FC CSKA 1948 Sofia

FC CSKA 1948 Sofia (ФК ЦСКА 1948 София) is a Bulgarian football club from Sofia. The team plays its home matches at the Bistritsa Stadium and competes in Bulgaria's First League. The colours of the club are red and white.

The club was founded in 2016 by a group of CSKA supporters who opposed Grisha Ganchev's recognition of Litex Lovech for CSKA Sofia after the owner of the old club abolished its phoenix club. The new club quickly progressed from the lower levels of the football system and was eventually promoted to the top level in 2020.

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.

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 Akademik Sofia 1–0 in the final.

In its first official game for the 2016–17 season in A OFG Sofia (capital) South, FC CSKA 1948 won 8–0 against Lyulin Sofia. The club began playing its home games at Vasil Levski National Stadium, but later during the season used the stadiums in Obelya and German. FC CSKA 1948 won its group and became champion of the whole A OFG Sofia (capital) after victory 4–3 against Nadezhda Dobroslavtsi. Then, on 7 June 2017, the team played with Bratsigovo in order to qualify for the Third League and won after penalties (7–6). Beside that, FC CSKA 1948 reached the final for the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur League, which they lost on 25 May 2017 to the club from the Third league Chernomorets Balchik.

For their first season in the third division of the Bulgarian football (2017–18), the club moved to Dragalevtsi Stadium, in order to comply with the requirements of the respective league. After very strong performance, on 19 May 2018, FC CSKA 1948 secured its place in Second Professional League. The team finished with 29 wins, 5 draws and no losses, as two players of the Reds became goalscorers of the South-West Third League – Andon Gushterov and Petko Petkov. Also, FC CSKA 1948 had again a good campaign for the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur 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, FC CSKA 1948 moved to Vasil Levski National 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. FC CSKA 1948 eventually finished fourth, three points below the promotion playoff place, which was occupied by Arda Kardzhali. Although FC CSKA 1948 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, FC CSKA 1948 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 Montana, followed by a home destruction of OFC Pomorie extended their winning steak to 5 games. FC CSKA 1948's spectacular form continued, as the team defeated Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa and Strumska Slava 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 FC CSKA 1948 lost 1–0 to Litex Lovech. After a 2–0 home win against Chernomorets Balchik, FC CSKA 1948 suffered another loss in the hands of Kariana Erden. This was followed by three consecutive wins, which ended with a disappointing 2–2 home draw against Ludogorets II. Following that, the team managed to win two away games, against 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
FC 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 2 June, and the club unveiled a new logo on 30 June in preparation for their First League debut. On 7 August 2020, the team faced CSKA in its first ever top flight game, with the encounter resulting in a 2–2 draw.

CSKA 1948 established itself in the following years in the First League, frequently finishing in the top six of the championship. During the 2022–23 season, the team reached the final of the Bulgarian Cup for the first time in club history, eliminating Lokomotiv Sofia in the semi-finals.

In May 2023, the team took over the stadium in the Trebich neighborhood in Sofia, preparing to invest over €1.3 million in renovation.

Club culture
Until 2022, the club had a policy of relying exclusively on Bulgarian players, which gained the approval of a lot of the club's supporters who had previously criticized CSKA Sofia for fielding teams with many foreign footballers.

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.

Since 2018, the team mascot is Army the lion.

Honours

 * First League:
 * Third place (1): 2022–23
 * Bulgarian Cup:
 * Runners-up (1): 2022–23
 * Bulgarian Supercup:
 * Runners-up (1): 2023
 * Second League:
 * Winners (1): 2019–20
 * Third League:
 * Winners (1): 2017–18
 * A OFG Sofia:
 * Winners (1): 2016–17

Current squad
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For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2023–24 and Transfers summer 2024.

Foreign players
Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League, however only five non-EU nationals can be used during a match day. 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
 * none

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)
 * 🇨🇻 🇫🇷 Steve Furtado
 * 🇫🇷 Ryan Bidounga
 * 🇫🇷 Lévi Ntumba

Non-EU Nationals
 * 🇧🇷 Cassiano Bouzon
 * 🇧🇷 Pedrinho
 * 🇧🇷 Thalis
 * 🇲🇰 Mario Ilievski
 * 🇷🇸 Nedeljko Piščević
 * 🇹🇯 🇷🇺 Parvizdzhon Umarbayev
 * 🇺🇦 Yevheniy Serdyuk

Goalscoring and appearance records

 * Includes appearances in First League, Second League, Third League, Bulgarian Cup, Bulgarian Supercup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
 * Players in bold are still playing for FC CSKA 1948.


 * Players in bold are still playing for FC CSKA 1948.

Notable players
Had international caps for their respective countries, or held any club record. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.


 * Bulgaria
 * 🇧🇬 Emil Gargorov
 * 🇧🇬 Martin Kamburov
 * 🇧🇬 Galin Ivanov
 * 🇧🇬 Ivan Karadzhov
 * 🇧🇬 Denislav Aleksandrov
 * 🇧🇬 Daniel Mladenov
 * 🇧🇬 Mariyan Ognyanov
 * 🇧🇬 Dimitar Pirgov
 * 🇧🇬 Apostol Popov
 * 🇧🇬 Ventsislav Vasilev
 * 🇧🇬 Radoslav Kirilov


 * 🇧🇬 Andon Gushterov
 * 🇧🇬 Angel Lyaskov
 * 🇧🇬 Aleksandar Kolev
 * 🇧🇬 Georgi Rusev
 * 🇧🇬 Denislav Aleksandrov
 * 🇧🇬 Ivaylo Chochev
 * 🇧🇬 Daniel Naumov
 * 🇧🇬 Birsent Karagaren
 * 🇧🇬 Antonio Vutov
 * 🇧🇬 Miki Orachev
 * 🇧🇬 Nikola Iliev
 * 🇧🇬 Serkan Yusein


 * Europe
 * 🇦🇱 Erdenis Gurishta
 * 🇮🇸 Viðar Örn Kjartansson


 * Asia
 * 🇹🇯 Parvizdzhon Umarbayev


 * Africa
 * 🇨🇻 Steve Furtado
 * 🇨🇩 Ryan Bidounga