Heber and the Bulgarian Cup tournament

The final will be played on May 15 Sesame Bulgarian Cup season 2023/24. In the weeks before the match, together with Sesame, we will tell you interesting stories related to the Bulgarian Cup tournament over the years.

Heber wrote a new page in his history after reaching the semifinals of the Bulgarian Cup tournament during the current campaign. Something that the team from Pazardzhik had not done until that moment. Something more. The National Cup tournament always seemed to be on the back burner for Heber. It is clear that this year is not the case, but a similar trend has been observed over the years.

The truth is that Heber only reached the quarter-finals of the national cup three times, regardless of the division in which they competed. Usually, market players are eliminated in the early stages of the competition, and matches against the giants are extremely rare.

The three quarterfinals

The last time Heber reached the quarter-finals was in 2005, when they hosted CSKA at the Georgi Benkovski Stadium. Naturally, the stadium is full to capacity, and the “reds” take a narrow 1:0 victory. Evgeni Yordanov scored the goal in the second minute of the match. According to statistics, there were about 14,000 spectators at the stadium at that time. CSKA is coached by Miodrag Ješić and Heber competes in Group B, where they are behind leaders Miner Pernik, but still enter Group B next season as two second divisions are created.

Heber before the Bulgarian Cup match against CSKA 2005

Before this quarterfinal, Heber registered another one. On December 17, 1989, they faced Vitosha (now Levski), but lost 1:5 and dropped out of the tournament.

The first participation in the quarter-finals was back in 1974, when Heber (then called Benkovski Pazardzhik) was removed from Akademik Sofia in two matches – a 2:1 victory in Pazardzhik and a 0:1 loss in Sofia. Then the away goals rule applies and Heber is out.

Early exit from the tournament

Apart from the mentioned three quarter-finals, Heber’s history in the tournament is extremely poor. Especially in the last 25 years, the team is sooner or later eliminated in the second strongest tournament in Bulgaria.

What the statistics show about the team’s (un)successes in the tournament after the year 2000:

season 2000/01 – round of 16 and elimination from Lokomotiv Sofia – 3:1 and 0:3 (eliminated due to a goal on foreign soil)
season 2001/02 – did not reach regional qualifications
season 2002/03 – 1/16 final and elimination from Spartak Varna – 2:5 and 0:2
season 2002/04 – did not reach the first round
season 2004/05 – quarter-final and elimination from CSKA – 0:1
season 2005/06 – first round and elimination from Vidima Rakovski Sevlievo – 0:0 (2:4 on penalties)
season 2006/07 – 1/16 final and elimination from Slavia – 1:3
season 2007/08 – did not reach the first round
season 2008/09 – does not reach the first round, loses to Slivniški hero in the inter-regional qualifiers – 2:3
season 2009/10 – does not reach the first round, drops out in the regional qualifiers from Botev Momina Klisura – 0:7
season 2010/11 – does not apply for participation in the Pazardzhik region
season 2011/12 – did not participate in the tournament
season 2012/13 – no team
season 2013/14 – no team
season 2014/15 – no team
season 2015/16 – no team
season 2016/17 – lost in the final for Southwest Bulgaria by Pirin Gotse Delchev – 0:1
season 2017/18 – lost in the final of Southwest Bulgaria by Vihren Sandanski – 0:4
season 2018/19 – 1/16 final lost to Beroe – 1:6
season 2019/20 – 1/16 final lost to Arda – 0:2
season 2020/21 – preliminary round – lost to Zagorets – 1:2
season 2021/22 – 1/16 final lost to CSKA Sofia – 0:3
season 2022/23 – 1/16 final lost to Maritsa Plovdiv – 2:4
season 2023/24 – Heber has already reached the semi-final against Ludogorets, and the matches are to come