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Yambol
Yambol
Leagues	NBL
Founded	1945; 79 years ago
Arena	Diana Hall
Capacity	3,000
Location	Yambol, Bulgaria
Team colors	Yellow and Blue ;
President	Valentin Revanski
Head coach	Aleksandar Aleksiev
Championships	1 Bulgarian Championship
Website	yambolbasketball.com
Home	Away

BC Yambol (Bulgarian: БК „Ямбол“) is a Bulgarian professional basketball club based in Yambol. Founded in 1945, Yambol has won the Bulgarian championship once as Yambolgas. They play their home matches at the Diana Hall. The team is a regular first league participant. Former names of the club are Luskov, Tundja, Yambolen and Yambolgas.

History

Founded in 1945, the club joined the third edition of the Bulgarian Championship to become the first participant of this basketball championship based outside of the capital Sofia.

In 1976 the club, as "Luskov"-Yambol, appointed Simeon Varchev as new head coach, who work there until 1980. He recruit some new young players including Georgi Glouchkov, the first bulgarian played in NBA. In 1977 they won the first medal for the club, third place in the Bulgarian Cup and in 1979 the bronze medal in Bulgarian Championship. In 1980 Georgi Glouchkov moved to PBC CSKA Sofia, captain of the team Ivan Angelov retired, and even though Varchev and Ivan Glavov (one of the leading playmakers in league the time) stayed, the club relegated in to the second tier.

Yambol stayed there until 1992, when it got promoted and since then remains in the top flight.^[1] The coach of the club was Ivan Cholakov, who was team head coach in two periods- 1989-2002 and 2004-2013. In 2002, with the name of Yambolgas by sponsorship reasons, the club won the Bulgarian Championship after winning to Lukoil Academic by 3–0 in the final series.^[2] After 29 years in the top flight, Yambol withdrew from NBL, due to financial difficulties, as well as the reconstruction of their Diana arena and the lack of an available alternative basketball hall. They participate in the second division for the 2024–25 season, mainly with players from their academy, ^[3] and confirmed their intention of returning to the NBL for the 2025–26 season.^[4]

Honours

Bulgarian Championship
- Winners (1): 2002
- Runners-up (1): 2001
- Bronze medalist (5): 1979, 2000, 2003, 2011, 2012
Bulgarian Cup
- Bronze medalist (4): 1977, 2000, 2001, 2002

Roster 2022-2023

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

BC Yambol roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Age
F	10	Marinov, Pavel (C)	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	36 – (1988-06-12)12 June 1988
G/F	6	Lilov, Ivan	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	36 – (1988-08-06)6 August 1988
SG	32	Kiss, Peter	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	27 – (1997-05-09)9 May 1997
F/C	34	Currie, Taylor	2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)	102 kg (225 lb)	24 – (2000-08-15)15 August 2000
PF	7	Mihaylov, Nikolay	2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	24 – (2000-08-15)15 August 2000
PG	5	Walters, Shaquille	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	27 – (1997-10-17)17 October 1997
SG	27	Matushev, Aleksandar	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	21 – (2003-05-12)12 May 2003
PG	0	Hristov, Yoan	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	65 kg (143 lb)	21 – (2003-11-23)23 November 2003
C	99	Vachev, Andon	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	21 – (2003-08-17)17 August 2003

Head coach

Toni Dechev

Assistant coach(es)

Aleksandar Aleksiev

Strength & conditioning coach(es)

Yancho Yanchev

Legend

(C) Team captain
Injured

Roster

Updated: 23 October 2022

In Europe

BC Yambol played in FIBA Korać Cup (2000, 2001), FIBA Europe Champions Cup for Men 2003/Conference South and NEBL Open 2001/2002.

1999–2000 FIBA Korać Cup

Round	Team	Home	Away
Additional Preliminary Round	Karşıyaka Basket	62–54	59–81

^[5]

2000–01 FIBA Korać Cup

Round	Team	Home	Away
Elimination Round I	KK Kumanovo	104–78	82–80
Elimination Round II	KK FMP	65–67	62–75

^[6]

2002–03 FIBA Europe Champions Cup

Round	Team	Home	Away
Group Stage (Conference South)	Peristeri B.C.	66–72	68–93
	Hapoel Jerusalem B.C.	76–70	71–97
	KK Vojvodina Srbijagas	97–91	85–72
	Karşıyaka Basket	82–69	72–78
	KK Rabotnički	85–73	69–75

^[7]

Season by season

Season	Tier	Division	Pos.	Postseason	RS	PO	Bulgarian Cup
1992–93	1	A-1	8	Quarterfinalist	2–12	0-2	Fourth
1993–94	1	A-1	12	R16	12–18	0-2
1994–95	2	A-2
1995–96	1	A-1	7	Quarterfinalist	9–13	1-2	First round
1996–97	1	A-1	8	Quarterfinalist	9–13	0-2
1997–98	1	A-1	7	Quarterfinalist	10–12	1-2
1998–99	1	A-1	4	Fourth	14–8	3-6	Fourth
1999–00	1	A-1	3	Third	20–8	6-5	Third
2000–01	1	A-1	2	Runner-up	23–5	5-4	Third
2001–02	1	A-1	1	Champion	23–5	8–1	Third
2002–03	1	A-1	3	Third	21–7	5–4	Fourth
2003–04	1	A-1	7	Quarterfinalist	8-20	2–2	Quarterfinalist
2004–05	1	A-1	5	Quarterfinalist	12–16	3–2	Quarterfinalist
2005–06	1	A-1	3	Fourth	13–13	2–6	Fourth
2006–07	1	A-1	7	Quarterfinalist	7–11	0–2	Quarterfinalist
2007–08	1	A-1	7	Quarterfinalist	11–21	2–3	Quarterfinalist
2008–09	1	NBL	6	Quarterfinalist	7–17	1–2	First round
2009–10	1	NBL	4	Quarterfinalist	14–14	1–2	Quarterfinalist
2010–11	1	NBL	6	Third	10–18	4–3	Fourth
2011–12	1	NBL	3	Third	18–10	5–4	Fourth
2012–13	1	NBL	5	Quarterfinalist	13–14	1-2	Fourth
2013–14	1	NBL	5	Quarterfinalist	13–11	0–2	Quarterfinalist
2014–15	1	NBL	7	Quarterfinalist	8–16	1–2	Fourth
2015–16	1	NBL	8	Quarterfinalist	7-20	0-2	Quarterfinalist
2016–17	1	NBL	8	Quarterfinalist	7-17	0-2	Quarterfinalist
2017–18	1	NBL	7	Quarterfinalist	8-16	1-2	Quarterfinalist
2018–19	1	NBL	7	Quarterfinalist	8-16	0-2	Quarterfinalist
2019–20	1	NBL	10	Canceled	2-17		DNQ
2020–21	1	NBL	7	Quarterfinalist	9-15	0-2	Semifinalist
2021–22	1	NBL	8	Quarterfinalist	9-18	0-2	Quarterfinalist
2022-23	1	NBL	9	DNQ	9-21	DNQ	Quarterfinalist
2023-24	1	NBL	10	DNQ	12-20	DNQ	Quarterfinalist
2023-24	2	BBL					DNQ

^[8]

Notable players

^[9]

Head coaches

Slavcho Slavov 1956-1959
Dobri Rusev 1959-1960
Ivan Stoyanov 1960-1964
Blagoy Peev 1964-1965
Ivan Stoyanov 1965-1969
Velcho Petrov 1969-1972
Valcho Yordanov 1972-1976
Simeon Varchev 1976-1980
Ivan Glavov 1980-1981
Hristo Kostov 1981-1984
Ivan Angelov 1984-1986
Velcho Petrov 1986-1987
Mityo Georgiev 1987-1989
Ivan Cholakov 1989-2002¹
Zoran Krečković 2002–2003
Valeri Bachvarov 2003-2004
Ivan Cholakov 2004-2013²
Yulian Radionov 2013–2015
Petar Petrov 2015–2017³
Ivan Cholakov 2017–2020
Toni Dechev 2020–2022
Aleksander Aleksiev 2022–2023
Toni Dechev 2023–2024
Aleksander Aleksiev 2024–Present

¹During the 2001–02 season, Vitaly Lebedintsev coached 6 regular season games. Lebedintsev was fired in November 2001, and Ivan Cholakov coached the remaining season games.
²During the 2010–11 season, Ivailo Stoimenov coached 7 regular season games. Stoimenov resigned on November 29, 2010, and Ivan Cholakov coached the remaining season games.
³During the 2015–16 season, Ninoslav Marjanovic coached 9 regular season games. Marjanovic resigned on December 5, 2015.
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