OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad

Full name

Municipal Football Club Pirin

Nickname(s)

Orletata (The Eaglets)

Short name

Pirin

Founded

1922

Ground

Hristo Botev Stadium, Blagoevgrad

Capacity

7,500

Owner

Blagoevgrad Municipality

Head coach

Milen Radukanov

League

First League

2016–17

First League, 10th

Website

Club website

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

Hristo Botev Stadium

Pirin (Bulgarian: Пирин) is a Bulgarian municipal (Bulgarian: общински, pronounced obshtinski) association football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the First League, the first division of Bulgarian football.

The club was founded in 2008, after a merger between two clubs from Blagoevgrad, Pirin 1922 and PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad. By an official court decision later that year, the club was announced as a historical successor of the club records of the former FC Pirin, founded in 1922. In 2011, following a bankruptcy of the entity, which represented the football club, Pirin's football department was merged once again with Perun Kresna, to eventually become OFC Pirin.

Pirin Blagoevgrad's name is adopted from Pirin, a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria. The club's home ground is the Hristo Botev Stadium in Blagoevgrad with a capacity of 7,000 spectators. Pirin's nickname is Orletata (the Baby Eagles) and their kit colours are dark green and white.

To date, the club has four domestic cup finals and most notably, enjoys high praise for its development of football players, as several noted Bulgarian footballers were produced by Pirin's youth academy. Among them are the 1994 FIFA World Cup bronze medallists Petar Mihtarski and Ivaylo Andonov, as well as former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov, who won two Premier League titles and was the 2010-11 Premier League top goalscorer.

History

FC Pirin

One of OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad's predecessors, FC Pirin, was founded in 1922. FC Pirin has played more than 20 seasons in the top flight and has competed twice in the European football competitions with one participation in the UEFA Cup and one participation in the Cup Winners' Cup respectively. 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 finished at 5th place at the end of the season. The club was also three 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 expelled from the A PFG, the team's results for the season were annulled, and the club was relegated to 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.

Unification

In December 2008, Pirin, which competed in the Western B PFG, was merged with PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad, (former FC Makedonska Slava), which played in the A PFG after a significant pressure from the supporters in the town. The new club was named FC Pirin Blagoevgrad and was soon proclaimed as a holder of the club records of the former FC Pirin, which competed for more than 20 seasons in the top flight.^[1] FC Pirin's West B PFG place was taken by FC Bansko. Then, Nikolay Galchev appointed Petar Mihtarski as a manager of the club. A few months later, under Naci Şensoy's management, the successes followed-up and Pirin qualified for the final of the Bulgarian Cup, eliminating subsequently on their way CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia. In the final match played at the Georgi Asparuhov Stadium in Sofia, Pirin were eliminated after a 3–0 defeat against Litex Lovech.

OFC Pirin

In the foremath of the 2011–12 season, Pirin Blagoevgrad failed to receive a professional license for the A Group. However, due to their financial struggles they were also rejected to participate in the South-West V AFG. Later that year, they acquired the license of Perun Kresna. The team finished 2011-12 season as Perun, but for 2012-13 the team was renamed to OFC Pirin.

In 2015, the club achieved promotion to the A Group after a four-year absence from top-flight football.

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

First League:

5th place (1): 1984–85

Bulgarian Cup:

Runner-up (4): 1981, 1992, 1994, 2009

European

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

Current squad

As of 22 July 2017

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

No.	Position	Player
3	DF	Rumen Sandev
4	DF	Dimitar Mitev
6	MF	Todor Palankov
7	MF	Andi Renja
9	FW	Radoslav Kirilov (on loan from Chievo)
10	FW	Aymen Souda
11	MF	Daniel Mladenov
14	DF	Stilyan Nikolov
15	MF	Dimitar Blagov
18	DF	Yulian Popev (captain)
19	FW	Stanislav Kostov
20	FW	Kiril Grozdanov

No.	Position	Player
21	DF	Aleksandar Bashliev
22	GK	Blagoy Makendzhiev
23	MF	Mario Topuzov
24	MF	Anton Kostadinov
25	MF	Metodiy Stefanov
26	FW	Lyubomir Tsolev
27	DF	Kostadin Nichev
28	MF	Vasil Bozhinov
29	FW	Petar Hristov
30	MF	Todor Trayanov
76	GK	Krasimir Kostov

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2017.

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
5		MF	Hristo Mladenov (at Strumska Slava until 30 June 2018)

Foreign players

Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First Professional League however only three can be used in 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.

EU Nationals

Ivan Tsvetkov

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)

Non-EU Nationals

Past seasons

League positions

Last Seasons

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
2014–15	B Group (II)	2	17	10	3	52	15	61	First round
2015–16	A Group (I)	8	5	11	16	27	45	26	First round
2016–17	Parva Liga	10	12	7	13	41	44	43	Quarterfinals
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

Managers

Dates	Name	Honours
2011–2014	Kostadin Gerganchev	99991 V AFG title
2014–2015	Yordan Samokovliyski	9999 promotion to A Group
2015	Ivo Trenchev (interim)	9999 promotion to A Group
2015	Nedelcho Matushev
2015–2016	Naci Şensoy
2016−2017	Stefan Genov
2017−	Milen Radukanov

References

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

External links

First Professional Football League
2017–18 clubs	Beroe Botev Plovdiv Cherno More CSKA Sofia Dunav Ruse Etar Levski Sofia Lokomotiv Plovdiv Ludogorets Razgrad Pirin Blagoevgrad Septemvri Sofia Slavia Sofia Vereya Vitosha Bistritsa
Stadiums	Beroe Botev 1912 Football Complex Ticha Balgarska Armia Gradski Stadium Ivaylo Vivacom Arena - Georgi Asparuhov Lokomotiv Ludogorets Arena Hristo Botev Vasil Levski National Stadium Trace Arena Bistritsa Stadium
Former clubs*	Akademik Sofia (18) Akademik Svishtov (4) Belasitsa (12) Botev Vratsa (28) FC Chernomorets (29) PSFC Chernomorets (7) Chernomorets Burgas Sofia (1) Dimitrovgrad (1) Dobrudzha (14) Etar (24) Etar 1924 (1) Kaliakra (2) Litex (21) Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa (10) Lokomotiv Mezdra (2) Lokomotiv Sofia (67) Lyubimets 2007 (1) Maritsa (4) Metalurg (2) Minyor (38) Montana (9) Neftochimic (14) Nesebar (1) Pirin 1922 (6) Pirin GD (2) Rilski Sportist (2) Rodopa (4) Rozova Dolina (1) Septemvri (3) Shumen (7) 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 League Third League 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 2016–17 2017–18
* In the brackets is the number of seasons in the league.

Football in Bulgaria
League competitions	First League Second League Third League (4 divisions) Regional Groups Bulgarian women's football championship
Cup competitions	Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Supercup Cup of AFL Bulgarian Women's Cup
Defunct competitions	State Championship (1924–1936, 1941–1945) Tsar's Cup (1924–44) National Football Division (1937–1940) Republic Championship (1945–1948) Cup of the Soviet Army (1983–90) BFU's Cup (1990–91) PFL's Cup (1994–97) Doubles Group (2008–2010) A Group (1948-2016)
National teams	Men Women Olympic team (U-23) Under-21 Under-19 Under-18 Under-17
Lists	Clubs Stadiums Foreign players National team results
Awards	Footballers' Footballer of the Year
BFU PFL

Bulgarian football championship seasons
State Championship (National Football Division)	1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1941 1942 1943 1944
Republic Championship	1945 1946 1947 1948
A Group	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
First League	2016–17 2017–18

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