OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad
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| Full name | Municipal football club Pirin Blagoevgrad | |||
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| Nickname(s) | The Eagles | |||
| Founded |
1922 2008 (After union) 2011 (As OFC Pirin) | |||
| Ground | Hristo Botev Stadium, Blagoevgrad | |||
| Capacity | 7,500 | |||
| Owner | Blagoevgrad Municipality | |||
| Head coach | Stefan Genov | |||
| League | Bulgarian First League | |||
| 2015–16 | A Group, 8th | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad (Bulgarian: ОФК Пирин Благоевград) is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the Parva Liga, the first division of Bulgarian football.
The club was founded in 2008, after a merger between two clubs from Blagoevgrad, Pirin 1922 and PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad. By an official court decision later that year, the club was announced as a historical successor of the club records of the former FC Pirin, founded in 1922. In 2011, following a bankruptcy of the entity, which owned the football club, Pirin's football department was merged once again with Perun Kresna, to become eventually OFC Pirin.
Pirin Blagoevgrad's name comes from Pirin, a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria. The club's home ground is the Hristo Botev Stadium in Blagoevgrad with a capacity of 7,000 spectators. Pirin's nickname is Orletata (the Eagles) and their kit colours are dark green and white. To date, the club has four domestic cup finals and most notably, enjoys high praise for its development of football players, as several noted Bulgarian footballers were produced by Pirin's youth academy. Among them are the 1994 FIFA World Cup Bronze medallists Petar Mihtarski and Ivaylo Andonov as well as the former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov who won 2 Premier League titles and was the top goal scorer for season 2010-11.
History
FC Pirin
One of OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad's predecessors, FC Pirin, was founded in 1922. FC Pirin has played more than 20 seasons in the top flight and has competed twice in the European football competitions with one participation in the UEFA Cup and one participation in the Cup Winners' Cup respectively. The club's first participation in the UEFA tournaments was not promising. In 1985, Pirin faced the then reigning Swedish champion Hammarby IF. The first game in Blagoevgrad, ended with a 1–3 loss. The second game in Sweden was also a defeat – 0–4 and Pirin were out of the European competitions. Pirin's best season in the Bulgarian top division was in the 1984–85 season, where they finished at 5th place at the end of the season. The club was also three times runner-up of the Bulgarian Cup. Also, Pirin's youth academy is attributed as being one of the best developers of young and unknown players in Bulgaria. Among the club's famous players are Dimitar Berbatov, Spas Delev, Petar Mihtarski, Ivaylo Andonov, Ivan Cvetkov, Vladislav Zlatinov and Petar Zlatinov.
On August 18, 2006, after failing to arrange some debts and signals of corruption, Pirin was thrown out of the A PFG, the team's results for the season were annulled, and the club was relegated to the Bulgarian South-West V AFG. However, after two years, Pirin won the South-West V AFG and the club returned for the upcoming season of the Western B PFG.
Unification
In December 2008, Pirin, which competed in the Western B PFG, was merged with PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad, (former FC Makedonska Slava), which played in the A PFG after a significant pressure from the supporters in the town. The new club was named FC Pirin Blagoevgrad and was soon proclaimed as a holder of the club records of the former FC Pirin, which competed for more than 20 seasons in the top flight.[1] FC Pirin's West B PFG place was taken by FC Bansko. Then, Nikolay Galchev appointed Petar Mihtarski as a manager of the club. A few months later, under Naci Şensoy's management, the successes followed-up and Pirin qualified for the final of the Bulgarian Cup, eliminating subsequently on their way CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia. At the final match in the Georgi Asparuhov Stadium in Sofia, Pirin were eliminated after a 3–0 defeat against Litex Lovech.
OFC Pirin
In the foremath of the 2011–12 season, Pirin Blagoevgrad failed to receive a professional license for the A Group. However, due to their financial struggles they were also rejected to participate in the South-West V AFG. Later that year, they acquired the license of Perun Kresna. The team finished 2011-12 season as Perun, but for 2012-13 the team was renamed to OFC Pirin.
In 2015, the club achieved promotion to the A Group after a four-year absence from top-flight football.
Colours
Currently, the team's home kit is green and the away kit is white. Various combinations of green and white have been used throughout the club's history.
Honours
Domestic
- 5th place (1): 1984–85
European
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup | 1 |  |
Hammarby | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–7 |
| 1994–95 | Cup Winners' Cup | QR |  |
Schaan | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 1 |  |
Panathinaikos | 0–2 | 1–6 | 1–8 | ||
Current squad
- As of 30 July 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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For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2016.
Past seasons
League positions
Last Seasons
| Season | League | Place | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Bulgarian Cup | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | V Group (III) | 3 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 69 | 26 | 62 | not qualified | ||
| 2013–14 | V Group | 1 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 87 | 6 | 79 | not qualified | ||
| 2014–15 | B Group (II) | 2 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 52 | 15 | 61 | First round | ||
| 2015–16 | A Group (I) | 8 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 45 | 26 | First round | ||
| 2016–17 | Parva Liga | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | TBD | ||
| Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation. | |||||||||||
Managers
| Dates | Name | Honours |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–2014 |  Kostadin Gerganchev |
1 V AFG title |
| 2014–2015 | Yordan Samokovliyski |
promotion to A Group |
| 2015 | Ivo Trenchev (interim) | |
| 2015 | Nedelcho Matushev |
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| 2015–2016 |  Naci Şensoy |
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| 2016- | Stefan Genov |
References
External links
| League competitions | |
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| Cup competitions | |
| Defunct competitions |
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| National teams | |
| Lists | |
| Awards | |