik, CSKA suffered another loss in the hands of Kariana Erden. This was followed by three consecutive wins, which ended with a disappointing 2–2 home draw against Ludogorets II. Following that, the team managed to win two away games, against Botev Galabovo and Lokomotiv Sofia again, which put them in second place in the table, three points behind Septemvri Sofia, before the winter break.

CSKA 1948 secured their First League spot for the 2020–21 season after finishing 1st in the 2019–20 Second League. Krasimir Balakov was announced as manager for the new season on June 2, and the club unveiled a new logo on June 30 in preparation for their First League debut. On August 7 the team faced CSKA Sofia in its first game of the new season, the encounter resulted in a 2–2 draw.[6]

As of 28 January 2021

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  BUL Dimitar Todorov 3 DF  BUL Dimitar Pirgov 4 DF  BUL Angel Lyaskov 5 DF  BUL Mihail Minkov 7 MF  BUL Mario Topuzov 8 MF  BUL Ivaylo Klimentov 9 FW  BUL Martin Kamburov 10 MF  BUL Vasil Shopov 11 MF  BUL Denislav Aleksandrov 12 GK  BUL Nikola Videnov 14 DF  BUL Dimitar Savov 18 MF  BUL Ivaylo Chochev 20 MF  BUL Angel Bastunov

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 DF  BUL Ventsislav Vasilev (second captain) 24 DF  BUL Lazar Marin 25 DF  BUL Sasho Aleksandrov 26 MF  BUL Serkan Yusein (on loan from Ludogorets) 27 MF  BUL Borislav Damyanov 28 MF  BUL Emanuil Lichev 29 GK  BUL Daniel Naumov 33 MF  BUL Galin Ivanov 70 MF  BUL Georgi Rusev 87 DF  BUL Simeon Petrov 88 MF  BUL Martin Haydarov 90 MF  BUL Nikolay Ganchev 91 FW  BUL Stefan Statev

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

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  BUL Aleksandar Georgiev (at Strumska Slava until 31 December 2020) — MF  BUL Georgi Mariyanov (at Strumska Slava until 31 December 2020)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  BUL Valentin Yoskov (at Etar until 1 June 2021)

Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First Professional League however only three can be used in 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.