OFK Vihren Sandanski () is a Bulgarian football club based in Sandanski, currently playing in the Second League. Sandanski's home ground is the Sandanski Stadium in Sandanski with a capacity of 6,000. Vihren Sandanski's team colours are green and white.
Vihren was founded in 1925, changing its name several times during its early existence. Up until the early 2000s, Vihren played mostly in either the second or third tiers of Bulgarian football. Season 2004-05 is arguably the most important in the club's history, as the team managed to promote to the A PFG, or first tier of Bulgarian football, for the first time. Vihren managed to play four consecutive seasons in the elite, before suffering relegation after the 2008-09 season. Since then, the Gladiators have played mostly in the third regional tier.
Equipment Currently the team's home kit is green and the away kit is white. Various combinations of green and white have been used through the years, but green remains the basic colour of the team.
History
The club was founded on 24 May 1925. It has carried the names Ustrem, Gotse Delchev, Yane Sandanski and Cherveno zname throughout its history.
In 1977, Vihren first promoted to the B Group, remaining there 13 consecutive seasons before falling back to the V Group. In 1993, Vihren returned to the B Group, but only for one season, after which relegation again followed.
In 2003, Vihren again returned to the second level. In the 2004–05 season, Vihren finished first and gained promotion to the A Group for the 2005–06 season, marking the team's debut in the top tier. Before their first year of playing in A PFG, Vihren's owner decided to bring players from other countries to bolster the team's chances of surviving in the top flight. His first signing was the ex-FC Porto player Jose Furtado. He was from the Portuguese side G.D. Tourizense for free. Brazilian player Serginio Dias, and Portuguese players Mauro Alexandre and Nuno Almeida were just a few other players who signed for Vihren after Furtado. The team coach was named Petar Zhekov. Vihren finished season 2005–06 on 9th place in A PFG with 30 points.
The next season, 2006-07, Vihren managed to gain 37 points, finishing in 9th place once again.
In season 2007–08, Vihren's owner, Konstantin Dinev decided to bring Portuguese coach Rui Dias. The club signed eight Portuguese and two Brazilian players. But three months later, Rui Dias was discharged for poor results. At the end of the season, the team finished in 10th place.
Season 2008–09 started excellent with a 1–0 win against Bulgarian vice-champion Levski Sofia. In the 4th round, the club defeated Lokomotov Sofia. In January 2008, Vihren signed notable Greek players Christos Maladenis and Dimitrios Zografakis. In the end of the season, however, the team finished in 14th place and were relegated to B Group, ending a four-year stint in the elite.
The following two seasons were spent in the second tier, but financial problems overwhelmed the club, forcing its folding in 2011 and withdrawal from the B Group. The next season, Vihren was refounded from the fourth level, the A RFG. The team then promoted to the V Group in 2013.
In 2025, Vihren promoted to the Second League for the first time since 2011.
League positions
Honours Bulgarian A PFG: 9th place: 2005–06 and 2006–07 Bulgarian Cup: quarter finalist Cup of the Soviet Army: 1985/86
Players
Current squad As of 5 July 2026
Foreign players Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First Professional League however only three can be used in a match day. Those non-EU nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim Bulgarian citizenship after playing in Bulgaria for 5 years.
EU Nationals Landry Malonda
EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) Monir Al Badarin
Non-EU Nationals Léo Pimenta
Managerial history This is a list of the last ten Vihren managers:
NameNatFromToKostadin TodorovJanuary 2000January 2001Vasil MetodievJanuary 2001June 2002Yordan BozdanskiDecember 2002May 2004Petar ZhekovJune 2004May 2005Petar ZhekovJune 2005May 2006Dionysis BeslikasJune 2006August 2006Petar ZhekovAugust 2006May 2007Rui DiasJune 2007October 2007Eduard EranosyanOctober 2007November 2007Filip FilipovDecember 2007March 2009
As of December 31, 2009.
Notable players Vasil Metodiev Vladimir Karakachiev Todor Mechev Krasimir Bakalov Valentin Stankov Atanas Manushev Plamen Mitsanski Emil Mitsanski Hristo Zlatinov Pando Kotov Kiril Katzarov Ivan Stoyanov Bozhko Pandaziev Iliya Tochev Krasto Penev Evgeni Mihaylov Georgi Bachev Kiril Andreev
Former foreign players Brazil Serginio Dias Ademar Miran Mauro Alexandre Bruno Paes Manoel Da Silva
Cape Verde Rodolfo Lima Jose Furtado
Croatia Bruno Šiklić Vedren Muratović France Florian Lucchini
Spain Sergio Ocana
Greece Christos Maladenis Dimitrios Zografakis Dimitris Karademitros
Hungary Zoltán Fehér Tihamér Lukács
Macedonia Slavcho Georgievski Nigeria Shikoze Udoji Emejuru Okwudili Yusuf Bello
Portugal Eduardo Simões Diogo Andrade Luis Dias Nuno Almeyda Tiago Costa Paulo Teixeira Pina Semedo Mauro Almeida Serbia Saša Simonović Zoran Cvetković
Uruguay Edgardo Simovic
Argentina Gastón Pisani
Venezuela Gabriel Cichero
References
External links OFC Vihren Sandanski at bgclubs.eu