Bdin Vidin

The Beginning

OFC Bdin Vidin is a football club whose origins date back to 1923.

During the 1920s, several small football teams existed in Vidin. In 1920, SC “Bdin” was founded, later changing its name to “Bononia” before eventually becoming “Bdin” again. In the “Kaleto” district, the team “Victoria” was established. The large Jewish and Turkish communities in Vidin also had their own teams – “Jabotinsky” and “Turan.” Other teams such as “Razvitie,” “Sportist,” “Bulgaria,” and others also existed.

These teams competed fiercely in the city football championship, while Vidin’s proximity to Romania and Serbia allowed them to play international matches as well. In 1923, when the Bulgarian National Sports Federation (BNSF) was established in Sofia, it required the small neighborhood clubs to merge. These first football clubs in Vidin laid the foundations of organized football in the city and became the basis of today’s “Bdin.”

May 20, 1923, is the exact date on which SC “Bdin” was officially registered following the aforementioned merger. We consider this the birth date of our club. This history is presented with the assistance of the State Archives branch in Vidin.

From the beginning of the Bulgarian championship in 1924, Vidin teams actively participated in the elimination stages, although without notable success.

The 1930s

The first breakthrough came in 1930. At that time, the championship was still held in a direct elimination format. The Vidin team, then named “Victoria 23,” traveled to Veliko Tarnovo, where they played against the local “Slava” team (according to statisticians, the Veliko Tarnovo side may also have been known as “Victoria” or “Trapezitsa”) and lost 6–2.

The following season, “Victoria 23” once again entered the championship, this time visiting another team named “Slava” from Yambol. They again suffered defeat, this time by 3–1.

In the following years, the Vidin club did not participate in the national championship level, but football in Vidin continued to develop. “Victoria 23” returned to the championship in 1936. The Vidin side eliminated “Pobeda 26” Pleven at home with a convincing 4–2 victory. However, in the next round, the draw paired them against the future national champion, Sofia’s “Slavia,” and they lost 6–1 in Vidin.

In 1937, the National Football Division and District Sports Regions were established. That same year, “Bdin” played in the preliminary eliminations and lost 3–0 to “Levski” in Ruse.

The 1940s

A period followed in which “Victoria 23” became the leading team in Vidin. The club competed in the Vidin Sports Region but failed to reach the national elimination stages. In 1940, however, under the name “Bdin,” the Vidin side successfully entered the King’s Cup tournament. They defeated “Tsar Krum” Byala Slatina 1–0 and advanced to the quarterfinals, where they faced one of the eventual finalists, “Levski” Ruse, losing 4–1.

The following year, the Vidin team again reached the quarterfinals. In the opening match, “Bdin” eliminated “Belite Orli” Pleven with a 5–3 victory. Interestingly, during these years, clubs from Vardar Macedonia and Aegean Thrace also participated in the championship and the King’s Cup, as these territories were under Bulgarian administration during World War II.

In the quarterfinals, the draw paired “Bdin” with the eventual King’s Cup winner, Sofia’s “AS 23.” The Vidin side lost 3–0 at home.

Then came 1946, when under the name “Benkovski,” the Vidin team achieved success both in the national championship, where they finished third, and in the newly established Soviet Army Cup tournament. In the Round of 16, “Benkovski” defeated “Lokomotiv” Mezdra 3–0, but in the quarterfinals luck again abandoned the Vidin side. Their opponent was the future cup winner “Levski” Sofia, and after a hard-fought match, “Benkovski” narrowly lost 1–0.

In the memorable 1948/49 season, “Benkovski” became one of the founding clubs of the Republican Football Division, the predecessor of the Bulgarian “A” Group. Ten clubs founded the division: Sofia’s “Levski,” “CDNV,” “Slavia,” “Lokomotiv,” and “Spartak,” along with “Botev” Varna, “Botev” Burgas, “Slavia-Chengelov” Plovdiv, “Marek” Dupnitsa, and “Benkovski” Vidin.

The Vidin side began the season under the name “Benkovski-Sportist,” but reverted to “Benkovski” before the spring half-season. “Benkovski” finished ninth in the standings with 2 wins, 4 draws, and 12 losses, scoring 13 goals and conceding 35, which resulted in relegation.

In 1949, “Benkovski” also performed well in the Soviet Army Cup tournament. They received a bye in the Round of 16, but in the quarterfinals they faced an old rival, “Slavia,” and lost 4–0 in Sofia.

The 1950s

The 1949/50 championship season began normally, but after only three rounds of the autumn phase, the competition was suspended. On August 27, 1949, the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party decided to reorganize sports in Bulgaria according to the Soviet model. On September 27, the Supreme Committee for Physical Culture and Sports implemented this restructuring.

Following the Soviet system, voluntary sports organizations were established according to professional sectors:

DSO Akademik – for university professors, students, and scientific workers.

DSO Dynamo – for workers in communications, light industry, and food production.

DSO Energiya (later renamed DSO Torpedo) – for transport, heavy industry, electrification, and mining workers.

DSO Spartak – for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

DSO Stroitel – for workers in construction, healthcare, agriculture, forestry, and labor troops.

DSO Cherveno Zname (“Red Banner”) – for local administration, trade, culture, banking, and insurance workers.

Military sports clubs connected to the Bulgarian People’s Army also continued to exist.

It was decided that the new championship would follow the Soviet “spring-autumn” system beginning the next year.

For the 1950 season, the Vidin club was renamed “Stroitel” by party directive and competed successfully in the Northern “B” Republican Football Group, finishing fifth with 8 wins, 3 draws, and 7 losses, with a goal difference of 26:24. Despite this respectable performance, the club was relegated under unclear criteria.

The following season, a unified “B” Republican Football Group was created, while “Stroitel” Vidin competed in the district league. The team finished first and returned to the “B” Group under the new name “Cherveno Zname.”

In the unified “B” Group in 1952, “Cherveno Zname” Vidin finished ninth with 8 wins, 6 draws, and 10 losses, scoring 26 goals and conceding 27.

After the season, Bulgarian football underwent another reorganization. Five regional “B” Groups were created: