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OFC Vihren Sandanski

(Redirected from FC Vihren Sandanski)

OFC Vihren (Bulgarian: ОФК Вихрен) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Sandanski, currently playing in the South-West Third League. Sandanski's home ground is the Sandanski Stadium in Sandanski with a capacity of 6,000. Vihren Sandanski's team colours are green and white.

Vihren
Full nameOFC Vihren Sandanski
Nickname(s)The Gladiators
FoundedMay 24, 1925; 99 years ago (1925-05-24)
GroundSandanski Stadium,
Sandanski
Capacity6,000
ManagerNaci Şensoy
LeagueSouth-West Third League
2023–24South-West Third League, 4th

Vihren was founded in 1925, changing its name several times during its early existence. Up until the early 2000s, Vihren played mostly in either the second or third tiers of Bulgarian football. Season 2004-05 is arguably the most important in the club's history, as the team managed to promote to the A PFG, or first tier of Bulgarian football, for the first time. Vihren managed to play four consecutive seasons in the elite, before suffering relegation after the 2008-09 season. Since then, the Gladiators have played mostly in the third regional tier.[citation needed]

Equipment

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Currently the team's home kit is green and the away kit is white. Various combinations of green and white have been used through the years, but green remains the basic colour of the team.

History

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The club was founded on 24 May 1925. It has carried the names Ustrem, Gotse Delchev, Yane Sandanski and Cherveno zname throughout its history.

For a very long period of its existence, Vihren was considered a minor club from southwest Bulgaria. It always stood in the shadows of the other more successful clubs from the region, such as Pirin Blagoevgrad, and Belasitsa Petrich, who regularly competed in the A Group.

In 1977, Vihren first promoted to the B Group, remaining there 13 consecutive seasons before falling back to the V Group. In 1993, Vihren returned to the B Group, but only for one season, after which relegation again followed.

In 2003, Vihren again returned to the second level. In the 2004–05 season, Vihren finished first and gained promotion to the A Group for the 2005–06 season, marking the team's debut in the top tier. Before their first year of playing in A PFG, Vihren's owner decided to bring players from other countries to bolster the team's chances of surviving in the top flight. His first signing was the ex-FC Porto player Jose Furtado. He was from the Portuguese side G.D. Tourizense for free. Brazilian player Serginio Dias, and Portuguese players Mauro Alexandre and Nuno Almeida were just a few other players who signed for Vihren after Furtado. The team coach was named Petar Zhekov. Vihren finished season 2005–06 on 9th place in A PFG with 30 points.

The next season, 2006-07, Vihren managed to gain 37 points, finishing in 9th place once again.

In season 2007–08, Vihren's owner, Konstantin Dinev decided to bring Portuguese coach Rui Dias. The club signed eight Portuguese and two Brazilian players. But three months later, Rui Dias was discharged for poor results. At the end of the season, the team finished in 10th place.

Season 2008–09 started excellent with a 1–0 win against Bulgarian vice-champion Levski Sofia. In the 4th round, the club defeated Lokomotov Sofia. In January 2008, Vihren signed notable Greek players Christos Maladenis and Dimitrios Zografakis. In the end of the season, however, the team finished in 14th place and were relegated to B Group, ending a four-year stint in the elite.

The following two seasons were spent in the second tier, but financial problems overwhelmed the club, forcing its folding in 2011 and withdrawal from the B Group. The next season, Vihren was refounded from the fourth level, the A RFG. The team then promoted to the V Group in 2013.

League positions

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Bulgarian V AFGBulgarian V AFGRegional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Bulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFG

Honours

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Bulgarian A PFG:

Bulgarian Cup:

  • quarter finalist Cup of the Soviet Army: 1985/86

Current squad

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As of 1 August 2020

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Bulgaria  BUL Dimitar Pangev
2 DF Bulgaria  BUL Martin Popov
3 DF Bulgaria  BUL Valeri Georgiev (captain)
4 DF Bulgaria  BUL Valentin Udev
5 DF Bulgaria  BUL Dimitar Kalchev
6 DF Bulgaria  BUL Daniel Zlatkov
7 MF Bulgaria  BUL Kristiyan Nikolov
9 FW Bulgaria  BUL Metodi Kostov
10 FW Bulgaria  BUL Vladimir Kabranov
11 MF Bulgaria  BUL Atanas Chipilov
12 GK Bulgaria  BUL Veselin Ganev
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 DF Bulgaria  BUL Borislav Ingov
14 MF Bulgaria  BUL Nikola Georgiev
15 FW Bulgaria  BUL Chigozie Udoji
16 MF Bulgaria  BUL Kostadin Apostolov
17 DF Bulgaria  BUL Valentin Kostov
18 MF Bulgaria  BUL Kostadin Kostadinov
19 MF Bulgaria  BUL Aleksandar Yakimov
20 DF Bulgaria  BUL Krasimir Zdravkov
21 MF Bulgaria  BUL Ivan Gyurov
23 MF Bulgaria  BUL Milen Zlatkov
98 MF Bulgaria  BUL Ivan Lazarov

Managerial history

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This is a list of the last ten Vihren managers:

Name Nat From To
Kostadin Todorov Bulgaria  January 2000 January 2001
Vasil Metodiev Bulgaria  January 2001 June 2002
Yordan Bozdanski Bulgaria  December 2002 May 2004
Petar Zhekov Bulgaria  June 2004 May 2005
Petar Zhekov Bulgaria  June 2005 May 2006
Dionysis Beslikas Greece  June 2006 August 2006
Petar Zhekov Bulgaria  August 2006 May 2007
Rui Dias Portugal  June 2007 October 2007
Eduard Eranosyan Bulgaria  October 2007 November 2007
Filip Filipov Bulgaria  December 2007 incumbent

As of December 31, 2009.

Notable players

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  • Bulgaria  Vasil Metodiev
  • Bulgaria  Vladimir Karakachiev
  • Bulgaria  Todor Mechev
  • Bulgaria  Krasimir Bakalov
  • Bulgaria  Valentin Stankov
  • Bulgaria  Atanas Manushev
  • Bulgaria  Plamen Mitsanski
  • Bulgaria  Emil Mitsanski
  • Bulgaria  Hristo Zlatinov

Former foreign players

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Brazil  Brazil

Cape Verde  Cape Verde

Croatia  Croatia

  • Bruno Šiklić
  • Vedren Muratović
 

France  France

Spain  Spain

Greece  Greece

Hungary  Hungary

North Macedonia  Macedonia

 

Nigeria  Nigeria

Portugal  Portugal

 

Serbia  Serbia

Uruguay  Uruguay

Argentina  Argentina

Venezuela  Venezuela

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