PFC Litex Lovech
The PFK ( futbolen Profesionalen club ) Litex Lovech ( ПФК Литекс Ловеч ) is a professional football club from Lovech, Bulgaria.
History of the Association
The association has its roots in the FK Hisarja, which was officially launched in 1921 to life in 1923 and graduated its first game. This was followed up in 1935 with mergers Kirkov FK, FK Pobeda and SK Levski and a restart under the name DFS Christo Kurpatschew in 1957.
1979 marked with the name change to DFS Osam Lovech a milestone in the club's history. Osam established himself henceforth in the second Bulgarian league and missed the promotion to the top division often just barely.
In 1991, the club adopted the name of the new sponsor Lex and changed his name to Lex Lovech. The shape of the curve was still well up and culminated in 1994 in the promotion to the Bulgarian league, the one secured by the second division championship. In the first year caused a furore Lex, hit clubs such as CSKA Sofia, Slawia Sofia and Plovdiv Locomotive and finished the season off with a respectable eleventh place. The following year, the good result could not be confirmed what had to destitution.
Nevertheless, the check has developed into a positive turning point, as Grisha Ganchev, businessman in the oil industry, the club bought up and unnamed in Litex. There was a major reorganization in which a lot of the players had to leave the club to make a new team place. It hired both new talent and players who were formerly active in the great Bulgarian clubs and were sorted out there. Without much difficulty and at a distance of ten points Litex won the second division championship and went on. In addition, they developed a reputation as a " phenomenon Litex " because they both in the Bulgarian Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals, as well as in the Bulgarian League Cup, where they reached the final ( where they lost to Neftohimik Burgas on penalties ) and beat in friendly matches almost all the top clubs.
Already in the first season 1997/98 they won the championship as a climber sensational what was previously no other club managed and detached while the second-placed club Levski Sofia by five points. In addition, the striker could Dimcho Belyakov - with 21 meeting, the top scorer - and the midfielder Stoycho Stoilov win the title as the best player of the season.
Although the club was eliminated both in qualifying for the UEFA Champions League clearly against Spartak Moscow in the second qualifying round ( after the Bulgarians had kicked the Swedish club Halmstad in the first qualifying round), and then in the first round of the UEFA Cup against Grazer AK Litex successfully defended the title in Bulgaria in 1999 and ran the second championship one.
In the next two seasons, the level in the league could not be maintained and the club was based in the upper middle, whereas the Trophy could be extended by the Bulgarian Cup in 2001, when Welbaschd Kyustendil was beaten in extra time 1-0. The club bounced back from now on also in the championship and finished each from the second and then the third.
This was followed by winning the Second Bulgarian Cup in 2004, where they kept the upper hand in the penalty shoot-out against CSKA Sofia. Ljupko Petrovic, coach of the Cup winning team wears, at the time again the sporty responsibility after the Israeli coach Itzhak Shum, double winners Panathinaikos Athens, after a home defeat against CSKA Sofia was released in May 2005.
In the 2007 /08 season Litex after qualifying for the first round of the UEFA Cup. There, the club Hamburger SV subject.
A Grupa rankings since 1997/98
Others
- Litex holds the record for the biggest win against CSKA Sofia, the Bulgarian top team that was defeated 8-0, 1998.
- Litex became the first Bulgarian team in a European competition to win against a German representative in Germany, as in 2001 the first second division side FC Union Berlin was defeated in the second round.
Former Players
- Radostin Kischischew
- Stanislaw Manolew
- Milivoje Novakovič
- Svetoslav Todorov
- Džemal Berberović
- Georgi Milanow
- Iwelin Popov
Former coach
- Mihai Stoichiţă (2000)
- Itzhak Shum (2004-2005)
- Ljuboslaw Penev (2010-2011)
Sporting successes
- Bulgarian champion: 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011
- Bulgarian Cup winner: 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009