Officers' Sports Club Atletik-Slava 1923 (, ), Atletik-Slava 23, or simply AS-23, was a Bulgarian army officers'

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in the capital of

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. The club colors were black and white and its emblem was a black lion over a white shield. Home ground was what today is the Bulgarian Army Stadium. The club's motto was "Athleticism and Glory."

History

AS-23 was founded on 4 November 1923 following the merger of three Sofia-based football clubs: ''Officers' Sports Club'', ''Athletic'', and ''Slava''. The club's first chairman was lieutenant colonel Nikola Karagyozov. AS-23 ustav

During 1930–31 season, the club won the local Sofia division. In the play-offs, AS-23 defeated Etar Veliko Tarnovo 5–0, Sila Yambol 7–0, Napredak Ruse 3–1 and won the final against Shipchenski Sokol 3–0. They managed to do a domestic double, winning the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

the same year. In the 1940–41 season, some of the key players of AS-23 were called into the army and the club finished 5th in the Sofia Elite Division, however they won the newly created tournament, the Tsar's Cup, by defeating Napredak Ruse 4–2 in the final. The club experienced financial difficulties during the early 1940s, but the anti-communist

Brannik Brannik (Bulgarian: Бранник; Defenders - English translation) was a Bulgarian pro-fascist youth organization during World War II. The "Brannik" organization was founded on the initiative of the then prime minister prof. Bogdan Filov at ...

organization provided financial help, while the Ministry of War procured the sports kits, allowing the club to remain afloat. In November 1944, following the Soviet Army's occupation of Bulgaria, the club was merged with Shipka Sofia and Spartak Poduene to form Chavdar Sofia, which ultimately laid the foundations to what is known today as

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

Stadium

AS-23's stadium, known as ''Atletik Park'', was at the place of the current

Stadion Balgarska Armia Stadion Balgarska Armia (, ) is a stadium of the Bulgarian association football, football club CSKA Sofia. It is situated in the Borisova gradina in the centre of Sofia. Until 2024 the stadium had four sectors and a total of 22,995 (18,495) seats ...

. On 27 January 1925, the Municipality of Sofia allotted the club land for the stadium. During the 1930s, AS-23 was officially granted the deed to the facility. In 1944, the grounds were assumed by Chavdar Sofia, and then by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

Honours

Bulgarian State Football Championship The State Football Championship was the first national football competition in Bulgaria. It was organised between 1924 and 1944 by the Bulgarian National Sport Federation. The championship did not finish in years 1924, 1927 and 1944 because of d ...

: **Champions (1):

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

: **Winners (1):

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

The fan-made website of AS-23
Association football clubs established in 1923 Association football clubs disestablished in 1944 Defunct football clubs in Bulgaria Football clubs in Sofia 1923 establishments in Bulgaria 1944 disestablishments in Bulgaria