History and facts
Founded: 2000
Full name: OFK Sliven 2000;
Nickname: Voivodite (The Voivodes);
Colors: Orange or red shirts, blue shorts;
Stadium: Hadzhi Dimitar (10,000 seats) in Sliven;
Chairman: Yordan Lechkov; Chief Executive: Georgi Kirilov;
Honours (as successor of AFD Sliven ond FK Sliven): 3rd place in Group "A" (1984); Bulgarian Cup winner (1990)
OFK Sliven 2000 was founded on 29.02.2000 on the background of the bankrupted FK Sliven. OFK as abbreviation means Obshtinski Futbolen Klub (Municipal Football Club). In the last 40 years the town of Sliven has always been represented by a single football club after merging a number of smaller ones, thus OFK Sliven is a successor of the tradition started back in 1914 with the first local team Sportist. In the past the leading club in Sliven was also recognized as Asenovetz, DNA, General Zaimov, Mlada Gvardia, DFS Sliven, AFD Sliven, FK Sliven etc. After World War II Sliven took part in the Bulgarian Group "B" for 10 years before seeing its first promotion to Group "A" in 1963. Up to now, the club has 23 seasons at the highest level of Bulgarian football, continuously in the period 1974 - 1993. In 1984 AFD Sliven won the 3rd place in Group "A" and qualified for the UEFA Cup in 1984/85. In the first round Sliven faced FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo, won the first leg by 1-0 at home but left the competition after 1-5 defeat in the return. FK Sliven had its biggest success in 1990, winning the Bulgarian Cup against CSKA Sofia (2-0). In the Cup Winners Cup Sliven was drawn against Juventus Turin, lost both games by 0-2 and 1-6. Over the next few years FK Sliven fell into a deep crisis, relegated to the regional divisions and bankrupted. The organized and later professional football in Sliven was reborn in 2000 with establishing OFK Sliven 2000 by the former Bulgarian international player and current mayor of the town Yordan Lechkov. In 2005 the club earned a promotion to Group "B" East where it won the title in May 2008 and so finally returned to the highest Group "A" after break of 15 years.
Hall of fame
Nikolai Arabov (born 14.11.1953, central defender).Arabov made his debut for Sliven in 1971 and stayed in the club for 15 years, with 310 games in Group "A". Capped 42 times for the Bulgarian national team in the period 1976 - 1986, including 3 games at World Cup 1986 in Mexico. Arabov has also played for Spartak (Pleven), Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Anagennisi (Cyprus) and SK Tirana (Albania) before returning to Sliven for its last season in Group "A" (1993). After his retirement as a player Arabov worked for long years in Albania, coaching SK Tirana, Partizani and KS Flamurtari
Yordan Lechkov (born 09.07.1967, midfielder).Lechkov played for Sliven in the period 1985 - 1991 with more than 170 appearances and 70 goals for the first team, won the Bulgarian Cup in 1990 scoring the second goal in the final against CSKA Sofia. After that he played for CSKA Sofia (1991-92), Hamburger SV (1992-96), Olymique de Marseille (1996-97) and Besiktas (1997-98). Lechkov has 45 caps for the national team in 1989-1998, part of the "golden" generation that came 3rd at World Cup 1994. Famous with his winning goal at the quarterfinal against Germany. Currently Yordan Lechkov is a mayor of Sliven, vicepresident of the Bulgarian Football Union and chairman of OFK Sliven.
Other notable players in the history of Sliven are Gospodin Simeonov, Ivan Kostov, Vasil Konov, Stefan Aladzhov, Asparuh Nikodimov, Radia Doychev, Todor Simov, Yordan Milkonski, Tenko Dobrev, Tenko Tenev, Svetlin Mirchev, Dancho Yorgov, Tzonko Simeonov, Ivan Vulchev, Vasil Tinchev, Demir Demirev, Valeri Vulkov, Velian Parushev, Todor Stoyanov etc.
Stadium
The stadium Hadzhi Dimitar in Sliven (10,000 seats) was initially built in the 50's, first big reconstructions were run in the period 1984 - 1989. Currently Hadzhi Dimitar is a part of big multifunctional sports compound, still under development - at completion featuring hotel, restaurant, 2 training grass pitches, tennis courts, swimming pool. The athletic track of Hadzhi Dimitar is meeting all requirements of IAAF for hosting international competitions.
Squad 2008/2009
Goalkeepers: Evgeni Karamanov, Zdravko Chavdarov, Petar Denchev
Defenders: Zhivko Dinev, Kostadin Stoyanov, Stanislav Radev, Vladimir Zafirov, Ivelin Yanev, Stefan Kikov, Vladislav Yamukov, Nikolai Dimitrov
Midfielders and forwards: Petar Stoyanov, Georgi Petkov, Ivaylo Petrov, Dimo Bakalov, Marin Tzenov, Kosta Yanev, Ivan Stoyanov, Miroslav Mindev, Petar Kolev, Martin Kokaldzhiev, Yavor Vundev, Petar Lakov, Ismail Isa, Vasil Velev, Simeon Raikov
Forum
We kindly invite you to visit the English-speaking forum of OFK Sliven - click here.
About this site
sliven-fc.com is independent informative site, not associated officially with the club.
