Ludogorets II (Bulgarian: Лудогорец II) or Ludogorets 2 is a Bulgarian professional football team based in Razgrad. Founded in 2015, it is the reserve team of PFC Ludogorets Razgrad, and currently plays in Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football.
| Full name | Professional Football Club Ludogorets Razgrad II | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Eagles Ludogorets babies | |||
| Short name | Ludogorets II | |||
| Founded | 2015 | |||
| Ground | Eagles' Nest, Razgrad | |||
| Capacity | 2,000 | |||
| Owner | Kiril Domuschiev | |||
| Chairman | Aleksandar Aleksandrov | |||
| Head coach | Zahari Sirakov | |||
| League | Bulgarian Second League | |||
| 2021–22 | Second League, 6th | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Obliged to play one level below their main side, Ludogorets II is ineligible for promotion to First League and also can not compete in the Bulgarian Cup.
History edit
Foundation edit
In the beginning of 2015, the Bulgarian Football Union discussed the idea to add the reserve sides of several A Group clubs in the B Group or in the lower regional divisions. Ludogorets Razgrad, Litex Lovech, Levski Sofia, CSKA Sofia, Cherno More Varna and Botev Plovdiv expressed such interest to have a team in the B Group. At the beginning of June 2015, the BFU announced that only Litex and Ludogorets have sent such applications. Eventually, Ludogorets II and Litex II were added to the 2015-16 B Group.
2015–present: Second League edit
The team finished on 7th position in their first season. The team started the 2016–17 season precariously and finished in the relegation[clarification needed] zone after the half season. That's why on 12 January 2017, the team announced Radoslav Zdravkov, a Bulgarian football legend and also frequent assistant coach in the Bulgarian national team in recent age.[1] 2 days later from Ludogorets announced that in order to get better results from second team, they would apply big changes. Radoslav Zdravkov was announced as a head coach with Galin Ivanov and Marcelo Chagas for assistants and one other Bulgarian legend, Spas Dzhevizov, was announced as a selectionist, and will look after for youth talents from Ludogorets Academy and other academies to join the team.[2]
On 29 March 2017, the new youth stadium, Eagles' Nest was finished and the second team would play on it. The stadium has 2,000 seats.[3]
From the 2017–18 season, Ludogorets change the politic about the second team by taking the decision to play with only youth players of the club in the Bulgarian Second League.[4] The team started the season against Lokomotiv Sofia and beat them with 2:1 result with a team average age being 19 years.[5]
In the 2020–21 season, the team finished on their highest league position and ended the season on 4th place.[6]
Players edit
- As of 20 April 2024[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2023 and Transfers winter 2023–24.
- For first team players, see Ludogorets Razgrad.
Personnel edit
Manager history edit
| Dates | Name | Honours |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 |  Veselin Branimirov
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| 2015–2017 | Galin Ivanov
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| 2017–2019 | Radoslav Zdravkov
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| 2019 | Radoslav Komitov
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| 2019–2023 | Todor Zhivondov
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| 2024– | Zahari Sirakov
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Current technical body edit
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Selectionist | Ivan Tsvetkov |
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| Head coach | Todor Zhivondov |
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| Assistant coach | Valeri Venkov |
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| Goalkeeper coach | Viktor Georgiev |
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| Physiotherapist | Detelin Maslov |
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| Doctor | Ivaylo Yakimov |
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| Administrator | Nikolay Tsonev |
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Past seasons edit
| Season | League | Top goalscorer | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Level | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Pos | |||
| 2015–16 | B Group | 2 | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 41 | 41 | +0 | 41 | 7th | Yanaki Smirnov
|
11 |
| 2016–17 | Second League | 2 | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 44 | 8th | Tsvetelin Chunchukov
|
6 |
| 2017–18 | 2 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 40 | 50 | -10 | 40 | 9th | Denislav Aleksandrov
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8 | |
| 2018–19 | 2 | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 31 | 43 | -12 | 32 | 11th | Denislav Aleksandrov
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6 | |
| 2019–20 | 2 | 21 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 35 | -15 | 24 | 12th | Dimitar Mitkov
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10 | |
| 2020–21 | 2 | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 56 | 38 | +18 | 50 | 4th | Dimitar Mitkov
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14 | |
| 2021–22 | 2 | 36 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 70 | 48 | +22 | 61 | 6th | Vladislav Naydenov
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12 | |
| 2022–23 | 2 | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 57 | 4th | Vladislav Naydenov Hyusein Kelyovluev
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9 | |
| 2023–24 | 2 | ||||||||||||
- Key
- GS = Group stage
- QF = Quarter-finals
- SF = Semi-finals
| Champions | Runners-up | Promoted | Relegated |
Statistics edit
Second League matches edit
- As of 1 January 2023
| Ranking | Nationality | Position | Name | Years | Matches | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bulgaria |
MF | Tsvetoslav Petrov | 2017–2024 | 140 | 29 |
| 2 | Bulgaria |
MF | Hyusein Kelyovluev | 2017– | 138 | 23 |
| 3 | Bulgaria |
MF | Metodiy Stefanov | 2019– | 135 | 3 |
| 4 | Bulgaria |
DF | Dimitar Iliev | 2017–2021 2022– |
124 | 0 |
| 5 | Bulgaria |
MF | Branimir Kostadinov | 2019– | 121 | 14 |
| 6 | Bulgaria |
DF | Tihomir Dimitrov | 2017–2023 | 110 | 6 |
| 7 | Bulgaria |
FW | Vladislav Naydenov | 2019– | 102 | 23 |
| — | Bulgaria |
MF | Velislav Minkov | 2019–2023 | 102 | 6 |
| 9 | Bulgaria |
MF | Ilker Budinov | 2018–2022 | 101 | 14 |
| 10 | Bulgaria |
DF | Preslav M. Petrov | 2015–2020 | 99 | 4 |
- Players in bold are still playing for Ludogorets.
Second League goals edit
- As of 1 January 2024
| Ranking | Nationality | Position | Name | Years | Matches | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bulgaria |
FW | Dimitar Mitkov | 2019–2022 | 64 | 32 |
| 2 | Bulgaria |
FW | Tsvetoslav Petrov | 2017–2024 | 140 | 29 |
| 3 | Bulgaria |
MF | Vladislav Naydenov | 2019– | 102 | 23 |
| – | Bulgaria |
MF | Hyusein Kelyovluev | 2017– | 138 | 23 |
| 5 | Bulgaria |
FW | Denislav Aleksandrov | 2015–2019 | 77 | 19 |
| 6 | Bulgaria |
MF | Ilker Budinov | 2018–2022 | 101 | 14 |
| — | Bulgaria |
FW | Branimir Kostadinov | 2020– | 121 | 14 |
| 8 | Bulgaria |
FW | Yanaki Smirnov | 2015–2016 | 28 | 11 |
| 9 | Bulgaria |
MF | Svetoslav Kovachev | 2015–2018 | 54 | 10 |
| 10 | Bulgaria |
MF | Tomas Tsvyatkov | 2015–2018 | 57 | 9 |
- Players in bold are still playing for Ludogorets.
Notable players edit
Note: This list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 top league games and/or have reached international status. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.
References edit
- ^ Ексклузивно: Легенда на ЦСКА започва работа в Лудогорец
- ^ Официално: Ради Здравков пое Лудогорец 2, Джевизов селекционер на тима
- ^ Лудогорец се приближи с още една стъпка към големите европейски клубове
- ^ Лудогорец сменя политиката в дубъла
- ^ С 18-19 годишни момчета от школата Лудогорец II победи Локомотив (София)
- ^ Лудогорец II с най-добро класиране във Втора лига
- ^ "Б отбор" [B team]. PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (in Bulgarian). ludogorets.com. Retrieved 17 December 2022.