FC Lyubimets
FC Lyubimets (Bulgarian: ФК Любимец) is a Bulgarian football club based in Lyubimets. The team was founded in 1921 and re-founded in 2007. They currently compete in the Bulgarian fourth tier, the Regional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria). The club competed in the A PFG for the first time during the 2013–14 season.[1]
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| Full name | Football Club Lyubimets | ||
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| Founded | 1921 /restored 2007/ | ||
| Ground | Gradski Stadium, Lyubimets | ||
| Capacity | 4,000 | ||
| Chairman | Atanas Stalev | ||
| Manager | Toshko Yordanov | ||
| League | A RFG Haskovo | ||
| 2016–17 | South-East Third League, 17th (relegated) | ||
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The club's home ground is the local Municipal Stadium in Lyubimets, which has an overall capacity of 4,000 seats.
History
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
Honours
Bulgarian A Group
- 14th place 2013–14
Bulgarian B Group
- Runners-up: 2012–13
Current squad
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.
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Managerial history
- After restored
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Notable stats
- After restored in 2007
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Most appearances for the club
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Most goals for the club
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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
- "Club's Facts". Footballdatabase.eu.
- "Любимец махна Красимир Мечев" (in Bulgarian). hsmarica.com. 2013-01-09. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
- "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)