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| Full name | Football Club Vitosha Bistritsa | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | "The Bistritsa Tigers" | |||
| Short name | Vitosha | |||
| Founded | 1958; 68 years ago (1958) | |||
| Ground | Stadion Bistritsa | |||
| Capacity | 2,500 | |||
| Manager | Nikolay Hristozov | |||
| League | Southwest Third League | |||
| 2024–25 | Southwest Third League, 9th | |||
| Website | www.fcvitosha.bg | |||
FC Vitosha (Bulgarian:ФК Витоша) is a Bulgarian associationfootball club based inBistritsa, Sofia City Province, which competes in theSouthwest Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football. It is named after theVitosha mountain range, where Bistritsa is located.
Vitosha was founded in 1958, however, the club spent the majority of its history playing in lower leagues. In 2017, Vitosha managed to promote to the First League for the first time ever. The club was relegated after the 2019–20 season and re-founded in 2021.
The club became notable for having Bulgaria's prime minister,Boyko Borisov, as a registered player of the squad in the lower divisions.[1][2][3] The increased popularity of the club due to Borisov's presence led to its coach and players being featured on the TV seriesBNT Taxi in 2011.[4]
The club was founded in 1958 and played in the regional divisions until 2007 when it gained promotion to the third division. In the1972–73 Bulgarian Cup they entered the preliminary round but eventually lost toPirin Blagoevgrad with a 3–0 result.
From 2007 to 2016 the team played regularly in theV Group. In May 2012, Vitosha claimed theAmateur League Cup for the first time in their history, eliminating Dve Mogili 2–1 in the final match.[5] During the 2012-13 V Group, the club ranked second in theSouth-West V Group and achieved promotion to Bulgaria's professionalB Group for the first time in their history.
During the2013–14 Bulgarian Cup, Vitosha eliminatedBansko with an aggregate score of 3–1 to advance to the Round of 16 of the Bulgarian Cup for the first time ever. Previously, their highest achievement had been reaching the Round of 32 in the 1972Bulgarian Cup.
Vitosha finished the2015–16 V Group in second place afterCSKA Sofia, but due to the adoption of a new league structure for theSecond League, they were promoted again.[6] In the meantime, the club started investing in a youth academy consisting of five youth teams for the 2016–17 season and reconstruction works on the club's stadium. On 3 May 2017, Vitosha presented an update of their current club crest.[7] A few days later, on 8 May 2017, they also signed a sponsorship agreement with Bulgarian gambling company Efbet for the upcoming two seasons.[8]
On 2 June 2017, Vitosha won the play-off relegation match againstNeftochimic Burgas and achieved promotion to the top division for first time in their history.[9]
Despite their poor performance during the regular season of their maiden season in the top tier, where Vitosha finished last with the worst defense and attack, and gaining only one victory, Vitosha avoided relegation from the2017–18 First League, winning the play-offs againstPirin Blagoevgrad andLokomotiv Sofia. Vitosha improved their performance in thenext season, avoiding relegation once more.
The2019-20 season was disastrous for Vitosha, however. The team finished in the last place in the regular season, with only one win. Since the number of matches in the second phase was reduced by half for the season, Vitosha was mathematically relegated even before the relegation phase started. This ended their three-year stay in the Bulgarian top tier.
On 28 September 2020, after several matches from the new season were completed, the first team was dissolved while keeping only the youth teams.[10]
On 25 May 2021 the team announced that they would join theThird League playing the most with youth academy players andNikolay Hristozov as manager.[11] At the end of the 2021–22 season, Vitosha finished in second place in the Southwest Third League, but the team was promoted to the Second League afterTsarsko Selo, which was relegated from the First League, announced its dissolution, thus leaving an empty spot in the Second League. The Bulgarian Football Union gave Vitosha the place in the Second League, since they had accumulated the most points out of all second-placed teams from the regional third leagues.
During the 2022–23 season, while competing in the Second League, Vitosha also qualified for the Bulgarian Cup. Vitosha made a surprising performance by eliminating first tier sideBotev Vratsa in the round of 32, after eliminatingChernolomets Popovo in the first round. Vitosha set up a meeting with another First League team,Lokomotiv Sofia in the round of 16.[12]
As of 1 December 2025[update]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Up to one non-EU national can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in theSecond League. Those non-EU 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 5 years.
EU Nationals | EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) | Non-EU Nationals |
Had international caps for their respective countries, held any club record, or had more than 100 league appearances. Players whose name is listed inbold represented their countries.
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Most appearances for the club in First League
Most goals for the club in First League
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| Dates | Name | Honours |
|---|---|---|
| 1959–2007 | Unknown | |
| 2007–2014 |  Yasin Mishaui | 99991Amateur Cup title |
| 2014 | Nikolay Todorov | |
| 2014–2015 | Borislav Georgiev | |
| 2015–2018 | Kostadin Angelov | |
| 2018–2019 | Rosen Kirilov | |
| 2019 | Engibar Engibarov | |
| 2019–2020 | Asen Bukarev | |
| 2020 | Kostadin Angelov | |
| 2021– | Nikolay Hristozov |
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Nikolay Hristozov | |
| Assistant coach | Yordan Varbanov | |
| Goalkeeper coach | Valentin Galev | |
2017–18 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season
2018–19 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season
2019–20 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season
| Season | League | Place | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Bulgarian Cup | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | V Group (III) | 3 | 27 | 4 | 7 | 70 | 24 | 85 | not qualified | ||
| 2011–12 | V Group | 6 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 53 | 36 | 61 | not qualified | ||
| 2012–13 | V Group | 2 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 52 | 10 | 71 | not qualified | ||
| 2013–14 | B Group (II) | 11 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 22 | 24 | 28 | Second round | ||
| 2014–15 | V Group (III) | 4 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 57 | 22 | 60 | not qualified | ||
| 2015–16 | V Group | 2 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 72 | 16 | 74 | not qualified | ||
| 2016–17 | Second League (II) | 3 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 37 | 23 | 53 | First round | ||
| 2017–18 | First League (I) | 13 | 2 | 11 | 24 | 22 | 68 | 17 | First round | ||
| 2018–19 | First League | 13 | 13 | 5 | 19 | 35 | 50 | 44 | Second round | ||
| Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation. | |||||||||||
