FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa
Introduction '''Lokomotiv''' () is a Bulgarian association football club based in Gorna Oryahovitsa, which currently competes in the Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football.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 The club was established in 1932 as ''RSC - Railway Sports Club'' () 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 the following top-tier season, Lokomotiv endured a difficult 1963–64 campaign. The team eventually finished the season last and were relegated back to the B Group after a brief spell.In the 1986–87 season, Lokomotiv ranked second in the B Group and won promotion to the A Group after a 23-year absence. They 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 Clube de Portugal.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. Lokomotiv experienced difficulty in its return to the Bulgarian elite, as the team spent the majority of the season fighting in the relegation zone. The team 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.
Seasons ===Season by season==='''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===ImageSize = width:1600 height:70PlotArea  = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyyDateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod     = from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/2023ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1952Colors =  id:bl1  value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5)  id:bl2  value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3)  id:rs  value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6)  id:rn  value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1)PlotData=   bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center  from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952  color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "V Group"  from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1953  shift:(0,-4) text:7  from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1954  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/1954 till:01/07/1955  shift:(0,-4) text:2  from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956  shift:(0,-4) text:5  from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1957  shift:(0,-4) text:10  from:01/07/1957 till:01/07/1958  shift:(0,-4) text:12  from:01/07/1958 till:01/07/1959  shift:(0,-4) text:5  from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960  shift:(0,-4) text:10  from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961  shift:(0,-4) text:5  from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1962  shift:(0,-4) text:8  from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963  shift:(0,-4) text:1  from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1963  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"  from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964  shift:(0,-4) text:16  from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group  from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1965  shift:(0,-4) text:4  from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1966  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967  shift:(0,-4) text:4  from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1968  shift:(0,-4) text:11  from:01/07/1968 till:01/07/1969  shift:(0,-4) text:15  from:01/07/1969 till:01/07/1970  shift:(0,-4) text:11  from:01/07/1970 till:01/07/1971  shift:(0,-4) text:15  from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972  shift:(0,-4) text:11  from:01/07/1972 till:01/07/1973  shift:(0,-4) text:8  from:01/07/1973 till:01/07/1974  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975  shift:(0,-4) text:12  from:01/07/1975 till:01/07/1976  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977  shift:(0,-4) text:9  from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1978  shift:(0,-4) text:9  from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979  shift:(0,-4) text:6  from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1980  shift:(0,-4) text:10  from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981  shift:(0,-4) text:6  from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982  shift:(0,-4) text:6  from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983  shift:(0,-4) text:5  from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984  shift:(0,-4) text:16  from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1984  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"  from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985  shift:(0,-4) text:1  from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985  color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "V Group"  from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987  shift:(0,-4) text:1  from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1987  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"  from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988  shift:(0,-4) text:13  from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989  shift:(0,-4) text:12  from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990  shift:(0,-4) text:8  from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991  shift:(0,-4) text:8  from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992  shift:(0,-4) text:11  from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993  shift:(0,-4) text:9  from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994  shift:(0,-4) text:8  from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995  shift:(0,-4) text:14  from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1995  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "A Group  from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996  shift:(0,-4) text:13  from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997  shift:(0,-4) text:15  from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1997  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"  from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998  shift:(0,-4) text:14  from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999  shift:(0,-4) text:13  from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000  shift:(0,-4) text:12  from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001  shift:(0,-4) text:5  from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002  shift:(0,-4) text:6  from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003  shift:(0,-4) text:13  from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004  shift:(0,-4) text:1  from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/2004  color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "V Group"  from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005  shift:(0,-4) text:16  from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"  from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006  shift:(0,-4) text:9  from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007  shift:(0,-4) text:11  from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008  shift:(0,-4) text:7  from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009  shift:(0,-4) text:5  from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010  shift:(0,-4) text:7  from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011  shift:(0,-4) text:12  from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012  shift:(0,-4) text:9  from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013  shift:(0,-4) text:6  from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014  shift:(0,-4) text:2  from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2014  color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "V Group"  from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2016  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "B Group"  from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017  shift:(0,-4) text:14  from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017  color:green  shift:(0,14)  text: "1st"  from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018  shift:(0,-4) text:8  from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019  shift:(0,-4) text:9  from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020  shift:(0,-4) text:9  from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021  shift:(0,-4) text:15  from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2021  color:white  shift:(0,14)  text: "2nd League"  from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022  shift:(0,-4) text:3  from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023  shift:(0,-4) text:  from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2023  color:red shift:(0,14)  text: "3rd League"===Recent seasons=== Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup2011–12 V AFG (III)  9  10  7  13  34  31  37  First round2012–13 V AFG  6  9  4  9  40  26  31  DNQ2013–14 V AFG  2  23  4  3  119  26  73  DNQ2014–15 B PFG (II)  3  18  5  7  60  34  56  Quarterfinals2015–16 B PFG  3  13  11  6  42  26  50  Quarterfinals2016–17First League (I)  14  7  9  16  32  51  30  First round2017–18Second 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 ===Domestic===* '''First League:'''** 8th place (3): 1989–90, 1990–91, 1993–94* '''Bulgarian Cup:'''** Semi-finals (2): 1947, 1987* '''Second League:'''** '''Winners (1):''' 1962–63* '''Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League:'''** '''Winners (1):''' 2023===International===* Intertoto Cup:** '''Group winner''' (1): 1992
European tournaments history  Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate1992Intertoto CupGroup 10 Lokomotiv Sofia 1–0 0–0 '''Group winners''' Argeș Pitești 2–0  0–5 Gloria Bistrita 2–0 1–1
Current squad ''As of 25 September 2020''''For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2020–21 and Transfers summer 2021.''
Managers DatesNameHonours1952 Kostadin Bogdanov1954 Angel Bozev1957–1961 Kiril Chipev1961–1963 Yordan Tomov  1 B PFG title 1964 Atanas Konarov1964–1965 Penyu Petsev1965 Apostol Sokolov1966–1968 Hristo Hadzhiev1968 Zhelyazko Panev1969–1970 Angel Petrov1970 Marin Marinov1970–1971 Kiril Chipev1971–1973 Petar Patev1973–1975 Todor Velev1975–1978 Ivan Varbanov1978–1982 Petar Shatrov1982–1984 Georgi Velinov1984–1985 Ivan Varbanov 1 V AFG title 1985–1988 Dobromir Zhechev1988–1989 Todor Velev1989–1990 Kiril RabchevDatesNameHonours1990–1991 Petar Kirilov1991–1993 Nikola Velkov1994 Georgi Velkov1994 Tsenko Gavazov1994 Nikola Velkov1995 Georgi Velkov1995 Plamen Nikolov1995 Kiril Rabchev1996–1997 Tsenko Gavazov1997 Todor Todorov1997–1998 Angel Minchev2003–2005 Boyko Dimitrov  1 V AFG title 2006–2007 Valentin Ignatov2007–2010 Dimitar Pechikamakov2010–2011 Nasko Kostadinov2011–2013 Dimitar Pechikamakov 2014 Tsenko Gavazov2014–2016 Sasho Angelov2016 Aleksandar Tomash2016 	Angel Chervenkov2016–2017 	Ivan Kolev2017 	Milcho Sirmov2017 Aleksandar Dimitrov2018  Todor Kiselichkov2018 Marin Baychev2019 Krasimir Mechev2019–2020 Milcho Sirmov2020– Georgi Ivanov
Notable stats '''Most appearances for the club'''#NameApps1 Dimitar Pechikamakov4582 Asan Abishev4213 K.Todoranov3624 Iv.Vasilev3515 Tsenko Gavazov349'''Most goals for the club'''#NameGls1 Asan Abishev942 Dimitar Pechikamakov883 Iv.Vasilev584 Tsenko Gavazov565 K.Ushev48'''Most appearances in A group for the club'''#NameApps1 Dimitar Pechikamakov1892 Levent Gavazov1773 Nasko Kostadinov1244 Valeri Ganev1225 Sasho Angelov114'''Most goals in A group for the club'''#NameGls1 Valentin Ignatov242 Ivaylo Yordanov233 Dimitar Pechikamakov204 Nasko Kostadinov175 Valeri Ganev15
External links *  Official website*  Bulgarian Clubs-Loko GO*  Intertoto Cup 1992*  Facebook Page*  Genchev turns on Loko GO*  Footballdatabase Profile*  Soccerway Profile