FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa

Lokomotiv (Bulgarian: Локомотив) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Gorna Oryahovitsa, which currently competes in the Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football.

Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa
Full nameFootball Club Lokomotiv - Gorna Oryahovitsa
Nickname(s)Loko, The Irons
Founded1932; 92 years ago (1932)
GroundStadion Lokomotiv,
Gorna Oryahovitsa
Capacity10,500
ChairmanIvo Dimitrov
Head coachNikolay Panayotov (caretaker)
LeagueSecond League
2023-24Northwest Third League, 1st (promoted)
Websitehttps://lokomotivgo.bg/

Established in 1932 as a sports association of the railway workers in the town, the football department of Lokomotiv have been playing at their current home ground, the Lokomotiv Stadium, since 1956. The club's main colours are black and white. Lokomotiv GO's longest spell in the top division was between 1987 and 1995. Lokomotiv's highest league finish in the top division is 8th, and was achieved three times during their 1989–90, 1990–91 and 1993–94 A Group campaigns.

History

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The club was established in 1932 as RSC - Railway Sports Club (Bulgarian: ЖСК - Железничарски спортен клуб) by the railway workers at the Gorna Oryahovitsa railway station, a major railway junction in northern Bulgaria. In 1944 RSC merged with SC Borislav and was later renamed to RSC Borislav. The team finally became known by their current name Lokomotiv in 1945. Lokomotiv's best performance in the Bulgarian Cup came in 1947, when they lost to eventual winners Levski Sofia in the semi-final, a feat, which they would achieve again in 1987, but again losing to cup holders Levski Sofia. In the 1962–63 season, they won the B Group title, earning promotion to the A Group for the first time in their history. In their maiden top-tier season, Lokomotiv endured a difficult 1963–64 campaign. The team eventually finished the season last and was relegated back to the B Group after a single season.

In the 1986–87 season, Lokomotiv ranked second in the B Group and won promotion to the A Group after a 23-year absence. This began the golden age for Lokomotiv as the team spent eight consecutive seasons in the top division before being relegated in 1995. During the 1990–91 A Group season, Lokomotiv's forward Ivaylo Yordanov finished as the leading goalscorer of the A Group with a total of 21 goals and was later transferred to Portuguese club Sporting C.P..

After 21 years of absence from the top flight, in the 2015–16 B Group, Lokomotiv finished third in the final league table and was one of the clubs approved and promoted to the newly restructured Bulgarian First League, following the adoption of new licensing criteria by the Bulgarian Football Union. The long-awaited return to the elite for Lokomotiv proved to be challenging, as the team spent the majority of the season competing in the relegation zone. Lokomotiv was eventually relegated after one season spent in the top flight.

After four seasons in the Second League, Lokomotiv were then relegated to the Third League at the end of the 2020/2021 season. After three seasons in the third level, Lokomotiv earned promotion back to the Second League in 2024.

Seasons

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Season by season

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Season Division Place Bulgarian Cup
1950 B PFG 6 DNQ
1951 V AFG ? DNQ
1952 V AFG 3 DNQ
1953 B PFG 7 DNQ
1954 B PFG 3 DNQ
1955 B PFG 2 DNQ
1956 B PFG 5 DNQ
1957 B PFG 10 DNQ
1958 B PFG 12 DNQ
1958–59 B PFG 5 DNQ
1959–60 B PFG 10 DNQ
1960–61 B PFG 5 DNQ
1961–62 B PFG 8 DNQ
1962–63 B PFG 1 DNQ
1963–64 A PFG 16 1/8 finals
1964–65 B PFG 4 DNQ
1965–66 B PFG 3 DNQ
1966–67 B PFG 4 Round of 16
1967–68 B PFG 11 DNQ
1968–69 B PFG 15 DNQ
1969–70 B PFG 11 DNQ
1970–71 B PFG 15 DNQ
1971–72 B PFG 11 DNQ
Season Division Place Bulgarian Cup
1972–73 B PFG 8 Round of 16
1973–74 B PFG 3 DNQ
1974–75 B PFG 12 DNQ
1975–76 B PFG 3 Round of 16
1976–77 B PFG 9 Round of 32
1977–78 B PFG 9 Round of 16
1978–79 B PFG 6 Round of 32
1979–80 B PFG 10 Round of 32
1980–81 B PFG 6 Groups
1981–82 B PFG 6 Second round
1982-83 B PFG 5 Third round
1983–84 B PFG 16 First round
1984–85 V AFG 1 First round
1985–86 B PFG 3 First round
1986–87 B PFG 1 Semi-finals
1987–88 A PFG 13 Second round
1988–89 A PFG 12 Third round
1989–90 A PFG 8 First round
1990–91 A PFG 8 Second round
1991–92 A PFG 11 First round
1992–93 A PFG 9 Quarter-finals
1993–94 A PFG 8 Quarter-finals
1994–95 A PFG 14 First round
Season Division Place Bulgarian Cup
1995–96 B PFG 13 First round
1996–97 B PFG 15 Semi-finals
1997–98 V AFG 14 DNQ
1998–99 V AFG 13 DNQ
1999–00 V AFG 12 DNQ
2000–01 V AFG 5 DNQ
2001–02 V AFG 6 DNQ
2002–03 V AFG 13 DNQ
2003–04 V AFG 1 DNQ
2004–05 B PFG 16 First round
2005–06 V AFG 9 DNQ
2006–07 V AFG 11 DNQ
2007–08 V AFG 7 DNQ
2008–09 V AFG 5 DNQ
2009–10 V AFG 7 DNQ
2010–11 V AFG 12 DNQ
2011–12 V AFG 9 First round
2012–13 V AFG 6 DNQ
2013–14 V AFG 2 DNQ
2014–15 B PFG 3 Quarter-finals
2015–16 B PFG 3 Quarter-finals
2016–17 First League 14 First round
2017–18 Second League 8 First round
Season Division Place Bulgarian Cup
2018–19 Second League 9 First round
2019–20 Second League 9 First round
2020–21 Second League 15 First round

League positions

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Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFGSecond Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian First LeagueBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFG

Recent seasons

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Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup
2011–12 V AFG (III) 9 10 7 13 34 31 37 First round
2012–13 V AFG 6 9 4 9 40 26 31 DNQ
2013–14 V AFG 2 23 4 3 119 26 73 DNQ
2014–15 B PFG (II) 3 18 5 7 60 34 56 Quarterfinals
2015–16 B PFG 3 13 11 6 42 26 50 Quarterfinals
2016–17 First League (I) 14 7 9 16 32 51 30 First round
2017–18 Second League (II) 8 10 10 10 42 39 40 First round
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

Honours

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Domestic

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International

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European tournaments history

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Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1992 Intertoto Cup Group 10   Lokomotiv Sofia 1–0 0–0 Group winners
  Argeș Pitești 2–0 0–5
  Gloria Bistrita 2–0 1–1

Current squad

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As of 25 September 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   BUL Ventsislav Dimitrov
3 MF   FIN Martin Kuittinen
5 DF   BUL Mihail Minkov
6 MF   BUL Nikola Kolev
7 MF   BUL Stanislav Valchev
8 MF   BUL Ivan Avramov
10 MF   BUL Daniel-Viktor Kanchev
11 MF   BUL Galin Tashev
13 MF   BUL Tsvetoslav Petrov
16 MF   BUL Stefan Mitev
17 FW   BUL Georgi Kolev
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF   BUL Kristiyan Dechev
19 MF   BUL Panayot Paskov
21 MF   BUL Milen Savov
26 DF   BUL Mariyan Ivanov
27 MF   BUL Yanislav Tsachev
33 GK   UKR Hennadiy Hanyev
66 MF   FRA Dylan Junior Abé
69 MF   BUL Antonio Laskov
71 DF   BUL Georgi Valchev
92 FW   BUL Kristiyan Raychev (captain)

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2024.

Managers

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Dates Name Honours
1952   Kostadin Bogdanov
1954   Angel Bozev
1957–1961   Kiril Chipev
1961–1963   Yordan Tomov 1 B PFG title
1964   Atanas Konarov
1964–1965   Penyu Petsev
1965   Apostol Sokolov
1966–1968   Hristo Hadzhiev
1968   Zhelyazko Panev
1969–1970   Angel Petrov
1970   Marin Marinov
1970–1971   Kiril Chipev
1971–1973   Petar Patev
1973–1975   Todor Velev
1975–1978   Ivan Varbanov
1978–1982   Petar Shatrov
1982–1984   Georgi Velinov
1984–1985   Ivan Varbanov 1 V AFG title
1985–1988   Dobromir Zhechev
1988–1989   Todor Velev
1989–1990   Kiril Rabchev
Dates Name Honours
1990–1991   Petar Kirilov
1991–1993   Nikola Velkov
1994   Georgi Velkov
1994   Tsenko Gavazov
1994   Nikola Velkov
1995   Georgi Velkov
1995   Plamen Nikolov
1995   Kiril Rabchev
1996–1997   Tsenko Gavazov
1997   Todor Todorov
1997–1998   Angel Minchev
2003–2005   Boyko Dimitrov 1 V AFG title
2006–2007   Valentin Ignatov
2007–2010   Dimitar Pechikamakov
2010–2011   Nasko Kostadinov
2011–2013   Dimitar Pechikamakov
2014   Tsenko Gavazov
2014–2016   Sasho Angelov
2016   Aleksandar Tomash
2016   Angel Chervenkov
2016–2017   Ivan Kolev
2017   Milcho Sirmov
2017   Aleksandar Dimitrov
2018   Todor Kiselichkov
2018   Marin Baychev
2019   Krasimir Mechev
2019–2020   Milcho Sirmov
2020–   Georgi Ivanov

Notable stats

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Most appearances for the club

# Name Apps
1   Dimitar Pechikamakov 458
2   Asan Abishev 421
3   K.Todoranov 362
4   Iv.Vasilev 351
5   Tsenko Gavazov 349

Most goals for the club

# Name Gls
01   Asan Abishev 94
02   Dimitar Pechikamakov 88
03   Iv.Vasilev 58
04   Tsenko Gavazov 56
05   K.Ushev 48

Most appearances in A group for the club

# Name Apps
1   Dimitar Pechikamakov 189
2   Levent Gavazov 177
3   Nasko Kostadinov 124
4   Valeri Ganev 122
5   Sasho Angelov 114

Most goals in A group for the club

# Name Gls
01   Valentin Ignatov 24
02   Ivaylo Yordanov 23
03   Dimitar Pechikamakov 20
04   Nasko Kostadinov 17
05   Valeri Ganev 15
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