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PFC Levski Sofia

January 07, 2023

"Levski Sofia" redirects here. For the multisport club, see Levski Sofia (sports club).

Levski Sofia (Bulgarian: Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high school students, and is named after Vasil Levski, a Bulgarian revolutionary renowned as the national hero of the country.

Levski Sofia
Full nameПрофесионален Футболен Клуб „Левски“ София
Professional Football Club Levski Sofia
Nickname(s)Сините (The Blues)
Отбора на народа (The Team of the People)
Синята лавина (The Blue Avalanche)
Short nameLEV
Founded24 May 1914; 108 years ago (1914-05-24)
GroundVivacom Arena - Georgi Asparuhov
Capacity25,000
ShareholdersNasko Sirakov (86.6%)
Blue Bulgaria Trust (10%)
Minority shareholders (3.4%)
Head coachStanimir Stoilov
LeagueFirst League
2021–22First League, 4th of 14
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Levski has won a total of 74 trophies, including 26 national titles, 26 national cups and 3 supercups, as well as 13 domestic Doubles and 1 Treble. It is also the only Bulgarian football club to have never been relegated from the top division since the establishment of the league system in 1937.[1] Levski has reached the quarter-finals of UEFA competitions for five times, was runner-up of the Balkans Cup twice, and in 2006, it became the first Bulgarian club to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

The team's regular kit colour is all-blue. Levski's home ground is the Vivacom Arena - Georgi Asparuhov in Sofia, which has a capacity of 25,000 spectators. The club's biggest rivals are CSKA Sofia, and matches between the two capital sides are commonly referred to as the Eternal derby of Bulgaria. Levski also contests the Oldest capital derby with Slavia Sofia. The club is a regular member of the European Club Association and the European Multisport Club Association.[2][3]

History

1914–1969: Sports Club Levski

"At the founding meeting at the Hillock, I suggested Vasil Levski as our namesake because I didn't want foreign influence to our club's name, and because I admired the Apostle of Freedom and saw him as an example of bravery, agility and heroism, of boundless love for the people and willingness to sacrifice in the name of the people."

—Boris Vasilev, one of Levski's founders, on choosing the name for the club[4]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
First kit (1914–1920)

Sports Club Levski was founded in 1911 by a group of students from the Second Male High School in Sofia.[5] The club's name was chosen in honour of the Bulgarian revolutionary Vasil Levski, and the club was officially registered on 24 May 1914.

In 1914, Levski lost its first official match against FK 13 Sofia with the score of 2–0. Between 1914 and 1920, football wasn't a popular sport in Bulgaria, and no additional information about the club exists. In the summer of 1921, the Sofia Sports League was established, which united ten clubs from Sofia and marked the beginning of organized football competitions in the city. Levski won the first match in the championship in the 1921–22 season, held on 18 September 1921, against Atletik Sofia with the score of 3–1. The team captured first place in the league in 1923 after a 3–2 win over bitter rivals Slavia Sofia, and successfully defended the title the following season.

The first National Championship was held in 1924 with Levski representing Sofia. The team went on to win the title in 1933, 1937 and 1942, and established itself as the most popular football club in Bulgaria.[citation needed] In 1929, Levski became the first semi-professional football club in Bulgaria, after twelve players staged a boycott of the team in demand of financial remuneration and insurance benefits. The same year Levski met its first international opponents, losing to Gallipoli Istanbul 1–0 and winning against Kuban Istanbul 6–0. Between 1930 and 1932, Levski won the Ulpia Serdica Cup for three consecutive years and was permanently awarded the trophy as a result.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Levski kit during a large part of the 1940s–1960s [6]

After World War II, Levski became one of the two top clubs in Bulgaria. After winning the championship in 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1953, Levski would not capture the domestic title again until the mid-1960s. In 1949, the authorities changed the club's name to Dinamo following the Soviet traditions, but after the de-Stalinization of Bulgaria, it was reverted in 1957. The 1960s were marked with return to success both on the domestic and on the international stage. Levski's academy would become the most successful in national youth competitions for the years to come, and the results were first seen in the likes of Georgi Asparuhov, Georgi Sokolov, Biser Mihaylov, Kiril Ivkov, Ivan Vutsov, Stefan Aladzhov and Aleksandar Kostov, assisted by experienced veterans like Stefan Abadzhiev, Dimo Pechenikov and Hristo Iliev, which resulted in winning the championship in 1965, 1968 and 1970, including the 7–2 triumph over new bitter rivals CSKA Sofia in 1968. In the 1965–66 European Cup, Levski was eliminated in the first round by Benfica with 5–4 on aggregate.

1969–1985: Levski-Spartak

In January 1969, Levski was forcibly merged with Spartak Sofia by the Bulgarian Communist Party, and put under the auspice of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.[7] The name of the club was once again changed, this time to Levski-Spartak.

A new crop of youngsters in the likes of Kiril Milanov, Dobromir Zhechev, Pavel Panov, Stefan Pavlov, Yordan Yordanov, Stefan Staykov, Tomas Lafchis, Todor Barzov, Voyn Voynov, Georgi Tsvetkov, Plamen Nikolov, and Rusi Gochev not only found their place in the first team, but brought new league titles in 1974, 1977, 1979, 1984 and 1985. On the international stage, the team reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1969–70 and 1976–77, and the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1975–76. In the latter, Levski defeated Barcelona 5–4 in the second leg, becoming one of the two European teams (alongside Bayern Munich) to have scored five or more goals in one match against Barcelona in official UEFA competitions.[8] Additionally, Levski became the only Bulgarian club to eliminate a German champion after defeating VfB Stuttgart in the first round of the 1984–85 European Cup. They also eliminated Stuttgart a year earlier in the first round of the 1983–84 UEFA Cup.

1985–1989: Vitosha Sofia

The name of the team was changed to Vitosha by the authorities following the disruptions during and after the Bulgarian Cup final in 1985.[9] The game ran on high emotions fuelled by the streak of consecutive victories of Levski over CSKA in the two years prior to the game. During the game, which CSKA won 2–1, there were confrontations both on the field and on the stands.[9] By decree of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, some of the leading players of both clubs were suspended from the sport for life.[9] The championship title of the club for 1985 was suspended. However, the suspensions were lifted shortly after.[9] Levski won another cup and league titles in 1986 and 1988, respectively. The fourth European quarter-final came in 1986–87, when Levski knocked out the 1985–86 Danish Cup winners Boldklubben 1903 and the 1985–86 Yugoslav Cup holders Velež Mostar, before losing to the 1985–86 Copa del Rey winners Real Zaragoza.

Starting lineup versus Schalke 04 (2006 UEFA Cup quarter-final, first leg)

1989–2009: Return of Levski Sofia and the Blue Tale

After the 1989–90 season, the club regained its original name. The team was made up of players such as Plamen Nikolov, Petar Hubchev, Tsanko Tsvetanov, Emil Kremenliev, Zlatko Yankov, Georgi Slavchev, Ilian Iliev, Daniel Borimirov, Stanimir Stoilov, Velko Yotov, Plamen Getov, Nikolay Todorov and Nasko Sirakov, and won three consecutive domestic national championships in 1993, 1994 and 1995. Levski contributed seven players (Tsvetanov, Kremenliev, Yankov, Sirakov, Nikolov, Petar Aleksandrov, and Borimirov), more than any other Bulgarian team, to the Bulgaria national football team that finished in fourth place at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

In 2005–06, Levski reached the quarter-finals of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup after knocking out the 2004–05 Coupe de France winners Auxerre in the first round, finishing above SC Heerenveen, Dinamo București and the reigning title holders CSKA Moscow in the group stage, triumphing over Champions League participants Artmedia Bratislava and Udinese in the knockout stages, before being eliminated by Schalke 04.

 
Levski against Werder Bremen at the National Stadium in the Champions League

Levski, as the champions of Bulgaria, started their 2006–07 UEFA Champions League participation in the second qualifying round, where they eliminated Georgian champions Sioni Bolnisi, defeating them 2–0 both home and away. In the third round, Levski faced the Italian team Chievo Verona, which took part in the tournament because of other clubs' sanctions as part of the 2006 Serie A matchfixing scandal. Levski eliminated Chievo after a decisive 2–0 win in Sofia and a 2–2 draw in Verona, and thus became the first Bulgarian club to ever reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.[10] There, they faced the title holders Barcelona, Premier League champions Chelsea, and Werder Bremen.[11] They lost all six games and scored only one goal, in the second round against Chelsea.[9]

Levski's 2005–06 UEFA Cup run and the participation in the Champions League group stage were considered the club's greatest European successes in the 21st century, hence the period in which this happened (2005–2007) was informally called the Blue Tale.[12]

Levski earned a place in the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League after the Bulgarian league champions CSKA Sofia failed to obtain a UEFA license.[13] Levski lost to BATE Borisov of Belarus in the third qualifying round.

2009–2020: Downfall

During the 2009–10 season, Levski's team started their European campaign with a 9–0 (on aggregate) win against UE Sant Julià in the second qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. In the next round, Levski Sofia faced FK Baku, eliminating the team from Azerbaijan with 2–0 on aggregate. In the play-off round, Levski was eliminated by Debrecen with 4–1 on aggregate. As one of the play-off losers, Levski qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. In the group stage, Levski faced Villarreal, Lazio and Red Bull Salzburg. Levski achieved only one win and five defeats. Levski won against Lazio in Italy, after Hristo Yovov scored the winning goal in the match.

Levski started the 2010–11 season with a match against Dundalk, in a second qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Levski won the first match 6–0.[14] In the return leg at Oriel Park, Levski defeated Dundalk 2–0 with two first half goals from Garra Dembélé. In the next round Levski played against Kalmar FF. The first match ended 1–1 in Sweden. In the return leg in Sofia, Levski won 5–2. In between, The Blues defeated their archrival CSKA Sofia in the Eternal derby with 1–0. Their next match in the Europa League saw them play against AIK Fotboll from Stockholm, Sweden. The first match ended in a goalless draw, and after the game, AIK hooligans attacked the Levski players and staff.[citation needed] The second match ended in a 2–1 home win for Levski. Goals scored by Daniel Mladenov and Garra Dembélé put Levski in the Europa League group stage. Levski was drawn in Group C, facing Gent, Lille and Sporting CP. The first match was played against Gent at home, which Levski won 3–2 with the winning goal scored by Serginho Greene. With this win, Levski recorded eight consecutive games without a defeat in European competitions. After that, Levski lost to Sporting CP with 5–0, followed by another defeat against Lille. In Sofia, Levski played well against Lille and was leading 2–1 until Ivo Ivanov scored an own goal to make it 2–2. In the last match of the Group C, Levski took a win against Sporting CP with 1–0, with the winning goal scored by Daniel Mladenov.

In the following 2011–12 season, in the third qualifying round of the Europa League, Levski were eliminated by Spartak Trnava of Slovakia, following a late game 2–1 win in Sofia, and a loss of the same scoreline in Trnava. The penalty shoot-out costed Levski a place in the play-off round. This caused an upset with the fans and players,[citation needed] and the team barely clinched the fourth place at the winter break in the Bulgarian league. Albeit only three points from the leaders Ludogoretz Razgrad, the acting manager Georgi Ivanov was sacked from the position, but remained at the club as a sporting director. Nikolay Kostov was appointed the new manager of the club, giving the supporters a sense of optimism, which, however, faded after a cup knock-out in the hands of Lokomotiv Plovdiv and a home defeat to Minyor Pernik. Kostov handed in his resignation, leaving the managerial post once again vacant. Sporting director Georgi Ivanov once again stepped in to help the club, and accepted being the manager until the summer break, when a new one would be appointed.

 
Levski Sofia ultras during a derby match against CSKA Sofia

During the summer of 2012, former player Ilian Iliev was appointed the new manager of the club. Under his management, Levski was knocked out from the Europa League by Bosnian side FK Sarajevo. Iliev led the team to 13 league victories and to the semi-finals of the Bulgarian Cup after eliminating Cherno More Varna and Litex Lovech on the away goals rule. Iliev however was sacked after a 1–1 away draw against Pirin Gotse Delchev. Assistant manager Nikolay Mitov took over the team until the end of the season. Under his management Levski won the derby clashes against Litex, CSKA and Ludogorets but failed to win the title after a 1–1 home draw against Slavia Sofia. Levski also reached their first Bulgarian Cup final since 2007, but lost on penalties against Beroe Stara Zagora. Despite the missed opportunity of winning a trophy, Mitov's contract was renewed for the 2013–14 season. However, the team made another disappointing performance in Europa League, being eliminated by the Kazakh side Irtysh Pavlodar. As a result, Nikolay Mitov resigned as manager.

In July 2013 Slaviša Jokanović was appointed as the new manager of the team. Despite losing only two matches in twelve games, Jokanović was released in October 2013. Ivaylo Petev was announced as his successor but during his introduction a few Levski supporters interrupted it, stating that they would not accept his appointment.[15] The next day, Petev refused to take charge of the team and Antoni Zdravkov was named as the new manager. Under his reign the team suffered a heavy 3–0 loss against rivals CSKA, but managed to knock them out in the Bulgarian Cup in December 2013 after penalties. Due to the difficult financial situation, a few key players, such as Antonio Vutov and Garry Rodrigues, were sold to Udinese and Elche, respectively, during the winter break. This reflected on the team's performance and Levski finished fifth and got knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup by Botev Plovdiv. Antoni Zdravkov was sacked in March 2014, and Levski legend Elin Topuzakov took charge as a caretaker until the end of the 2013–14 season. The club did not participate in European competitions for the first time since 1990–91.

On 23 May 2014, the club supporters organized a friendly game against Lazio, marking the 100th anniversary of the club. Club icons like Georgi Ivanov, Dimitar Ivankov, Aleksandar Aleksandrov, Hristo Yovov, Elin Topuzakov and many other former players and celebrities took participation by playing in the game, as well as donating money for the event's organization.[16] The next day, Levski marked 100 years since its founding.[17]

The following years were arguably the darkest in the club's history. League-wise, Levski managed to finish higher than third place only once (runners-up in 2015–16), and achieved its lowest ever ranking (seventh place in 2014–15 and eighth in 2020–21).[18] On the stage of the Bulgarian Cup, the club lost two more finals, in 2015 to Cherno More[19] and in 2018 to Slavia Sofia.[20] In European competitions, Levski faced some of its most embarrassing eliminations – against Liechtenstein side FC Vaduz[21] and Cypriot AEK Larnaca, the latter inflicting the largest ever European defeat on aggregate for Levski (0–7).[22]

These years were turbulent not only on the football pitch, but at the higher hierarchy of the club. In June 2015, the long-time president Todor Batkov stepped down and the club was taken over by Ivo Tonev, Aleksandar Angelov and Nikolay Ivanov.[23] From this point onwards, Levski began to experience financial problems. Tonev, Angelov and Ivanov's reign was short-lived and in August 2016, they transferred their shares to businessman Spas Rusev.[24] Under his governance, Levski signed players like Gabriel Obertan and Jordi Gómez, as well as coach Delio Rossi, in an attempt to return the club's glory. However, Rusev's financing was dubious, and there were complaints for delayed wages.[25] In February 2017, Rusev admitted the club was "practically bankrupt".[26] On 9 February 2019, Rusev stepped down as owner of Levski, leaving the club with more than 30 million BGN in debt.[27] Four days later, businessman and former owner of archrivals CSKA Vasil Bozhkov took over the club.[28] He attempted to stabilize Levski's financial situation by immediately covering the most urgent obligations and selling or releasing the players with the highest wages, investing around 25 million BGN in total throughout his tenure.[29] In February 2020, Bozhkov stepped down as his main business, 7777.bg (National Lottery), had its license withdrawn by the Bulgarian government.[30] The club being left with no financing whatsoever and in a full-scale financial crisis,[31] sparkled an unprecedented support campaign amongst the fans, who engaged in various donation initiatives, raising 2.6 million BGN in the span of five months.[32]

In 2021, former owner Vasil Bozhkov admitted that he was forced to take over Levski under the threat of business closure by prime minister Boyko Borisov.[33] Bozhkov's confession was somewhat of a confirmation of the insinuation that the reason behind Levski's financial problems and occasional ownership changes was Borisov's idea of using the club as an instrument for political influence.[34]

2020–present: Return of Sirakov and Stoilov

 
 
Stanimir Stoilov (left) and the 2022 Bulgarian Cup trophy (right), won by Levski in May 2022

In the summer of 2020, club legend Nasko Sirakov took charge of the majority of shares and the club made some financial cuts, forcing a big part of the players (mainly foreigners) to leave. Levski also changed its transfer policy, signing mainly Bulgarian and homegrown players with lower salaries, allowing the club to start paying off some of the debt accumulated throughout the years. Sirakov set a target for the club to clear most of the debt by 2023, mostly through sponsorship deals, outgoing transfers, television rights and the fans' financial support.[35]

On 1 September 2021, Sirakov announced the return of the club's most successful manager in the 21st century, also known as the "author" of the Blue Tale, Stanimir Stoilov. At that time, Levski was in 10th place in the league standings with 4 defeats and 2 wins in the first 6 games. With his arrival, Stoilov released three players – Simeon Slavchev, Valeri Bojinov and Hristofor Hubchev, and signed José Córdoba from Etar and Dimitar Kostadinov from Septemvri Sofia. Under his management, the team managed to improve promptly, earning 20 points by the end of the half-season with 5 wins, 5 draws, and 3 defeats.

On 15 May 2022, Levski won the Bulgarian Cup by defeating its biggest rivals CSKA 1–0 in the final, thus ending the club's longest ever trophyless period (13 years). It was a record 26th cup for the Blues.[36] By winning the cup, the team earned a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifications. In the second qualifying round, they faced PAOK, who reached the quarter-finals of the same competition the previous season. Despite being considered underdogs, Levski managed to eliminate the Greek team 3–1 on aggregate.[37] However, Levski crashed out of the tournament in the third qualifying round after an upsetting home defeat on penalties at the hands of Maltese side Ħamrun Spartans.[38][39]

Honours

Type Competition Achievement Seasons
Domestic First League[40] 26 titles 1933, 1937, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948–49, 1950, 1953, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09
Bulgarian Cup[41] 26 titles 1942, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1956, 1957, 1958–59, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2021–22
Bulgarian Supercup[42] 3 titles 2005, 2007, 2009
Sofia Championship[43] 11 titles 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1928–29, 1932–33, 1936–37, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1947–48
Cup of Bulgaria[44] 1 titleS 1981–82[a]
Cup of the Soviet Army[45] 3 titles 1983–84, 1986–87, 1987–88
Ulpia Serdika Cup[46] 4 titles 1926, 1930, 1931, 1932
International UEFA Europa League[b] 2 times
Quarter-finals 		1975–76, 2005–06
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 3 times
Quarter-finals 		1969–70, 1976–77, 1986–87
Balkans Cup[47] 2 times
Runners-up 		1960–61, 1961–63
Doubles The Double[41][48] 13 times 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948–49, 1950, 1969–70, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1983–84, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2006–07
Trebles The Treble[41][48][49] 1 timeS 1983–84[c]
  •   Record
  • S Shared record
  1. ^ Unofficial tournament
  2. ^ Known as UEFA Cup before 2009
  3. ^ A Group, Bulgarian Cup, and Cup of the Soviet Army

European record

Main article: PFC Levski Sofia in European football

As of 11 August 2022.

Levski Sofia record in European football by competition
Competition S P W D L GF GA GD
UEFA Champions League / European Cup 15 58 15 14 29 74 82 –8
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup / European Cup Winners' Cup 11 36 14 5 17 70 55 +15
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup 26 112 41 25 46 144 150 –6
UEFA Europa Conference League 1 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2
UEFA Intertoto Cup 1 6 2 2 2 12 11 +1
Balkans Cup 3 23 8 8 7 35 24 +11
Mitropa Cup 1 2 1 0 1 1 5 –4
Intertoto Cup Ernst Thommen 1 4 3 0 1 12 5 +7
Total 59 245 86 55 104 353 335 +18

Recent seasons

Main article: List of PFC Levski Sofia seasons

League positions

First Professional Football LeagueBulgarian A Football Group
Season Position G W D L GS GA P Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Supercup Champions League Europa League Conference League
2012–13 2 30 22 5 3 59 20 71 Runners-up — — Second qualifying round —
2013–14 5 38 19 5 14 59 39 62 Quarter-finals — — First qualifying round —
2014–15 7 32 17 5 10 66 33 56 Runners-up — — — —
2015–16 2 32 16 8 8 36 18 56 Quarter-finals — — — —
2016–17 3 36 18 9 9 50 31 63 Round of 16 — — Second qualifying round —
2017–18 3 36 18 10 8 55 27 64 Runners-up — — Second qualifying round —
2018–19 3 36 20 6 10 64 37 66 Round of 16 — — First qualifying round —
2019–20 4 31 15 8 8 50 30 53 Semi-finals — — Second qualifying round —
2020–21 8 32 11 8 13 34 32 41 Quarter-finals — — — —
2021–22 4 31 15 7 9 38 27 52 Winners — — — —
2022–23 Round of 16 Runners-up — — Third qualifying round
Key
  • G = Games played
  • W = Games won
  • D = Games drawn
  • L = Games lost
  • GS = Goals scored
  • GA = Goals against
  • P = Points

Club symbols

Names and crests

 
Vasil Levski, club's patron

The first club crest was designed by Mircho Kachulev in 1922. Initially in the size of a square with a blue background, it was intentionally written in a stylized letter "Л" (Bulgarian letter "L"; shortened for Levski). The inner space of the letter was filled vertically equally in yellow and red colours. In a later period of time, the Cyrillic letters "С" (Sport) and "К" (club) were added at the top of the square, while the bottom side was inscribed with the name "Sofia". This badge was used by the club until 1949, when it was renamed to Dinamo.

From 1949 to 1956, the emblem of the club was an irregular hexagon filled with vertical red, white, blue and yellow colours, with an inscribed handwritten Cyrillic letter "Д", alongside a five-pointed red star above it and the word "Sofia" underneath. From 1957 to 1968 the original logo of the club was restored, however the letters C" and "К" were replaced with "Ф" (Athletic) and "Д" (union).

After the merger with Spartak Sofia in 1969, the club crest has been a shield in blue and white with a horizontal red bar above. The shield spawned the letters "Л" and "C", an abbreviation of the new name Levski-Spartak. The football club used this crest until 1985, when it was renamed Vitosha. Vitosha's crest was in the form of a stylized letter "C" surrounding the football in the upper curve of the letter, coloured in blue and white.

In January 1990, the club restored its original name and original logo, and the letters "C" and "K" in the upper corner of the blue square were replaced with the initials "Ф" (football) and "K" (club). However, due to legal issues with the ownership of the rights to the historic crest, the club was forced to change it in 1998, when a brand new shield logo was introduced, entirely in blue. At its centre, an inscription of the letter "Л" was introduced, alongside the year of establishment – 1914. The dome of the shield was labelled "PFC Levski".

After winning the legal dispute for the rights to the historic emblem in 2006, the club decided to use the two different crests simultaneously for a brief period of time. Later that year, the shield crest was replaced by the classic square emblem.

The Cyrillic letter Л (L) is used today as the club's kit crest and on its social media channels.

  •  

    First crest (1922)

  •  

    Sports Club Levski Sofia (1923–1944)

  •  

    Professional Athletic Union Levski Sofia (1944–1949)

  •  

    Dinamo Sofia (1949–1957)

  •  

    Athletic Union Levski Sofia (1957–1969)

  •  

    State Athletic Union Levski-Spartak (1969–1985)

  •  

    Vitosha Sofia (1985–1989)

  •  

    Levski-Spartak (1989–1990)

  •  

    Levski Sofia (1990–1992, 2006–2014)

  •  

    Levski 1914 (1992–1998)

  •  

    PFC Levski 1914 (1998–2006)

  •  

    Centenary crest (2014)

  •  

    Modified version of the centenary crest (2014–present)

  •  

    Official kit crest

Club anthem

The first anthem of Levski was written by renowned Bulgarian poet Dimcho Debelyanov and composed by Lyubomir Pipkov.[50][51] Since 1999, the club anthem is "Само Левски шампион"[52] (Only Levski, the champion), composed by Stefan Dimitrov.[53]

Players

First team

As of 1 January 2023[54]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW   MAR Bilal Bari
21 DF   CRO Ante Blažević
22 DF   BUL Patrick-Gabriel Galchev
23 DF   GAM Noah Sonko Sundberg
27 MF   BUL Asen Mitkov
30 MF   BUL Filip Krastev (on loan from Lommel)
33 DF   PAN José Córdoba
71 MF   BUL Antoan Stoyanov
88 FW   BUL Marin Petkov
99 GK   BUL Ivan Andonov
— DF   BUL Kristian Dimitrov

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2022 and Transfers winter 2022–23.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF   BUL Zdravko Dimitrov (to Spartak Varna until June 2023)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF   CUW Nathan Holder (to Spartak Varna until June 2023)

Reserve team

Main article: PFC Levski Sofia II

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
16 FW   BUL Preslav Bachev
24 FW   BUL Borislav Rupanov
32 DF   BUL Atanas Kilov
34 DF   BUL Aleksandar Bozhilov
35 DF   BUL Deyvid Mihalev
No. Pos. Nation Player
37 FW   BUL Kaloyan Strinski
41 DF   BUL Dimitar Andonov
42 DF   BUL Denis Dinev
— GK   BUL Yoan Zagorov

Foreign players

Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League, however only five non-EU/EEA nationals can be used during a match day. Those non-EU/EEA nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If players are not of European origin, they can claim Bulgarian citizenship after five years of playing in Bulgaria.

Note: For a complete list of Levski Sofia players, see Category:PFC Levski Sofia players.

Club officials

Board of Directors

Youth academy

Levski's youth academy has developed some of the most successful Bulgarian footballers. Notable academy graduates are Georgi Asparuhov, Nasko Sirakov, Bozhidar Iskrenov, Bozhin Laskov, Georgi Sokolov, Asen Peshev, Borislav Mihaylov, Emil Spasov, Nikolay Iliev, Hristo Yovov, Dimitar Ivankov and many others. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup in which Bulgaria reached the semi-finals, the Bulgarian squad included four players which came through Levski's youth system, making it the most represented club in the Bulgarian squad. In 2020, Levski was included in the CIES Football Observatory annual rankings, which ranks the clubs that trained the most players active in 31 top divisions of UEFA member associations. In these countries there were 33 footballers from Levski's youth academy, and Levski was ranked 35th in Europe.[57]

Stadium

Main article: Stadion Georgi Asparuhov
 
Gerena

Initially, the club did not possess a field of its own and training was held on an empty space called The Hillock (Могилката/Mogilkata), where the National Palace of Culture was built later. In 1924, the Sofia Municipality provided the club with the rights to an empty field on what were then the outskirts of the city, and a decade later the stadium named Levski Field was finally completed. It provided for 10,000 spectators and was regarded as the finest sport facility in the city.

In 1949, the stadium was nationalized and later the Vasil Levski National Stadium was built on the site. The team played in various locations (including the nearby Yunak Stadium) before moving to the "Dinamo" ground, which was located at the site of the modern Spartak swimming complex. In 1961 after districting the team moved to "Suhata Reka" neighborhood. There a new stadium was completed in 1963, renamed in 1990 in honour of Levski's most beloved former player Georgi Asparuhov.

In 1999, the stadium emerged from serious reconstruction for 29,000 spectators. The field measures 105 x 68 metres. However, the team plays most of its important games versus foreign teams on the national stadium "Vasil Levski". On one occasion the former club president Todor Batkov had demanded that Levski should receive "Rakovski" stadium on loan. The demand was on grounds that the first club stadium was nationalized and Levski had never been repaid.

In October 2012, it was announced that Levski is rebuilding its stadium. The first phase of the planned reconstruction was to be completed in 2014, on the centennial of the club's foundation. As of 2013, the capacity was reduced to 19,000 due to the undergoing reconstruction of the main stand. On 5 July 2013, the first step was made in the construction of the main stand, which has a capacity of 6000 spectators and meets all the requirements of UEFA for the convenience of fans. Contractor of the "blue" building is the leading Bulgarian company in the construction of road infrastructure and other important rehabilitation projects, “Avtomagistrali – Tcherno more” AD. The stadium's main stand was officially opened on 23 April 2016 at a special ceremony. Since 2019, the Museum of Glory of Levski Sofia is also located at the stadium.[58]

Supporters

 
Sector B in 2006

Historically, Levski Sofia fans gathered in the south stand of the stadium. This tradition is believed to have its roots in the Sofia Derby when Levski fans met before the games at the area close to the south end of the Vasil Levski National Stadium. Due to the orientation of the stadium and the naming conventions of stands at most Bulgarian stadiums, Sector B became synonymous with Levski fans. More recently the fans in Sector B are seen as part of the ultras movement popular in the Balkans. Today Sector B initiates most of the songs, choreography and pyrotechnic displays at Levski games. Levski supporters are organized by fanclubs, most notably the National Supporters Club which helps and coordinates fans from all around Bulgaria and supports the organization of events. There are also notable groups from Sofia (Sofia-West, South Division, Blue Junta, HD Boys, LSL and more) and other cities across Bulgaria and globally (such as Ultra Varna, Blue Huns Pernik, OCB Veliko Tarnovo, Torcida Kyustendil, Ultras Vidin, Iron Pazardzhik, Youth Brigade 034 Pazardzik, Blue Boys Blagoevgrad, Blue Lads Sliven, Vandals Pleven, Levski Club Dobrich, Ultras Radomir, Ultras Burgas, Levski 1914 Karlovo, Yambol Boys, Levski UK, Levski Chicago and more). Ultras Levski have a long-standing friendship with Lazio fans.[59][60] According to a study performed for UEFA, Levski is the most popular Bulgarian club and share the sixth position in Europe with Juventus, by percentage of support in its own country (31%).[61]

UEFA & IFFHS rankings

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

[64][65]

Club records

As of 2022

3 for win: 79[83] — 1994–95
2 for win: 50 — 1969–70, 1971–72

Player records

As of 18 July 2022.[87]

Managerial history and notable players

Managers

Notable Bulgarian players

Players with at least one appearance for the Bulgarian national team.

Notable foreign players

Foreign players with at least 30 games for the club or that were internationally capped. Players who were internationally capped for their country are listed in bold.

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year

 
Kiril Ivkov, the 1968 Summer Olympics football tournament finalist

A Group top goalscorers

 
Nasko Sirakov, Levski's all-time top goalscorer

See also

References

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January 07, 2023
levski, sofia, levski, sofia, redirects, here, multisport, club, levski, sofia, sports, club, levski, sofia, bulgarian, Левски, София, bulgarian, professional, association, football, club, based, sofia, which, competes, first, league, division, bulgarian, foot. Levski Sofia redirects here For the multisport club see Levski Sofia sports club Levski Sofia Bulgarian Levski Sofiya is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia which competes in the First League the top division of the Bulgarian football league system The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high school students and is named after Vasil Levski a Bulgarian revolutionary renowned as the national hero of the country Levski SofiaFull nameProfesionalen Futbolen Klub Levski SofiyaProfessional Football Club Levski SofiaNickname s Sinite The Blues Otbora na naroda The Team of the People Sinyata lavina The Blue Avalanche Short nameLEVFounded24 May 1914 108 years ago 1914 05 24 GroundVivacom Arena Georgi AsparuhovCapacity25 000ShareholdersNasko Sirakov 86 6 Blue Bulgaria Trust 10 Minority shareholders 3 4 Head coachStanimir StoilovLeagueFirst League2021 22First League 4th of 14WebsiteClub websiteHome coloursAway coloursThird coloursCurrent seasonLevski has won a total of 74 trophies including 26 national titles 26 national cups and 3 supercups as well as 13 domestic Doubles and 1 Treble It is also the only Bulgarian football club to have never been relegated from the top division since the establishment of the league system in 1937 1 Levski has reached the quarter finals of UEFA competitions for five times was runner up of the Balkans Cup twice and in 2006 it became the first Bulgarian club to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League The team s regular kit colour is all blue Levski s home ground is the Vivacom Arena Georgi Asparuhov in Sofia which has a capacity of 25 000 spectators The club s biggest rivals are CSKA Sofia and matches between the two capital sides are commonly referred to as the Eternal derby of Bulgaria Levski also contests the Oldest capital derby with Slavia Sofia The club is a regular member of the European Club Association and the European Multisport Club Association 2 3 Contents 1 History 1 1 1914 1969 Sports Club Levski 1 2 1969 1985 Levski Spartak 1 3 1985 1989 Vitosha Sofia 1 4 1989 2009 Return of Levski Sofia and the Blue Tale 1 5 2009 2020 Downfall 1 6 2020 present Return of Sirakov and Stoilov 2 Honours 3 European record 4 Recent seasons 4 1 League positions 5 Club symbols 5 1 Names and crests 5 2 Club anthem 6 Players 6 1 First team 6 2 Out on loan 6 3 Reserve team 6 4 Foreign players 7 Club officials 7 1 Board of Directors 7 2 First Team 7 3 Youth Academy 8 Youth academy 9 Stadium 10 Supporters 11 UEFA amp IFFHS rankings 11 1 Club coefficients 11 2 Club world ranking 12 Shirt sponsors and manufacturers 13 Club records 14 Player records 14 1 Most appearances 14 2 Most goals scored 15 Managerial history and notable players 15 1 Managers 15 2 Notable Bulgarian players 15 3 Notable foreign players 16 Bulgarian Footballer of the Year 17 A Group top goalscorers 18 See also 19 References 20 External linksHistory Edit1914 1969 Sports Club Levski Edit At the founding meeting at the Hillock I suggested Vasil Levski as our namesake because I didn t want foreign influence to our club s name and because I admired the Apostle of Freedom and saw him as an example of bravery agility and heroism of boundless love for the people and willingness to sacrifice in the name of the people Boris Vasilev one of Levski s founders on choosing the name for the club 4 First kit 1914 1920 Sports Club Levski was founded in 1911 by a group of students from the Second Male High School in Sofia 5 The club s name was chosen in honour of the Bulgarian revolutionary Vasil Levski and the club was officially registered on 24 May 1914 In 1914 Levski lost its first official match against FK 13 Sofia with the score of 2 0 Between 1914 and 1920 football wasn t a popular sport in Bulgaria and no additional information about the club exists In the summer of 1921 the Sofia Sports League was established which united ten clubs from Sofia and marked the beginning of organized football competitions in the city Levski won the first match in the championship in the 1921 22 season held on 18 September 1921 against Atletik Sofia with the score of 3 1 The team captured first place in the league in 1923 after a 3 2 win over bitter rivals Slavia Sofia and successfully defended the title the following season The first National Championship was held in 1924 with Levski representing Sofia The team went on to win the title in 1933 1937 and 1942 and established itself as the most popular football club in Bulgaria citation needed In 1929 Levski became the first semi professional football club in Bulgaria after twelve players staged a boycott of the team in demand of financial remuneration and insurance benefits The same year Levski met its first international opponents losing to Gallipoli Istanbul 1 0 and winning against Kuban Istanbul 6 0 Between 1930 and 1932 Levski won the Ulpia Serdica Cup for three consecutive years and was permanently awarded the trophy as a result Georgi Asparuhov Gundi Levski kit during a large part of the 1940s 1960s 6 After World War II Levski became one of the two top clubs in Bulgaria After winning the championship in 1946 1947 1949 1950 and 1953 Levski would not capture the domestic title again until the mid 1960s In 1949 the authorities changed the club s name to Dinamo following the Soviet traditions but after the de Stalinization of Bulgaria it was reverted in 1957 The 1960s were marked with return to success both on the domestic and on the international stage Levski s academy would become the most successful in national youth competitions for the years to come and the results were first seen in the likes of Georgi Asparuhov Georgi Sokolov Biser Mihaylov Kiril Ivkov Ivan Vutsov Stefan Aladzhov and Aleksandar Kostov assisted by experienced veterans like Stefan Abadzhiev Dimo Pechenikov and Hristo Iliev which resulted in winning the championship in 1965 1968 and 1970 including the 7 2 triumph over new bitter rivals CSKA Sofia in 1968 In the 1965 66 European Cup Levski was eliminated in the first round by Benfica with 5 4 on aggregate 1969 1985 Levski Spartak Edit In January 1969 Levski was forcibly merged with Spartak Sofia by the Bulgarian Communist Party and put under the auspice of the Ministry of Interior Affairs 7 The name of the club was once again changed this time to Levski Spartak A new crop of youngsters in the likes of Kiril Milanov Dobromir Zhechev Pavel Panov Stefan Pavlov Yordan Yordanov Stefan Staykov Tomas Lafchis Todor Barzov Voyn Voynov Georgi Tsvetkov Plamen Nikolov and Rusi Gochev not only found their place in the first team but brought new league titles in 1974 1977 1979 1984 and 1985 On the international stage the team reached the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1969 70 and 1976 77 and the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup in 1975 76 In the latter Levski defeated Barcelona 5 4 in the second leg becoming one of the two European teams alongside Bayern Munich to have scored five or more goals in one match against Barcelona in official UEFA competitions 8 Additionally Levski became the only Bulgarian club to eliminate a German champion after defeating VfB Stuttgart in the first round of the 1984 85 European Cup They also eliminated Stuttgart a year earlier in the first round of the 1983 84 UEFA Cup 1985 1989 Vitosha Sofia Edit The name of the team was changed to Vitosha by the authorities following the disruptions during and after the Bulgarian Cup final in 1985 9 The game ran on high emotions fuelled by the streak of consecutive victories of Levski over CSKA in the two years prior to the game During the game which CSKA won 2 1 there were confrontations both on the field and on the stands 9 By decree of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party some of the leading players of both clubs were suspended from the sport for life 9 The championship title of the club for 1985 was suspended However the suspensions were lifted shortly after 9 Levski won another cup and league titles in 1986 and 1988 respectively The fourth European quarter final came in 1986 87 when Levski knocked out the 1985 86 Danish Cup winners Boldklubben 1903 and the 1985 86 Yugoslav Cup holders Velez Mostar before losing to the 1985 86 Copa del Rey winners Real Zaragoza G Petkov E Topuzakov c I Tomasic Z Milanov L Wagner D Borimirov S Angelov C Bardon D Telkiyski H Yovov V DomovchiyskiStarting lineup versus Schalke 04 2006 UEFA Cup quarter final first leg 1989 2009 Return of Levski Sofia and the Blue Tale Edit After the 1989 90 season the club regained its original name The team was made up of players such as Plamen Nikolov Petar Hubchev Tsanko Tsvetanov Emil Kremenliev Zlatko Yankov Georgi Slavchev Ilian Iliev Daniel Borimirov Stanimir Stoilov Velko Yotov Plamen Getov Nikolay Todorov and Nasko Sirakov and won three consecutive domestic national championships in 1993 1994 and 1995 Levski contributed seven players Tsvetanov Kremenliev Yankov Sirakov Nikolov Petar Aleksandrov and Borimirov more than any other Bulgarian team to the Bulgaria national football team that finished in fourth place at the 1994 FIFA World Cup In 2005 06 Levski reached the quarter finals of the 2005 06 UEFA Cup after knocking out the 2004 05 Coupe de France winners Auxerre in the first round finishing above SC Heerenveen Dinamo București and the reigning title holders CSKA Moscow in the group stage triumphing over Champions League participants Artmedia Bratislava and Udinese in the knockout stages before being eliminated by Schalke 04 Levski against Werder Bremen at the National Stadium in the Champions League Levski as the champions of Bulgaria started their 2006 07 UEFA Champions League participation in the second qualifying round where they eliminated Georgian champions Sioni Bolnisi defeating them 2 0 both home and away In the third round Levski faced the Italian team Chievo Verona which took part in the tournament because of other clubs sanctions as part of the 2006 Serie A matchfixing scandal Levski eliminated Chievo after a decisive 2 0 win in Sofia and a 2 2 draw in Verona and thus became the first Bulgarian club to ever reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League 10 There they faced the title holders Barcelona Premier League champions Chelsea and Werder Bremen 11 They lost all six games and scored only one goal in the second round against Chelsea 9 Levski s 2005 06 UEFA Cup run and the participation in the Champions League group stage were considered the club s greatest European successes in the 21st century hence the period in which this happened 2005 2007 was informally called the Blue Tale 12 Levski earned a place in the 2008 09 UEFA Champions League after the Bulgarian league champions CSKA Sofia failed to obtain a UEFA license 13 Levski lost to BATE Borisov of Belarus in the third qualifying round 2009 2020 Downfall Edit During the 2009 10 season Levski s team started their European campaign with a 9 0 on aggregate win against UE Sant Julia in the second qualifying round of the 2009 10 UEFA Champions League In the next round Levski Sofia faced FK Baku eliminating the team from Azerbaijan with 2 0 on aggregate In the play off round Levski was eliminated by Debrecen with 4 1 on aggregate As one of the play off losers Levski qualified for the 2009 10 UEFA Europa League In the group stage Levski faced Villarreal Lazio and Red Bull Salzburg Levski achieved only one win and five defeats Levski won against Lazio in Italy after Hristo Yovov scored the winning goal in the match Levski started the 2010 11 season with a match against Dundalk in a second qualifying round of the 2010 11 UEFA Europa League Levski won the first match 6 0 14 In the return leg at Oriel Park Levski defeated Dundalk 2 0 with two first half goals from Garra Dembele In the next round Levski played against Kalmar FF The first match ended 1 1 in Sweden In the return leg in Sofia Levski won 5 2 In between The Blues defeated their archrival CSKA Sofia in the Eternal derby with 1 0 Their next match in the Europa League saw them play against AIK Fotboll from Stockholm Sweden The first match ended in a goalless draw and after the game AIK hooligans attacked the Levski players and staff citation needed The second match ended in a 2 1 home win for Levski Goals scored by Daniel Mladenov and Garra Dembele put Levski in the Europa League group stage Levski was drawn in Group C facing Gent Lille and Sporting CP The first match was played against Gent at home which Levski won 3 2 with the winning goal scored by Serginho Greene With this win Levski recorded eight consecutive games without a defeat in European competitions After that Levski lost to Sporting CP with 5 0 followed by another defeat against Lille In Sofia Levski played well against Lille and was leading 2 1 until Ivo Ivanov scored an own goal to make it 2 2 In the last match of the Group C Levski took a win against Sporting CP with 1 0 with the winning goal scored by Daniel Mladenov In the following 2011 12 season in the third qualifying round of the Europa League Levski were eliminated by Spartak Trnava of Slovakia following a late game 2 1 win in Sofia and a loss of the same scoreline in Trnava The penalty shoot out costed Levski a place in the play off round This caused an upset with the fans and players citation needed and the team barely clinched the fourth place at the winter break in the Bulgarian league Albeit only three points from the leaders Ludogoretz Razgrad the acting manager Georgi Ivanov was sacked from the position but remained at the club as a sporting director Nikolay Kostov was appointed the new manager of the club giving the supporters a sense of optimism which however faded after a cup knock out in the hands of Lokomotiv Plovdiv and a home defeat to Minyor Pernik Kostov handed in his resignation leaving the managerial post once again vacant Sporting director Georgi Ivanov once again stepped in to help the club and accepted being the manager until the summer break when a new one would be appointed Levski Sofia ultras during a derby match against CSKA Sofia During the summer of 2012 former player Ilian Iliev was appointed the new manager of the club Under his management Levski was knocked out from the Europa League by Bosnian side FK Sarajevo Iliev led the team to 13 league victories and to the semi finals of the Bulgarian Cup after eliminating Cherno More Varna and Litex Lovech on the away goals rule Iliev however was sacked after a 1 1 away draw against Pirin Gotse Delchev Assistant manager Nikolay Mitov took over the team until the end of the season Under his management Levski won the derby clashes against Litex CSKA and Ludogorets but failed to win the title after a 1 1 home draw against Slavia Sofia Levski also reached their first Bulgarian Cup final since 2007 but lost on penalties against Beroe Stara Zagora Despite the missed opportunity of winning a trophy Mitov s contract was renewed for the 2013 14 season However the team made another disappointing performance in Europa League being eliminated by the Kazakh side Irtysh Pavlodar As a result Nikolay Mitov resigned as manager In July 2013 Slavisa Jokanovic was appointed as the new manager of the team Despite losing only two matches in twelve games Jokanovic was released in October 2013 Ivaylo Petev was announced as his successor but during his introduction a few Levski supporters interrupted it stating that they would not accept his appointment 15 The next day Petev refused to take charge of the team and Antoni Zdravkov was named as the new manager Under his reign the team suffered a heavy 3 0 loss against rivals CSKA but managed to knock them out in the Bulgarian Cup in December 2013 after penalties Due to the difficult financial situation a few key players such as Antonio Vutov and Garry Rodrigues were sold to Udinese and Elche respectively during the winter break This reflected on the team s performance and Levski finished fifth and got knocked out in the quarter finals of the Bulgarian Cup by Botev Plovdiv Antoni Zdravkov was sacked in March 2014 and Levski legend Elin Topuzakov took charge as a caretaker until the end of the 2013 14 season The club did not participate in European competitions for the first time since 1990 91 On 23 May 2014 the club supporters organized a friendly game against Lazio marking the 100th anniversary of the club Club icons like Georgi Ivanov Dimitar Ivankov Aleksandar Aleksandrov Hristo Yovov Elin Topuzakov and many other former players and celebrities took participation by playing in the game as well as donating money for the event s organization 16 The next day Levski marked 100 years since its founding 17 The following years were arguably the darkest in the club s history League wise Levski managed to finish higher than third place only once runners up in 2015 16 and achieved its lowest ever ranking seventh place in 2014 15 and eighth in 2020 21 18 On the stage of the Bulgarian Cup the club lost two more finals in 2015 to Cherno More 19 and in 2018 to Slavia Sofia 20 In European competitions Levski faced some of its most embarrassing eliminations against Liechtenstein side FC Vaduz 21 and Cypriot AEK Larnaca the latter inflicting the largest ever European defeat on aggregate for Levski 0 7 22 These years were turbulent not only on the football pitch but at the higher hierarchy of the club In June 2015 the long time president Todor Batkov stepped down and the club was taken over by Ivo Tonev Aleksandar Angelov and Nikolay Ivanov 23 From this point onwards Levski began to experience financial problems Tonev Angelov and Ivanov s reign was short lived and in August 2016 they transferred their shares to businessman Spas Rusev 24 Under his governance Levski signed players like Gabriel Obertan and Jordi Gomez as well as coach Delio Rossi in an attempt to return the club s glory However Rusev s financing was dubious and there were complaints for delayed wages 25 In February 2017 Rusev admitted the club was practically bankrupt 26 On 9 February 2019 Rusev stepped down as owner of Levski leaving the club with more than 30 million BGN in debt 27 Four days later businessman and former owner of archrivals CSKA Vasil Bozhkov took over the club 28 He attempted to stabilize Levski s financial situation by immediately covering the most urgent obligations and selling or releasing the players with the highest wages investing around 25 million BGN in total throughout his tenure 29 In February 2020 Bozhkov stepped down as his main business 7777 bg National Lottery had its license withdrawn by the Bulgarian government 30 The club being left with no financing whatsoever and in a full scale financial crisis 31 sparkled an unprecedented support campaign amongst the fans who engaged in various donation initiatives raising 2 6 million BGN in the span of five months 32 In 2021 former owner Vasil Bozhkov admitted that he was forced to take over Levski under the threat of business closure by prime minister Boyko Borisov 33 Bozhkov s confession was somewhat of a confirmation of the insinuation that the reason behind Levski s financial problems and occasional ownership changes was Borisov s idea of using the club as an instrument for political influence 34 2020 present Return of Sirakov and Stoilov Edit Stanimir Stoilov left and the 2022 Bulgarian Cup trophy right won by Levski in May 2022 In the summer of 2020 club legend Nasko Sirakov took charge of the majority of shares and the club made some financial cuts forcing a big part of the players mainly foreigners to leave Levski also changed its transfer policy signing mainly Bulgarian and homegrown players with lower salaries allowing the club to start paying off some of the debt accumulated throughout the years Sirakov set a target for the club to clear most of the debt by 2023 mostly through sponsorship deals outgoing transfers television rights and the fans financial support 35 On 1 September 2021 Sirakov announced the return of the club s most successful manager in the 21st century also known as the author of the Blue Tale Stanimir Stoilov At that time Levski was in 10th place in the league standings with 4 defeats and 2 wins in the first 6 games With his arrival Stoilov released three players Simeon Slavchev Valeri Bojinov and Hristofor Hubchev and signed Jose Cordoba from Etar and Dimitar Kostadinov from Septemvri Sofia Under his management the team managed to improve promptly earning 20 points by the end of the half season with 5 wins 5 draws and 3 defeats On 15 May 2022 Levski won the Bulgarian Cup by defeating its biggest rivals CSKA 1 0 in the final thus ending the club s longest ever trophyless period 13 years It was a record 26th cup for the Blues 36 By winning the cup the team earned a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifications In the second qualifying round they faced PAOK who reached the quarter finals of the same competition the previous season Despite being considered underdogs Levski managed to eliminate the Greek team 3 1 on aggregate 37 However Levski crashed out of the tournament in the third qualifying round after an upsetting home defeat on penalties at the hands of Maltese side Ħamrun Spartans 38 39 Honours EditType Competition Achievement SeasonsDomestic First League 40 26 titles 1933 1937 1942 1946 1947 1948 49 1950 1953 1964 65 1967 68 1969 70 1973 74 1976 77 1978 79 1983 84 1984 85 1987 88 1992 93 1993 94 1994 95 1999 2000 2000 01 2001 02 2005 06 2006 07 2008 09Bulgarian Cup 41 26 titles 1942 1946 1947 1949 1950 1956 1957 1958 59 1966 67 1969 70 1970 71 1975 76 1976 77 1978 79 1983 84 1985 86 1990 91 1991 92 1993 94 1997 98 1999 2000 2001 02 2002 03 2004 05 2006 07 2021 22Bulgarian Supercup 42 3 titles 2005 2007 2009Sofia Championship 43 11 titles 1922 23 1923 24 1924 25 1928 29 1932 33 1936 37 1941 42 1942 43 1944 45 1945 46 1947 48Cup of Bulgaria 44 1 titleS 1981 82 a Cup of the Soviet Army 45 3 titles 1983 84 1986 87 1987 88Ulpia Serdika Cup 46 4 titles 1926 1930 1931 1932International UEFA Europa League b 2 times Quarter finals 1975 76 2005 06UEFA Cup Winners Cup 3 times Quarter finals 1969 70 1976 77 1986 87Balkans Cup 47 2 times Runners up 1960 61 1961 63Doubles The Double 41 48 13 times 1942 1946 1947 1948 49 1950 1969 70 1976 77 1978 79 1983 84 1993 94 1999 2000 2001 02 2006 07Trebles The Treble 41 48 49 1 timeS 1983 84 c Record S Shared record Unofficial tournament Known as UEFA Cup before 2009 A Group Bulgarian Cup and Cup of the Soviet ArmyEuropean record EditMain article PFC Levski Sofia in European football As of 11 August 2022 Levski Sofia record in European football by competition Competition S P W D L GF GA GDUEFA Champions League European Cup 15 58 15 14 29 74 82 8UEFA Cup Winners Cup European Cup Winners Cup 11 36 14 5 17 70 55 15UEFA Europa League UEFA Cup 26 112 41 25 46 144 150 6UEFA Europa Conference League 1 4 2 1 1 5 3 2UEFA Intertoto Cup 1 6 2 2 2 12 11 1Balkans Cup 3 23 8 8 7 35 24 11Mitropa Cup 1 2 1 0 1 1 5 4Intertoto Cup Ernst Thommen 1 4 3 0 1 12 5 7Total 59 245 86 55 104 353 335 18Recent seasons EditMain article List of PFC Levski Sofia seasons League positions Edit Season Position G W D L GS GA P Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Supercup Champions League Europa League Conference League2012 13 2 30 22 5 3 59 20 71 Runners up Second qualifying round 2013 14 5 38 19 5 14 59 39 62 Quarter finals First qualifying round 2014 15 7 32 17 5 10 66 33 56 Runners up 2015 16 2 32 16 8 8 36 18 56 Quarter finals 2016 17 3 36 18 9 9 50 31 63 Round of 16 Second qualifying round 2017 18 3 36 18 10 8 55 27 64 Runners up Second qualifying round 2018 19 3 36 20 6 10 64 37 66 Round of 16 First qualifying round 2019 20 4 31 15 8 8 50 30 53 Semi finals Second qualifying round 2020 21 8 32 11 8 13 34 32 41 Quarter finals 2021 22 4 31 15 7 9 38 27 52 Winners 2022 23 Round of 16 Runners up Third qualifying roundKeyG Games played W Games won D Games drawn L Games lost GS Goals scored GA Goals against P PointsClub symbols EditNames and crests Edit Vasil Levski club s patron The first club crest was designed by Mircho Kachulev in 1922 Initially in the size of a square with a blue background it was intentionally written in a stylized letter L Bulgarian letter L shortened for Levski The inner space of the letter was filled vertically equally in yellow and red colours In a later period of time the Cyrillic letters S Sport and K club were added at the top of the square while the bottom side was inscribed with the name Sofia This badge was used by the club until 1949 when it was renamed to Dinamo From 1949 to 1956 the emblem of the club was an irregular hexagon filled with vertical red white blue and yellow colours with an inscribed handwritten Cyrillic letter D alongside a five pointed red star above it and the word Sofia underneath From 1957 to 1968 the original logo of the club was restored however the letters C and K were replaced with F Athletic and D union After the merger with Spartak Sofia in 1969 the club crest has been a shield in blue and white with a horizontal red bar above The shield spawned the letters L and C an abbreviation of the new name Levski Spartak The football club used this crest until 1985 when it was renamed Vitosha Vitosha s crest was in the form of a stylized letter C surrounding the football in the upper curve of the letter coloured in blue and white In January 1990 the club restored its original name and original logo and the letters C and K in the upper corner of the blue square were replaced with the initials F football and K club However due to legal issues with the ownership of the rights to the historic crest the club was forced to change it in 1998 when a brand new shield logo was introduced entirely in blue At its centre an inscription of the letter L was introduced alongside the year of establishment 1914 The dome of the shield was labelled PFC Levski After winning the legal dispute for the rights to the historic emblem in 2006 the club decided to use the two different crests simultaneously for a brief period of time Later that year the shield crest was replaced by the classic square emblem The Cyrillic letter L L is used today as the club s kit crest and on its social media channels First crest 1922 Sports Club Levski Sofia 1923 1944 Professional Athletic Union Levski Sofia 1944 1949 Dinamo Sofia 1949 1957 Athletic Union Levski Sofia 1957 1969 State Athletic Union Levski Spartak 1969 1985 Vitosha Sofia 1985 1989 Levski Spartak 1989 1990 Levski Sofia 1990 1992 2006 2014 Levski 1914 1992 1998 PFC Levski 1914 1998 2006 Centenary crest 2014 Modified version of the centenary crest 2014 present Official kit crestClub anthem Edit The first anthem of Levski was written by renowned Bulgarian poet Dimcho Debelyanov and composed by Lyubomir Pipkov 50 51 Since 1999 the club anthem is Samo Levski shampion 52 Only Levski the champion composed by Stefan Dimitrov 53 Players EditFirst team Edit As of 1 January 2023 update 54 Note Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules Players may hold more than one non FIFA nationality No Pos Nation Player1 GK BUL Plamen Andreev vice captain 2 DF FRA Jeremy Petris5 DF NED Kellian van der Kaap6 DF BRA Wenderson Tsunami7 MF BUL Georgi Milanov8 MF BUL Andrian Kraev9 FW BRA Ricardinho10 MF BUL Ivelin Popov13 GK BUL Nikolay Mihaylov captain 14 MF BUL Iliyan Stefanov17 FW BRA Welton Felipe18 FW BRA Ronaldo No Pos Nation Player19 FW MAR Bilal Bari21 DF CRO Ante Blazevic22 DF BUL Patrick Gabriel Galchev23 DF GAM Noah Sonko Sundberg27 MF BUL Asen Mitkov30 MF BUL Filip Krastev on loan from Lommel 33 DF PAN Jose Cordoba71 MF BUL Antoan Stoyanov88 FW BUL Marin Petkov99 GK BUL Ivan Andonov DF BUL Kristian DimitrovFor recent transfers see Transfers summer 2022 and Transfers winter 2022 23 Out on loan Edit Note Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules Players may hold more than one non FIFA nationality No Pos Nation Player MF BUL Zdravko Dimitrov to Spartak Varna until June 2023 No Pos Nation Player MF CUW Nathan Holder to Spartak Varna until June 2023 Reserve team Edit Main article PFC Levski Sofia II Note Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules Players may hold more than one non FIFA nationality No Pos Nation Player16 FW BUL Preslav Bachev24 FW BUL Borislav Rupanov32 DF BUL Atanas Kilov34 DF BUL Aleksandar Bozhilov35 DF BUL Deyvid Mihalev No Pos Nation Player37 FW BUL Kaloyan Strinski41 DF BUL Dimitar Andonov42 DF BUL Denis Dinev GK BUL Yoan ZagorovForeign players Edit Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League however only five non EU EEA nationals can be used during a match day Those non EU EEA nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from If players are not of European origin they can claim Bulgarian citizenship after five years of playing in Bulgaria EU EEA Nationals Ante Blazevic Jeremy Petris EU EEA Nationals Dual citizenship Patrick Gabriel Galchev Noah Sonko Sundberg Bilal Bari Kellian van der Kaap Non EU EEA Nationals Ricardinho Ronaldo Welton Felipe Wenderson Tsunami Jose CordobaNote For a complete list of Levski Sofia players see Category PFC Levski Sofia players Club officials EditBoard of Directors Edit Position StaffMajority Owner Nasko SirakovExecutive Director Ivaylo IvkovFinancial Director Konstantin BazhdekovMarketing Director Radoslav RazpopovManagement board Daniel BorimirovManagement board Lachezar PetrovManagement board Petar GanevLast updated October 2021Source citation needed First Team Edit Technical staffHead Coach Stanimir StoilovAssistant Coach Tsanko TsvetanovAssistant Coach Dimitar TelkiyskiAssistant Coach Todor SimovGoalkeeper Coach Georgi StoyanovFitness and Conditioning Mihailo ShejkeroskiClub Doctor Andrey PerekhodLast updated January 2022Source 55 Youth Academy Edit Technical staffUnder 19 Coach Elin TopuzakovUnder 17 Coach Viktor DimitrovUnder 16 Coach Ahmed HikmetUnder 15 Coach Stoyan DimovUnder 14 Coach Milen GadzhevUnder 13 Coach Ilian IvanovLast updated January 2022Source 56 Youth academy EditLevski s youth academy has developed some of the most successful Bulgarian footballers Notable academy graduates are Georgi Asparuhov Nasko Sirakov Bozhidar Iskrenov Bozhin Laskov Georgi Sokolov Asen Peshev Borislav Mihaylov Emil Spasov Nikolay Iliev Hristo Yovov Dimitar Ivankov and many others At the 1994 FIFA World Cup in which Bulgaria reached the semi finals the Bulgarian squad included four players which came through Levski s youth system making it the most represented club in the Bulgarian squad In 2020 Levski was included in the CIES Football Observatory annual rankings which ranks the clubs that trained the most players active in 31 top divisions of UEFA member associations In these countries there were 33 footballers from Levski s youth academy and Levski was ranked 35th in Europe 57 Stadium EditMain article Stadion Georgi Asparuhov Gerena Initially the club did not possess a field of its own and training was held on an empty space called The Hillock Mogilkata Mogilkata where the National Palace of Culture was built later In 1924 the Sofia Municipality provided the club with the rights to an empty field on what were then the outskirts of the city and a decade later the stadium named Levski Field was finally completed It provided for 10 000 spectators and was regarded as the finest sport facility in the city In 1949 the stadium was nationalized and later the Vasil Levski National Stadium was built on the site The team played in various locations including the nearby Yunak Stadium before moving to the Dinamo ground which was located at the site of the modern Spartak swimming complex In 1961 after districting the team moved to Suhata Reka neighborhood There a new stadium was completed in 1963 renamed in 1990 in honour of Levski s most beloved former player Georgi Asparuhov In 1999 the stadium emerged from serious reconstruction for 29 000 spectators The field measures 105 x 68 metres However the team plays most of its important games versus foreign teams on the national stadium Vasil Levski On one occasion the former club president Todor Batkov had demanded that Levski should receive Rakovski stadium on loan The demand was on grounds that the first club stadium was nationalized and Levski had never been repaid In October 2012 it was announced that Levski is rebuilding its stadium The first phase of the planned reconstruction was to be completed in 2014 on the centennial of the club s foundation As of 2013 the capacity was reduced to 19 000 due to the undergoing reconstruction of the main stand On 5 July 2013 the first step was made in the construction of the main stand which has a capacity of 6000 spectators and meets all the requirements of UEFA for the convenience of fans Contractor of the blue building is the leading Bulgarian company in the construction of road infrastructure and other important rehabilitation projects Avtomagistrali Tcherno more AD The stadium s main stand was officially opened on 23 April 2016 at a special ceremony Since 2019 the Museum of Glory of Levski Sofia is also located at the stadium 58 Supporters Edit Sector B in 2006 Historically Levski Sofia fans gathered in the south stand of the stadium This tradition is believed to have its roots in the Sofia Derby when Levski fans met before the games at the area close to the south end of the Vasil Levski National Stadium Due to the orientation of the stadium and the naming conventions of stands at most Bulgarian stadiums Sector B became synonymous with Levski fans More recently the fans in Sector B are seen as part of the ultras movement popular in the Balkans Today Sector B initiates most of the songs choreography and pyrotechnic displays at Levski games Levski supporters are organized by fanclubs most notably the National Supporters Club which helps and coordinates fans from all around Bulgaria and supports the organization of events There are also notable groups from Sofia Sofia West South Division Blue Junta HD Boys LSL and more and other cities across Bulgaria and globally such as Ultra Varna Blue Huns Pernik OCB Veliko Tarnovo Torcida Kyustendil Ultras Vidin Iron Pazardzhik Youth Brigade 034 Pazardzik Blue Boys Blagoevgrad Blue Lads Sliven Vandals Pleven Levski Club Dobrich Ultras Radomir Ultras Burgas Levski 1914 Karlovo Yambol Boys Levski UK Levski Chicago and more Ultras Levski have a long standing friendship with Lazio fans 59 60 According to a study performed for UEFA Levski is the most popular Bulgarian club and share the sixth position in Europe with Juventus by percentage of support in its own country 31 61 UEFA amp IFFHS rankings EditClub coefficients Edit This is the current 2021 22 UEFA coefficient 62 Rank Team Coefficient290 La Fiorita 4 000291 Skenderbeu 4 000292 Arda Kardzhali 3 900293 Slavia Sofia 3 900294 Levski Sofia 3 900295 Botev Plovdiv 3 900296 Dunav Ruse 3 900297 Milsami Orhei 3 750298 Coleraine 3 750Full list Club world ranking Edit These are the IFFHS club s points as of 22 January 2019 63 Rank Team Points340 Green Eagles 68 5341 Ceara 68 0341 Envigado 68 0341 Newell s Old Boys 68 0341 Levski Sofia 68 0341 Jagiellonia Bialystok 68 0341 Cork City 68 0341 Zamora F C 68 0348 Aucas 67 5Full listShirt sponsors and manufacturers Edit 64 65 Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor1976 1991 Adidas None1991 1992 Diadora Pepsi1992 1994 Adidas Balkanbank1994 1996 Balkanbank Bulstrad1996 1998 VIS 21998 1999 None1999 2000 Reusch Mtel2000 2005 Diadora2005 2010 Uhlsport2010 2012 Nike2012 2014 Puma VTB Capital 66 Mtel2014 2015 Joma Lev Ins 67 Mtel2015 2018 Vivacom 68 Strabag 69 efbet 70 2018 2019 Nike2019 2020 7777 bg 71 2020 2022 Joma Strabag 72 PalmsBet 73 2022 PalmsBetClub records EditAs of 2022 Biggest league win 10 0 vs Chernomorets Burgas Sofia 3 March 2007 2006 07 74 Biggest league defeat 1 6 vs Botev Plovdiv 7 July 1962 1961 62 75 Biggest cup win 12 1 vs Knyaz Kiril Sofia 1940 76 Biggest cup defeat 0 5 vs Spartak Plovdiv 1961 62 Biggest European competition win 12 2 vs Reipas Lahti 16 September 1976 UEFA Cup Winners Cup First round 1st leg 1976 77 77 Biggest European competition defeat 0 5 vs AZ Alkmaar 4 November 1980 UEFA Cup Second round 2nd leg 1980 81 78 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 vs Barcelona 12 September 2006 UEFA Champions League Group stage 2006 07 79 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 vs Sporting CP 30 September 2010 UEFA Europa League Group stage 2010 11 80 Most consecutive league games unbeaten 27 from 10 September 1948 to 13 May 1950 81 Most consecutive league games won 14 from 3 April 2004 to 19 September 2004 82 Most league points in a season 82 3 for win 79 83 1994 95 2 for win 50 1969 70 1971 72Most league goals in a season 96 84 2006 07 Record league home attendance 60 000 vs Pirin Blagoevgrad 16 September 1973 1973 74 85 Record European competition home attendance 70 000 vs Barcelona 17 March 1976 UEFA Cup Quarter finals 2nd leg 1975 76 86 Player records EditAs of 18 July 2022 87 Most appearances Edit No Name Career Appearances1 Stefan Aladzhov 1967 1981 4692 Emil Spasov 1974 1990 4293 Pavel Panov 1969 1981 3824 Kiril Ivkov 1967 1978 3745 Elin Topuzakov 1996 20082009 2010 3476 Hristo Iliev 1954 1968 330 Aleksandar Kostov 1956 19718 Dimitar Telkiyski 1999 20082009 2010 3139 Plamen Nikolov 1977 1992 31010 Hristo Yovov 1995 19972004 20072009 2013 306 Most goals scored Edit No Name Career Goals Appearances Goals per game1 Nasko Sirakov 1981 1994 209 264 0 792 Pavel Panov 1969 1981 177 382 0 463 Georgi Asparuhov 1959 1971 153 239 0 644 Georgi Ivanov 1997 2009 135 238 0 575 Hristo Iliev 1954 19591961 1968 132 330 0 46 Emil Spasov 1974 19851987 19881989 1990 114 429 0 277 Mihail Valchev 1990 1995 109 177 0 628 Dimitar Yordanov 1981 1987 100 201 0 59 Hristo Yovov 1995 19972004 20072009 2013 87 306 0 2810 Asen Peshev 1924 1937 86 99 0 87 Daniel Borimirov 1990 19952004 2008 297 0 29Managerial history and notable players EditManagers Edit Boris Vasilev 1921 23 Mihail Borisov 1923 24 Boris Vasilev 1924 27 Ivan Kachev 1927 32 Tsvetan Genev 1932 33 Ivan Radoev 1933 Georgi Karaivanov 1934 Rudolf Lowenfeld 1934 35 Ivan Radoev 1936 Kiril Yovovich 1936 37 Ivan Radoev 1937 38 Dimitar Mutafchiev 1938 39 Asen Panchev 1939 40 Milos Struzka 1940 41 Asen Panchev 1941 44 Ivan Radoev 1944 48 Rezso Somlai 1948 49 Ivan Radoev 1950 51 Liubomir Petrov 1952 Dimitar Mutafchiev 1953 Vasil Spasov 1954 56 Georgi Pachedzhiev 1956 60 Kotse Georgiev 1960 61 Krastio Chakarov 1961 64 Hristo Mladenov 1964 65 Rudolf Vytlacil 1965 66 Krastyo Chakarov 1966 69 Vasil Spasov 1969 Rudolf Vytlacil 1969 70 Yoncho Arsov 1971 73 Dimitar Doychinov 1973 75 Ivan Vutsov 1975 76 Vasil Spasov 1976 77 Ivan Vutsov 1977 80 Hristo Mladenov 1980 82 Dobromir Zhechev 1982 83 Vasil Metodiev 1983 85 Kiril Ivkov 1985 87 Pavel Panov 1986 87 Vasil Metodiev 1988 89 Dobromir Zhechev 1989 Pavel Panov 1989 90 Vasil Metodiev 1991 Dinko Dermendzhiev 1991 Ivan Vutov 1992 93 Georgi Vasilev 1993 95 Ivan Kyuchukov 1995 96 Georgi Tsvetkov 1996 97 Stefan Grozdanov 1997 Mihail Valchev 1998 Vyacheslav Hrozny 1998 Angel Stankov 1999 Ljupko Petrovic 1999 00 Dimitar Dimitrov 2000 Vladimir Fedotov 2000 Ljupko Petrovic 2000 01 Georgi Todorov 2001 Rudiger Abramczik 2002 Slavoljub Muslin 2002 03 Georgi Todorov 2003 Georgi Vasilev 2003 04 Stanimir Stoilov 1 June 2004 6 May 2008 Velislav Vutsov 2008 Emil Velev 16 August 2008 23 July 2009 Ratko Dostanic 23 July 2009 19 October 2009 Georgi Ivanov 19 October 2009 30 June 2010 Antoni Zdravkov 2009 10 Yasen Petrov 1 July 2010 28 May 2011 Georgi Ivanov 1 June 2011 3 November 2011 Antoni Zdravkov 2011 Nikolay Kostov 3 November 2011 27 March 2012 Georgi Ivanov interim 27 March 2012 8 April 2012 Yasen Petrov 7 April 2012 30 May 2012 Ilian Iliev 1 July 2012 April 2013 Nikolay Mitov 12 April 2013 12 July 2013 Slavisa Jokanovic 15 July 2013 October 2013 Ivaylo Petev 8 October 2013 9 October 2013 Antoni Zdravkov 10 October 2013 19 March 2014 Elin Topuzakov 20 March 2014 June 2014 Jose Murcia June 2014 4 August 2014 Georgi Ivanov 4 August 2014 22 December 2014 Stoycho Stoev 22 December 2014 15 May 2016 Ljupko Petrovic 16 May 2016 22 October 2016 Elin Topuzakov 22 October 2016 2 March 2017 Nikolay Mitov 2 March 2017 4 August 2017 Delio Rossi 4 August 2017 25 July 2018 Todor Simov interim 25 July 2018 31 July 2018 Slavisa Stojanovic 31 July 2018 21 January 2019 Georgi Dermendzhiev 21 January 2019 29 April 2019 Georgi Todorov interim 29 April 2019 30 May 2019 Petar Hubchev 30 May 2019 11 June 2020 Georgi Todorov 11 June 2020 24 October 2020 Zhivko Milanov interim 24 October 2020 9 November 2020 Slavisa Stojanovic 10 November 2020 23 May 2021 Zhivko Milanov 2021 Todor Simov interim 2021 Stanimir Stoilov 2 September 2021 present Notable Bulgarian players Edit Players with at least one appearance for the Bulgarian national team Kiril Yovovich Konstantin Maznikov Geno Mateev Tsvetan Genev Dimitar Mutafchiev Nikola Mutafchiev Ivan Radoev Aleksandar Hristov Mihail Lozanov Asen Panchev Asen Peshev Bozhin Laskov Amedeo Kleva Vasil Spasov Georgi Pachedzhiev Yordan Tomov Lyubomir Hranov Apostol Sokolov Stefan Abadzhiev Yoncho Arsov Hristo Iliev Boris Apostolov Dimitar Yordanov Aleksandar Kostov Georgi Sokolov Stefan Aladzhov Georgi Asparuhov Tsvetan Veselinov Ivan Vutsov Georgi Kamenski Yanko Kirilov Nikola Kotkov Biser Mihaylov Mihail Gyonin Todor Barzov Krasimir Borisov Voyn Voynov Milko Gaydarski Georgi Tsvetkov Dobromir Zhechev Kiril Ivkov Kiril Milanov Vasil Mitkov Pavel Panov Emil Spasov Stefan Staykov Ivan Stoyanov Emil Velev Mihail Valchev Rusi Gochev Nikolay Iliev Bozhidar Iskrenov Krasimir Koev Petar Kurdov Borislav Mihaylov Plamen Nikolov Petar Petrov Nasko Sirakov Georgi Slavchev Georgi Yordanov Plamen Getov Georgi Donkov Velko Yotov Aleksandar Aleksandrov Daniel Borimirov Ilian Iliev Emil Kremenliev Zdravko Zdravkov Plamen Nikolov Petar Mihtarski Petar Aleksandrov Tsanko Tsvetanov Zlatko Yankov Petar Hubchev Georgi Ivanov Nikolay Todorov Marian Hristov Stanimir Stoilov Predrag Pazin Elin Topuzakov Dimitar Telkiyski Hristo Yovov Lucio Wagner Igor Tomasic Georgi Ivanov Emil Angelov Stanislav Angelov Nikolay Dimitrov Vladimir Gadzhev Valeri Domovchiyski Dimitar Ivankov Milan Koprivarov Zhivko Milanov Nikolay Mihaylov Mariyan Ognyanov Georgi Petkov Ilian Stoyanov Georgi Markov Ivan Tsvetkov Georgi Chilikov Zahari Sirakov Plamen Iliev Veselin Minev Stanislav Kostov Valeri Bojinov Notable foreign players Edit Foreign players with at least 30 games for the club or that were internationally capped Players who were internationally capped for their country are listed in bold Europe Dalibor Dragic David Jablonsky Cedric Bardon Gabriel Obertan Peter Kabat Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson Milan Mijatovic Serginho Greene Nigel Robertha Darko Tasevski Joao Silva Nuno Reis Sergiu Buș Konstantin Golovskoy John Inglis Milos Cvetkovic Bojan Jorgacevic Miodrag Pantelic Sasa Simonovic Roman Prochazka Rene Mihelic Anete Jordi Gomez Miguel Bedoya Simon Sandberg Davide MarianiNorth and Central America Dustley MulderSouth America Ze Soares Joaozinho Paulinho Jean Deza Africa Cedric Hountondji Garry Rodrigues Basile de Carvalho Serge Yoffou Garra Dembele Chakib Benzoukane Mehdi Bourabia Youssef Rabeh Garba Lawal Omonigho Temile Justice Christopher Richard Eromoigbe Ekundayo Jayeoba Khaly Thiam Ricardo NunesBulgarian Footballer of the Year Edit Kiril Ivkov the 1968 Summer Olympics football tournament finalist 1931 Asen Peshev 1942 Lyuben Stamboliev 1948 Vasil Spasov 1965 Georgi Asparuhov 1970 Stefan Aladzhov 1974 Kiril Ivkov 1975 Kiril Ivkov 1977 Pavel Panov 1984 Plamen Nikolov 1986 Borislav Mihaylov 1987 Nikolay Iliev 1999 Aleksandar Aleksandrov 2000 Georgi Ivanov 2001 Georgi IvanovA Group top goalscorers Edit Nasko Sirakov Levski s all time top goalscorer 1940 Yanko Stoyanov 14 goals 1950 Lubomir Hranov 11 goals 1957 Hristo Iliev 14 goals 1960 Dimitar Yordanov 12 goals 1965 Georgi Asparuhov 27 goals 1974 Kiril Milanov 19 goals 1976 Pavel Panov 18 goals 1977 Pavel Panov 20 goals 1979 Rusi Gochev 19 goals 1982 Mihail Valchev 24 goals 1984 Emil Spasov 19 goals 1987 Nasko Sirakov 36 goals 1988 Nasko Sirakov 28 goals 1992 Nasko Sirakov 26 goals 1993 Plamen Getov 26 goals 1994 Nasko Sirakov 30 goals 2001 Georgi Ivanov 21 goals 2003 Georgi Chilikov 22 goals 2011 Garra Dembele 26 goals 2013 Basile de Carvalho 19 goals 2015 Anete 14 goals 2019 Stanislav Kostov 24 goals See also EditLevski Sofia sports club Bulgarian Footballer of the Year ECA and EMCAReferences Edit Coventric rsssf com The Rec Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation Archived from the original on 5 February 2021 Retrieved 7 December 2020 ECA Members Bulgaria European Club Association Archived from the original on 2 September 2022 Retrieved 15 November 2020 LEVSKI Sport For All EMCA European Multisport Club Association Archived from the original on 3 August 2021 Retrieved 15 November 2020 38 godini ot smrtta na Boris Vasilev Borkisha levski bg in Bulgarian PFC Levski Sofia 10 March 2021 Retrieved 6 September 2022 Levski 94 years of joy pains and hopes Levski bg Archived from the original on 18 April 2009 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Bulgarian Football Union History bfunion bg Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 Retrieved 4 March 2012 Wilson Jonathan November 2006 Behind the Curtain Football in Eastern Europe Orion ISBN 9780752869070 Archived from the original on 2 September 2022 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Azzoni Tales 14 August 2020 Bayern humbles Barcelona 8 2 to reach Champions League semis The Washington Post Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 20 May 2021 a b c d e Dempsey Luke September 2014 Club Soccer 101 The Essential Guide to the Stars Stats and Stories of 101 of the Greatest Teams in the World W W Norton amp Company ISBN 9780393349313 Archived from the original on 2 September 2022 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Levski make Bulgarian history uefa com 23 August 2006 Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Levski land to heroes welcome uefa com 24 August 2006 Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Murray Stoilov admitted I am seriously worried about Levski s future darik news 14 July 2022 Archived from the original on 2 September 2022 Retrieved 17 August 2022 Levski set to replace CSKA in Champions League Football24 bg Archived from the original on 22 July 2012 Retrieved 30 July 2008 O Connor Ruaidhri 16 July 2010 Dundalk way out of depth in Sofia The Irish Times Archived from the original on 23 October 2012 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Levski Sofia fans humiliate new coach by removing his shirt BBC Sport 9 October 2013 Archived from the original on 22 March 2021 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Zrelishen obrat ukrasi praznika na vekovniya Levski video galerii sportal bg in Bulgarian 23 May 2014 Archived from the original on 21 April 2019 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Levski stana na 100 godini sportal bg in Bulgarian 24 May 2014 Archived from the original on 29 June 2020 Retrieved 20 May 2021 Edinstveno Montana ne vze tochki ot Levski prez tozi sezon topsport bg in Bulgarian 20 May 2021 Archived from the original on 21 May 2021 Retrieved 17 August 2022 Sinya Blgariya v shok Cherno more v istoriyata sled velik mach sportal bg in Bulgarian 30 May 2015 Archived from the original on 17 August 2022 Retrieved 17 August 2022 Georgi Petkov ssipa Sinya Blgariya Golyam triumf na Slaviya koshmart na Levski nyama kraj sportal bg in Bulgarian 9 May 2018 Archived from the original on 17 August 2022 Retrieved 17 August 2022 Poredna drama na Gerena v koyato Levski otnovo stana za smyah na cyala Evropa sportal bg in Bulgarian 17 July 2018 Archived from the original on 17 August 2022 Retrieved 17 August 2022 Levski se 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September 2022 Bulgaria List of Champions rsssf com RSSSF Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 16 January 2021 a b c Bulgaria Cups Overview rsssf com RSSSF Archived from the original on 25 September 2015 Retrieved 16 January 2021 Bulgarian Supercup levskisofia info in Bulgarian Archived from the original on 24 January 2021 Retrieved 16 January 2021 Sofia Championship levskisofia info in Bulgarian Archived from the original on 22 January 2021 Retrieved 16 January 2021 Cup of Bulgaria non official levskisofia info in Bulgarian Archived from the original on 22 January 2021 Retrieved 16 January 2021 Cup of the Soviet Army non official levskisofia info in Bulgarian Archived from the original on 22 January 2021 Retrieved 16 January 2021 Ulpia Serdika Cup levskisofia info in Bulgarian Archived from the original on 24 January 2021 Retrieved 16 January 2021 Balkan Cup rsssf com RSSSF Archived from the original on 5 September 2015 Retrieved 16 January 2021 a b Doing the Double 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