BULGARIAN SOCCER
As with most other countries Bulgaria's most popular sporting pastime is soccer. All the main cities and towns have state of the art stadiums that not only provide excellant entertainment for football fans but also cater for other sports like athletics and gymnastics. Bulgaria has already made an impact on the international scene with the assistance of the ' golden generation' during the 1994 world cup. Bulgaria's national and amateur leagues are similiar to the UK's and they have an annual cup which is not unlike England's FA cup.
If you are a tourist or fortunate to be a resident in Bulgaria you cannot fail to notice the number of state of the art sports stadiums were the premier clubs play their football. If you are visiting Sofia there is the Georgi Asparoukhov stadium were FC Levski Sofia play their football, and then there is the stadium lokomotiv, home of lokomotiv Sofia. Then there is the National Stadium, home of many international sporting events, that not only include soccer but athletics, fencing, judo basketball, boxing and gymnastics. If you are visiting Plovdiv you will find that there are two famous teams each with their own grounds - Botev Plovdiv and Locomotiv Plovdiv. Rivalry between these two teams has been known to be very intense and no doubt will continue to be that way, not a little unsimiliar to the rivalry that occured between Manchester United and Manchester City during Englands football heyday in the 1960's when the likes of Charlton, Best and Law were the undisputed kings of soccer. If you are in Stara Zagora you can watch FC Beroe, who are widely regarded as an entertaining side they play football in a magnificent state of the art ground which is set in beautiful surroundings and close to the world famous Ayazmoto Park and the international reknowned Botanical Gardens.
Bulgaria soccer has already made an impact on the international scene. During the 1994 World Cup held in the USA Bulgaria helped by the 'golden generation' - outstanding players that included Hristo Stoitchkov, Lordon Letchkov and Krassimir Bolakov - managed to defeat the Germans, beating them by the score line 2-1 to reach the semi finals. They lost their semifinal match to the eventual winners, Italy in an arguably controversial match.
Bulgaria's national league has a premiership league, an A division and a B division followed by other lower divisions of which some go on to form the numerous amateur clubs that congregate mainly around the rural areas and the lesser known towns and villages in Bulgaria. They also have the Moto-Phoe Cup which is equivalent to the FA Cup in England.
If you are in Bulgaria during the football season it might be a good idea to watch a football match, especially one between the premiership sides were rivalry is openly expressed in a not too hostile fashion and were fireworks going off during, before and after a match are not uncommon. You will find entrance prices are ridiculously low priced, especially when compared to other European premiership football grounds.
