PFC Ludogorets Razgrad

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Ludogorets Razgrad
Ludogorets FC.png
Full name Professional Football Club Ludogorets Razgrad
Nickname(s) The Eagles
Founded 18 June 2001; 23 years ago (2001-06-18)[1]
Ground Ludogorets Arena
Ground Capacity 8,808
Owner Kiril Domuschiev
Chairman Aleksandar Aleksandrov
Head coach Georgi Dermendzhiev
League A Group
2015–16 A Group, 1st
Website Club home page
Current season

Professional football club Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgarian: Професионален футболен клуб Лудогорец Разград), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad, or simply as Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian football club based in Razgrad, currently playing in the A Group, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system.

In their first season in A Group, Ludogorets became only the third Bulgarian team, after CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia, to achieve a treble by winning the league, the Bulgarian Cup and the Bulgarian Supercup. Subsequently, the club also made a significant impact in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, where it reached the round of 16. Ludogorets are the second Bulgarian team (after Levski Sofia) to reach the group stage of the Champions League, a feat which they achieved in the following 2014–15 season. During that same season they became the first Bulgarian team to score points in the modern Champions League group stages when they defeated FC Basel 1–0 in Sofia.

The club's name comes from the name of the region in which Razgrad is located – the Ludogorie region (meaning "region of wild forests") of north-eastern Bulgaria. The club is nicknamed "The Eagles", and in 2014 it was presented with a live eagle by Europa League opponents Lazio;[2] the mascot was named Fortuna.[3]

The club's home colors are green and white. Ludogorets' home base is the Ludogorets Arena in Razgrad, a stadium with capacity of 8 808 seats and electric floodlights.[4]

History

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, founded in 1945 and dissolved in 2006.

The big progress of Ludogorets started in season 2009/10, when the team succeeded to enter from Third to Second division. That’s when Ivaylo Petev was designated as a head coach. “The green” won the Second division battle and entered the elite.[5]

Domuschiev era (2010–present)

In September 2010, the club was purchased by the businessman Kiril Domuschiev, with the clear intention to bring Ludogorets to A Group. The takeover was followed by a flurry of bids for high-profile players. In May 2011, the club completed this feat in Domuschiev's first season by winning promotion to A Group for the first time in the club's history.[6] 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), 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.[7] 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,[8] and in August 2012, they won the Bulgarian Supercup, beating Lokomotiv 3–1, and becoming the first team to win a treble in its first season in A Group.

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 Montana and to hope that Slavia Sofia would prevent Levski from winning the match. In the last minutes of the Levski-Slavia match Levski conceived an own goal which making the end result a 1–1 draw, allowing Ludogorets to win their second championship title. 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.[9] 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.[10]

In Europe

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

As 2012–13 Bulgarian champions, Ludogorets played in the 2013–14 Champions League where they came through the qualifiers, beating subsequently Slovan Bratislava and Partizan Belgrade. 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.[11] 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,[12] but then lost 0–3 at home, and 0–4 on aggregate to Valencia in the round of 16.[13]

File:Ludogorets Razgrad-Steava Bucarest.JPG
Ludogorets Razgrad-Steaua București second leg play-off for the 2014–15 Champions League, hosted at the Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia.

In the 2014–15 Champions League, Ludogorets again won both their qualifiers, against F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg and Partizan Belgrade.[14][15] In the play-off they defeated Steaua București in dramatic fashion to reach the group stage for the first time.[16] 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.[17]

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,[18] because the newly signed goalkeeper Milan Borjan then gave away a penalty with a foul on Javi Manquillo, which Steven Gerrard converted to give Liverpool the victory.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] 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.[23]

Ludogorets won their 4th consecutive A Group title, but were left by several main squad players. Also, they replaced the manager Georgi Dermendziev with Bruno Ribeiro. The changes led to a surprising elimination of Ludogorets in the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League by Milsami Orhei.

Crest, shirt and mascot

Ludogorets colours are green and white.

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt partner Shorts partner
2006–10 Bulgaria Tomy Sport None None
2010–12 Germany Adidas Huvepharma
2012–14 Navibulgar / Huvepharma
2014–16 Italy Macron eCasino.bg
2016– eCasino.bg / VIVACOM Spetema

Since 2014, the mascot of the team has been a female eagle called Fortuna, which was originally a gift from Lazio.[24]

Honours

Bulgarian A Group:

Bulgarian B Group:

Bulgarian Cup:

Bulgarian Supercup:

European tournaments

UEFA Europa League

UEFA Champions League

European record

Competition S P W D L GF GA
UEFA Champions League 4 22 6 5 11 26 31
UEFA Europa League 1 10 6 2 2 15 9
Total 5 32 12 7 13 41 40

Matches

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2012–13 UEFA Champions League 2Q Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 1–1 2–3 3–4
2013–14 UEFA Champions League 2Q Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 3–0 1–2 4–2
3Q Serbia Partizan 2–1 1–0 3–1
PO Switzerland Basel 2–4 0–2 2–6
UEFA Europa League Group B Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 2–0 2–0 1st
Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 3–0 2–1
Ukraine Chornomorets Odesa 1–1 1–0
Round of 32 Italy Lazio 3–3 1–0 4–3
Round of 16 Spain Valencia 0–3 0–1 0–4
2014–15 UEFA Champions League 2Q Luxembourg F91 Dudelange 4–0 1–1 5–1
3Q Serbia Partizan 0–0 2–2 2–2 (a)
PO Romania Steaua București 1–0 0–1 1–1 (6–5 p.)
Group B Spain Real Madrid 1–2 0–4 4th
Switzerland Basel 1–0 0–4
England Liverpool 2–2 1–2
2015–16 UEFA Champions League 2Q Moldova Milsami Orhei 0–1 1–2 1–3
2016–17 UEFA Champions League 2Q
Notes
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round
  • 3Q: Third qualifying round
  • PO: Play-off round

UEFA ranking

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As of 1 June 2016[25]

Rank Team Points
81 France Saint-Étienne 26.049
82 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 25.775
83 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 25.625
84 Belgium Gent 25.000
85 Switzerland Young Boys 24.755

Players

First-team squad

As of 10 July 2015 [26]

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

No. Position Player
1 Canada GK Milan Borjan
4 Brazil DF Cicinho
6 Brazil DF Natanael
8 Brazil MF Lucas Sasha
11 Brazil FW Juninho Quixadá
12 Madagascar MF Anicet Abel
16 Colombia DF Brayan Angulo
17 Bulgaria FW Tsvetelin Chunchukov
18 Bulgaria MF Svetoslav Dyakov (captain)
19 Bulgaria MF Aleksandar Vasilev
21 Bulgaria GK Vladislav Stoyanov (vice-captain)
22 Brazil MF Jonathan Cafu
No. Position Player
25 Bulgaria DF Yordan Minev
27 Romania DF Cosmin Moți (3rd captain)
28 Romania FW Claudiu Keșerü
30 Romania MF Andrei Prepeliță
33 Bulgaria GK Georgi Argilashki
37 Bulgaria DF Ventsislav Kerchev
55 Bulgaria DF Georgi Terziev
77 Portugal DF Vitinha
84 Bulgaria MF Marcelinho
88 Brazil MF Wanderson
92 Democratic Republic of the Congo MF Jody Lukoki
93 Netherlands MF Virgil Misidjan
For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2016.
For reserve team players, see Ludogorets Razgrad II.

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
Tunisia FW Hamza Younés (at Concordia Chiajna until 30 June 2016)

Current reserve players with first-team appearances

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Ludogorets Razgrad's reserve team, plays in the Bulgarian B Group. 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.

No. Position Player
13 Bulgaria MF Veselin Lyubomirov
24 Bulgaria DF Preslav Petrov
34 Bulgaria MF Oleg Dimitrov
38 Bulgaria MF Kristiyan Kitov
45 Bulgaria MF Ivaylo Klimentov
71 Bulgaria FW Yanaki Smirnov
No. Position Player
80 Bulgaria FW Denislav Aleksandrov
83 Bulgaria DF Hristo Popadiyn
91 Bulgaria GK Ivan Čvorović
95 Bulgaria FW Borimir Karamfilov
98 Bulgaria MF Svetoslav Kovachev

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.

EU Nationals

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)

Non-EU Nationals

Recent seasons

League positions

Season Group Position M W D L G D P Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Super Cup UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League Notes
2009–10 North-East V Group 2 34 26 2 6 79 28 80 Did not participate Did not participate Did not participate Did not participate Promoted
2010–11 East B Group 1 24 12 8 4 38 16 44 Round of 32 Did not participate Did not participate Did not participate Promoted
2011–12 A Group 1 30 22 4 4 73 16 70 Winner Winner Did not participate Did not participate Achieved treble
2012–13 A Group 1 30 22 6 2 58 13 72 Round of 32 Finalist First round Did not participate 2nd consecutive title
2013–14 A Group 1 38 25 9 4 74 20 84 Winner Winner Play-off round Round of 16 Achieved treble
2014–15 A Group 1 32 18 9 5 63 24 63 Semi-final Finalist Group Stage Did not participate 4th consecutive title
2015–16 A Group 1 32 21 7 4 55 21 70 Round of 16 TBD Second qualifying round Did not participate 5th consecutive title
2016–17 A Group TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD Second qualifying round TBD

Records and notable stats

  • Biggest home win in A group: Ludogorets 6–0 Slavia Sofia (11 September 2011)
  • Biggest away win in A group: Minyor Pernik 0-7 Ludogorets (18 April 2012)
  • Biggest home loss in A group: Ludogorets 0–2 Cherno More Varna (29 March 2012), Ludogorets 2–4 Litex Lovech (20 October 2013)
  • Biggest away loss in A group: Cherno More – Ludogorets 3–1 (31 August 2013), Litex 4–2 Ludogorets (23 May 2015)
  • Biggest European home win: Ludogorets 4–0 Luxembourg F91 Dudelange (16 July 2014, UEFA Champions league qualifying round first leg)
  • Biggest European away win: Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 0–2 Ludogorets (19 September 2013, UEFA Europa League Group Stage)
  • Biggest European home defeat: Ludogorets 0–3 Spain Valencia (13 March 2014, UEFA Europa League Round of 16)
  • Biggest European away defeat: Switzerland Basel 4–0 Ludogorets (4 November 2014, UEFA Champions League group stage), Spain Real Madrid 4–0 Ludogorets (09.12.2014, UEFA Champions League group stage)
  • Most league appearances: Bulgaria Marcelinho (130)
  • Most league goals: Bulgaria Marcelinho (39)
  • Most capped foreign player: Canada Milan Borjan, 29 caps, Canada
  • Most capped Bulgarian player: Bulgaria Svetoslav Dyakov – 29 caps
  • Youngest debutant: Bulgaria Kristiyan Kitov – 17 Years 07 Months 03 Days
  • Ludogorets is the second team in the world, together with Levadia Tallinn from Estonia, that after promoting from the second to the first level of the football league pyramid of its country, wins a treble, capturing all of the local trophies – the league, the national cup and the supercup.
  • Ludogorets is the first team in Bulgaria, that won two promotions in a row and then succeeded in achieving a treble.
  • Ludogorets became the first Bulgarian team to begin their group stage participation in European tournaments with 3 consecutive wins, when in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage they recorded consecutive wins against PSV Eindhoven (2–0), Dinamo Zagreb (3–0) and Chornomorets Odesa (1–0), without conceding a goal in any of the games.
  • After the end of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage, Ludogorets became the first Bulgarian team to record 9 wins in European competitions in a single season, as well as the first Bulgarian team to record 5 away wins in European competitions in a single season.
  • After the end of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage, Ludogorets became the first Bulgarian team to record points in that competition when they defeated Basel 1–0 at home. This was also the first home win for a Bulgarian team in the UEFA Champions League, and was followed by a 2–2 home draw with Liverpool. Thus, as of the 2015–16 season Ludogorets holds the record for most points scored in the group stage by a Bulgarian team with 4.

Goalscoring and appearance records

As of 28 May 2016

Most appearances for the club in A PFG

Rank Name Career Appearances
1 BrazilBulgaria Marcelinho 2011– 130
2 Bulgaria Svetoslav Dyakov 2011– 129
3 Bulgaria Yordan Minev 2011– 108
4 Romania Cosmin Moți 2012– 99
5 Brazil Juninho Quixadá 2011– 96
6 Bulgaria Mihail Aleksandrov 2010–2016 96
7 Bulgaria Vladislav Stoyanov 2013– 87
8 Brazil Júnior Caiçara 2012–2015 83
9 France Alexandre Barthe 2011–2015 73
10 Netherlands Virgil Misidjan 2013- 71

Most goals for the club in A PFG

Rank Name Career Goals
1 BrazilBulgaria Marcelinho 2011– 39
2 Brazil Juninho Quixadá 2011– 27
3 Bulgaria Ivan Stoyanov 2011–2013 25
4 Netherlands Virgil Misidjan 2013– 21
5 Slovenia Roman Bezjak 2012–2015 20
6 Bulgaria Emil Gargorov 2011–2013 19
7 Brazil Wanderson 2014– 17
8 Romania Claudiu Keșerü 2015– 15
9 Bulgaria Mihail Aleksandrov 2010–2016 15
10 Spain Dani Abalo 2013–2015 13
  • Players in bold are still playing for Ludogorets.

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 women's fan club was also established under the name "Green Ladies". Ludogorets has national fan clubs in Razgrad and Sofia, while other smaller fan clubs are also organised in cities and towns like Popovo, Varna, Sandanski and Ruse.

Personnel

Board of directors

Position Name Nationality
Owner Kiril Domuschiev Bulgaria
President Alexander Alexandrov Bulgaria
Chairman of the Board of Directors Temenuga Gazdova Bulgaria
Managing Director Angel Petrichev Bulgaria
Director Youth Academy Yakov Paparkov Bulgaria
Public Relations Vladislav Trifonov Bulgaria

Current technical body

Position Name Nationality
Sports Director Metodi Tomanov Bulgaria
Head Coach Georgi Dermendzhiev Bulgaria
Assistant Coach Stefan Genov Bulgaria
Ludogorets II Coach Galin Ivanov Bulgaria
U19 Coach Petar Penchev Bulgaria
Goalkeeper coach Milan Stojković Serbia
Physical Coach Sergio Matri Spain
Physical Coach Javier Castillo Spain
Physiotherapist Toni Todorov Bulgaria
Physiotherapist Petko Petrov Bulgaria
Physiotherapist Stoyan Aleksiev Bulgaria
Physiotherapist Marco Alves Portugal
Doctor Yavor Yakimov Bulgaria
Administrator Plamen Yordanov Bulgaria
Housekeeper Dimitar Mihov Bulgaria

Managers

Dates Name Honours
2001–10 Unknown
2010–13 Bulgaria Ivaylo Petev 99992 A Group titles
1 B Group
1 Bulgarian Cup
1 Bulgarian Supercup
2013–14 Bulgaria Stoycho Stoev 99991 A Group title
1 Bulgarian Cup
2014–15 Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev 99991 A Group title
1 Bulgarian Supercup
2015 Portugal Bruno Ribeiro
2015 BulgariaPortugal Eduard Eranosyan
2015– Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev 99991 A Group title

References

  1. http://bgclubs.eu/teams/Ludogorets1945%28Razgrad%29
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  4. Ludogorets arena with the best electric floodlights in the league (in Bulgarian)
  5. http://www.ludogorets.com/en/history/
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  9. Невиждано постижение! Лудогорец ликува! Три сезона в елита – три титли! (видео) (Sportal.bg, 7 May 2014) (in Bulgarian)
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  11. Europa League: Ludogorets win 2–1 at Dinamo Zagreb in Group B, Sky Sports, 12 December 2013
  12. Europa League: Ludogorets progress after 4–3 victory over Lazio, Sky Sports, 27 February 2014
  13. Europa League: Valencia beat Ludogorets 1–0 to reach quarter-finals, Sky Sports, 20 March 2014
  14. Dudelange striker Turpel frustrates Ludogorets, UEFA.com, 22 July 2014
  15. Ludogorets squeeze out Partizan, UEFA.com, 6 August 2014
  16. Ludogorets Razgrad win 6–5 on penalties, BBC, 27 August 2014
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  20. Real Madrid recover to down dogged Ludogorets
  21. Real Madrid recover to down dogged Ludogorets
  22. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. Орлицата Фортуна в неизвестност! Птицата с нов опит за бягство, topsport.bg, 18 April 2014
  25. UEFA Team Ranking 2016 (http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert)
  26. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links