PFC Litex Lovech
893455
225245533
2008-07-12T17:47:02Z
Jordanson
3074374
{{Football club infobox
| clubname = PFC Litex Lovech
| image = [[Image: Litex.png|100px|Emblem of Litex Lovech]]
| fullname = PFC Litex Lovech AD
| nickname = The Lilacs
| founded = [[1921]]
| ground = [[Lovech Stadium]]
| capacity = 7,000
| chairman = {{flagicon|BUL}} Angel Bonchev
| manager = {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Stanimir Stoilov]]
| league = [[TBI A Football Group]]
| season = [[A PFG 2007-08|2007-08]]
| position = 3th
| pattern_la1=_Litex|pattern_b1=_Litex|pattern_ra1=_Litex
| leftarm1=FF8800|body1=FF8800|rightarm1=FF8800|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
| pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
| leftarm2=008000|body2=008000|rightarm2=008000|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=008000
}}
'''PFC Litex Lovech''' ({{lang-bg|ПФК Литекс (Ловеч)}}) is a [[Bulgaria]]n football club from the town of [[Lovech]].
Litex takes part in the [[Bulgarian A Professional Football Group|TBI A Football Group]]. The team plays its home games at the local [[Lovech Stadium]] with 7,000 seats, electric lighting and permission to stage international matches. Litex has twice been Bulgarian champion and three times Bulgarian Cup winner.
== History ==
The football club of the town of Lovech was founded in [[1921 in football (soccer)|1921]] under the name ''Hisarya''. The first official game was held in [[1923 in football (soccer)|1923]].
The club changed its name several times over the years, before becoming ''Osum'' in [[1979 in football (soccer)|1979]]. Under that name the club played constantly in the Bulgarian Second Division and was close to promotion several times, before finally achieving in [[1994 in football (soccer)|1994]] under the name ''LEX'' (the sponsoring company at the time) after finishing in 1st position.
The first season in the Premier League was a kind of success for a club like LEX, finishing 11th after scoring victories over the teams of [[PFC CSKA Sofia|CSKA]] (1:0), [[Slavia Sofia]] (1:0) and [[Lokomotiv Sofia]] (1:0), which were some of the best teams in Bulgaria at that time.
The next season was not so successful and the team, renamed ''Lovech'' in the meantime, was relegated back to the Second Division. This was the turning point in the history of the club. Petrol businessman and citizen of Lovech [[Grisha Ganchev]] bought the club and renamed it ''Litex''. Almost all of the current players were released and a significant number of valuable players were signed. The team won first place without difficulty, finishing more than 10 points ahead of the second team in the table and qualifying for the First Division. In the same season Litex reached the quarter-final of the Bulgarian Cup and the final of the Bulgarian League Cup, which they unfortunately lost after a 2:2 draw in regular time and a penalty shoot-out. Litex also won against every team from the top of the table of the Bulgarian First Division (either in friendly matches or cup matches).
In [[1997 in football (soccer)|1997]], Litex were promoted for a second time to the First Division and immediately became Bulgarian champions, finishing the season 5 points ahead of the second-placed [[Levski Sofia]]. This was unprecedented in Bulgarian football history. The striker of the team [[Dimcho Belyakov]] became top goalscorer with his 21 goals during the season. Midfielder [[Stoycho Stoilov]] received the Best League Player award. The club's first participation in European club tournaments was also promising, with Litex eliminating the [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[Halmstads BK]] (2:0 and 1:2) and reaching the second qualifying round (but being knocked out by [[FC Spartak Moscow|Spartak Moscow]]). The team won the Bulgarian Championship for the second successive time a year later.
Litex Lovech have also won the Bulgarian Cup twice — 2001 (beating the team of [[Velbazhd Kyustendil]] 1:0 in the final match after extra time) and 2004 (a win over CSKA after 2:2 in the regular time and a penalty shootout).
Litex is also the team which inflicted the biggest defeat on CSKA Sofia — 8:0 in Lovech in the autumn of 1998. The club is honoured as the first Bulgarian team to win against a German team in Germany — 2:0 over [[Union Berlin]] in the Second Round of the [[UEFA Cup]] in October 2001.
The biggest win in Europe so far is 7:0 over [[FK Željezničar Sarajevo|NK Željezničar]] in Lovech in August 2004.
In early August 2007, Litex signed a three-year sponsorship and advertising contract with [[Bulgaria]]n [[mobile]] operator [[GLOBUL]] and started the [[2007]]/[[2008]] season with the [[logo]] of the mobile service [[i-mode]] on their jerseys. In December 2007, Litex was the first Bulgarian club to have branded mobile phone game- Litex Football.
== Stadium ==
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Litexgradski.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Litex'stadium]] -->
Lovech Stadium is a multi-use stadium in [[Lovech]], [[Bulgaria]]. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of PFC Litex Lovech.Built in [[1962]], and after a total reconstruction in 1999, it gained permission to stage international matches (with only 4 other Bulgarian stadiums in the list) It has around 7 000 seats and electric lighting.
The field measures 110x82 meters.The most visited match has been the one versus Levski (Sofia) in 22.10.1998 - 12 500 spectators.
== Historical results ==
* 22.7.1998 '''PFC Litex''' - [[Halmstads BK]] 2:0 (Champions League , preliminary round)
* 29.11.1998 '''PFC Litex''' - [[PFC CSKA Sofia]] 8:0 (Bulgarian championship)
* 24.05.2001 '''PFC Litex''' - [[PFC Velbazhd Kyustendil]] 1:0 ET (Bulgarian Cup Final)
* 18.10.2001 [[1. FC Union Berlin]] - '''PFC Litex''' 0:2 (Uefa cup)
* 11.05.2004 '''PFC Litex''' - [[PFC CSKA Sofia]] 6:5 after penalty (Bulgarian Cup Final)
* 29.09.2005 [[K.R.C. Genk]] - '''PFC Litex''' 0:1 (Uefa Cup)
* 03.11.2005 '''PFC Litex''' - [[Grasshopper-Club Zürich]] 2:1 (Uefa Cup)
* 14.05.2008 [[Cherno More Varna]] - '''PFC Litex''' 0:1 (Bulgarian Cup Final)
== Current squad ==
''As of July 2008''
<table style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; width: 180px; border: #FF8800 solid 1px">
<tr><td><div style="position: relative;">
[[Image:Soccer.Field Transparant.png|200px]]
{{Image label|x=0.20|y=0.06|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">1.Golubović</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.05|y=0.20|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">16.Manolev</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.14|y=0.15|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">3.Cambon</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.33|y=0.15|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">22.Nikolov</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.43|y=0.20|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">5.Venkov</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.15|y=0.35|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">6.Bertin</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.21|y=0.42|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">10.Sandrinho</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.36|y=0.35|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">17.Acedo</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.05|y=0.50|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">32.Popov</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.23|y=0.58|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">19.Niflore</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.46|y=0.50|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Black">8.Tom</font>}}
</div></td></tr>
<tr><td><small>Litex Lovech 2008-2009</small></td></tr>
</table>
{{Fs start}}
{{Fs player|no=1|nat=Serbia|name=[[Uroš Golubović]]|pos=GK}}
{{Fs player|no=2|nat=France|name=[[Alexandre Barthe]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=3|nat=France|name=[[Cédric Cambon]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=5|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Mihail Venkov]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=6|nat=France|name=[[Alexis Bertin]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=8|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Wellington Brito da Silva|Tom]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=9|nat=Brazil|name=[[Eduardo Du Bala]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player|no=10|nat=Brazil|name=[[Sandrinho]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=11|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Emil Angelov]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player|no=12|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Todor Todorov (goalkeeper)|Todor Todorov]]|pos=GK}}
{{Fs player|no=14|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Ventsislav Bengyuzov]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=16|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Stanislav Manolev]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs mid}}
{{Fs player|no=17|nat=France|name=[[Jérémy Acedo]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=18|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Krum Bibishkov]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player|no=19|nat=France|name=[[Wilfried Niflore]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player|no=20|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Georgi Pashov]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player|no=22|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Plamen Nikolov (defender)|Plamen Nikolov]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=23|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Petar Zanev]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=26|nat=Brazil|name=[[Carlos Eduardo de Souza Tomé|Dudu]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=27|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Momchil Cvetanov]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player|no=29|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Radoslav Dimitrov]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=30|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Evgeni Aleksandrov]]|pos=GK}}
{{Fs player|no=32|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Ivelin Popov]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=33|nat=Bosnia and Herzegovina|name=[[Džemal Berberović]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs end}}
=== Squad changes ===
'''In:'''
* {{flagicon|Serbia}} [[Uroš Golubović]] - from [[Lokomotiv Sofia]]
* {{flagicon|France}} [[Jérémy Acedo]] - from [[FC Martigues|Martigues]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Petar Zanev]] - from [[Racing de Ferrol|Racing Ferrol]], return from loan
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Georgi Pashov]] - from [[OFK Levski 2007]] , return from loan
* {{flagicon|France}} [[Alexis Bertin]] - from [[FC Gueugnon|Gueugnon]]
* {{flagicon|France}} [[Alexandre Barthe]] - from [[Rodez AF]]
'''Out:'''
* {{flagicon|Serbia}} [[Nebojša Jelenković]] - to [[Spartak Trnava]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Stanislav Genchev]] - to [[F.C. Vaslui]]
* {{flagicon|France}} [[Cedric Uras]] - to [[Neuchâtel Xamax]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Zoran Janković (footballer)|Zoran Janković]] - to [[Ethnikos Achna FC]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Kostadin Hazurov]] - to [[Minyor Pernik]]
For other transfers, see [[List of Bulgarian football transfers 2008-09]].
== Greatest team ==
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Vitomir Vutov]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Radostin Kishishev]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Rosen Kirilov]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Ivaylo Petkov]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Zhivko Zhelev]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Stefan Yurukov]]
# {{flagicon|Serbia}} [[Nebojša Jelenković]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Marian Todorov]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Dimcho Belyakov]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Zoran Jankovic (footballer)|Zoran Jankovic]]
# {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Svetoslav Todorov]]
== Achievements ==
* 2 times [[Bulgarian A Professional Football Group|champion of Bulgaria]] ([[1998]], [[1999]])
* 3 times [[Bulgarian Cup]] winner ([[2001]], [[2004]], [[2008]])
* 3 times Bulgarian Cup finalist ([[1999]], [[2003]], [[2007]])
* 1 time Bulgarian League Cup Runner-Up([[1997]])
* 2 time [[Bulgarian Supercup]] Runner-Up [[2004]], [[2007]]
* Winner in the international friendly tournament in [[Norcia]], [[Italy]] (2001), defeating [[Steaua Bucureşti]] 4:2 in the final)
== Notable players ==
{|
|valign="top"|
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Georgi Denev]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Petar Hubchev]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Radostin Kishishev]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Dimcho Belyakov]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Svetoslav Todorov]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Rosen Kirilov]]
* {{flagicon|Serbia}} {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Zoran Janković (footballer)|Zoran Janković]]
* {{flagicon|Serbia}} {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Zlatomir Zagorcic]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Stoycho Stoilov]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Stefan Kolev]]
|width="33"|
|valign="top"|
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Hristo Yovov]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Zhivko Zhelev]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Zdravko Zdravkov]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Ivaylo Petkov]]
* {{flagicon|Albania}} [[Altin Haxhi]]
* {{flagicon|Albania}} [[Alban Bushi]]
* {{flagicon|Romania}} [[Valeriu Rachita]]
* {{flagicon|Romania}} [[Aurelian Patrascu]]
* {{flagicon|Yugoslavia}} [[Dragoljub Simonovic]]
* {{flagicon|Brazil}} {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Tiago Silva]]
|width="33"|
|valign="top"|
* {{flagicon|Slovenia}} [[Milivoje Novakovič]]
* {{flagicon|France}} [[Jean-Philippe Caillet]]
* {{flagicon|Serbia}} {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Nebojša Jelenković]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Stefan Yurukov]]
* {{flagicon|Morocco}} [[Murad Hidiuad]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Petar Zanev]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Rosen Kirilov]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Vitomir Vutov]]
*{{Flagicon|Macedonia}} [[Robert Popov]]
* {{flagicon|Venezuela}} [[Alejandro Cichero]]
|}
== External links ==
* [http://www.pfclitex.com/ Official website]
* [http://litex.dankofff.net/ Another Unofficial Website in Bulgarian]
* [http://clubs.bul-foot.org/html/a/a/Litex(Lovech).htm Bulgarian clubs - Litex (Lovech)]
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{{BG A PFG}}
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{{Bulgarian A Professional Football Group seasons}}
{{UEFA Cup 2008-09}}
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[[Category:Football (soccer) clubs established in 1921]]
[[Category:Bulgarian football clubs|Litex]]
[[bg:ПФК Литекс (Ловеч)]]
[[ca:PFC Litex Lovech]]
[[de:Litex Lowetsch]]
[[es:Litex Lovech]]
[[fr:PFK Litex Lovetch]]
[[ko:PFC 리텍스 로베치]]
[[id:PFC Litex Lovech]]
[[it:PFC Litex Loveč]]
[[he:ליטקס לובץ']]
[[lt:PFK Liteks Loveč]]
[[nl:Liteks Lovetsj]]
[[ja:リテックス・ロヴェチ]]
[[pl:Liteks Łowecz]]
[[ru:Литекс (футбольный клуб)]]
[[sr:ФК Литекс]]
[[sv:PFC Litex Lovech]]
[[tr:Litex Lovech]]