PFC Litex Lovech

Litex Lovech

Full name	Professional football club Litex Lovech
Nickname(s)	The Oranges
Short name	Litex
Founded	1921 (1921) as Hisarya Sports Club
Ground	Lovech Stadium, Lovech
Ground Capacity	8,100
Owner	Danail Ganchev
Chairman	Trifon Popov[1]
Manager	Lyuboslav Penev
League	A Group
2015–16	A Group, Expelled
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

PFC Litex Lovech (Bulgarian: ПФК Литекс Ловеч) or simply Litex (Bulgarian: Литекс) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Lovech, which competes in the B Group, the second division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Football Club.

The club's home ground is the Lovech Stadium, which has a capacity of 8100 seats, electric floodlights and permission to stage European matches. To date, Litex has won the championship four times and has won the Bulgarian Cup four times. Together with CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia, Litex is the third Bulgarian football club that represents the country in the European Club Association.

History

1921–1996

The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya and began playing league football during 1923. Over the years, the club has changed its name several times. From 1957 named Karpachev, before becoming Osam in 1979. Under that name the club played constantly in the B Group, the second division of Bulgarian football and was close to promotion several times. A notable star during this period was Plamen Linkov who broke the club's appearance record, playing 575 times, scoring 167 goals.

In 1990 sponsor of the team become a company LEX. In the same year, the club had changed its name to LEX Football Club. The 1993–94 season was successful for LEX, which finished 1st in second division and qualified for the A Group for first time in the club's history. The first season in the A Group was a success for the club, finishing 11th. The next season was not successful and the club, renamed Lovech, was relegated to the B Group.

Litex goalscorer Dimcho Belyakov.

Grisha Ganchev era (1996–2015)

In June 1996, the club was purchased by the petrol businessman and citizen of Lovech Grisha Ganchev and it was renamed to Litex. The takeover was immediately followed by a flurry of bids for high-profile players. Ferario Spasov was named as the new Litex coach. He led the club back to the A PFG at the first attempt. During the 1996–97 season Litex also reached the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup and the final of the Bulgarian League Cup, which was lost after a penalty shoot-out.

Litex with the Bulgarian Cup in 2009.

In 1997, Litex was promoted for the second time to the top 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 scored during the season. The midfielder Stoycho Stoilov received the Best League Player award. The club's first participation in the 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 Russian powerhouse Spartak Moscow).

A year later Litex retained their league title, losing only two league games all season. They became the first provincial club to win back-to-back league titles since the 1920s. During the campaign Litex inflicted the biggest defeat of CSKA Sofia's whole history, beating them 8-0 at Lovech Stadium.

In the recent years, Litex has won the Bulgarian Cup four times, in 2001 (a 1-0 win against Velbazhd Kyustendil after extra time), in 2004 (a win over CSKA after a 2-2 in the regular time and a penalty shoot-out), in 2008 a win over Cherno More Varna (1-0)^[2] and in 2009 against Pirin Blagoevgrad (3-0 in the regular time).^[3] In early August 2007, Litex signed a three-year sponsorship and advertising contract with Bulgarian mobile operator GLOBUL and started the 2007–08 season with the logo of the mobile service i-mode on the team's kits. In December 2007, Litex became the first Bulgarian club to have branded a mobile phone game, Litex Football. Before the start of the 2008–09 season, Litex lost the Bulgarian Supercup final with 0-1 from CSKA Sofia. The winning goal for the army team was scored by Kiril Kotev in the 65th minute. After a season later, Litex again lost the Bulgarian Supercup 0-1 against the champions Levski Sofia.

Litex with the A PFG title in 2010.

In 2009–10 season Litex became a champion of Bulgaria for the third time in its history, finishing with 12 points more than the second, CSKA Sofia.^[4] On 12 August 2010, Litex defeated Beroe 2–1 to win the Bulgarian Supercup, for the first time in the club's history. In 2010–11 Litex achieved a 4th league title, securing the championship with a 3–1 away win against Lokomotiv Sofia on 21 May 2011.^[5]

Danail Ganchev era (2015-present)

In the summer of 2015, Grisha Ganchev stepped down from his position as an owner, only to relocate his investments in the capital to CSKA Sofia, which had been financially struggling recently. As a result of the change, his son Danail took over the club.

On December 16, 2015, Litex Lovech was removed from A PFG.^[6] Litex players were forced off the pitch by sporting manager Stoycho Stoilov during the 12th December tie with Levski Sofia, during which Litex had 2 players sent off despite a 1-0 lead.^[7] On January 20, 2016 the team was officially relegated in B Group for 2016-17 season. The team will complete its participation in the Bulgarian Cup and the players could finish the 2015-16 season in PFC Litex Lovech II who participate in B Group.

League positions

Recent league statistics

Stadium

Lovech Stadium

Litex Lovech's home ground is the Lovech Stadium, a football stadium in Lovech. Built in 1962, the ground underwent a total reconstruction in 1999 and was brought to a suitable standard to host international matches in 1999. The stadium has more than 8000 seating places with pitch dimensions of 105 x 68 metres. The record attendance is 12,500 for the game against Levski Sofia on 19 April 1998. The record attendance in the European club competitions was achieved against Aston Villa on 18 September 2008, when around 8,000 spectators supported the team.

In the summer of 2010, a massive reconstruction of the venue was started, new side sectors with roof covers were built and the media sectors were expanded in order to meet the UEFA guidelines for Champions League matches. On 12 July 2010, the stadium officially received from UEFA a 3-star rating. The reconstructions continued in the summer of 2011. New covered stands and media boxes were built.

Honours

National competitions

A Group:

• Champions (4): 1997–98, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2010–11
• Runners-up (1): 2001–02
• Third (3): 2002–03, 2005–06, 2013–14

Bulgarian Cup:

• Winners (4): 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009
• Runners-up (3): 1999, 2003, 2007

Bulgarian League Cup:

• Runners-up (1): 1997

Bulgarian Supercup:

• Winners (1): 2010
• Runners-up (5): 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011

European: UEFA Cup / Europa League:

• Round of 32 - 2001–02, 2005–06

European record

Current squad

As of 15 January 2016 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Marin Orlinov 3 DF Anton Nedyalkov (captain) 5 DF Rafa Pérez 6 MF Krasimir Stanoev 7 MF Diogo Viana 8 MF Aleksandar Georgiev 9 FW Georgi Minchev 10 MF Vasil Shopov 11 FW Bjørn Johnsen 12 GK Aleksandar Konov 14 DF Emil Petrov 15 MF Kristiyan Malinov 17 MF Reyan Daskalov 18 MF Gustavo Culma

No. Position Player 19 MF Rumen Rumenov 21 MF Aleksandar Tsvetkov 23 DF Ivan Goranov 28 DF Plamen Galabov 30 GK Evgeni Aleksandrov 31 GK Vinícius Barrivieira 69 DF Helton Dos Reis 73 FW Milcho Angelov 77 MF Arsénio 88 MF Nikola Kolev 93 MF Petrus Boumal 98 FW Tonislav Yordanov 99 FW Kiril Despodov

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2015 and Transfers winter 2015–16.

For reserve team players, see Litex Lovech II.

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player — FW Kristiyan Tafradzhiyski (at Sozopol until 30 June 2016)

Foreign players

Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the A PFG, however only three can be used during 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.

Personnel

Board of directors

Position	Name	Nationality
Danail Ganchev
President	Trifon Popov
Vice-president	Kostadin Dimitrov
Managing Director	Velichko Dikhonov
Trademark Director	Andon Dimitrov

Current technical body

Position	Name	Nationality
Head Coach	Lyuboslav Penev
Assistant Coach	Evgeni Kolev
Litex II Coach	Stamen Belchev
Youth Academy Coach	Daniel Morales
Goalkeepers Coach	Vitomir Vutov
Condition Coach	Thomas Neubert
Physiotherapist	Stanimir Stoev
Physiotherapist	Lazar Lazarov
Physiotherapist	Petar Petrov
Administrator	Georgi Kolarov
Press Officer	Stoyan Petrov
Technical Secretary	Orlando Morera

UEFA club coefficient rankings

As of 7 August 2015.^[8]

Pos.	Team	Points
248	Žalgiris	4.925
249	Željezničar	4.925
250	Litex	4.875
251	Osijek	4.875
252	Žilina	4.850

Notable players

The following players included were either playing for their respective national teams or left good impression among the fans.

Note: For a complete list of Litex Lovech players, see Category:PFC Litex Lovech players.

Managerial history

This is a list of the recent Litex Lovech managers:

Name	From	To	Honours
Stoycho Mladenov	June 2004	Nov 2004
Itzhak Shum	Nov 15, 2004	May 2005
Ljupko Petrović	July 1, 2005	June 12, 2007	1 Bulgarian Cup
Ferario Spasov	June 2007	Nov 2007
Miodrag Ješić	Nov 2007	May 2008	1 Bulgarian Cup
Stanimir Stoilov	June 1, 2008	Aug 28, 2009	1 Bulgarian Cup
Angel Chervenkov	Sept 1, 2009	Aug 5, 2010	1 Bulgarian A PFG
Petko Petkov (interim)	Aug 5, 2010	Sept 1, 2010	1 Bulgarian Supercup
Lyuboslav Penev	Sept 2, 2010	Oct 24, 2011	1 Bulgarian A PFG
Atanas Dzhambazki	Oct 24, 2011	Dec 31, 2011
Hristo Stoichkov	Jan 5, 2012	June 5, 2013
Zlatomir Zagorčić	July 1, 2013	March 31, 2014
Miodrag Ješić	March 31, 2014	May 25, 2014
Krasimir Balakov	May 26, 2014	July 10, 2015
Ljupko Petrović (interim)	July 10, 2015	August 5, 2015
Laurențiu Reghecampf	August 6, 2015[9]	December 3, 2015
Ljupko Petrović	December 3, 2015	January 3, 2016
Lyboslav Penev	January 22, 2016

Notable stats

Plamen Linkov, the club's top scorer

Most appearances for the club Rank Name Apps 1 Plamen Linkov 575 2 Nebojša Jelenković 307 3 Vitomir Vutov 245 4 Zhivko Zhelev 225 5 Nikolay Dimitrov 210 Most goals for the club Rank Name Goals 1 Plamen Linkov 167 2 Stefan Yurukov 84 3 Svetoslav Todorov 70 4 Hristo Yovov 54 5 Dimcho Belyakov 48

Bulgarian league top scorer with the club Year Name Goals 1999 Dimcho Belyakov 21 2000 Svetoslav Todorov 19 2006 Milivoje Novakovič 16 2010 Wilfried Niflore 19 2014 Wilmar Jordán 20

Notes:

• Bold signals active players
• Correct as of 2010-05-16

All-time top scorers in A PFG

• Bold signals active players
• Correct as of December 13, 2014^[10]

Rank	Name	Games played	Goals scored	Assists	Goals per game	Years played
1	Svetoslav Todorov	127	56	22	0.44	1997–01, 2009–12
2	Stefan Yurukov	113	55	11	0.49	1996–97, 1998–02, 2003–04
3	Hristo Yovov	97	45	20	0.46	2000–04
4	Wilfried Niflore	72	39	11	0.54	2008–11
5	Dimtcho Beliakov	67	35	11	0.52	1994–97, 1998–99, 2004
6	Zhivko Zhelev	194	31	7	0.16	1996–07
7	Wilmar Jordán	54	29	7	0.54	2013–15
8	Zoran Janković	64	29	17	0.45	2000–02, 2004, 2007–08
9	Georgi Milanov	106	28	20	0.26	2009–13
10	Krum Bibishkov	60	27	6	0.45	2007–09

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to PFC Litex Lovech.

Official websites

• Official website
• UEFA Profile

Supporters website

• Ultras website

Information and statistics

• Litex at worldfootball.net

Bulgarian A Football Group 2015–16 clubs Beroe Botev Plovdiv Cherno More Levski Litex Lokomotiv Plovdiv Ludogorets Montana Pirin Blagoevgrad Slavia Stadiums Beroe Hristo Botev (Plovdiv) Ticha Georgi Asparuhov Lovech Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) Ludogorets Arena Ogosta Hristo Botev (Blagoevgrad) Ovcha Kupel Former clubs* Akademik Sofia (18) Akademik Svishtov (4) Belasitsa (12) Botev Vratsa (28) FC Chernomorets (29) PSFC Chernomorets (7) Chernomorets Burgas Sofia (1) CSKA (67) Dimitrovgrad (1) Dobrudzha (14) Dunav (25) Etar (24) Etar 1924 (1) Kaliakra (2) Lokomotiv GO (9) Lokomotiv Mezdra (2) Lokomotiv Sofia (67) Lyubimets 2007 (1) Maritsa (4) Metalurg (2) Minyor (38) Neftochimic (13) Nesebar (1) Pirin 1922 (6) Pirin GD (2) Rilski Sportist (2) Rodopa (4) Rozova Dolina (1) Septemvri (3) Sliven (25) Spartak Pleven (35) Spartak Plovdiv (17) Spartak Sofia (15) Spartak Varna (43) Sportist (1) Svetkavitsa (1) Velbazhd (7) Vidima-Rakovski (5) Vihren (4) Yantra (7) Former clubs (from Macedonia & Thrace) Belomorets Kavala Bitola Gotse Delchev Prilep Makedonija Bitola Makedonija Skopje Vardar Skopje ZhSK Skopje Competition Champions Players (foreign) Associated competitions Second Division Third Division Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Supercup UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League Seasons 1948–49 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 * In the brackets is the number of seasons in the league.