OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad

This article is about the currect club OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad. For the defunct club, see PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad.
Pirin Blagoevgrad
Full name Obshtinski Football club Pirin Blagoevgrad
Nickname(s) The Eagles
Founded 1922 (1922)
2008 (After union)
2011 (As OFC Pirin)
Ground Hristo Botev Stadium, Blagoevgrad
Ground Capacity 7,000
Manager Naci Şensoy
League A Group
2014–15 B Group, 2nd /promoted/
Website Club home page

OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad (Bulgarian: ОФК Пирин Благоевград) is a Bulgarian football club in Blagoevgrad which competes in the A Group, the first division of Bulgarian football.

The club was founded in 2008, after the union of the two clubs from BlagoevgradPirin and PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad. The new club is the historical successor of the original and traditional club records of the former FC Pirin which was founded in 1922. In 2011 was merged again with Perun Kresna, to become OFC Pirin.

The club's home ground is the Hristo Botev Stadium in Blagoevgrad with a seating capacity of 7,000, which was expanded after the winter break of the 2010–11 season by making completely new all-seater east stand.

History

Pirin

The club was founded in 1922. Pirin has played more than 20 seasons in the top flight and has played two times in the European football competitions - one participation in the UEFA Cup and one participation in the Cup Winners' Cup. The club's first participation in the UEFA tournaments was not promising. In 1985, Pirin faced the then reigning Swedish champion Hammarby IF. The first game in Blagoevgrad, ended with a 1–3 loss. The second game in Sweden was also a defeat – 0–4 and Pirin were out of the European competitions. Pirin's best season in the Bulgarian top division was in the 1984–85 season, where they managed a 5th place. The club was also two times runner-up of the Bulgarian Cup. Also, Pirin's youth academy is attributed as being one of the best developers of young and unknown players in Bulgaria. Among the club's famous players are Dimitar Berbatov, Spas Delev, Petar Mihtarski, Ivaylo Andonov, Ivan Cvetkov, Vladislav Zlatinov and Petar Zlatinov.

On August 18, 2006, after failing to arrange some debts and signals of corruption, Pirin was thrown out of the A PFG, the team's results for the season were annulled, and the club was demoted to play in the Bulgarian South-West V AFG. However, after two years, Pirin won the South-West V AFG and the club returned for the upcoming season of the Western B PFG.

The Union

In December 2008, Pirin, which played in the Western B PFG, merged with PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad, which played in A PFG. The new club was named FC Pirin Blagoevgrad and is officially the rightful holder of the club records of the former Pirin, which has played more than 20 seasons in the top flight.[1] FC Pirin's Western B PFG place was taken by FC Bansko. Then, Nikolay Galchev was appointed manager of the club Petar Mihtarski. A few months later, the successes came nearby and Pirin qualified for the final of the Bulgarian Cup, beating CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia). However, in the final, they suffered a 3–0 defeat against Litex Lovech.

OFC Pirin

In the foremath of the 2011–12 season, Pirin Blagoevgrad did not receive a professional license to compete in A PFG. However, due to their financial struggles they did not participate in the South-West V AFG. Later that year they got the license of Perun Kresna. The team finished 2011-12 season as Perun, but for 2012-13 the team got the name OFC Pirin. In 2015 team joined once again in A Group

Colours

Currently, the team's home kit is green and the away kit is white. Various combinations of green and white have been used throughout the club's history.

Honours

Domestic

Bulgarian A Group:

Bulgarian Cup:

European

Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
1985–86 UEFA Cup 1 Sweden Hammarby 1–3 0–4 1–7
1994–95 Cup Winners' Cup QR Liechtenstein Schaan 3–0 1–0 4–0
1 Greece Panathinaikos 0–2 1–6 1–8

Current squad

As of 25 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
3 Bulgaria DF Rumen Sandev
5 Bulgaria DF Aleksandar Dyulgerov
7 Bulgaria MF Toni Tasev
10 Bulgaria FW Martin Toshev
11 Brazil MF Edenilson Bergonsi
12 Bulgaria GK Veselin Ganev
14 Bulgaria DF Stilyan Nikolov
16 Bulgaria MF Ventsislav Bengyuzov
17 Bulgaria MF Iliya Karapetrov
18 Bulgaria DF Yulian Popev
19 Bulgaria MF Blagoy Nakov
20 Bulgaria MF Yanko Sandanski
No. Position Player
21 Bulgaria DF Aleksandar Bashliev
23 Bulgaria MF Todor Trayanov
24 Bulgaria MF Anton Kostadinov
25 Bulgaria MF Dimitar Blagov
28 Bulgaria MF Marquinhos
33 Bulgaria DF Emil Viyachki
76 Bulgaria GK Krasimir Kostov
Bulgaria MF Daniel Genov
Bulgaria MF Daniel Mladenov
Bulgaria MF Kostadin Dyakov
Bulgaria FW Smail Kreboliev

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

Foreign players

Up to three non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the A Group. 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.

EU Nationals

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)

Non-EU Nationals

Past seasons

League positions

Bulgarian A Football Group Bulgarian B Football Group Bulgarian V AFG Bulgarian A Football Group Bulgarian B Football Group Bulgarian A Football Group Bulgarian B Football Group Bulgarian A Football Group Bulgarian B Football Group Bulgarian A Football Group Bulgarian B Football Group Bulgarian A Football Group Bulgarian B Football Group Bulgarian A Football Group Bulgarian B Football Group
Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup
2012–13 V Group (III) 3 19 5 6 69 26 62 not qualified
2013–14 V Group 1 25 4 1 87 6 79 not qualified
2014–15B Group (II) 2 17 10 3 52 15 61 First round
2015–16A Group (I) First round
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

Managers

Dates Name Honours
2011–2014 Bulgaria Kostadin Gerganchev 1 V AFG title
2014–2015 Bulgaria Yordan Samokovliyski 1 Promote to A Group
2015 Bulgaria Ivo Trenchev (interim)
2015 Bulgaria Nedelcho Matushev
2015– Kosovo Naci Şensoy

References

  1. "История". pirinfc.com. Retrieved 11 October 2011.

External links

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