FC Sportist Svoge

FC Sportist (Bulgarian: ФК Спортист) is a Bulgarian football club based in Svoge, which currently competes in the Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football.

Sportist
Full nameFC Sportist Svoge
Nickname(s)The chocolates
Founded1924 (1924)
GroundChavdar Tsvetkov,
Svoge
Capacity3,500
ChairmanPetar Veselinov
Head coachAleksandar Manolov
LeagueSouth–West Third League
2018–1915th

The club was founded in 1924 and their home ground is the Chavdar Tsvetkov Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 3,500 spectators. The club's all-time success is the promotion to the Bulgarian top division in 2009, although they were relegated at the end of the 2009–10 A Group. The club plays home games in blue and white kits.

History

Early Years

Sportist Svoge was formed in 1924, as a sports club characterized by a blue and white check jersey. In 1949, after reorganization, the club was renamed to DSNM Svoge. In the years between 1952 and 1954, the sports club competes with the name of Minyor Svoge, and in the period between 1954 and 1957 carries the simple name FC Svoge. The club finally became known as Sportist Svoge in 1957, the name, which is known to date.

Road to the Elite

Until 2007, Sportist participated in either the third or the fourth amateurs divisions, but in 2006-07 the team were promoted for the first time to second division. In their first season in professional football, the club finished in 6th place. In 2008 manager Aleksandar Aleksandrov laid the foundations of a good team. The 2008-09 season in the domestic league was successful for the team, which finished 2nd, and managed to participate in the play-off for promotion in the Bulgarian A PFG. On June 17, 2009, Sportist surprisingly won the play-off against Naftex Burgas with a result of 6:4 in the penalty shoot-out and qualified for the A PFG for first time in the club's history.

A Group Season

On August 10, 2009, in the first match of the club in the top division of Bulgarian football, Sportist finished with a 1:1 draw against Slavia Sofia.[1] The first goal for the club in the A PFG scored Georgi Semerdzhiev. The first win came in the 5th round against Lokomotiv Plovdiv,[2] with 2:1 at the Chavdar Cvetkov Stadium. Sportist won just five games in their first A PFG campaign. From these five wins, four came from home games. They managed to beat Botev Plovdiv, Cherno More Varna, Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and OFC Sliven 2000. Away results weren't as impressive. Svoge only managed to beat Minyor Pernik and draw against Botev Plovdiv. These results earned the team 19 points, which was 13 points behind Sliven, who avoided relegation. Sportist were relegated at the end of the season to the B PFG.

Financial Difficulties and Relegations

The following two seasons were successful for the club, as they managed to earn second place twice in a row, qualifying for the promotion playoffs, but Sportist were unlucky on both occasions, losing to Chernomorets Pomorie and Botev Plovdiv respectively. For the 2013-14 B Group season, Sportist Svoge did not obtain a license due to financial reasons and was excluded from the second league. The team was relegated to the fourth tier of Bulagrian football, but managed to promote to the third tier the following season, 2013-14. After 2 seasons in the third division, Sportist was again relegated to the fourth tier. The team remained there until 2018, when they won promotion to the third league once more for the 2018-19 season. Svoge finished in 15th place following its return to the third division.

League positions
Regional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Regional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)

Honours

Bulgarian A PFG:

  • 15th place in the "A" group: 2009/10

Bulgarian Cup:

  • 1/8 finalist 1950 and 2007/08

Stadium

The club's home ground is the Chavdar Tsvetkov Stadium. It was opened in 1967.

Until 2007, the stadium was called Iskar. The same year, the stadium underwent serious renovation and its capacity was increased to 1,600 spectators and was renamed after the legendary striker of the club - Chavdar Tsvetkov. The stadium also has a parking lot with 120 parking spaces, including 10 for disabled people.

In 2009, the stadium's capacity was expanded to 3,500 spectators. The record attendance at the stadium is 3,250 spectators and was achieved at the game between Sportist and Levski Sofia on October 25, 2009.

Current squad

As of 1 February 2020 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 Stanislav Dimitrov
2 DF Simeon Ivanov
3 DF Giulio Charlov
4 DF Radoslav Iliev
5 DF Antoan Asenov
6 DF Milen Kikarin
7 MF Tomi Kostadinov
8 MF Nikolay Dyulgerov
9 DF Borislav Stoychev
10 MF Daniel Vasev
11 MF Kaloyan Angelov
12 GK Nikolay Radev
No. Position Player
13 MF Kiril Yanakiev
14 MF Deyan Borisov (captain)
15 FW Marian Hadzhiev
16 MF Kristiyan Petkov
17 MF Mihail Petrov
18 MF Steven Kirilov
19 DF Bogomil Bogomilov
20 MF Aleksandar Mihaylov
21 FW Vasil Kaloyanov
22 MF Stefan Alichkov
33 GK Vasil Valchev

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2020.

Managerial history

This is a list of the last six Sportist Svoge managers:

Name Nat From To Honours
Ivan Atanasov June 2007 5 January 2008 –
Atanas Dzhambazki 5 January 2008 4 November 2008 –
Aleksandar Aleksandrov 5 November 2008 31 August 2009 –
Ivan Atanasov 31 August 2009 24 December 2009 –
Stoycho Stoev 24 December 2009 19 April 2010 –
Ivan Atanasov 19 April 2010 present –

As of 19 April 2010

References
  1. "Sportist against Slavia". Pfl.bg. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  2. "Sportist against Lokomotiv Plovdiv". Pfl.bg. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
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