OFC Spartak Pleven
OFC Spartak is a Bulgarian municipal association football club from the city of Pleven founded on 10 September 1919. It currently competes in the Second League. The team's greatest achievements are the Bulgarian Cup final in 1957 and the third place in the Bulgarian Championship during the following season.
Spartak Pleven's colours are blue and white. Former Bulgarian international Plamen Getov is the club's most prominent figure, being Spartak Pleven's top goalscorer with a total of 108 goals.
History
Spartak Pleven was created in 1919, by a student from Pleven, Dragomir Nestorov. He along with a couple of friends founded the club under the name "Skobelov".The year 1931 remains important for the club's history. This is because then the club changed its name to "Belite Orli". In 1941, the club was given their first ground by the Pleven municipality.
Things began to change in 1944, when the new government in Bulgaria began to interfere in sports as well. In 1946, it was decided that Belite Orli should be renamed to "Republikanec". However, the fans of the club were against the new name and in a meeting, it was decided to change the team's name to "Spartak Pleven", which it still carries today. In 1949, other football teams began to appear in the city, such as "Lokomotiv" and "General Vinarov". However, it was decided that all the teams should be united into one, strong team, so the name "Septemvri" was given to the new team. The team even managed to promote to the elite the same year. However, less than a year later, it was decided that Spartak Pleven would separate and act as a club on its own.
It was decided that there would be a qualifying tournament for the club's in Pleven to decide which team would participate on a professional level. Torpedo Pleven won that tournament and went to A PFG, while Spartak would start from the regional groups. However, the team quickly managed to promote back to professional football, gaining a place in the Bulgarian elite by 1951. In 1958, Spartak achieved its greatest success, finishing third.
Until the end of the 1980s, Spartak was a very important member of the Bulgarian elite, with only a couple of relegations to the second tier. The city of Pleven formed as one of the most important football centers in the country, with Spartak Pleven's youth academy becoming one of the strongest academies in Bulgaria, producing numerous players for the elite teams.
With the arrival of changes in the political and economic system in Bulgaria in the late 80s, Spartak Pleven experienced serious financial problems. However, until 2001, the team still managed to compete in the highest league three times. By 2001, Spartak had managed to compete 35 seasons in the top level, which grants the team tenth place in the all time rankings in Bulgaria. Since then, Spartak Pleven has been bouncing between the second and third tiers.
Their record low came in 2010, when the club declared bankruptcy. This led to the club being reformed and started playing from the amateur leagues.
At the end of the 2018-19 season, Spartak finished first in the North-West third league and managed to gain promotion to the second tier for the 2019-20 season. The team, however, experienced difficulties in the second tier, both financially and performance wise. Spartak largely remained in the relegation zone, struggling to survive. They were even deducted three points for not showing on a game. In May 2020, the Bulgarian Football Union decided to cancel the remainder of the season due to the coronavirus epidemic outbreak in Bulgaria. At the time, Spartak was in 16th place, which meant relegation to the third tier, after just one year in the second league.
Honours
- First League:
- * Third place: 1958
- Second League:
- * Winners : 1960–61, 1966–67, 1977–78, 1983–84, 2000–01
- Third League:
- * Winners : 2011–12, 2014–15, 2018–19
- Bulgarian Cup:
- * Runners-up: 1957
- Cup of the Soviet Army
- * Runners-up: 1987
League positions
ImageSize = width:1600 height:65
PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/2021
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1951
Colors =
id:bl1 value:rgb
id:bl2 value:rgb
id:rs value:rgb
id:rn value:rgb
PlotData=
bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center
from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/1951 shift: text:4
from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/1951 color:white shift: text: "B Group
from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952 shift: text:4
from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1953 shift: text:6
from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1954 shift: text:11
from:01/07/1954 till:01/07/1955 shift: text:9
from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956 shift: text:8
from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1957 shift: text:4
from:01/07/1957 till:01/07/1958 shift: text:3
from:01/07/1958 till:01/07/1959 shift: text:7
from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960 shift: text:12
from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1960 color:green shift: text: "A Group"
from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961 shift: text:1
from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961 color:white shift: text: "B Group"
from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1962 shift: text:8
from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963 shift: text:9
from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964 shift: text:10
from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1965 shift: text:7
from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1966 shift: text:16
from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1966 color:green shift: text: "A Group"
from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967 shift: text:1
from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967 color:white shift: text: "B Group"
from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1968 shift: text:14
from:01/07/1968 till:01/07/1969 shift: text:14
from:01/07/1969 till:01/07/1970 shift: text:12
from:01/07/1970 till:01/07/1971 shift: text:9
from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 shift: text:13
from:01/07/1972 till:01/07/1973 shift: text:11
from:01/07/1973 till:01/07/1974 shift: text:14
from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975 shift: text:9
from:01/07/1975 till:01/07/1976 shift: text:16
from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1976 color:green shift: text: "A Group"
from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977 shift: text:4
from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1978 shift: text:1
from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1978 color:white shift: text: "B Group"
from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979 shift: text:11
from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1980 shift: text:14
from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981 shift: text:5
from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982 shift: text:9
from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983 shift: text:5
from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1983 color:green shift: text: "A Group"
from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 shift: text:1
from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 color:white shift: text: "B Group"
from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 shift: text:9
from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986 shift: text:14
from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987 shift: text:14
from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988 shift: text:16
from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1988 color:green shift: text: "A Group"
from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989 shift: text:11
from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990 shift: text:12
from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991 shift: text:10
from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift: text:8
from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift: text:7
from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift: text:3
from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift: text:8
from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift: text:3
from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1996 color:white shift: text: "B Group"
from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift: text:12
from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift: text:15
from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1998 color:green shift: text: "A Group"
from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift: text:9
from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift: text:2
from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift: text:1
from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/2001 color:white shift: text: "B Group"
from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift: text:12
from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 color:green shift: text: "A Group"
from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift: text:14
from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift: text:7
from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift: text:4
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift: text:3
from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift: text:5
from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift: text:9
from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift: text:16
from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2009 color:white shift: text: "B Group"
from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift: text:2
from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 color:yellow shift: text: "Regional"
from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift: text:5
from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2012 color:red shift: text: "V"
from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift: text:6
from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 color:white shift: text: "B"
from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift: text:4
from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2015 color:red shift: text: "V"
from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift: text:13
from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 color:white shift: text: "B"
from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift: text:14
from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 color:white shift: text: "2nd"
from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift: text:8
from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2019 color:red shift: text: "3rd"
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift: text:16
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 color:white shift: text: "2nd"
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift: text:
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 color:red shift: text: "3rd"
Players
For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2019 and Transfers winter 2019–20.
Past seasons
European Record
Matches
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1964–65 | Intertoto Cup | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1964–65 | Intertoto Cup | Group Stage |  Karl–Marx–Stadt | 0–0 | 2–6 | 4th |
| 1964–65 | Intertoto Cup | Group Stage |  Tatran Prešov | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4th |
| 1964–65 | Intertoto Cup | Group Stage |  Odra Opole | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4th |
| 1981 | Intertoto Cup | Group Stage | - | - | - | - |
| 1981 | Intertoto Cup | Group Stage |  Werder Bremen | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3rd |
| 1981 | Intertoto Cup | Group Stage |  Malmö | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3rd |
| 1981 | Intertoto Cup | Group Stage |  Zürich | 4–1 | 0–3 | 3rd |
| - | - | Group Stage | - | - | - | - |