History
The rivalry started in the late 1940s when the newly founded club of CSKA became a champion in their first year in competitive football in 1948. Both seasons 1948-49 and 1950 ended with the two teams facing each other in thrilling Soviet Army Cup finals with Levski Sofia winning in both occasions after extra time of the second final replay as the previous two final matches had finished as draws.
During the years, as the two teams became more and more successful, they gained large supporter bases. The confrontations between the clubs and their fans became commonplace and often resulted in tense encounters on the pitch and hooligan clashes between the fans off the pitch.
The hostility reached its climax on 19 June 1985 during the Bulgarian Cup final held at Vasil Levski National Stadium when, after many disputable referee decisions, both teams demonstrated poor sportsmanship which resulted in regular fights between them on the pitch. On 21 June the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party issued a decree that disbanded both teams. CSKA Septemvriysko zname had to be re-founded as Sredets and Levski-Spartak as Vitosha. Six players (including Hristo Stoichkov and Borislav Mikhailov) were banned for life from playing competitive football; many other players and staff members were banned for 3 months to 1 year. A year later the decision was abolished and the players continued their sport careers.
Read more about this topic: Eternal Derby Of Bulgarian Football
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