PFC Slavia Sofia

History

On April 10, 1913, a group of young people living near a Russian Monument in Sofia and representatives of the local capital clubs Botev and Razvitie, in a coffee-house – Alabin str. in Sofia, decided to establish an incorporated sport club – the first organized sport club in Sofia. The new incorporated club has named Slavia. Dimitar Blagoev – Palio, a 21-year-old student, was elected as the first president of the club. As members of the first club administrative council were elected Emanuil Geshev, Ferdinand Mihaylov, Tsvyatko Velichkov, Georgi Grigorov and Todor Kalkandzhiev.

A few days later, was elected the first football team of the club - Stefan Lalov, Ilia Georgiev, Emanuil Geshev, Todor Kalkandzhiev, Stefan Chumpalov, Dimitar Blagoev – Palio (all of them from Botev) and Pavel Grozdanov, Ferdinand Mihaylov, Boris Sharankov, Asen Bramchev, Dimitar Cvetkov (all of them from Razvitie). The first sport dresses of the club were white shirts and black shorts. Since 1924 the team plays with white shirts and white shorts and up to present days it is popular as the "White pride". On August 11, 1913, Slavia plays its first match versus the local team Savata and wins by 1–0.

After the First world war, Slavia began to become more successful. On June 5, 1928, the team won its first champion title, winning with 4–0 the final match against Vladislav Varna. The title was won by Slavia five more times until 1946, these were achieved in 1930, 1936, 1938–39, 1941 and 1943.

Slavia won the Bulgarian Cup for first time in 1952. By winning the 1963 Bulgarian Cup Final, Slavia qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the club's first appearance in European competition. They were drawn against Hungarian club MTK Budapest in the first round. Slavia were knocked out of the competition 2–1 on aggregate. Its most important achievements in Europe during 1966–67 Cup Winners' Cup campaign when Slavia eliminated Swansea City, RC Strasbourg and Servette, before being eliminated by Rangers at the semi-finals. The team consisted of great players such as goalkeeper Simeon Simeonov, Ivan Davidov, Aleksandar Shalamanov, Dimitar Largov, Dimitar Kostov and Aleksandar Vasilev.

In 1969 Slavia was merged with Lokomotiv Sofia under the name ZhSK Slavia. Two years later the two clubs split again after splitting was supported by 100,000 fans.

In the 1980–81 season, led by Chavdar Tsvetkov and Andrey Zhelyazkov, Slavia reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup before losing 6–3 on aggregate to Feyenoord Rotterdam. In 1986, Slavia won Balkans Cup. In the final they beat Greek side Panionios 5–3 on aggregate. In 1988 Slavia won Balkans Cup for second time in his history.

In 1994 Stoyan Kotsev, the former Slavia midfielder, was appointed as new manager. After finishing fourth in 1995, they went on to win the A PFG title in 1995–96. Slavia finished with 5 points more than the second, Levski Sofia. This marked Slavia's first Bulgarian title since 1943. In the 2010–11 season, Slavia reached the Bulgarian Cup Final, beating Ludogorets Razgrad, Etar 1924, Chernomorets Burgas and Pirin Blagoevgrad. However, they lost the final 1–0 to CSKA Sofia.

Stadium

In the first 10 years after Slavia was founded, the club played in the stadium of his predecessor SC Razvitie. On 3 October 1923, Slavia became the owner of land to the Russian Monument in Sofia, where was the first ground of the club. They played their home games there for the next few decades, until they moved to southwest Sofia in the 1960s.

On 12 March 1958, started the construction of Slavia Stadium. Mayor of the sixth area in Sofia and president of the Slavia women's basketball team, Dimitar Tinev presided at the laying in place of the first stone. The stadium is built in a residential area Ovcha Kupel, served by regular bus services 6 km from Sofia city center. Slavia Stadium has undergone many changes over the years and it presently has a capacity of 25,556.

Domestic

First league

Winners (7): 1928, 1930, 1936, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1996Runners-up (10): 1926, 1932, 1934, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1967, 1980, 1990Third place (12): 1940, 1942, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1982, 1986, 1991, 1997

Bulgarian Cup:

Winners (7): 1952, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1975, 1980, 1996Runners-up (3): 1954, 1972, 2011

European

Balkans Cup

Winners (2): 1986, 1988

Cup Winners' Cup

Semifinalist: 1967

UEFA Intertoto Cup

First place in group four: 1977

Current squad

As of 13 March 2017 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2016 and Transfers winter 2016–17.

Out on loan

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.

Managerial history

This is a list of the last Slavia managers: