Bulgaria Third League 10/24 13:00 - FC Hebar Pazardzhik v Rilski Sportist L 2-0
Bulgaria Third League 08/22 15:00 - Marek Dupnitsa v Rilski Sportist W 0-1
Bulgaria Third League 08/18 15:00 - Rilski Sportist v Vihren Sandanski W 1-0
Bulgaria Third League 05/02 15:00 - FC Hebar Pazardzhik v Rilski Sportist L 1-0
Bulgaria Third League 04/11 13:00 - Botev Ihtiman v Rilski Sportist L 1-0
Bulgaria Third League 04/04 13:00 - Rilski Sportist v Septemvri Simitli W 2-0
Europa - Vänskapsmatcher 01/27 11:00 - Lokomotiv Sofia v Rilski Sportist D 2-2
Europa - Vänskapsmatcher 10/04 13:01 - Lokomotiv Plovdiv v Rilski Sportist L 3-0
Europa - Vänskapsmatcher 08/02 15:00 - Rilski Sportist v Sokol Markovo L 0-2

FC Rilski Sportist (ФК Рилски спортист Самоков) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Samokov founded in 1947 and currently playing in the South-West Third League. Their home stadium is Iskar Stadium.

Throughout the majority of its history, Rilski Sportist has competed in the lower levels of Bulgarian football, usually the second, or third tiers. In 2002, however, the team managed to promote to the A Group for the first time. Their inexperience led to an immediate relegation. Three years later, Rilski Sportist returned to the A Group, only to be relegated again. Since then, the club has been competing mostly in the amateur levels of Bulgarian football.

The club's nickname is the ‘Skiers’, which originates from the fact that the town of Samokov and nearby Borovets are major resorts for winter sports in Bulgaria.

History

PFC Rilski Sportist was founded in 1947 after the union of a few smaller teams from Samokov. Throughout much of its history, the team competed in the second or third tiers of Bulgarian football.

In 2002, Sportist achieved its first ever promotion to the Bulgarian elite, then known as A Group, for the 2002–03 season. As expected from a newcomer, Rilski Sportist found it difficult to survive. The team managed to win only one game and finished last, thus being relegated, after just one year among the best.

Three seasons later, the team managed to win the 2005–06 B Group, which enabled them to play in the A PFG for a second time. In their second top-flight season, they won 10 games and earned 30 points. They were the only team which managed to win against Levski in the league in that season. However, they were still 3 points behind 13th placed Spartak Varna, meaning that they were relegated again. The two top flight seasons remain their most important achievement overall. Since then, the team has shifted between the second and third tiers of Bulgarian football.

In the second division "The Skiers" have 23 participations – 664 matches in total, with 269 wins, 139 draws and 253 losses. Their best result in the Bulgarian Cup has been reaching the quarter-finals in 1950/51 and 2001/02.

"Rilski Sportist" means "Rila sportsman" in Bulgarian.

Crest history

League positions

Bulgarian V AFGBulgarian V AFGRegional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFGRegional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Bulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football Group
Rilski Sportist är en bulgarisk fotbollsklubb från Samokov. Klubben grundades 1923 och spelar sina hemmamatcher på Stadion Iskar. Rilski Sportist har vunnit den bulgariska cupen två gånger, 1987 och 2000. Laget har också deltagit i UEFA-cupen vid fyra tillfällen, men har aldrig gått vidare till gruppspelet.