Football in Bulgaria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:SHORTDESC: Template:SHORTDESC:

Football in Bulgaria
File:Vasil Levski National Stadium 2022.jpg
Vasil Levski National Stadium
CountryBulgaria
Governing bodyBulgarian Football Union
National teamBulgaria national football team
First played1894; 132 years ago (1894)
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

Football (Bulgarian: футбол, futbol) is the most popular sport in Bulgaria. Around 40% of the people in Bulgaria are football fans.[1] The sport was introduced in 1893–1894 by Swiss gymnastics teachers invited to the country. A football (initially called ритнитоп, ritnitop, "kickball") match was first played in Varna's High School for Boys in 1894, where it was introduced by Georges de Regibus, and the game was brought to Sofia by Charles Champaud the following year. The rules of the game were published in Bulgarian by Swiss teachers in the Uchilishten pregled magazine in 1897, and football continued to gain popularity in the early 20th century. Among the founders of the Turkish team Galatasaray in 1905 was the Bulgarian Lycée de Galatasaray student Blagoy Balakchiev, and the first Bulgarian club, Futbol Klub, was established in Sofia in 1909 on the initiative of Sava Kirov. Botev Plovdiv was founded in 1912, Slavia Sofia in 1913, and Levski Sofia in 1914.

The Bulgaria national football team debuted on 21 May 1924 in a 1924 Summer Olympics qualifier, losing 0–6 to Austria in Vienna. In the 1950s and 1960s Bulgarian football achieved its biggest Olympic success, being third in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne and second in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, also finishing fifth in Euro 1968. In 1962, Bulgaria first qualified for a FIFA World Cup tournament, in total of seven participations to date. In the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Bulgaria did reach the round of 16. Then, in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, came Bulgaria's biggest World Cup success, the fourth place, the elimination of reigning world champions Germany and Hristo Stoichkov's top goalscorer prize.[2][3][4] Bulgaria is also three times European champion in under-19, three times Balkan champion, and three times Balkan Youth champion. The titles won by the national team make Bulgaria one of the best performing nations in European football competitions.

Bulgarian football competitions

[edit | edit source]

Crime and corruption

[edit | edit source]

Between 2003 and 2013, 15 club presidents or previous owners of Bulgarian top league clubs were murdered. A leaked US diplomatic cable of 2010 claimed that since the end of Communism, allegations of illegal gambling, match fixing, money laundering, and tax evasion abound in Bulgarian football, which has become a symbol of organised crime's corrupt influence on important institutions.[5][6][7]

Most successful clubs overall

[edit | edit source]
See also: List of football clubs by competitive honours won

local and lower league organizations are not included.

Club Domestic Titles European Titles Overall titles
Parva Liga Bulgarian Cup Secondary cup (1981–1982) & (1983–1990) & (1991) Bulgarian Supercup Total European Railways Cup Balkans Cup Total
CSKA Sofia [a] 31 21 5 4 61 - - - 61
Levski Sofia 26 26 4 3 59 - - - 59
Ludogorets 14 4 - 8 26 - - - 26
Slavia Sofia 7 8 - - 15 - 2 2 17
Lokomotiv Sofia 4 4 - - 8 2 1 3 11
Lovech 4 4 - 1 9 - - - 9
Beroe Stara Zagora 1 2 - 1 4 - 4 4 8
Botev Plovdiv 2 4 - 1 7 - 1 1 8
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1 2 1 2 6 - - - 6
Vladislav Varna [b] 3 - - - 3 - - - 3
AS-23 [a] 1 1 - - 2 - - - 2
Spartak Plovdiv 1 1 - - 2 - - - 2
Etar 1 - 1 - 2 - - - 2
13 Sofia - 2 - - 2 - - - 2
Cherno More Varna [b] - 1 - 1 2 - - - 2
Lokomotiv Mezdra - - - - - 1 - 1 1
Akademik Sofia - - - - - - 1 1 1
Spartak Varna 1 - - - 1 - - - 1
Sportklub Sofia [c] 1 - - - 1 - - - 1
Ticha Varna [b] 1 - - - 1 - - - 1
Marek Dupnitsa - 1 - - 1 - - - 1
Septemvri Sofia [c] - 1 - - 1 - - - 1
Shipka Sofia [a] - 1 - - 1 - - - 1
Sliven - 1 - - 1 - - - 1
Spartak Sofia - 1 - - 1 - - - 1
  • The articles in italic indicate the defunct leagues and the defunct cups.
  • The figures in bold indicate the most times this competition has been won by a team.

Notes

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ a b c In November 1944, AS-23 and Shipka Sofia and Spartak Poduene merged to form Chavdar Sofia, which ultimately laid the foundations to what is known today as CSKA Sofia. Together all predecessor clubs and CSKA Sofia have won 64 titles.
  2. ^ a b c On 18 February 1945, SC Ticha and SC Vladislav merged to form Ticha-Vladislav nowadays Cherno More Varna. Together all predecessor clubs and Cherno More Varna have won 6 titles.
  3. ^ a b On 5 November 1944, Sportklub Sofia was merged with Sokol Sofia and Vazrazhdane Sofia and a new club was founded on Sportklub Sofia's basis – Septemvri Sofia, who is also its official descendant. Together all predecessor clubs and Septemvri Sofia have won 2 titles.

See also

[edit | edit source]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ https://countrycassette.com/rankings-sports-football-fans-by-country/
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Retrieved from "http://70.231.62.181/index.php?title=Football_in_Bulgaria&oldid=12169655"