OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad
Full name | Футболен клуб Пирин АД Football club Pirin AD (Pirin Football Club) | ||
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Nickname(s) | Орлетата (The Eagles) | ||
Founded | 1922 | ||
Ground | Stadion Hristo Botev | ||
Capacity | 7,500 | ||
Chairman | Petar Zanev | ||
Head coach | Oleksandr Babych | ||
League | First League | ||
2022–23 | First League, 11th of 16 | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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Football club Pirin (Bulgarian: Футболен клуб „Пирин“), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football.
The club was founded in 2008, after a merger between two clubs from Blagoevgrad, Pirin 1922 and PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad. By an official court decision later that year, the club was announced as a historical successor of the club records of the former FC Pirin, founded in 1922. In 2011, following the bankruptcy of the entity, which represented the football club, Pirin's football department was merged once again with Perun Kresna, to eventually become OFC Pirin.
The club's name is adopted from Pirin, a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria. Their home ground is the Stadion Hristo Botev in Blagoevgrad with a capacity of 7,500 spectators. Pirin's nickname is Orletata (The Eaglets) and their kit colours are green and white.
To date, the club has four domestic cup finals and most notably, enjoys high praise for its development of football players, as several noted Bulgarian footballers were produced by Pirin's youth academy. Among them are the
Pirin share a regional rivalry with Marek Dupnitsa, as the two clubs are among the most successful ones from Southwestern Bulgaria.
History
FC Pirin
One of FC Pirin Blagoevgrad's predecessors, FC Pirin, was founded in 1922. FC Pirin has played more than 20 seasons in the top flight and has competed twice in the European football competitions with one participation in the
On August 18, 2006, after failing to arrange some debts and signals of corruption, Pirin was expelled from the
Unification
In December 2008, Pirin, which competed in the
OFK Pirin
In the foremath of the 2011–12 season, Pirin Blagoevgrad failed to receive a professional license for the
In 2015, the club achieved promotion to the
On 11 June 2019, OFK Pirin secured a one-year sponsorship agreement and advertising partnership with the investment company Emirates Wealth EAD.[2] In July, Blagoevgrad Municipality approved a business plan by the company discussing the future development of the club, in particular the partnership between the two sides, phases in acquiring participatory management, investment schemes, club finances and aims.[3] The plan saw Emirates Wealth EAD become a majority owner, as it acquired 75% of the OFK Pirin's shares, with 25% remaining in Blagoevgrad Municipality's ownership.[4] Part of obtaining participatory management saw the creation of a new association, a joint-stock company named Futbolen klub Pirin AD (Bulgarian: Футболен клуб „Пирин“ АД), meaning Pirin Football Club, where OFK Pirin, owned by the municipality, was merged into.[5]
In 2021, Pirin managed to return to the First League after three years of absence.
Colours and badge
Currently, the team's home kit is green and the away kit is white. Various combinations of green and white have been used throughout the club's history.
Honours
Domestic
- Second League:
- Winners (1): 2020–21
- Bulgarian Cup:
- Runners-up (4): 2009
- Runners-up (4):
European Record
Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1985–86 | UEFA Cup | 1 | Hammarby | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–7 | |
1994–95 | Cup Winners' Cup | QR | Schaan | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | |
1 | Panathinaikos | 0–2 | 1–6 | 1–8 |
Players
Current squad
- As of 31 March 2024[6]
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.
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 nationals 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 5 years.
EU Nationals |
EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) |
Non-EU Nationals
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Notable players
Had international caps for their respective countries, held any club record, or have more than 100 league appearance. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.
Past seasons
League positions
Last Seasons
Season | League | Place | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Bulgarian Cup | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012–13 | V Group (III) |
3 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 69 | 26 | 62 | not qualified | ||
2013–14 | V Group | 1 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 87 | 6 | 79 | not qualified | ||
2014–15 |
B Group (II) |
2 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 52 | 15 | 61 | First round | ||
2015–16 |
A Group (I) |
8 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 45 | 26 | First round | ||
2016–17 | First League (I) | 10 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 41 | 44 | 43 | Quarterfinals | ||
2017–18 | First League | 14 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 29 | 42 | 30 | First round | ||
2018–19 | Second League (II) |
13 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 29 | 49 | 31 | First round | ||
2019–20 | Second League |
11 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 29 | 25 | Preliminary round | ||
2020–21 | Second League |
1 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 66 | 26 | 65 | Round of 32 | ||
2021–22 | First League (I) |
11 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 34 | 41 | Round of 16 | ||
2022–23 | First League (I) |
13 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 21 | 39 | 24 | Round of 32 | ||
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation. |
Personnel
Club officials
Position | Name | Nationality |
---|---|---|
Coaching staff | ||
Head coach | Oleksandr Babych | |
Assistant coach | Artem Filimonov | |
Assistant coach | Miroslav Mitev | |
Goalkeepers coach | Oleksandr Lavrentsov | |
Physiotherapist | Andrey Polonskyi | |
Management | ||
Chief Executive Officer | Petar Zanev | |
Sporting director | Petar Mihtarski | |
Academy manager | Radoslav Mitrevski |
Managerial history
Dates | Name | Honours |
---|---|---|
2011–2014 | Kostadin Gerganchev | V AFG title
| 1
2014–2015 | Yordan Samokovliyski | A Group
| promotion to
2015 | Ivo Trenchev (interim) | |
2015 | Nedelcho Matushev | |
2015–2016 | Naci Şensoy | |
2016−2017 | Stefan Genov | |
2017−2018 | Milen Radukanov | Relegation to Second Professional League |
2018–2019 | Petar Zlatinov | |
2019–2019 | Ivan Stoychev | |
2019 | Ivo Trenchev | |
2019–2021 | Warren Feeney | 1st place promotion to First Professional League |
2021–2022 | Radoslav Mitrevski | |
2022 | Krasimir Petrov | |
2022 | Vasil Petrov (interim) | |
2022–2023 | Hristo Yanev | |
2023 | Radoslav Mitrevski | |
2023–2024 | Ivo Trenchev | |
2024– | Oleksandr Babych |
References
- ^ "История". pirinfc.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
- ^ "ОФК Пирин ЕООД Благоевград влиза в рекламно партньорство с Емирейтс". fcpirin.com (in Bulgarian). 11 June 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ "Планът за развитие на ФК Пирин Благоевград". fcpirin.com (in Bulgarian). 1 August 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ "От днес ОФК „Пирин" – Благоевград официално е с нов собственик" (in Bulgarian). Radio Blagoevgrad. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ "Players". fcpirin.com (in Bulgarian). Pirin Blagoevgrad. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
External links
- Official website (in Bulgarian)
- Pirin – news and results