Georgi Asparuhov Stadium
Parva Liga, Bulgaria
I have never been to Bulgaria. I am from Odesa and we have always ties to Bulgarians and Varna is a twin city. But as with many other places under the radar, you always put them aside. I always wanted to have a good travel around the country and visit Plovdiv, Velke Trnovo, Rila Monastery, coastal towns. However, there was a chance to spend 3 days in Sofia and I decided to give it a try. Besides, Levski was playing at home and I always wanted to see them.
Flew from Wroclaw as there are no direct flight from Krakow. Thankfully there were no delays and our journey went smoothly. Hotel right in the centre of Sofia was very affordable as are most of the things in the Bulgarian capital.
Thanks to a really late flight back, I was able to catch the game with no issues and plenty of time. Took the subway to the closest station on the map. I was a bit worried that it may take a long time to reach it from there, but I relaxed when I saw fans taking the same route as me. The ground is still quite far from the centre and this is a very typical residential area with grey communist-built panel buildings. Not the prettiest location but it certainly adds to the whole experience of going to a Levski game. And the best thing is a big mural of Georgi Asparuhov on one of the buildings close to the stadium. On the other side of the ground, there is a park and shabby outdoor market. I bought the ticket as the small booth in the entrance arch that leads to the big space in front of the stadium. There are several buildings which host various other sport sections under Levski banner. Lots of graffiti and stickers as it's supposed to be in such places.
There was a big line to the official Levski store but it turned out that most people in the line were there for players' autographs, so I entered inside quickly. Did not really like the merch selection that much but I don't pay much attention to stores anyway. There were no pennants, but I got myself a pin and together with the match ticket, I think I'm fine in terms of souvenirs.
With plenty of time, I went to explore the territory around the ground. I particularly enjoyed the little chapel just meters away from the grandstand. You can see both the floodlight with the cross. I also had a huge slice of very mediocre pizza as it seemed what the fans usually do before the game. I also gotta say that I was pleasantly surprised by the sartorial choices of Levski fans. You can never see that many casually dressed supporters at Polish grounds.
Finally it was time to enter the stand. I chose the slightly cheaper stand close to the Sektor B where Levski hardcore congregate. I had to go to the side of the bowl to enter my chosen stand and I immediately loved the way it was. First you enter a little gate where your tickets are checked. This gate also houses shabby derelict toilets. And then you go outside and follow this little alley all the way to the stand. That is just an amazing and pure experience, entering the old-style football ground there amongst the fallen autumn leaves. And then you see the pitch and the whole of the stadium from the inside.
It was raining the whole day and was very gloomy but again, it was very authentic with how the ground and the area looks. I found that the little gate between the stands remained open so you could travel to the ultras' stand. It looked like they were protesting against the current state of Levski and Bulgarian football with their banners upside down. There were quite a lot fans from Plovdiv as well.
Levski scored first and it was a header from the corner by a wonderfully named Wenderson Tsunami. The first half ended 1-0 and there was some crowd disturbance during the half-time, when Levski fans started firing pyro into the away sector, Botev wanted to fight and attack but the police were able to control the tempers. I watched this from Levski ultas section and stayed for the beginning of the second half. Thus I was able to have some good pics of the massive pyro show that Levski started.
Soon Botev equalized and there was not anything memorable for the rest of the game. Just two teams struggling to play while the weather conditions were dreadful. The game ended 1-1 and that was probably a fair result with all things considered.
I'm not sure I'll be back to Bulgaria anytime soon. Watching Levski was probably a highlight of my trip.
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