OFC Belasitsa Petrich

Belasitsa Petrich was founded in 1923 as FC Manush Voivoda. From 1957 the club was called DFS Belasitsa after the union of the local football clubs "Stroitel", "Cherveno zname", "Torpedo" and "Spartak", i.e. all the teams from Petrich.

In 1980, Belasitsa promoted to A PFG for the first time ever. In its debut season in the Bulgarian elite in season 1980-81, the team finished in 13th place. In that same season, Belasitsa recorded its best appearance at the Bulgarian Cup, reaching the semifinals. They eliminated then holders of the cup, Slavia Sofia along the way. In the semifinal played on April 22 1981, in Karlovo, Belasitsa lost to eventual winners Botev Plovdiv, by 6-0.

During these years, Belasitsa earn themselves a reputation for playing very strong football. The team relied almost entirely on youth academy players for the first team. They played in the Bulgarian elite up until season 1983-84, when they were relegated after playoffs.

In 2001, 17 years after their relegation, Belasitsa returned to A PFG through administrative decisions made by the BFU. That year Belasitsa united with Hebar Pazardzik, who finished 9th in the 2000-01 season, thus entering the elite once again. The team however, finished 13th during the 2001-02 season and were relegated back to B PFG.

A year later, Belasitsa returned to the elite, and began its best ever campaign in the Bulgarian elite, managing to stay 6 straight seasons, up until 2009. One of the reasons for such strong results during these years was the fact that the team had brought a lot of talented Brazilian players, including Marcelo Vava, Dianu, Marquinos, and Eduardo Du Bala. In 2005, the team hired Macedonian coach Stevica Kuzmanovski, under whose guidance Belasitsa achieved its best ever result in the Bulgarian league, finishing in 6th place. Next season 2006-07, Belasitsa also performed strongly, finishing in 8th place.

However, after that season, a decline starts, as the team finished in 13th place during the 2007-08 season, saving themselves from relegation in the last round. Unfortunately for Belasitsa, they finished last during the 2008-09 season, thus being relegated.

After they were relegated to the B PFG in 2009, it was discovered that the team was in serious financial and administrative irregularities, and their future was very unclear. Belasitsa could not register enough players for the 2009-10 B PFG, so they were disqualified before the season started. They were administratively relegated to the V AFG for that season. In 2012, further economic problems began and the team was in danger from ceasing its operations. However, the team is eventually saved, with the financial support coming from the Municipality of Petrich. Belasitsa was further relegated to the fourth tier of Bulgarian football, the regional amateur league for the 2012-13 season. They achieved first place and were promoted back to the V AFG, where they still play as of 2019.

Bulgarian First League:

• 6th place 2005–06

Bulgarian Cup:

• Semi-finals (1): 1981

League positions

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 Zahari Dimitrov 2 DF Desislav Tokov 3 DF Marin Georgiev 4 DF Lyubomir Graminov 5 MF Simeon Boyadzhiev 7 MF Zhivko Dimitrov 8 MF Yanislav Tusondzhiev 9 MF Ivan Marchev 10 MF Blagoy Nakov 11 MF Ventsislav Malamov 12 GK Kiril Georgiev

No. Position Player 13 DF Aleksandar Georgiev 14 MF Dimitar Stoev 15 DF Atanas Karachorov 16 DF Aleksandar Smilkov 18 FW Justino Mendes 19 MF Aleksandar Barzakov 20 FW Martin Taushanov (captain) 21 GK Dimitar Hristov 22 DF Valentin Kostov 23 MF Iliya Karapetrov 24 DF Ivan Makriev