Football Club Pirin (Bulgarian: Футболен клуб Пирин) is a Bulgarian football club, based in Gotse Delchev. The club currently plays in the A RFG Blagoevgrad, the regional fourth tier of Bulgarian football league system.
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| Full name | Football Club Pirin Gotse Delchev | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Nevrokopchani | ||
| Founded | 1925 | ||
| Ground | Gradski, Gotse Delchev | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| Manager | Dimitar Krushovski | ||
| League | Southwest Third League | ||
| 2023-24 | A RFG Blagoevgrad, 1st (promoted after winning playoff) | ||
| Website | http://fc-piringd.com/ | ||
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The club's biggest success came in 2012, when Pirin managed to promote to the A Group for the first time. Their spell in the top flight lasted two seasons, culminating in relegation at the end of the 2013–14 season. Pirin play home games at the Gradski stadium, with a capacity of 5,000. They play in green and white stripped kits. The club emblem represents the Pirin mountain range in Southwestern Bulgaria.
History
editPirin Gotse Delchev were founded in 1925 as Pirin Nevrokop[1] (Nevrokop being the former name of Gotse Delchev),[2] and their traditional colours are green and white. In 1981–82 Pirin were promoted for the first time to B PFG. The club spent three years in second division, before being relegated in 1985 to third division.
After 8 years in the lowers divisions of Bulgarian football, in 1993 Pirin returned to B PFG. In their first season back in second division Pirin finished in eight place in the league. In the following 1994–95 season was a poor one for the club, ending with the team in second lowest place and relegated back to the third division.
In 2005 the club won a third promotion to the B PFG in its history.[3] In December 2005, Yordan Bozdanski was appointed as manager.[4] Pirin finished the 2006–07 season in third place in the West B PFG, their highest finish in the league since their еstablishment.
On 27 June 2011, Yakov Paparkov was officially announced as the club's new manager.[5] In the 2011–12 season, Pirin won the West B PFG with a 62 points, scoring 41 goals and losing only three times. Pirin were promoted to Bulgarian football's top division for the first time in their history.
Their first season in the top level of Bulgarian football was successful. The team won ten games and draw four, earning them 34 points. These results placed them in 11th position, three points above the relegation zone. At home, Pirin won six games, as well as drew three, including a 1–1 draw against Levski Sofia, the eventual runners-up of the 2012–13 season. Away results were also good, considering that this was the debut season for Pirin in the elite. They won four games and draw once. The manager for the season was Tencho Tenev, who was appointed at the beginning of the season.
For the upcoming season, the format of the Bulgarian league was changed, with the bottom seven teams qualifying for the relegation group. Pirin did not manage to repeat the same results from last season, as the team spent the majority of the season in the relegation group. They started the season with a draw against Lokomotiv Sofia. This was followed by eight defeats in a row, which placed them at the bottom of the table. They eventually finished 13th in the regular season, thus being placed in the relegation zone. The team did not improve its results there, losing four out of their six home games, as well as losing five out of six away games. At the end of the season, Pirin were 32 points below the relegation line, thus being relegated. This ended Pirin's two-year stay in the A Group.
Although they were supposed to play in the B Group next season (2014–15), Pirin did not obtain a license due to financial constraints and was demoted to the third tier.
At the end of the 2017–18 season, Pirin was relegated to the fourth amateur league.
After two seasons in the fourth tier, Pirin returned to the Third League in 2020. On June 6, Pirin signed an agreement with OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad, at the time playing in the second tier. The agreement allowed young Pirin Blagoevgrad players to be loaned out to Pirin Gotse Delchev, thus making Pirin Gotse Delchev a satellite team of the other Pirin.
Honours
editLeague
edit- Champions: 2011–12
League positions
edit
Current squad
editAs of 1 August 2020[update]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
editHad international caps for their respective countries, held any club record, or had more than 100 league appearances. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.
Managers
edit| Managers in the 21st century | ||||
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| Year | Trainers | |||
| 2004–05 |  Ventsislav Davidkov
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| 2005 | Valentin Lazarov
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| 2005–07 | Yordan Bozdanski
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| 2007 | Petar Zehtinski
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| 2008–10 | Yordan Bozdanski
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| 2010 | Krasimir Traykov
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| 2010–11 | Dimitar Sokolov
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| 2011 | Ivan Atanasov
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| 2011–12 | Yakov Paparkov
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| Aug 1, 2012–Aug 27, 2013 | Tencho Tenev
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| Aug 27, 2013–Jan 1, 2014 | Kostadin Angelov
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| Jan 16, 2014–Sep 11, 2017 | Yordan Bozdanski
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| Sep 11, 2017– | Rumil Zhotev
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References
edit- ^ Bulgaria – List of Foundation Dates, Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
- ^ Michev, Nikolay; Koledarov, Petar, "Dictionary of towns and villages in Bulgaria (1878–1987), Sofia, 1989
- ^ "Пирин ГД – историческо завръщане в елита" (in Bulgarian). viara-online.com. Retrieved 2005-06-11.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Зико каза "да" на Пирин ГД" (in Bulgarian). viara-online.com. Retrieved 2005-12-28.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Яков Папарков пое Пирин Гоце Делчев" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
External links
edit- Official site[permanent dead link]
- Pirin Gotse Delchev at Bulgarian Club Directory.
- Pirin Gotse Delchev at Soccerway.