PFC Ludogorets Razgrad

Foundation and beginning

The club was founded in 2001 as Ludogorie Football Club. It adopted its current name from one of the first football clubs in the town, Razgrad 2000, which was founded in 1945 and subsequently dissolved in 2006 after lack of funding, thus considering themselves as a successor to the traditions of association football played in Razgrad.

After playing for several years in the lower divisions of Bulgarian football, Ludogorets's successful campaign started in the 2009-10 season, when the team achieved promotion to the Bulgarian B Group. Shortly after, the club was acquired by the Bulgarian businessman Kiril Domuschiev and Ivaylo Petev, a former Litex Lovech player, was designated as head coach of the newly promoted second division outfit.

Domuschiev era (2010–present)

In September 2010, the club was purchased by Bulgarian entrepreneur Kiril Domuschiev, with the clear intention to bring Ludogorets to the A Group. The takeover was followed by a flurry of bids for high-profile players. In May 2011, with Ivaylo Petev at the helm as head coach, the team completed this feat in Domuschiev's first season of ownership by winning promotion to A Group for the first time in the club's history.

Prior to the start of season 2011–12, Ludogorets completed the transfers of Emil Gargorov, Alexandre Barthe, Stanislav Genchev, Svetoslav Dyakov, Uroš Golubović, Ľubomír Guldan and Marcelinho. Ivan Stoyanov signed during the first month of the season. Ludogorets were unbeaten in the first nine games of the season before losing 2–1 to Litex Lovech. In the last game before the winter break, Ludogorets drew 2–2 with CSKA Sofia, ending the autumn half of the season in first place. But, with three losses in a row in the middle of the spring half-season (to Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Slavia Sofia and Cherno More Varna respectively), Ludogorets lost their lead in the standings to CSKA Sofia up until the end of the season. On the last day of season 2011–12 they won the game with CSKA Sofia 1–0, with a goal scored by former Levski striker Miroslav Ivanov. The game was effectively a champions title match since Ludogorets were two points behind the team from Sofia, and the victory made them champions of Bulgaria in their first season in the top division, just one point ahead of CSKA. In May 2012, Ludogorets completed the domestic double when they won their first Bulgarian Cup title, after a 2–1 victory against Lokomotiv Plovdiv at Lazur Stadium in Burgas, and in August 2012, they won the Bulgarian Supercup, beating Lokomotiv 3–1, thus becoming the first team to win a treble in its first season in A Group and one of the few in the history of international football to do so.

Ludogorets started the 2012–13 season with eight wins in a row and nine matches without a loss, and finished the half-season in first place, as in the previous season, with just one loss and seven goals conceded out of 15 matches. But for the Bulgarian Cup the team was eliminated in the Round of 32 by CSKA Sofia with an aggregate score of 2–2 from the two legs and CSKA continuing into the next round on away goals. In the spring half-season Ludogorets occupied the first place with just three matches to go before the end of the season. Nevertheless, they were defeated 1–0 by Levski Sofia, and Levski took the lead of A Group. On the final day of the season Ludogorets had to beat the already relegated team of Montana, in hopes that Slavia Sofia would prevent Levski from winning their match. In the last minutes of the Levski-Slavia match, Levski conceived an own goal which subsequently led to a 1–1 draw, allowing Ludogorets to win their second championship title in dramatic fashion again. In the 2013 Supercup, they lost 5–3 on penalties to Beroe Stara Zagora after a 1–1 draw in regular time.

In 2014 the team won their third consecutive championship title since promotion, two rounds before the end of the regular season. They finished nine points ahead of runners-up CSKA Sofia. The team also secured a second domestic double, beating Botev Plovdiv 1–0 in the 2014 Bulgarian Cup Final. Ludogorets continued to dominate at domestic level in the following seasons, winning their fourth and fifth titles in 2015 and 2016 consecutively after finishing 8 points ahead of Beroe and 14 points ahead of Levski Sofia.

In Europe

After winning the 2011–12 Bulgarian title, Ludogorets entered the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League for the 2012–13 season, but were eliminated 3–4 on aggregate with a last minute away goal by Dinamo Zagreb.

As 2012–13 Bulgarian champions, Ludogorets played in the 2013–14 Champions League where they came through the qualifiers, eliminating subsequently Slovan Bratislava and Partizan Belgrade on their way. Ludogorets then lost to FC Basel in the play-offs, but earned the right to play in the Europa League.

Ludogorets played in Group B of the 2013–14 Europa League. They were unbeaten in the group stage finishing first in the group with five wins in six games, including both home and away victories over the prominent PSV Eindhoven and Dinamo Zagreb. Their only dropped points were a 1–1 home draw with Chornomorets Odesa. In the knockout phase, Ludogorets beat the Italian cup holders, Lazio, 1–0 away and drew 3–3 at home, for a 4–3 aggregate win, but then lost 0–3 at home, and 0–4 on aggregate to Valencia in the round of 16.

In the 2014–15 Champions League, Ludogorets again won both their qualifiers, against F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg and Partizan Belgrade. In the play-off they defeated Steaua București in dramatic fashion to reach the group stage for the first time. Goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov was dismissed for a second yellow card in the last minute of extra time in the second leg, when Ludogorets had used all their substitutes. In the penalty shoot-out, centre-back Cosmin Moți, having converted the first penalty, went in goal and made two saves to put Ludogorets through 6–5 on penalties.

Ludogorets made their debut in the 2014–15 Champions League group phase on 16 September 2014, grabbing a 1–1 equalizer away against Liverpool in the 90th minute scored by Dani Abalo, but in an eventual 1–2 loss, as the newly signed goalkeeper Milan Borjan gave away a penalty with a foul on Javi Manquillo, which Steven Gerrard later converted successfully to give Liverpool the victory. Ludogorets made their home debut in the 2014–15 Champions League group phase on 1 October 2014, scoring a stunning goal in the 6th minute through Ludogorets' attacking midfielder Marcelinho against the current Champions League champion Real Madrid, but in an eventual 1–2 loss. Interestingly, in this game Cristiano Ronaldo took two penalties, with first saved by the Ludogorets' goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov and second converted into goal for a 1–1 equalizer. On 22 October 2014, Yordan Minev scored his first goal for Ludogorets, scoring a crucial last-minute winning goal in a 1–0 home win over Basel in the group stage of the Champions League. On 26 November 2014, Dani Abalo scored in the 3rd minute and Georgi Terziev scored his first goal in the 88th minute, grabbing a 2–2 equalizer against Liverpool, in an eventual 2–2 draw.

Ludogorets won their 4th consecutive A Group title, but were left by several main squad players at the end of the season. Georgi Dermendziev was also replaced with Portuguese manager Bruno Ribeiro. The late changes saw Ludogorets being eliminated in the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League by the underdog Moldovan champions Milsami Orhei.

With Georgi Dermendzhiev returning at the helm of the squad, during the 2016–17 Champions League Ludogorets won the qualifiers against Mladost Podgorica and Red Star Belgrade respectively, followed by a success in the play-off against Viktoria Plzeň. Eventually, they became the first Bulgarian team to qualify twice for the group stage of the tournament. In the group stage, Ludogorets achieved 2 draws against Basel and one against Paris Saint-Germain, which were enough to secure them the third place and a transfer to the knockout phase of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, another milestone never done before by a Bulgarian team. Ludogorets however shortly exited the competition after failing to overcome FC Copenhagen of Denmark with a initial 1-2 home loss and a goalless away draw.

Crest, shirt and mascot

Ludogorets's main kit colour has been forest green and the away kit is white. A black alternative kit is also used in some of the domestic matches. Ludogorets's current crest is designed by the supporters and was introduced after a poll was initiated by the club among the fans.

Since 2014, the mascot of the team has been a female eagle called Fortuna, which was originally a gift from Lazio.

Domestic

Bulgarian A Group:

Bulgarian B Group:

Bulgarian Cup:

Bulgarian Supercup:

European

UEFA Europa League

UEFA Champions League

Matches

UEFA ranking

As of 25 February 2017

First-team squad

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

Out on loan

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

Current reserve players with first-team appearances

Ludogorets Razgrad's reserve team, plays in the Bulgarian Second League. The following Ludogorets II players have made first-team appearances for the club.

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

Foreign players

Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the A PFG 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 5 years.

Records and notable stats

Goalscoring and appearance records

All-time European performance

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries, or held any club record. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Ludogorets.

Supporters

The ultras of Ludogorets Razgrad are mainly organized under the group of "Green Front". A female supporters club was also established bearing the name "Green Ladies". Ludogorets has national fan clubs in Razgrad and Sofia, while other smaller fan clubs are also organised nationwide in Varna, Ruse, Sandanski and Popovo.