FC CSKA 1948 Sofia


Football Club Central Sports Club of the Army 1948 Sofia, short FC CSKA 1948 Sofia is a Bulgarian football club from the city of Sofia. The team plays its home matches at the Vasil Levski Stadium and competes in Bulgaria's First League. The colours of the club are red and white.
The club was founded in 2016, after a dispute between some members of the club CSKA Sofia, which was relegated to the third tier after the 2014-15 season for financial reasons. The owner of the original CSKA, Grisha Ganchev let the club to go bankrupt and used the license of Litex Lovech to participate in the elite as CSKA-Sofia, which led to disagreements and controversies among members of the club, thus resulting in the creation of CSKA 1948.
Its biggest rival to date is CSKA Sofia, as both clubs are claiming to be the rightful successor of CSKA Sofia.

History

Foundation

The club was founded on 19 July 2016, at a meeting at the Central Military Club in Sofia. The members of the Constituent Assembly announced partnership with Errea and a new crest close to CSKA Septemvriisko Zname.

2016–2018: Amateur Leagues

On 21 August 2016, FC CSKA 1948 won its first cup in a friendly four-team tournament in Kokalyane. The team defeated FC Akademik Sofia 1:0 in the final.
In its first official game for the 2016/17 season in A OFG Sofia South, CSKA 1948 won 8-0 against FC Liulin Sofia. The club began playing its home games at Vasil Levski Stadium, but later during the season used the stadiums in Obelya and German. CSKA 1948 won its group and became champion of the whole A OFG Sofia after victory 4:3 against Nadejda Dobroslavtsi. Then, on 7 June 2017, the team played with Bratsigovo in order to qualify for the Third League and won after penalties. Beside that, CSKA 1948 reached the final for the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League, which they lost on 25 May 2017 to the club from the Third league FC Chernomorets Balchik.
For their first season in the third division of the Bulgarian football, the club moved to :bg:Драгалевци |Dragalevtsi Stadium, in order to comply with the requirements of the respective league. After very strong performance, on 19 May 2018 CSKA 1948 secured its place in Second Professional League. The team finished with 29 wins, 5 draws and no loss, as two players of the Reds became goalscorers of the South-West Third League - Andon Gushterov and Petko Petkov. Also CSKA 1948 made again a good campaign for the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League, this time reaching the semi-finals.

2018–2020: Second Professional League

For the beginning of the 2018/19 season in the Second Professional League, CSKA 1948 moved to Vasil Levski Stadium due to the higher league it is playing in. Strong selection of professional players was done, as the goal for the season is qualification for First League. After four rounds, manager Valentin Iliev, who managed the club from the very beginning, was replaced with Petko Petkov. CSKA 1948 eventually finished fourth, three points below the promotion playoff place, which was occupied by Arda Kardzhali. Although CSKA didn't promote to the elite in their first attempt, the team established itself as a strong contender for promotion.
For the 2019-20 season, CSKA started the season on a high note, defeating local rivals Lokomotiv Sofia 2-0 at home. This was followed by an away win at newly promoted Spartak Pleven with a score of 1-4. Another dominant 2-0 win against Spartak Varna earned the team three out of three wins in their first three matches. An away win against FC Montana, followed by a home destruction of OFC Pomorie extended their winning steak to 5 games. CSKA's spectacular form continued, as the team defeated Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa and FC Strumska Slava Radomir in the following rounds. The team then beat fellow Sofia rivals Septemvri Sofia 5-0 at home. The first defeat of the season came in the tenth round, when CSKA 1948 lost 1-0 to Litex Lovech. After a 2-0 home win against FC Chernomorets Balchik, CSKA suffered another loss in the hands of FC Kariana Erden. This was followed by three consecutive wins, which ended with a disappointing 2-2 home draw against PFC Ludogorets Razgrad II. Following that, the team managed to win two away games, against FC Botev Galabovo and Lokomotiv Sofia again, which put them in second place in the table, three points behind Septemvri Sofia, before the winter break.

2020–present: First Professional League

CSKA 1948 secured their First League spot for the 2020-21 season after finishing 1st in the 2019-20 Second League. Krasimir Balakov was announced as manager for the new season on June 2, and the club unveiled a new logo on June 30 in preparation for their First League debut.

Shirt, sponsor and mascot

The colours of the team main kit are red and white. The second kit is in white and the third - in black, with white sleeves.
On 31 January 2017 CSKA 1948 presented its main sponsor - Efbet. The company sponsors not only the first team, but the academy too.
PeriodKit manufacturerShirt partner
2016 ErreaNone
2017–2020 ErreaEfbet
2020– AdidasEfbet

Since 2018, the team mascot is Army the lion.

Honours

Current squad


For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2020.

Out on loan

Club officials

Coaching staff and personnel

Krasimir BalakovHead coach
Spas StoimenovAssistant coach
Yordan YurukovAssistant coach
Dimitar AtanasovskiGoalkeeping coach
Mihail TzokovFitness coach
Ivan ValchevPhysiotherapist
Georgi IvanovPhysiotherapist
Dr. Mircho KraynovTeam doctor

Manager history

Seasons

League positions


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