PFC Ludogorets Razgrad
Also written as Ludogorets.
The club
Professional Football Club Ludogorets Razgrad were founded in November 1945 through the merger of several rural football clubs from the Ludogorie region of north-eastern Bulgaria, the plateau that gives the club its name. They played in Bulgaria's lower divisions for decades, reaching the Second Division in 1961, and in 1997 merged with FC Antibiotic Razgrad to become FC Antibiotic-Ludogorets before falling into difficulty. The modern club dates from a 2009/10 revival under new ownership, which took the side from the amateur ranks back to the Second Division by 2011 and into the First League the year after. The name refers only to the region; no other club, in Razgrad or elsewhere, shares it, and this dossier is not about any other Bulgarian side.
The home ground is the Huvepharma Arena in Razgrad, with a capacity of 10,423. The club's colours are forest green and white at home, white away, with black used as an alternative kit in some domestic matches. The head coach is the German Thomas Reis, appointed on 12 July 2026 after Per-Mathias Høgmo left by mutual agreement on 1 July 2026. Høgmo had taken over on 21 November 2025 from the interim Todor Zhivondov, who had stepped in on 29 October 2025 when Rui Mota was removed.
Recent seasons
Ludogorets have finished first in the Bulgarian First League in every season from 2011/12 to 2024/25, an unbroken run of fourteen championships. In 2025/26 that run ended: the club finished third, still their fifteenth consecutive season in the top flight, while also winning the 2025 Bulgarian Supercup and reaching the semi-finals of the Bulgarian Cup. In that 2025/26 campaign Ivaylo Chochev was the club's top league scorer with 17 goals and top scorer in all competitions with 21; the biggest win was 5-0 at home to Septemvri on 19 July 2025 and the heaviest defeat was 0-3 away to Ferencváros in the Champions League on 12 August 2025. Average home league attendance that season was 1,267.
Honours and landmarks
Ludogorets have won the Bulgarian First League fourteen times: 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25. They have won the Bulgarian Cup four times, in 2011/12, 2013/14, 2022/23 and 2024/25, and the Bulgarian Supercup nine times, in 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
In Europe, Ludogorets were the first Bulgarian club to win a Europa League group, in 2013/14, and in 2014/15 became the second Bulgarian team to reach the Champions League group stage, doing so by beating Steaua Bucuresti on penalties in the play-off round after eliminating F91 Dudelange and Partizan Belgrade in earlier qualifying. In that group stage they became the first Bulgarian club to take points in the Champions League proper, beating Basel 1-0 at home, before finishing fourth in the group.
Notable scorelines
The club's biggest home win in Europe is 7-0 against Crusaders of Northern Ireland in Champions League qualifying in 2018, part of a 9-0 aggregate victory. Their biggest away win is 4-0 at The New Saints of Wales in the 2019/20 Europa League, part of a 9-0 aggregate rout. The heaviest home defeat in Europe is 2-7 against Qarabag in 2024/25 Champions League qualifying, and the heaviest away defeat is 7-1 at Nordsjaelland in the 2022/23 Conference League. Domestically, the club's all-time record win and record defeat were not established from the sources read here.
European record
Ludogorets have played in Europe every season since their debut in 2012/13, with the 2014/15 Champions League campaign the club's high point: after eliminating F91 Dudelange, Partizan Belgrade and Steaua Bucuresti in qualifying, they finished fourth in a group that also contained Real Madrid, Basel and Liverpool, losing 0-4 away to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu and 0-4 at home to Basel either side of their historic 1-0 win over the Swiss club.
In 2015/16 they went out of Champions League qualifying 3-1 on aggregate to Milsami Orhei of Moldova. In 2016/17 they reached the Champions League play-off before losing 4-2 on aggregate to Viktoria Plzen, dropping into the Europa League and losing to Copenhagen in the round of 32, 2-1 on aggregate. In 2017/18 they beat Zalgiris Vilnius in Champions League qualifying before going out to Hapoel Beer Sheva on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw in the third qualifying round, then in the Europa League beat their way through the play-off before losing 4-0 to AC Milan in the round of 32.
In 2018/19 they beat Crusaders 9-0 on aggregate in Champions League qualifying before losing 1-0 on aggregate to MOL Vidi in the second qualifying round; in the Europa League that followed they beat Torpedo Kutaisi 5-0 and finished fourth in their group. In 2019/20 they lost 5-3 on aggregate to Ferencvaros in Champions League qualifying, then in the Europa League beat The New Saints 9-0 on aggregate, finished second in their group, and lost 4-1 on aggregate to Inter Milan in the round of 32. In 2020/21 they lost their Champions League qualifier to Midtjylland and finished fourth in their Europa League group. In 2021/22 they beat Shakhtyor Soligorsk and Mura in Champions League qualifying before losing 3-2 on aggregate to Malmo in the play-off, then finished fourth in their Europa League group.
In 2022/23 they lost to Dinamo Zagreb in Champions League qualifying, went out to Zalgiris in the Europa League play-off, and reached the Conference League knockout round play-off before losing to Anderlecht on penalties. In 2023/24 they lost the Europa League play-off to Ajax, finished second in their Conference League group, and lost 1-0 on aggregate to Servette in the knockout round play-off. In 2024/25 they were eliminated from Champions League qualifying by Qarabag, including a 2-7 home defeat, then entered the Europa League's new league-phase format. In 2025/26 they beat Dinamo Minsk and Rijeka in qualifying before losing 3-0 on aggregate to Ferencvaros in the third qualifying round, dropping into the Europa League league phase.
As of August 2026 the club's overall European record stood at 181 matches played, 63 wins, 46 draws and 72 defeats, 251 goals scored and 248 conceded.
Quotes
No directly quoted material was confirmed from the sources read here.
Right now (2026/27)
Thomas Reis is the head coach, appointed on 12 July 2026. Ludogorets entered the 2026/27 UEFA Europa Conference League and met Hapoel Tel Aviv in the second qualifying round, drawing 2-2 at home before losing the away leg 0-2, going out 4-2 on aggregate. Exact dates, goalscorers, attendance and the referee for those two legs were not established from the sources read here.
Domestically Ludogorets have made a strong start to the 2026/27 First League season, sitting first in the table after six matches with 16 points from five wins and a draw, eleven goals scored and four conceded, and have already qualified for the championship group stage. Further detail on the current squad and summer transfer business beyond the appointment of Reis and a new sponsorship agreement with Inbet, announced on 13 July 2026, was not established from the sources read here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_Ludogorets_Razgrad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_PFC_Ludogorets_Razgrad_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_Ludogorets_Razgrad_in_European_football https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_First_Professional_Football_League_(Bulgaria) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludogorets
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.