Lokomotiv Mezdra

Full Name: Professional Football Club Lokomotiv Mezdra
Bulgarian Name: ПФК „Локомотив” Мездра
League: Southwest V Group (3rd Division)
City: Mezdra
Founded: 1929
Stadium: Stadion Lokomotiv (3000)
Colors: Red, Black
Previous: Levski (1929-30), Ticha (1930-44), ZhSK (1945), Lokomotiv (1945-57), Dinko Petrov (1957-63), Lokomotiv (1963-73), ZhSK-Metalurg (1973-78)
Nickname: Zheleznicharite (железничарите)

Description:

Lokomotiv Mezdra make their Bulgarian first division debut in the 2008-09 season after winning their section of the B Group last season. Lokomotiv are based in the small Bulgarian town of Mezdra, approximately 60 km northeast of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. The current iteration of the club launched in 1945 although they claim heritage from the first football club in Mezdra, Levski, who began in 1929. The club has been known as both Lokomotiv and ZhSK at various points, although the two names mean basically the same thing. Zh stands for Zheleznitsi (железници), which means rails. In the 1950s and 1960s Bulgarian sports went through a dizzying series of politically-inspired organizational overhauls and for several years Lokomotiv was part of a larger entity known as the Dinko Petrov Cultural and Sport Organization or something along those lines. Lokomotiv merged with Metalurg Elisena in 1973 resulting in the name change to ZhSK-Metalurg, though five years later they reverted back to Lokomotiv.

The nickname Zheleznicharite (железничарите in Bulgarian) tranlsates as The Railwaymen. The club's logo includes a stylized representation of a railway locomotive over the red and black vertical stripes found in the club's shirts.

Stadion Lokomotiv: