Established in 1945, the Razgrad club originally participated in the Third football division. Their first appearance in the Second division was in season 1961/62, but a promotion to the elite division was not achieved. In the 90’ of the 20th century the team’s name was Antibiotic. The rise of Ludogorets started in season 2009/10, when the team managed to enter Second division. That’s when Ivaylo Petev was designated as a Head Coach. “The Green” won the Second division battle and entered the elite.
Ludogorets’ name was written in the history of world football after winning three cups in the very first season of the club in A PFG. The team, led by Ivaylo Petev, became an undisputable champion after the well deserved win over the record holder of titles – CSKA. The superiority of “The Eagles” in the championship was officially admitted with the victory over “The Red Team” with 1:0 in the 30th final round of season 2011/12. Petev’s players held the precious Champion’s cup with the confidence of being a strong and notable team, having finished with a positive result against the four teams from Sofia. Taken into account, it is a unique achievement and up to that moment it hasn’t been done by a team outside of the capital city.
A little earlier Ludogorets has also won the Cup of Bulgaria at the ”Lazur” stadium in Burgas. The team turned the score from 0:1 to 2:1 in the game against Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), and triumphed with the second most valuable trophy in Bulgarian football. A month and a half later “The Eagles” also won the Super Cup, after their success over the same opponent from Plovdiv, but this time with a 3:1 score.
In all 30 First division matches, as well as the rest for the Cup of Bulgaria and the Super Cup, Ludogorets has demonstrated perseverance and not once has it broke the offensive style of playing, which in the last years was a rare thing to see on the Bulgarian football fields. This created the image of a fighter, recognized by everybody.
Ludogorets validated their position in the last XXX round of News’s 7 football championship. The championship had a dramatic end in favor of “he Eagles”, confirming that Ludogorets deserves more than any other team the gold medals. During the whole season Ivaylo Petev’s boys were far better than their opponents. The team finished with a positive balance from the games against the leading teams.
In season 2013/14 Ludogorets was a true hegemon in Bulgarian club football. „The Eagles“ reached their third consecutive championship title two rounds before the end on May 7, 2014, a year after their victory over Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) with a 1-0 score at „Ludogorets Arena“. The winning goal was scored by Roman Bezyak in the 9th minute.
On May 15th, 2014 Ludogorets achieved Golden treble (the second one since their entry in the A PFG) after winning the final game of the Cup of Bulgaria against Botev (Plovdiv) when Roman Bezyak scored the winning goal in the 60th minute. The game for the Super Cup was also won by Ludogorets. Both matches were played at the „Lazur“ stadium in Burgas.
Ludogorets’ fourth title came after the 4:1 win at home against Lokomotiv (Sofia) on May 15th, 2015. Thesuccess matches perfectly with the official opening of thenew tribune „Moti” and the celebration of the 70th anniversary of “The Eagles“. The „Red-Black Team“ turned out to be Ludogorets’ competitor for the goldmedals at the end of the championship, although almostall season “The Eeagles“ were fighting for the first placewith CSKA.
The balance of Ludogorets’ matches with Lokomotiv (Sofia) and CSKA shows the superiority of “The Eagles“. In Razgrad both metropolitan teams were each defeated twice – CSKA with a 2:0 and 4:0 and Lokomotiv (Sofia) with 5:1 and 4:1. Ludogorets achieved draws in the games at „Bulgarian Army“ (1:1 and 0:0) and „Nadezhda“ (2:2 and 0:0).
The season was extremely successful in the European tournaments. Ludogorets eliminated Steaua in epic matches in the playoffs of the Champions League and entered the group stage, which achieved the first historic victory over Basel, and draw with Liverpool followed, after which the team performed great against Real (Madrid) – winner of the European Cup for ten times.
Ludogorets already owns the second biggest collection of consecutive trophies in the Bulgarian premiere football championship after CDNA’s nine titles won between 1954 and 1962. Until now the team had the second position along with CSKA, who own 4 titles between 1980 and 1983, but now Ludogorets sits firmly in the second spot alone and is already aiming to overthrow CDNA’s achievement from the 60’s.
The season was kicked off on the rough side for “The Eagles”, who were fourth in the overall ranking for a short time, with six points behind the leader. After Georgi Dermendzhiev returned in November, the team achieved a few wins in a row and after the first half-season they were on the top position. After the spring period of the championship Ludogorets was dominating over its competitors with an impressive 14 points ahead of the second team – Levski. Ludogorets left no doubts in its class and supremacy by achieving a positive balance in the results against every team of the “A” football group except Litex.
May 11th, 2016 – on this date Ludogorets became champion for the fifth time in a row. The same day our biggest rival Levski lost to Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) with a 2:3 score and “The Eagles” became untouchable on the top of the rating again.
The next season proved to be the most successful for the team to date. The Eagles achieved more than planned and entered the Champions League group phase. They won their sixth title with 16 points in advance ahead of the second team overall.
The season was a record-breaking one. Ludogorets became the first Bulgarian team to defeat Crvena Zvezda and the only one to enter the Champions League group phase twice. Ludogorets also became the only team to win points during a European tournament (after the 1:1 match against Basel and the following 2:2 match against PSG. Last, but not least, Ludogorets successfully completed the Champions League group phase ahead of Basel, right behind Arsenal.
Ludogorets continued with their strong presence in the European tournaments by entering the UEFA Europa League. Guided by Dimitar Dimitrov, the team qualified second, right behind Braga, surpassing Hoffenheim and Istanbul Basaksehir. A match with the legendary Milan followed (Ludogorets lost after 0:3 and 0:1 losses).
Ludogorets became Bulgaria’s champion for the 7th time in 2018. The Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori guided the team. Ludogorets defeated Crusaders as soon as the Champions League began, but lost to MOL Vidi next. In Europa League, Ludogorets defeated Zrinjski (Mostar) and Torpedo (Kutaisi) and qualified for the group phase. The team dropped out from the eliminations phase for the first time ever after winning a total of four points from the matches against Bayer (Leverkusen), Zurich, and AEK (Larnaca).
The eight title for Ludogorets became a fact in the last round of the championship. The team defeated 4:1 Cherno More and remained on top of the overall rating. It was a tough season, but the team still dominated over everyone. Stoycho Stoev replaced Antoni Zdravkov as the head coach. Later, the team dropped out from the Champions League preliminary round after losing to Ferencvaros. After defeating Valur and TNS in the Europa League preliminary rounds, Ludogorets also defeated Maribor after two matches (0:0 and 2:2). Ludogorets added a couple more wins (5:1 against CSKA Moscow and 3:0 against Ferencvaros). A couple of losses to Espanol followed. The Eagles qualified for the eliminations phase and ended up standing against Inter. Ludogorets performed great, but lost both matches (0:2 and 1:2). There were no spectators during the rematch.
Ludogorets won the ninth consecutive title in the club’s history after a 2:1 win in the Ludogorets vs Beroe match. The game was a part of the 27th round of the efbet League. “The Eagles” dominated the entire championship which was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Ludogorets defeated Levski three times and achieved three even scores in matches against CSKA. The team was close to even CSKA’s record achievement of 36 matches in a row without a loss. Pavel Vrba’s players, unfortunately, lost to Slavia in the last match. This was the team’s only loss throughout the season.
The club won the tenth title after an abnormal season. COVID-19 had a huge impact on football everywhere. Pavel Vrba and Stanislav Genchev guided the team through different parts of the autumn season, followed by Valdas Dambrauskas. The Lithuanian had a flying start but the team lost 2:3 to Lokomotiv after Renan allowed several mistakes. This resulted in a short three-point advantage ahead of CSKA. The second team overall lost all hopes of becoming the champion soon after. CSKA lost 0:1 to Ludogorets in Razgrad, resulting in a six-point overall advantage. Lokomotiv eventually replaced CSKA as the second team overall. This did not affect The Eagles at all. The title was secured as early as the 27th championship round (the first playoff round).
Ludogorets' 11th title was not won again in a decisive way. The Eagles started with 5 wins in the first 5 rounds while Valdas Dambrauskas was still the coach. The Lithuanian was released after the first loss with 0:1 against Crvena Zvezda in Europe League groups. For a second year the team did not win in the group stage of the Europa League, and also made some unforeseen mistakes in the championship. Between the 8th and 19th rounds came all four losses in the championship. Three of them were away games in Sofia - by Slavia with 0:1, CSKA 1948 with 0:2 and CSKA with 0:1. In the penultimate autumn round came the biggest blow to the club's ambitions – the heavy loss against Pirin at home with 3:5. Thus, the team spends the winter with only 2 points ahead of CSKA. Then Ante Simundza was at the coaching position, who lifted the team and after a strong performance in the spring season, the 11th title was a fact.
Ludogorets' 12th title is the most difficult. During the season, the battle with CSKA was tough. The Eagles lost 0:1 to Pirin at home, which made the gap to the top 4 points. However, then the bosses made an important decision and returned Ivaylo Petev to Huvepharma Arena. He managed to do the impossible and dislodge CSKA from first place by the end of the regular season, which became a fact after the sweet 1:0 success on Bulgarian Army stadium. Ludogorets also managed to win the Bulgarian Cup after a 3:1 win over CSKA 1948 at the Vasil Levski National Stadium.
In February 2024 Ludogorets won their seventh Bulgarian Super Cup. This was the 22nd trophy, which completed the third golden treble of the Eagles. At Ivaylo Stadium in Veliko Tarnovo the champions beat CSKA 1948 on penalties. Regular time ended 1:1 and Ludogorets scored four and the opponent scored two from the penalty area.
In the meantime the matches with Servette from the playoffs before the elimination phase of the Conference League began. In Zheneva, the Eagles drew 0:0, and in Razgrad, after a bunch of mistakes, they lost 0:1.
The 13th title was also won in theory after the 3:1 success over CSKA in a rather nervous match. Unfortunately, Ludogorets failed to win the double for the second year in a row, losing the Bulgarian Cup in dramatic game to Botev Plovdiv (2:3), with Rwan missing the goal from the penalty spot in the extra time.
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