PFC Slavia Sofia

Slavia Sofia

Full name	Професионален футболен клуб Славия София (Professional football club Slavia Sofia)
Nickname(s)	Белите (The Whites) Бялата лавина (The White Avalanche)
Founded	10 April 1913 (1913-04-10)
Ground	Slavia Stadium, Sofia
Ground Capacity	15,992
Chairman	Ventsislav Stefanov
Manager	Ivan Kolev
League	A Group
2013–14	A Group, 9th
Website	Club home page

PFC Slavia Sofia (Bulgarian: ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian football club founded on 10 April 1913 in Sofia. Slavia's ground is Slavia Stadium with a capacity of 15,992. The team's colours are white and black.

The club has won the Bulgarian Championship 7 times and the Bulgarian Cup 7 times. It has also come second in the championship ten times and reached the cup final 3 more times.

Among the team's international successes are a Cup Winners' Cup semifinal in 1967 and a quarterfinal in 1981, as well as two consecutive Balkans Cup trophies (1986 and 1988).

History

On April 10, 1913, a group of young people living near a Russian Monument in

After the First world war, Slavia began to become more successful. On June 5, 1928, the team won its first champion title, winning with 4–0 the final match against Vladislav Varna. The title was won by Slavia five more times until 1946, these were achieved in 1930, 1936, 1938–39, 1941 and 1943.

Slavia won the Bulgarian Cup for first time in 1952. By winning the 1963 Bulgarian Cup Final, Slavia qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the club's first appearance in European competition. They were drawn against Hungarian club MTK Budapest in the first round. Slavia were knocked out of the competition 2–1 on aggregate. Its most important achievements in Europe during 1966–67 Cup Winners' Cup campaign when Slavia eliminated Swansea City, RC Strasbourg and Servette FC, before being eliminated by Rangers at the semi-finals.^[2] The team consisted of great players such as goalkeeper Simeon Simeonov, Ivan Davidov, Aleksandar Shalamanov, Dimitar Largov, Dimitar Kostov and Aleksandar Vasilev.

In 1969 Slavia was merged with Lokomotiv Sofia under the name ZhSK Slavia. Two years later the two clubs split again after splitting was supported by 100,000 fans.

In the 1980–81 season, lead by Chavdar Tsvetkov and Andrey Zhelyazkov,^[3] Slavia reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup before losing 6–3 on aggregate to Feyenoord Rotterdam. In 1986, Slavia won Balkans Cup. In the final they beat Greek side Panionios 5–3 on aggregate. In 1988 Slavia won Balkans Cup for second time in his history.^[4]

In 1994 Stoyan Kotsev, the former Slavia midfielder, was appointed as new manager. After finished fourth in 1995, they went on the win the A PFG title in 1995–96. Slavia finished with 5 points more than the second, Levski Sofia. This marked Slavia's first Bulgarian title since 1943. In the 2010–11 season, Slavia reached the Bulgarian Cup Final, beating Ludogorets Razgrad, Etar 1924, Chernomorets Burgas and Pirin Blagoevgrad. However, they lost the final 1–0 to CSKA Sofia.^[5]

Stadium

Slavia Stadium in 2011

In the first 10 years after Slavia was founded, the club played in the stadium of his predecessor SC Razvitie. On 3 October 1923, Slavia became the owner of land to the Russian Monument in Sofia, where was the first ground of the club. They played their home games there for the next few decades, until they moved to southwest Sofia in the 1960s.

On 12 March 1958, started the construction of Slavia Stadium. Mayor of the sixth area in Sofia and president of the Slavia women's basketball team, Dimitar Tinev presided at the laying in place of the first stone. The stadium is built in a residential area Ovcha Kupel, served by regular bus services 6 km from Sofia city center. Slavia Stadium has undergone many changes over the years and it presently has an all-seated capacity of 15,992.

Honours

Domestic

• Champion of Bulgaria – 7 times
  • 1928, 1930, 1936, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1996
• Vice-champion of Bulgaria – 10 times
  • 1926, 1932, 1934, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1967, 1980 and 1990
• Third place – 12 times
  • 1940, 1942, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1982, 1986, 1991 and 1997
• Bulgarian Cup: – 7 times
  • Winner: 1952, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1975, 1980, and 1996
  • Runners-up (3): 1954, 1972, 2011

European

• Semi-finals at the Cup Winners' Cup – 1966–67
• Balkans Cup – 1986, 1988

Current squad

As of 18 July 2014

For recent transfers, see List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2014.

Foreign players

Technical staff

Notable players

Notable stats

Managerial history

References

External links

• Official website

Bulgarian A Professional Football Group 2014–15 clubs Beroe Botev Plovdiv Cherno More CSKA Haskovo Levski Litex Lokomotiv Plovdiv Lokomotiv Sofia Ludogorets Marek Slavia Stadiums Beroe Hristo Botev Ticha Balgarska Armia Haskovo Stadium Georgi Asparuhov Lovech Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) Lokomotiv (Sofia) Ludogorets Arena Bonchuk Ovcha Kupel 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) Dunav (25) Etar (24) Etar 1924 (1) Kaliakra (2) Lokomotiv GO (9) Lokomotiv Mezdra (2) Lyubimets 2007 (1) Maritsa (4) Metalurg (2) Minyor (38) Montana (7) Neftochimic (13) Nesebar (1) Pirin Blagoevgrad (23) Pirin 1922 (6) Pirin GD (2) Rilski Sportist (2) Rodopa (4) Rozova Dolina (1) Septemvri (3) 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 Division Third Division 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 * In the brackets is the number of seasons in the league.