The change of decades is remembered season in Bulgaria. It had its highs and lows, but it is not exactly great football remembered. Second Division reached its all-time biggest – save for the early 1950s, when the structure was different, the league never had so many members – 44 teams plays in the two groups of Second Division. Today people look back at that time with envy and nostalgia, but it was not great in real time. The division was greatly inflated, but the quality was low, and for many – even lower than before. Second Division was thought as supplier of young talent to the top league. This it failed to do – instead of producing new stars, second division was a consumer. Rejected players from the best clubs found cozy spots in the lower level, never fearing competition: the clubs were so many, the rejected players had plenty to chose from, but they did not even banded together in one place – one here, another there, they were the stars of small clubs, helping them to stay in the division and nothing else. Second Division did not make great teams, the competition for promotion thinned out. Most teams were happy just to keep a place in the second level, avoiding relegation and never aiming for anything better. And it was understandable why – most clubs came from small towns and had no financial means to build and keep strong teams. This was old problem and one of the reasons why second division often changed its format. The current one was surely not going to last – and it did not. The very 1979-80 was clear indication of coming reduction: at a glance, there was not a single club strong enough compared to the lowest first division teams. Usually former first division members were seen as potential candidates for promotion, but by now most former members sunk into comfortable obscurity:
Maritza (Plovdiv), the third club of the city at that time and former first division member. Plovdiv at that time was the greatest cradle of youth talent – not a single known player in this squad and not a single youngster, who eventually became a star. Maritza played in the Southern Second Division.
Dobrudzha (Tolbukhin, today – Dobrich). Like Maritza, they played first division football in the 1960s, but settled into sedated life in second division during the 1970s. Standing from left: Atanas Petkov, Petar Kirov, Christo Bozhkov, Ivan Georgiev, Ivan Manolov, Stoyan Gospodinov.
First row: Valentin Velchev, Dinko Christov, Valentin Radev, Nikola Konanov, Krassimir Nyagolov.
Like Maritza, they had a player or two, coming from first division, but the general squad was just experienced, yet, unambitious second league players. The club played in the Northern Second Division and this season was a strong one: they reached the ½ of the Bulgarian Cup. Nothing spectacular in the championship, though – Dobrudzha and Maritza were mid-table teams for years and this season was no different. Other former first division members were the same and worse. Northern Second Division was seen as the stronger group – the relegated teams in 1978-79 both belonged geographically to the South. To avoid having one more team relegated in Southern group, so to preserve the league numbers, Akademik was placed in the Northern group – the club was based in Sofia, the capital was considered geographically neutral. Thus, the club, no stranger to relegation, became the only Bulgarian club which played in both Northern and Southern groups of Second Division. But the team was strong enough to be considered contender and added to the few other strong clubs in the North: Akademik (Svishtov), ZSK Spartak (Varna), P. Volov (Shumen), Yantra (Gabrovo), and Dunav (Rousse). When the season started, it became clear that Yantra and Dunav are too weak, Volov was so-so, and only ZSK Spartak, Akademik (Svishtov), and Akademik (Sofia) had aspirations for promotion. Three teams, all with questionable qualities, but at least competitive and stronger than their Southern counterparts. Down South, the only candidate for promotion was Haskovo, just relegated from top flight. Not that they were really strong, but there was nothing else… at least Haskovo kept the team, which played in first division. It was felt that Akademik (Sofia) should have been placed in the Southern group, where it belonged geographically, if only for creating some competitive spirit. It was felt that balance was lost – inevitably, at least one Northern team, stronger than any Southern team, will stay in second division in the next season and some useless weakling will go up from the Southern group. At half-season, suspicions were confirmed: there was no outstanding team in he South. No favourite either – Rozova dolina (Kazanlik) ended on top, but leading by a single point a big group of teams: the next 5 teams were with equal points and the 13th in the table was only 3 points behind. That small Rozova dolina was not going to win was certain… but the final winner was not going to be better than Rozova dolina.
In the North, the championship was more competitive, but Akademik (Sofia) was leading 3 points clear from Akademik (Svishtov). ZSK Spartak was 3rd, one point behind, but already opening a 4-point gap with 4th placed Volov. Akademik (Sofia) lost just one match in the fall and outscored everybody else, but they were not favourites – it was felt that ZSK Spartak, having stronger squad, will be the likelier winner at the end. The reason was Akademik’s squad: the team gradually lost its great teams of the first half of the 1970s and sunk. Rebuilding started late – and relegation came exactly at the moment Akademik started making a new squad. It was far from final product – rather, it was first step of rebuilding. The new players were not very strong and unlikely to last. Compared to ZSK Spartak, Akademik seemed weaker. But they continued their successful run and won the league at the end. It was short stay for Akademik in the lower division.
Quick promotion for Akademik (Sofia), but the winners left no trace… This is actually the squad for the 1980-81 season. Front row, from left: G. Aleksiev, M. Metodiev, St. Parvanov, R. Dimov, Al. Dimitrov – captain.
Sitting: Ev. Popov, Pl. Nikolov, R. Iliev, D. Pavlov, Vl. Krazhanov, B. Gyorev, S. Ivanov.
Standing: P. Argirov – coach, K. Lyubomirov, S. Borissov, P. Gorov, St. Nenchev, Pl. Tzvetkov, R. Grozdanov, Sp. Nikolov, G. Roev – assistant caoch.
Even in this version, it was shapeless team. Various promising players – Aleksiev, Popov, Krazhanov, Gorov, who already played a bit for other clubs. Running ahead, all of them failed to develop. Another group was more experienced and of higher quality, but it was felt that they either lacked ambition or reached their peak and nothing better would come from them – K. Lyubomirov, Al. Dimitrov, S. Borissov, St. Nenchev, Pl. Tzvetkov. This group had mixed development – Lyubomirov and Nenchev faded away, as expected. Borissov, Dimitrov, and Tzvetkov soared, contrary to expectations, and had their best years in the 1980s – but with other clubs. The rest of the team were unknown players, possibly with some potential, but not much. Nobody remembers them today. The reinforcements were not very promising either – young and with some promise, they came from second division small clubs : R. Grozdanov and D. Pavlov. Both were former juniors of Levski-Sapratk and CSKA, natives of Sofia – perhaps that worked in their favour, but they were of the third kind: anonymous youngsters with some potential and nothing else. It was telling that the only survivors of the great squad from the first half of the 1970s were the left full-back Stefan Parvanov (30 years old now) and the striker Borislav Gyorev (25 years old now) – both were deep reserves back in the strong years. Gyorev rarely appeared on team photos, let alone on the pitch. Hardly an inspirational leaders… this was a team of early and questionable stage of making and there was no certainty the building will be successful. It was futher telling that Mikhail Valchev, one of the best Bulgarian center-forwards of the 1980s, is not even on the picture – he debuted and played well in 1979-80, but apparently there was no much faith in him… Gyorev was seemingly chosen starter for the next campaign. Most likely, not only the failures would leave, but also those who were more ambitious and talented (which happened quickly, in fact).
In the South, the battle continued between equal, but never really strong teams and at the end the winner was quite surprising. Belasitza (Petrich) – a small club from a small border town. At mid-season they were 5th , although only a point behind the temporary leaders, but nobody believed Belasitza to be among the best at the end. It was expected that, like many other teams before, will have relaxed spring, perhaps sinking to mid-table. True, Belasitza had strong years recently – from 1974 on, they finished second once, 4th – twice, and 6th, but looking for promotion was unlikely. Not only Belasitza never played in first division before, but they were not steady members of second division, often finding themselves in third division. To many, the club really belonged to the third level… but the underdog beat all others. It was not great championship, there was no real competition, but they won when everything was possible just because of the circumstances.
Sitting from left: Nasko Stanoev, Georgy Bokhorov, Lozan Trenchev, Valery Dagalov, Valery Stoyanov, Aleksandar Vukov, Dimitar Dimitrov.
Middle row: Nikola Tzanev – coach, Vassil Tanev, Mladen Trenev, Yordan Popov, Milan Karatanchev, Zhoro Vanchev, Atanas Atanassov, Georgy Bibishkov, Mitko Todorov – assistant coach.
Standing: Georgy Georgiev, Lyubomir Lichkov, Todor Krazhanov, Dimitar Karadaliev, Iliya Popov, Zakhary Smilyanov.
Compared to Belasitza, Akademik (Sofia) was famous team… at least most of its players were familiar and they had well known coach. Belasitza was anonymous – their coach was a big star as a player in the 1960s, but not as coach. This promotion was his highest achievement. His assistant was local guy, who was a playing coach during the 1979-80 campaign. Of the players, the only familiar name was Valery Dagalov – considered a great goalkeeping talent, playing for various youth national teams, and not even 20 years old. But he was a promise for the future, nothing more yet. Perhaps the most interesting feature of this squad are the goalkeeper – a very unusual number of 4, all young and promising. Eventually, one after another they left Belasitza, but the only one who made somewhat memorable career was the second goalie in 1979-80 – Milan Karatanchev. As a whole, the team was young – the experienced players were few, but almost nobody played first division football before. Of course, it was great success locally and pleasant victory of the underdog, but doubts were stronger: the team was seen as weaker compared to Akademik (Sofia), and they were nothing special. Few clubs from small towns reached first division historically and with the sole exception of Marek (Stanke Dimitrov, today Dupnitza) none managed to establish good reputation – as a rule, they were relegated almost immediately after promotion. The main reason was quite simple: in the Bulgarian political pyramid, money and influence were located in the county capitals and all smaller towns in the county were subservient. Not only resources were scarce, but in purely football matters, the central city pulled the best players to its own club and nothing could be done to prevent that. It was clear that Pirin (Blagoevgrad) will take the best players of Belasitza and other richer clubs will follow – and the exodus started right after winning promotion: Pirin took the full back Vanchev and the third goalie Atanassov. Eventually Dagalov and Karatanchev moved to other clubs too. The bargain was not in Belasitza’s favour – they were going to lose every good player they had, but unable to recruit players of similar class. The predicament of a small club was quick return to lower level. But this was not all – to a point, Belasitza benefited from peculiar circumstances, which were never named. It was said that their triumph was largely due to very strong home performance. What was not said was why: first, Belasitza had incredibly hostile stadium – very hard surface, deliberately kept hard. Since the city of Petrich is at the very southern end of Bulgaria, at the border with Greece, hot weather and scarce water supply was the reality, used as an excuse for the sub-standard pitch. Visiting teams had great dificulty adapting to the surface. The other reason was directly related to the border: back in Communist Bulgaria there was 20 kilometers closed border zone and Petrich was inside it. Closed for ordinary Bulgarians, that is – border guard check-points inspected documents for entry into it and who had no permit from the Police was turned away. Permits were hard to get – the whole reason was to keep population away from the border to prevent escapes. Locals, however, were free to travel outside to zone and come back. This situation also helped the local team – visiting teams arrived without their fans, who were not able to get permits and played in front of hostile and aggressive supporters of Belasitza. There was always the possibility to bully visitors by putting them under restrictions, surveillance, and what not before a match. Belasitza was notoriously unbeatable at home – and this when playing in first division (still in the future). However, Belasitza supporters had no trouble going to other towns. But it was impossible to name the main reason at the time – it was forbidden subject. Nobody was fooled, though, so Belasitza was not expected to last in first division – what worked against small second division clubs, would not be a decisive factor in first division, where the big clubs were helped and pushed ahead by other schemes and pressures. At the end, both newcomers were seen more as an example of the low quality of second division football – neither was seen near top level or meaningful addition to first division. Belasitza was expected to be relegated right away, Akademik, if lucky, could survive a year or two with such a squad.