PFC Balkan Botevgrad

PFC Balkan Botevgrad (Bulgarian: Балкан Ботевград) is a Bulgarian football club, playing in the city of Botevgrad. The stadium of the club is "Hristo Botev" in Botevgrad with capacity of 8,000 people.

History

The club was established in 1929 with the name "Stamen Panchev". In 1945 the club was renamed "Hristo Gurbov". Since 1947 the name is "Balkan". The main kit-colours of the team are green and white. In his history the club participated in either the second or the third Bulgarian division. Currently the team is playing in Bulgarian B Professional Football Group. From 2005, the chairman of the club is Tihomir Ninov. In 2007/2008 season Balkan finished 2nd in the Bulgarian South-West V AFG, but won promotion, because of the changes from the 2008/2009 season in Bulgaria's West and East B Groups. From 2008, the chief executive is the famous Bulgarian footballer Marian Hristov. The club qualified at the 1/8 finals of the Bulgarian Cup 2008-09 after defeating PFC Belite orli Pleven with 2:0 and beating PFC Lokomotiv Mezdra with 1:0 to made it to the 1/8 finals of the competition. Unfortunately, "Balkan" was eliminated by CSKA Sofia after a score of 5:0.

Best seasons

• Bulgarian second division - 5th place (1978/1979)
• Bulgarian Cup -1/8 finals - 2 times (1989, 2008)

Current squad

As of September 2008 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Famous players

• Ivan Atanasov
• Stoyan Kotsev
• Dimitar Tsekov
• Marian Hristov
• Nikolay Stanchev
• Genadi Simeonov
• Blagoy Krystanov
• Ivan Redovski
• Dimitar Topalov
• Ilia Tsekov
• Stefan Vlachkov-Skaramush
• Stefan Grozdanov
• Georgi Tihanov
• Borislav Yosifov
• Alexander Nikolov
• Vassil Redovski
• Georgi Alexiev
• Ivaylo Nanev
• Velin Ranov

See also

• Site of Balkan Botevgrad
• Official Bulgarian web-site of the club
• History of PFC Balkan Botevgrad