PFC Septemvri Sofia

On November 5, 1944 the clubs Sportclub Sofia, Sokol and Vazrazhdane unite under the name of FC Septemvri Sofia; the name derives from the revolution of September 1944. On March 26, 1945, the additional clubs of Botev (Konyovitsa), Ustrem (Zaharna fabrika), Pobeda (Krasna Polyana), and Svoboda (Tri kladentsi) merge into the club. In May 1948, the club, then playing in the 1st Sofia Division, is briefly merged with second-division CDV/Chavdar (Sofia) and the unified club wins the 1948 Bulgarian Championship by overcoming Levski Sofia in the final.^[1]

Septemvri starts the 1948–49 season in the newly formed A Republican Football Group, but only six months later is separated from CDV (Chavdar) and removed from the division, with the current title given to CDNV, Chavdar's new name, which would ultimately become CSKA Sofia. At the end of the 1948–49 season, Septemvri is allowed to take part in a two-match play-off for entering first division against Marek Dupnitsa. After both matches end with a 2:0 win for each team, a third game is played in which Septemvri falls 1:0 and remains in second division.

From 1949 to 1969, Septemvri exists as an independent club, during which period it reaches the height of its success. In 1959, the club finishes first in the B PFG and is promoted to first division for the 1959–60 season. That same season, Septemvri finishes in 5th place and claims the Bulgarian Cup after a dramatic 4:3 win over Lokomotiv Sofia in extra time. The club's stay among the elite lasts only two years, as in 1961 it is relegated to the B PFG, where it remains until 1968.

In 1969, during another period of football reform in Bulgaria, Septemvri was again merged into CSKA Sofia. This unification continued for almost 20 years, until 1988, when the club became independent again and joined the V AFG. In 1993, Septemvri won a promotion to the B PFG. In 1998, the club became the champion of the B PFG and joined the elite for the first time since 1961. It finished in 16th place and was relegated again.

During the 2000–01 season, the club finished in 13th place in the B PFG and was relegated to the V AFG, where it remained until 2008. In March 2008, the club was heavily penalized after a scandalous match against FC Bansko, when coach Rumen Stoyanov ordered his players to leave the field, a serious offence according to Bulgarian Football Union regulations.^[2] With an executive decision, the BFU removed Septemvri from the V AFG and placed it in the A OFG, the Sofia Regional Football Group.^[3] Despite this setback, the club attained 1st place in the division in the 2008–09 season and qualified for a play-off match for entering the V AFG against FC Novi Iskar.^[4] After an emotional 0–0 in regular time, penalty kicks were in order to determine the team going forward. Septemvri lost the penalty shootout 5–4.^[5]

In 2015, Rumen Chandarov, owner of DIT Sport Academy, one of the best Bulgarian football academies in the last few years, announced that he is the new owner of Septemvri, with the goal of getting the young players to compete in the First Professional Football League of Bulgaria. The team merged with Conegliano German and started the 2015–16 season from V Group. Nikolay Mitov was appointed as a manager of the team. In the end of the 2015 it was decided that the team will give a bigger chance to their U19 players, so most of the players who joined in the season start left and only seven players left, but 18 players joined from the U19 team which was third in the Elite Youth Group by the end of 2015. Some media announced that Chandarov will stop financing the team also due to the fact that he started financing Botev Plovdiv, but Chandarov said that this is not true and the only reason to do this is to make youth players enter the men's football.^[6]

On 24 June 2016, Pirin Razlog merged into PFC Septemvri Sofia. From the new season 2016–17 Septemvri will compete in the new Second League, the second division of Bulgarian football.^[7] Septemvri also returned in the Bulgarian Cup and drew the Bulgarian First League team Beroe Stara Zagora. They won the match on 21 September 2016 with 2–0, goals scored by Georgi Stoichkov and Petar Tonchev.^[8] The team finished their season in Second League in 2nd place, two points behind the winners of the group — Etar and qualified for the Promotion playoffs against elite member Montana.^[9] The team won the playoff on 3 June 2017 with a 2–1 final result and returned to the top level after 19 years.^[10]

On 8 June 2017, Dimitar Vasev was announced as the manager who would lead the team in their return to the First League with Hristo Arangelov, the caretaker manager after Nikolay Mitov, as his first assistant.^[11] The team announced that they would play to Vasil Levski National Stadium until their Septemvri Stadium is built.^[12] Later, the club owner Rumen Chandarov revealed that the team would play at Bistritsa Stadium after the stadium gained a First League licence, since he didn't want Septemvri to play in front of empty seats.^[13][14] Septemvri's first match was against Dunav Ruse on 17 July and the team lost the match 0–2.^[15] Week later Septemvri won their second match against Pirin with Boris Galchev scoring the winning goal.^[16] After four defeats in five games, Vasev was released and Nikolay Mitov returned in charge after his release from Levski Sofia.^[17] Septemvri finished the half season in 10th place with 23 points after a 2–1 win over Cherno More.^[18]

On 20 February 2018, Septemvri's executive director Georgi Markov died aged 46, three years after he suffered a heart attack.^[19]

Septemvri secured their place in First League on 15 April 2018 after a 0–2 win over Dunav Ruse and qualified for European play-off quarter-finals.

Septemvri could not avoid relegation in the next season, however, as they were relegated after losing in the relegation playoffs to FC Arda Kardzhali , 0-1. This ended their two year stay in the Bulgarian elite.^[20]

Back in the second tier after two seasons in the elite, Septemvri managed to maintain their good form and remained largely within the top three in the Second League, a strong candidate for promotion. The 2019-20 season was eventually not finished, due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Bulgaria. The last matches were played in early March. At that time, Septemvri was second in the league, three points behind CSKA 1948. Septemvri faced the 13th placed team from the First League in a promotion playoff, but lost. On 5 May 2022, after a great second half of season 2021-22, Septemvri secured their return to First League.^[21] This achievement was accomplished under the management of Slavko Matić. Septemvri only managed to make a cameo appearance in the elite, suffering immediate relegation back to the Second League for season 2023–24.

• First League:
  • 5th place (1): 1959–60
• Bulgarian Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1959–60
• Second League:
  • Winners (4): 1955−56, 1958−59, 1997−98, 2021–22
• Third League:
  • Winners (1): 1992−93
• A Regional Group:
  • Winners (5): 1952, 1989–90, 1990–91, 2008–09, 2009–10

• 
  1950–1952
• 
  1957–1959
• 
  1959–1969
• 
  1988–2015
• 
  2015–present

From 1944 to 1990 team main color is red with white or blue. From 1990 to 2010 team main color is purple, but in the period between 2001 and 2007 they used white with red colors. From 2011 team first kit is dark red.

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt partner
1990–1995	Adidas	Canel
1995–1997	Puma
1997–1999		Bingbul
1999–2001	Reusch
2001–2010	Unknown	None
2010–2011	Mitre
2011–2013	Givova
2013–2015	Sportika
2015–2017	Joma
2017–19	Uhlsport	Efbet
2019–22		WINBET
2022–		8888.bg

As of 28 June 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
18	DF	BUL	Kubrat Onasci
19	FW	BUL	Georgi Dzhikov
20	FW	BUL	Nikolay Drosev
21	GK	BUL	Dimitar Sheytanov
22	DF	CYP	Strahinja Kerkez (on loan from AS Trenčín)
23	FW	BUL	Andrey Petkov
24	DF	BUL	Borislav Marinov
25	FW	BUL	Valentin Dotsev
26	MF	FRA	Jean-Pierre Da Sylva

For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2023–24 and Transfers summer 2024.

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

Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League, however only five non-EU/EEA nationals can be used during a match day. Those non-EU/EEA 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 five years.

Had 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.

As of 11 October 2023 Most appearances for the club in First League Rank Name Career Appearances 1 Boris Galchev 2017–2020 65 2 Asen Chandarov 2015–2020 2022 60 3 Yanko Georgiev 2017–2019 51 4 Chris Gadi 2017–2019 49 – Ivan Tilev 2016–2020 49 6 Yanko Georgiev 2017–2019 48 7 Dimitar Kostadinov 2017–2021 2022– 47 8 Georgi Stoichkov 2016–2019 46 9 Ishmael Baidoo 2017–2019 45 10 Georgi Stoichkov 2016–2019 43

Most goals for the club in First League Rank Name Career Goals 1 Boris Galchev 2017–2020 14 2 Chris Gadi 2017–2019 12 3 Martin Toshev 2017–2018 11 4 Dimitar Yakimov 1958–1960 10 5 Christopher Mandiangu 2018–2019 6 – Asen Chandarov 2015–2020 2022 6 – Atanas Kabov 2021–2023 6 7 Ishmael Baidoo 2017–2019 5 – Simeon Aleksandrov 2019–2022 2023 5 9 Vladimir Yonkov 2003 4 – Radoslav Vasilev 2016–2017 4 – Dimitar Kostadinov 2017–2021 2022– 4 – Martin Petkov 2022–2023 4

• Players in bold are still playing for Septemvri.

• Official website (in Bulgarian)
• Fans website (in Bulgarian) (archived)
• Septemvri at bgclubs.eu
• Septemvri at UEFA.com
• DIT Academy – official website