FC Lyubimets

The first club was founded as Football Club Maritsa in 1921. In 1947 the club changed its name to Football Club Strela. In the 1960s the club finally was named Football Club Lyubimets. They participated just in third and fourth divisions of Bulgarian football and was dissolved by the end of 1993–94 season.

In 2007, thirteen years later, the club was restored as Football Club Lyubimets 2007. In his first season, the club were promoted for first time to second division. In the first season in professional football, the club finished in 7th place.

On 9 January 2013, club's former player Veselin Velikov was announced as the new manager.[2] Four months later he led Lyubimets to promotion to the A PFG for first time in the club's history, finishing in 2nd place in the B PFG.[3]

The first season in the professional top-flight began with a 1-0 win over defending champions Ludogorets Razgrad. Lyubimets went on to win 9 points from their first four games, including wins against Lokomotiv Sofia and Europa League participants Botev Plovdiv (2-1 away in Plovdiv). Their form dropped after the fifth round, however, as the team managed to win only one of their next 18 games in the first phase. This placed them in the relegation group for the remainder of the season. In the relegation round, they won only one of twelve possible matches, and were relegated to the B PFG, after finishing last.

In the summer of 2014, the BFU decided to refuse to give FC Lyubimets a license for the second league, similarly to the other teams relegated that year from the first tier, Neftochimic Burgas and PFC Pirin Gotse Delchev. This was done mainly because of financial reasons. Lyubimets was subsequently relegated to the third tier, the V AFG.

League positions

Bulgarian A Group

• 14th place 2013–14

Bulgarian B Group

• Runners-up: 2012–13

As of 1 November 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 DF Ivan Yordanov 8 MF Nikolay Nikolaev 9 FW Ventsislav Yordanov 10 MF Georgi Drumev 11 DF Emil Asenov 12 GK Ventsislav Dimitrov

No. Position Player 13 DF Martin Belomorski 15 MF Nikolay Ilchev 19 FW Hristo Dyulgerov 21 MF Dimitar Dimitrov 22 MF Atanas Evtimov

After restored

Name Nationality Years Dimcho Markov June 2006–Oct 2008 Ivaylo Petev Oct 2008–Aug 2009 Stamen Belchev Aug 2009–Sept 2012 Krasimir Mechev Sept 2012–Jan 2013 Veselin Velikov Jan 1, 2013–Aug 10, 2013 Krasimir Mechev Aug 10, 2013–Jan 7, 2014 Voyn Voynov Jan 9, 2014

Notable stats

After restored in 2007

Most appearances for the club # Name Apps Years 1 Emil Petkov 98 2008–2012 2 Ivan Minchev 78 2009–present 3 Ventsislav Yordanov 72 2008–2010/2012–present 4 Kircho Krumov 59 2008–2009/2010–2011 5 Anton Ognyanov 53 2011–present

Most goals for the club # Name Gls Years 1 Nikolay Pavlov 20 2011–2012 2 Anton Ognyanov 16 2011–present 3 Emil Petkov 12 2008–2012 4 Tzvetomir Matev 10 2010–2011 5 Atanas Lyubenov 8 2009–2011

Notes:

• Bold signals active players
• Correct as of 2013-06-10

Past seasons

Season	League	Place	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Bulgarian Cup
2015–16	A RFG (IV)	4th	13	7	4	58	32	46	not qualified
2016–17	Third League (III)	17th	9	6	19	38	79	33	not qualified
2017–18	A RFG (IV)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	TBD
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

References

1. "Club's Facts". Footballdatabase.eu.
2. "Любимец махна Красимир Мечев" (in Bulgarian). hsmarica.com. 2013-01-09. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
3. "Любимец е новият член на А група" (in Bulgarian). novsport.com. 2013-05-19.

External links

• Official Club Website (in Bulgarian)
• Lyubimetz 2007 at bgclubs.eu (in Bulgarian)