OFC Spartak Pleven

Spartak Pleven was created in 1919, by a student from Pleven, Dragomir Nestorov. He along with a couple of friends founded the club under the name "Skobelov".

The year 1931 remains important for the club's history. This is because then the club changed its name to "Belite Orli". In 1941, the club was given their first ground by the Pleven municipality.

Things began to change in 1944, when the new government in Bulgaria began to interfere in sports as well. In 1946, it was decided that Belite Orli should be renamed to "Republikanec". However, the fans of the club were against the new name and in a meeting, it was decided to change the team's name to "Spartak Pleven", which it still carries today. In 1949, other football teams began to appear in the city, such as "Lokomotiv" and "General Vinarov". However, it was decided that all the teams should be united into one, strong team, so the name "Septemvri" was given to the new team. The team even managed to promote to the elite the same year. However, less than a year later, it was decided that Spartak Pleven would separate and act as a club on its own.

It was decided that there would be a qualifying tournament for the club's in Pleven to decide which team would participate on a professional level. Torpedo Pleven won that tournament and went to A PFG, while Spartak would start from the regional groups. However, the team quickly managed to promote back to professional football, gaining a place in the Bulgarian elite by 1951. In 1958, Spartak achieved its greatest success, finishing third.

Until the end of the 1980s, Spartak was a very important member of the Bulgarian elite, with only a couple of relegations to the second tier. The city of Pleven formed as one of the most important football centers in the country, with Spartak Pleven's youth academy becoming one of the strongest academies in Bulgaria, producing numerous players for the elite teams.

With the arrival of changes in the political and economic system in Bulgaria in the late 80s, Spartak Pleven experienced serious financial problems. However, until 2001, the team still managed to compete in the highest league three times. By 2001, Spartak had managed to compete 35 seasons in the top level, which grants the team tenth place in the all time rankings in Bulgaria. Since then, Spartak Pleven has been bouncing between the second and third tiers.

Their record low came in 2010, when the club declared bankruptcy. This led to the club being reformed and started playing from the amateur leagues.

At the end of the 2018-19 season, Spartak finished first in the North-West third league and managed to gain promotion to the second tier for the 2019-20 season. The team, however, experienced difficulties in the second tier, both financially and performance wise. Spartak largely remained in the relegation zone, struggling to survive. They were even deducted three points for not showing on a game. In May 2020, the Bulgarian Football Union decided to cancel the remainder of the season due to the coronavirus epidemic outbreak in Bulgaria. At the time, Spartak was in 16th place (second to last), which meant relegation to the third tier, after just one year in the second league.

• First League:
  • Third place: 1958
• Second League:
  • Winners (5): 1960–61, 1966–67, 1977–78, 1983–84, 2000–01
• Third League:
  • Winners (3): 2011–12, 2014–15, 2018–19
• Bulgarian Cup:
  • Runners-up: 1957
• Cup of the Soviet Army
  • Runners-up: 1987

League positions

As of 1 August 2020

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 Lachezar Kovachev 4 DF  BUL Tsvetelin Ivanov 5 DF  BUL Ivo Varbanov 6 DF  BUL Borislav Ivanov 7 FW  BUL Ivaylo Ivanov 8 MF  BUL Ivaylo Radentsov (captain) 10 MF  BUL Steven Slavkov 13 MF  BUL Petyo Ignatov 14 DF  BUL Andrey Petrov

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  BUL Ayvan Angelov 18 MF  BUL Ivo Ivanov 21 DF  BUL Valentino Makaveev 22 MF  BUL Pavel Petkov 24 MF  BUL Mariyan Kusev 30 GK  BUL Borislav Nachev 31 FW  BUL Andriyan Dimitrov 77 MF  BUL Aleksandar Mladenov 86 GK  BUL Dimitar Ivanov

• Обретенов, Светослав (1989). Северняшки танц с футболна топка (in Bulgarian). Пловдив: Издателство "Христо Г. Данов".
• Симеонов, Климент (1984). Футболът в България (in Bulgarian). София: Държавно издателство "Медицина и физкултура".

• Official website