Petar Penchev

In the spring 2009 Petar Penchev was hired as a manager of Botev Plovdiv and saved the team from relegation.[7] During his first spell as a manager the first team achieved 5 wins and 6 losses.[8]

He worked for 5 years with the youth formations of Botev Plovdiv before joining PFC Chavdar Etropole in 2011. He was manager of the Bulgaria national football team U-17 for a while and after that returned to Botev Plovdiv as a youth coach.

On 4 December 2014 Petar Penchev was hired again for Botev Plovdiv manager until the end of the year.[9] Three days later, on 7 December, he made his second debut as Botev Plovdiv manager with the 2-0 home win over PFC Haskovo.[10] A week later his team played well but was defeated with 1-0 by the defending champions Ludogorets Razgrad.[11]

On 15 December it was announced that Petar Penchev's contract has been extended and he will remain manager of Botev Plovdiv until the end of the season.[12] At the end of the month it was officially confirmed that Kostadin Vidolov will be assistant manager.[13]

Botev Plovdiv had an excellent start of 2015. Under Penchev's guidelines the team achieved a 3-0 home victory against Marek Dupnitsa and 0-2 away win in the derby game versus the local rivals Lokomotiv Plovdiv.[14][15] Five days later, on 15 March, under Penchev's guidelines Botev Plovdiv achieved an important 2-0 win over CSKA Sofia which qualified the team in top 6 playoffs in A Grupa.[16]

Botev Plovdiv visited Razgrad in the first round of the playoffs and the match against the defending champions Ludogorets ended in a 0-0 draw.[17] Under Penchev's guidelines Botev Plovdiv lost 0-1 from Litex Lovech in the next round and made a 0-0 away draw with CSKA Sofia in the third round of the playoffs.[18][19] In the 4th round of the playoffs Botev Plovdiv made another draw, this time 1-1 with Beroe Stara Zagora.[20]

Unexpectedly, on 2 May, Penchev did not include the captain Ivan Tsvetkov in the squad for the game against Ludogorets Razgrad although he was not injured.[21] After a private discussion between the manager of team and the player Tsvetkov returned in the starting lineup for the next game.[22]

On 16 May, Botev Plovdiv achieved first win in the playoffs over CSKA Sofia with 3-2.[23] In the next round, on 23 May, the team of Botev Plovdiv was defeated with 1-2 in the away game with Beroe Stara Zagora.[24] Lazar Marin scored goals in both games because of Penchev's decision to allow him to play more attacking role.

Botev Plovdiv finished season 2014-15 on 6th place in A Grupa.

Botev Plovdiv started season 2015-16 under Penchev's guidelines with a 1-1 draw with Levski Sofia.[25] A week later, on 25 July, Botev Plovdiv was defeated with the shocking result 6-0 by PFC Montana.[26] Immediately after the game Penchev was released and it was announced that the goalkeeper Mihail Ivanov will no longer play for Botev Plovdiv.[27]