FC Montana
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| Full name | Football Club Montana | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Славата (The Glory) | |||
| Founded | 20 March 1921 as SC Hristo Mihaylov | |||
| Ground | Stadion Ogosta | |||
| Capacity | 8,000 | |||
| Owner | Montana Municipality | |||
| Chairman | Rumen Panayotov | |||
| Head coach | Nikolay Mitov | |||
| League | Second League | |||
| 2022–23 | Second League, 10th | |||
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FC Montana (Bulgarian: ФК Монтана) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Montana, which currently plays in the Second League, the second level of the Bulgarian football league system.
Montana plays its home matches at the
FC Montana was founded in 1921 when the few amateur sports clubs and organizations in the city decided to merge into one club. The new club was named SC Hristo Mihaylov after the Bulgarian communist party activist Hristo Popmihaylov, who was born in the town. Since then, Montana have spent a total of ten seasons in the
Honours
- First League:
- Bulgarian Cup:
- Runners-up (1): 2015–16
- Second League:
History
Early years (1921–1957)
PFC Montana was founded in 1921 under the name SC Hristo Mihaylov, after a merger of a few sports clubs from the city. Until 1946, the most popular team was Botev 22. After 1944, many reforms in the club occurred. On 10 February 1946, Botev 22, along with Yunak and Spartak formed Physical Culture Company YBS 45 (Yunak-Botev-Spartak 45). On 20 March 1947, YBC 45 was united with Workers Physical Culture Company Avram Stoyanov, the turist branch Pustrina and the local horse-riding and moto-organisation, under the name of Hristo Mihaylov. During the autumn of 1949, many changes took place. The city began to form voluntary sports organizations on a departmental basis, the most famous of which is Septemvri, which from 1953 played their first three seasons in the B Group. In 1957 they merged into SFS Septemvriyska Slava.
Settle in the professional football (1958–1992)
From 1957 to 1990 the sports club bore the name of Septemvriyska Slava. Montana gained a promotion for the second time in the B Group in 1962, after which they finished in third position, which remained their best ranking for the 1960s and 1980s, during which they almost always finished in the middle of the table. Since 1990, the club has used the name PFC Montana 1921.
Becoming a Bulgarian top team (1993–1998)
During the 1994–1995 season the team reached the Bulgarian first division A group for the first time, where they finished in 13th place and remained in the division for three consecutive years. Montana reached the semi-final of the
Return to the top flight (2004–2011)
After a seven-year stay in the V AFG, the club finished in second position in the North-West V AFG, and Montana returned to the West B PFG for the 2004–2005 season. In 2008, the chairman of PFC Montana appointed Ivan Marinov as manager. The following year, with the financial support of mayor Zlatko Zhivkov, the club finished the season in the West B PFG in the first place and therefore gained promotion to the top flight for the upcoming season. The same year, Montana's striker Ventsislav Ivanov became the top goalscorer of the division with 19 goals.
In the 2009–2010 season in the then "A" football group, Montana finished 11th and remained in the league for four consecutive seasons, before being relegated to the lower division in 15th place. They remained in the "B" group for two seasons before finishing first and being promoted to the first division.
First Bulgarian Cup Final, 100th anniversary (2015–)
Montana started the new 2015–2016 season with a 0–0 draw as guest to a strong-sided Beroe, then defeating Botev Plovdiv 6–0, with
However, in the next season, after three years of waiting for promotion, Montana finished third in the 2019–2020 season in the second tier, qualifying for playoffs. On 17 July, Montana defeated Dunav Ruse 4–1, and was promoted to the First League after three years in the Second League. Montana could not defy the odds, however, and was relegated after a single season in the elite.
Past seasons
Recent seasons
| Season | Lvl | Place | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Bulgarian Cup | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009–10 |
A Group (I) |
11 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 30 | 37 | 36 | Second round | ||
2010–11 |
A Group |
10 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 46 | 32 | Second round | ||
2011–12 |
A Group |
11 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 51 | 31 | Second round | ||
2012–13 |
A Group |
15 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 27 | 57 | 16 | Second round | ||
| 2013–14 | B Group (II) |
4 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 36 | 24 | 44 | Second round | ||
2014–15 |
B Group |
1 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 72 | 16 | 78 | Second round | ||
2015–16 |
A Group (I) |
9 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 23 | 42 | 21 | Runners-up | ||
| 2016–17 | First League (I) |
13 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 29 | 66 | 19 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2017–18 | Second League (II) |
4 | 17 | 5 | 8 | 50 | 20 | 56 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2018–19 | Second League |
2 | 18 | 9 | 4 | 49 | 25 | 63 | Round of 32
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| 2019–20 | Second League |
3 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 40 | 17 | 42 | Round of 32
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| Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation. | |||||||||||
League positions
- 10 seasons in A Group
- 46 seasons in B Group
Stadium
FC Montana's home ground is the
Supporters and rivalries
One of the club's ultras group is known as Ogosta Boys.
Montana's rival is the neighbouring city club of
Players
Current squad
As of 22 March 2024[update][1]
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 2023 and Transfers winter 2023–24.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Foreign players
Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League; however, only three can be used during a match day. Those non-EU nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim Bulgarian citizenship after playing in Bulgaria for five years.
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EU Nationals |
EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)
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Non-EU Nationals |
Notable players
Had international caps for their respective countries, held any club record, or had more than 100 league appearances. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.
Club officials
Board of directors
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| President | Rumen Panayotov | 
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| Administrative Director | Pantaley Zakov |
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Current technical body
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Sporting director | Atanas Dzhambazki |
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| Director of Football | Mihail Madanski |
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| Head coach | Angel Stoykov |
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| Assistant coach | Svetlan Kondev |
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| Conditioning Coach | Ivaylo Mladenov |
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| Physiotherapist | Petko Petkov |
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| Physiotherapist | Veselin Zahariev |
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| Housekeeper | Ivo Aleksandrov |
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| Driver | Ventsi Borisov |
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Former managers
Atanas Dzhambazki (2007)- Rumen Stoyanov (July 2007 – September 7)
Stevica Kuzmanovski (July 2009 – December 9)- Atanas Dzhambazki (January 2010 – June 11)
- Ivan Marinov
- Stefan Grozdanov (July 2011 – December 11)
- Atanas Atanasov(December 2011 – ??)
- Atanas Dzhambazki (July 2012 – ??)
- Stoycho Stoev (February 2013 – April 2013)
- Georgi Stankov[2]
- Atanas Dzhambazki (June 2013 – December 2013)[3]
- Nikolay Mitov (December 2013 – May 2014)[4]
- Ferario Spasov (May 2014 – November 2015)[5]
- Emil Velev (November 2015 – May 2016)[6]
- Stevica Kuzmanovski (June 2016 – October 2016)[7]
- Atanas Dzhambazki (October 2016 – April 2017)[8]
- Yavor Valchinov (June 2017 – Aug 2017)[11][12]
- Ferario Spasov (Aug 2017 – March 2019)[13]
- Stefan Genov (March 2019 – April 2019)
- Atanas Atanasov(April 2019 – June 2019)
- Nikola Spasov (April 2020 – November 2020)
- Atanas Atanasov(December 2020 – May 2021)
- Svetlan Kondev (May 2021 – December 2021)
- Antoni Zdravkov (December 2021 – September 2022)
- Ferario Spasov (September 2022 – February 2023)
- Angel Stoykov (March 2023 –)
References
- ^ "Професионален футболен клуб Монтана 1921". chervenkarton.com (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- ^ "Джамбазки пак поема "Монтана". sportal.bg. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Джамбазки се завърна в "Монтана". Бившият треньор на тима стана главен скаут на клуба". blitz.bg. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Монтана" смени Митов с Ферарио Спасов". sportal.bg. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Михаил Мадански последва Феро и си тръгна от "Монтана". gong.bg. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ "Емил Велев се раздели с "Монтана" по взаимно съгласие". dnevnik.bg. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Монтана остана без треньор" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 3 October 2016.
- ^ "Джамбазки с втора оставка за 10 дни" (in Bulgarian). blitz.bg. 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Отбор от Първа лига обяви новия старши треньор - Орела кацна на "Огоста"" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 20 April 2017.
- ^ "Монтана остана без треньор" (in Bulgarian). blitz.bg. 11 June 2017.
- ^ "Явор Вълчинов е новият треньор на Монтана" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 14 June 2017.
- ^ "Монтана остана без треньор" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 27 August 2017.
- ^ "Монтана и Феро пак се събраха" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 28 August 2017.