FC Lyubimets () is a Bulgarian football club based in Lyubimets. The team was founded in 1921 and re-founded in 2007. The team currently competes in the fourth tier of Bulgarian football, the A RFG Haskovo.
The club's biggest achievement came in 2013, when Lyubimets managed to promote to the A Group for the first time in club history for the 2013–14 season. Lyubimets was relegated, however, and has since slipped into the amateur levels of Bulgarian football.
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 was finally named Football Club Lyubimets. The club participated in the third and fourth divisions of Bulgarian football for the majority of its history, before being dissolved by the end of the 1993–94 season.
In 2007, thirteen years later, the club was restored as Football Club Lyubimets 2007. In its first season, the club was promoted for the first time to the second division. In its 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. 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.
The maiden season in the professional top-flight began with a 1–0 win over defending champions Ludogorets Razgrad, a big surprise in Bulgarian football. Lyubimets went on to earn 9 points from their first four games, including wins against Lokomotiv Sofia and Europa League participants Botev Plovdiv (2–1 away in Plovdiv). The team's form dropped after the fifth round, however, as it 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 and Pirin Gotse Delchev. This was done mainly because of financial reasons, as Lyubimets could not provide enough financial resources to sustain themselves in professional football. Lyubimets was subsequently relegated to the fourth tier, the regional league of Haskovo. The team returned to the third tier after two seasons in the fourth division, but was relegated immediately.
League positions
Honours Bulgarian B Group Runners-up (1): 2012–13
Current squad
Managerial history After restored NameNationalityYearsDimcho MarkovJune 2006–Oct 2008Ivaylo PetevOct 2008–Aug 2009Stamen BelchevAug 2009–Sept 2012Krasimir MechevSept 2012–Jan 2013Veselin Velikov1 January 2013–August 10, 2013Krasimir Mechev10 August 2013–January 7, 2014Voyn Voynov9 January 2014
Notable stats After the club was restored in 2007 Most appearances for the club #NameAppsYears1 Emil Petkov982008–20122 Ivan Minchev782009–present3 Ventsislav Yordanov722008–2010/2012–present4 Kircho Krumov592008–2009/2010–20115 Anton Ognyanov532011–presentMost goals for the club #NameGlsYears1 Nikolay Pavlov202011–20122 Anton Ognyanov162011–present3 Emil Petkov122008–20124 Tzvetomir Matev102010–20115 Atanas Lyubenov82009–2011
Notes: Bold signals active players Correct as of 2013-06-10
Past seasons Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup2015–16A RFG (IV) 4th 13 7 4 58 32 46 not qualified2016–17Third League (III) 17th 9 6 19 38 79 33 not qualified2017–18A RFG (IV) – – – – – – – TBD Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.
References
External links Official Club Website Lyubimetz 2007 at bgclubs.eu