OFC Belasitsa Petrich

OFC Belasitsa (Bulgarian: ОФК Беласица Петрич) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Petrich, currently playing in the South-West Third League. The team was founded in 1923. They play at the Tzar Samuil Stadium in Petrich, which has a capacity of 9,500. The club last played in the first tier of Bulgarian football during the 2008-09 season.

This article is about the Bulgarian football club. For the mountain range, see Belasitsa. For the football club from the Republic of Macedonia, see FK Belasica.
OFC Belasitsa
Full nameOFC Belasitsa Petrich
Nickname(s)Komitite
Founded1923 (1923)
GroundTsar Samuil Stadium
Capacity9,500
ChairmanHristo Mazneykov
Head coachAlyosha Andonov
LeagueSouth-West Third League
2018–19South-West Third League, 9th

History

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.

Honours

Bulgarian First League:

  • 6th place 2005–06

Bulgarian Cup:

  • Semi-finals (1): 1981

Previous names
  • 1923 FC Manush Voivoda
  • 1928 FC Lubomir Vesov
  • 1931 FC Macedonia
  • 1946 FC Ilinden
  • 1948 FC Spartak

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

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. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  BUL Zahari Dimitrov
2 DF  BUL Desislav Tokov
3 DF  BUL Marin Georgiev
4 DF  BUL Lyubomir Graminov
5 MF  BUL Simeon Boyadzhiev
7 MF  BUL Zhivko Dimitrov
8 MF  BUL Yanislav Tusondzhiev
9 MF  BUL Ivan Marchev
10 MF  BUL Blagoy Nakov
11 MF  BUL Ventsislav Malamov
12 GK  BUL Kiril Georgiev
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 DF  BUL Aleksandar Georgiev
14 MF  BUL Dimitar Stoev
15 DF  BUL Atanas Karachorov
16 DF  BUL Aleksandar Smilkov
18 FW  POR Justino Mendes
19 MF  BUL Aleksandar Barzakov
20 FW  BUL Martin Taushanov (captain)
21 GK  BUL Dimitar Hristov
22 DF  BUL Valentin Kostov
23 MF  BUL Iliya Karapetrov
24 DF  BUL Ivan Makriev

Statistics

Most league appearances for Belasitsa Petrich in A PFG
  • 1. Dimitar Karadaliev – 108
  • 2. Lozan Trenchev – 105
  • 3. Yordan Popov – 101
  • 4. Valeri Stoyanov – 93
  • 5. Aleksandar Vukov – 86

Season record goals for Belasitsa Petrich
  • 1. Kostadin Kabranov – 22
  • 2. Dimitar Karadaliev – 19
  • 3. Vavá – 18
  • 4. Georgi Bibishkov – 16
  • 4. Dimitar Dimitrov – 16
  • 5. Gabrijel Radojičić – 13
  • 5. Ivan Yanev – 13

Notable managers
 
gollark: If your take is too spicy I MAY deploy orbital laser bees.
gollark: On what?
gollark: See, this is why AI is dangerous. As well as the other reasons.
gollark: Weird, it displays as whiteish as an image on its own but gray in this.
gollark: I mean, somewhat loud fans, but definitely effective ones!

References
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