FC Lyubimets

FC Lyubimets (Bulgarian: ФК Любимец) is a Bulgarian football club based in Lyubimets. The team was founded in 1921 and re-founded in 2007. They currently compete in the Bulgarian fourth tier, the Regional Football League of Haskovo. The club competed in the A PFG for the first, and so far only time, during the 201314 season.[1]

Lyubimets
Full nameFootball Club Lyubimets
Founded1921 (1921)
/restored 2007/
GroundGradski Stadium,
Lyubimets
Capacity4,000
ChairmanAtanas Stalev
ManagerToshko Yordanov
LeagueA RFG Haskovo
2018–19A RFG Haskovo, 5th

The club's home ground is the local Municipal Stadium in Lyubimets, which has an overall capacity of 4,000 seats.

History

The first club was founded as Football Club Maritsa in 1921. In 1947 the club changed its name to Football Club Strela. In the 1960s the club was finally named Football Club Lyubimets. The club participated in the third and fourth divisions of Bulgarian football for the majority of its history, before being dissolved by the end of the 1993–94 season.

In 2007, thirteen years later, the club was restored as Football Club Lyubimets 2007. In its first season, the club was promoted for the first time to the second division. In its first season in professional football, the club finished in 7th place.

On 9 January 2013, club's former player Veselin Velikov was announced as the new manager.[2] Four months later he led Lyubimets to promotion to the A PFG for first time in the club's history, finishing in 2nd place in the B PFG.[3]

The first season in the professional top-flight began with a 1-0 win over defending champions Ludogorets, a big surprise in Bulgarian football. Lyubimets went on to win 9 points from their first four games, including wins against Lokomotiv Sofia and Europa League participants Botev Plovdiv (2-1 away in Plovdiv). Their form dropped after the fifth round, however, as the team managed to win only one of their next 18 games in the first phase. This placed them in the relegation group for the remainder of the season. In the relegation round, they won only one of twelve possible matches, and were relegated to the B PFG, after finishing last.

In the summer of 2014, the BFU decided to refuse to give FC Lyubimets a license for the second league, similarly to the other teams relegated that year from the first tier, Neftochimic and Pirin Gotse Delchev. This was done mainly because of financial reasons, as Lyubimets could not provide enough financial resources to sustain themselves in professional football. Lyubimets was subsequently relegated to the fourth tier, the regional league of Haskovo. The team returned to the third tier after two seasons in the fourth division, but was relegated immediately.

League positions

Regional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFGRegional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Bulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFG

Honours

Bulgarian A Group

Bulgarian B Group

  • Runners-up: 2012–13

Current squad

As of 1 November 2016 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF  BUL Ivan Yordanov
8 MF  BUL Nikolay Nikolaev
9 FW  BUL Ventsislav Yordanov
10 MF  BUL Georgi Drumev
11 DF  BUL Emil Asenov
12 GK  BUL Ventsislav Dimitrov
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 DF  BUL Martin Belomorski
15 MF  BUL Nikolay Ilchev
19 FW  BUL Hristo Dyulgerov
21 MF  BUL Dimitar Dimitrov
22 MF  BUL Atanas Evtimov

Managerial history

After restored
 
Name Nationality Years
Dimcho Markov June 2006–Oct 2008
Ivaylo Petev Oct 2008–Aug 2009
Stamen Belchev Aug 2009–Sept 2012
Krasimir Mechev Sept 2012–Jan 2013
Veselin Velikov Jan 1, 2013–Aug 10, 2013
Krasimir Mechev Aug 10, 2013–Jan 7, 2014
Voyn Voynov Jan 9, 2014

Notable stats

After restored in 2007

Most appearances for the club

#NameAppsYears
1 Emil Petkov982008–2012
2 Ivan Minchev782009–present
3 Ventsislav Yordanov722008–2010/2012–present
4 Kircho Krumov592008–2009/2010–2011
5 Anton Ognyanov532011–present

Most goals for the club

#NameGlsYears
1 Nikolay Pavlov202011–2012
2 Anton Ognyanov162011–present
3 Emil Petkov122008–2012
4 Tzvetomir Matev102010–2011
5 Atanas Lyubenov82009–2011

Notes:

  • Bold signals active players
  • Correct as of 2013-06-10

Past seasons

Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup
2015–16A RFG (IV)4th1374583246not qualified
2016–17Third League (III)17th9619387933not qualified
2017–18A RFG (IV)TBD
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

References

  1. "Club's Facts". Footballdatabase.eu.
  2. "Любимец махна Красимир Мечев" (in Bulgarian). hsmarica.com. 2013-01-09. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  3. "Любимец е новият член на А група" (in Bulgarian). novsport.com. 2013-05-19.
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