# FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa

Lokomotiv (Bulgarian: Локомотив) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Gorna Oryahovitsa, which currently competes in the Second League, the second 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 (Bulgarian: ЖСК - Железничарски спортен клуб) 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 their maiden top-tier season, Lokomotiv endured a difficult 1963–64 campaign. The team eventually finished the season last and was relegated back to the B Group after a single season.
In the 1986–87 season, Lokomotiv ranked second in the B Group and won promotion to the A Group after a 23-year absence. This began the golden age for Lokomotiv as the team 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 C.P..
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. The long-awaited return to the elite for Lokomotiv proved to be challenging, as the team spent the majority of the season competing in the relegation zone. Lokomotiv 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. After three seasons in the third level, Lokomotiv earned promotion back to the Second League in 2024.

## 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 |

### Recent seasons

| Season | League | Place | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Bulgarian Cup |
| 2011–12 | V AFG (III) | 9 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 34 | 31 | 37 | First round |
| 2012–13 | V AFG | 6 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 40 | 26 | 31 | DNQ |
| 2013–14 | V AFG | 2 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 119 | 26 | 73 | DNQ |
| 2014–15 | B PFG (II) | 3 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 60 | 34 | 56 | Quarterfinals |
| 2015–16 | B PFG | 3 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 42 | 26 | 50 | Quarterfinals |
| 2016–17 | First League (I) | 14 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 32 | 51 | 30 | First round |
| 2017–18 | Second 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
* Third League:
** Winners (3): 1984–85, 2004–05, 2023–24
* 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 | Aggregate |
| 1992 | Intertoto Cup | Group 10 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 1–0 | 0–0 | Group winners |
| 1992 | Intertoto Cup | Group 10 | Argeș Pitești | 2–0 | 0–5 | Group winners |
| 1992 | Intertoto Cup | Group 10 | Gloria Bistrita | 2–0 | 1–1 | Group winners |

## Current squad

As of 15 January 2025
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 | BUL | Ventsislav Dimitrov |
| 3 | MF | FIN | Martin Kuittinen |
| 5 | DF | BUL | Mihail Minkov |
| 6 | MF | BUL | Nikola Kolev |
| 7 | MF | BUL | Kaloyan Todorov |
| 8 | FW | BUL | Zhulian Ivanov |
| 10 | MF | BUL | Ivan Avramov |
| 11 | MF | BUL | Galin Tashev |
| 13 | MF | BUL | Tsvetoslav Petrov |
| 16 | MF | BUL | Stefan Mitev |
| 17 | FW | BUL | Georgi Kolev |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | MF | BUL | Kristiyan Dechev |
| 19 | MF | BUL | Panayot Paskov |
| 20 | MF | BUL | Toni Mihaylov |
| 21 | MF | BUL | Milen Savov |
| 23 | FW | BUL | Daniel Cabanelas |
| 26 | DF | BUL | Mariyan Ivanov |
| 27 | MF | BUL | Yanislav Tsachev |
| 33 | GK | UKR | Hennadiy Hanyev |
| 71 | DF | BUL | Georgi Valchev |
| 89 | FW | MLI | Zeidy Traore |
| 92 | FW | BUL | Kristiyan Raychev (captain) |
For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2024.

## Managers

| Dates | Name | Honours |
| 1952 | Kostadin Bogdanov | |
| 1954 | Angel Bozev | |
| 1957–1961 | Kiril Chipev | |
| 1961–1963 | Yordan Tomov | 1 B PFG title |
| 1964 | Atanas Konarov | |
| 1964–1965 | Penyu Petsev | |
| 1965 | Apostol Sokolov | |
| 1966–1968 | Hristo Hadzhiev | |
| 1968 | Zhelyazko Panev | |
| 1969–1970 | Angel Petrov | |
| 1970 | Marin Marinov | |
| 1970–1971 | Kiril Chipev | |
| 1971–1973 | Petar Patev | |
| 1973–1975 | Todor Velev | |
| 1975–1978 | Ivan Varbanov | |
| 1978–1982 | Petar Shatrov | |
| 1982–1984 | Georgi Velinov | |
| 1984–1985 | Ivan Varbanov | 1 V AFG title |
| 1985–1988 | Dobromir Zhechev | |
| 1988–1989 | Todor Velev | |
| 1989–1990 | Kiril Rabchev | |
| Dates | Name | Honours |
| 1990–1991 | Petar Kirilov | |
| 1991–1993 | Nikola Velkov | |
| 1994 | Georgi Velkov | |
| 1994 | Tsenko Gavazov | |
| 1994 | Nikola Velkov | |
| 1995 | Georgi Velkov | |
| 1995 | Plamen Nikolov | |
| 1995 | Kiril Rabchev | |
| 1996–1997 | Tsenko Gavazov | |
| 1997 | Todor Todorov | |
| 1997–1998 | Angel Minchev | |
| 2003–2005 | Boyko Dimitrov | 1 V AFG title |
| 2006–2007 | Valentin Ignatov | |
| 2007–2010 | Dimitar Pechikamakov | |
| 2010–2011 | Nasko Kostadinov | |
| 2011–2013 | Dimitar Pechikamakov | |
| 2014 | Tsenko Gavazov | |
| 2014–2016 | Sasho Angelov | |
| 2016 | Aleksandar Tomash | |
| 2016 | Angel Chervenkov | |
| 2016–2017 | Ivan Kolev | |
| 2017 | Milcho Sirmov | |
| 2017 | Aleksandar Dimitrov | |
| 2018 | Todor Kiselichkov | |
| 2018 | Marin Baychev | |
| 2019 | Krasimir Mechev | |
| 2019–2020 | Milcho Sirmov | |
| 2020– | Georgi Ivanov | |

## Notable stats

| # | Name | Apps |
| 1 | Dimitar Pechikamakov | 458 |
| 2 | Asan Abishev | 421 |
| 3 | Todoranov | 362 |
| 4 | Vasilev | 351 |
| 5 | Tsenko Gavazov | 349 |
| # | Name | Gls |
| 01 | Asan Abishev | 94 |
| 02 | Dimitar Pechikamakov | 88 |
| 03 | Vasilev | 58 |
| 04 | Tsenko Gavazov | 56 |
| 05 | Ushev | 48 |
| # | Name | Apps |
| 1 | Dimitar Pechikamakov | 189 |
| 2 | Levent Gavazov | 177 |
| 3 | Nasko Kostadinov | 124 |
| 4 | Valeri Ganev | 122 |
| 5 | Sasho Angelov | 114 |
| # | Name | Gls |
| 01 | Valentin Ignatov | 24 |
| 02 | Ivaylo Yordanov | 23 |
| 03 | Dimitar Pechikamakov | 20 |
| 04 | Nasko Kostadinov | 17 |
| 05 | Valeri Ganev | 15 |