PFC Litex Lovech
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| PFC Litex Lovech | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | PFC Litex Lovech AD ("ПФК Литекс" Ловеч) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Lilacs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1921 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Lovech Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 8,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Angel Bonchev |
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| Manager |  Ljupko Petrović |
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| League | TBI A Football Group | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004-05 | 4th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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PFC Litex Lovech (Bulgarian: ПФК Литекс (Ловеч)) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Lovech.
Litex takes part in the TBI A Football Group. The team plays its home games at the local Lovech Stadium with 7,000 seats, electric lighting and permission to stage international matches. Litex has twice been Bulgarian champion and twice Bulgarian Cup winner.
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[edit] History
The football club of the town of Lovech was founded in 1921 under the name Hisarya. The first official game was held in 1923.
The club changed its name several times over the years, before becoming Osam in 1979. Under that name the club played constantly in the Bulgarian Second Division and was close to promotion several times, before finally achieving in 1994 under the name LEX (the sponsoring company at the time) after finishing in 1st position.
The first season in the Premier League was a kind of success for a club like LEX, finishing 11th after beating the teams of CSKA (1:0), Slavia Sofia (1:0) and Lokomotiv Plovdiv (1:0), which were some of the best teams in Bulgaria at the time.
The next season was not so successful and the team, renamed Lovech in the meantime, was relegated back to the Second Division. This was the turning point in the history of the club. Petrol businessman and citizen of Lovech Grisha Ganchev bought the club and renamed it Litex. Almost all of the current players were released and a significant number of valuable players were signed. The team won first place without difficulty, finishing more than 10 points ahead of the second team in the table and qualifying for the First Division. In the same season Litex reached the quarter-final of the Bulgarian Cup and the final of the Bulgarian League Cup, which they unfortunately lost after a 2:2 draw in regular time and a penalty shoot-out. Litex also won against every team from the top of the table of the Bulgarian First Division (either in friendly matches or cup matches).
In 1997, Litex were promoted for a second time to the First Division and immediately became Bulgarian champions, finishing the season 5 points ahead of the second-placed Levski Sofia. This was unprecedented in Bulgarian football history. The striker of the team Dimcho Belyakov became top goalscorer with his 21 goals during the season. Midfielder Stoycho Stoilov received the Best League Player award. The club's first participation in European club tournaments was also promising, with Litex eliminating the Swedish Halmstads BK (2:0 and 1:2) and reaching the second qualifying round (but being knocked out by Spartak Moscow). The team won the Bulgarian Championship for the second successive time a year later.
Litex Lovech have also won the Bulgarian Cup twice — 2001 (beating the team of Velbazhd Kyustendil 1:0 in the final match after extra time) and 2004 (a win over CSKA after 2:2 in the regular time and a penalty shootout).
Litex is also the team which inflicted the biggest defeat on CSKA Sofia — 8:0 in Lovech in the autumn of 1998. The club is honoured as the first Bulgarian team to win against a German team in Germany — 2:0 over Union Berlin in the Second Round of the UEFA Cup in October 2001.
The biggest win in Europe so far is 7:0 over NK Željezničar in Lovech in August 2004.
[edit] Current lineup
As of September 2006
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[edit] Achievements
- 2 times champion of Bulgaria (1998, 1999)
- 2 times Bulgarian Cup winner (2001, 2004)
- 4 times Bulgarian Cup finalist (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004)
- 1 time Bulgarian League Cup finalist (1997)
- Winner in the international friendly tournament in Norcia, Italy (2001), defeating Steaua Bucureşti 4:2 in the final)
[edit] Notable players
- Georgi Denev
- Petar Hubchev
- Radostin Kishishev
- Dimcho Belyakov
- Svetoslav Todorov
- Rosen Kirilov
- Zoran Jankovic
- Zlatomir Zagorcic
- Stoycho Stoilov
- Hristo Yovov
- Zhivko Zhelev
- Zdravko Zdravkov
- Ivaylo Petkov
- Altin Hadji
- Alban Busi
- Valeriu Rachita
- Aurelian Patrascu
- Dragoljub Simonovic
[edit] External links
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| Belasitsa Petrich | Beroe | Botev Plovdiv | Cherno More Varna | Conegliano | CSKA Sofia | Levski Sofia | Litex Lovech | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Lokomotiv Sofia | Marek Dupnitsa | Rilski Sportist | Rodopa Smolyan | Slavia Sofia | Spartak Varna | Vihren Sandanski edit | |
