Hristo Botev Stadium
“Hristo Botev” stadium was built in 1934, initially with one stand with wooden benches. In 1973, for a first time, it hosted games of the Bulgarian First League, after FC Pirin got promoted to the elite. The club management and the Municipality of Blagoevgrad then decided to build another stand, opposite to the central one, in order to accommodate all the enthusiastic fans.In the first game at the expanded “Hristo Botev”, FC Pirin played versus Slavia Sofia. There were over 17 000 supporters in the stands, which is still considered to be the highest home game attendance in the history of the club. FC Pirin won the game 2-1, but what is better remembered from this game is that the newly built stand started shaking under the weight of the supporters, who had to get down from it.In the beginning of the current century, the southern stands started to crash. The authorities decided that it had become dangerous and closed it, completely removing it in 2008. In 2000-2001 season, the wooden benches at the stadium were replaced with green and white plastic seats. After 2008, the stadium’s capacity was 7 000 and after the completion of the stand for the visitors’ supporters, it became 7 500. In the summer of 2009, the municipality of Blagoevgrad started a $1 500 000 renovation and repair project on the stadium. The project included renewal of the grass pitch, purchase and installation of a modern drainage and watering system, and a purchase of a new video- information board. The project ended in March 2010. In September 2012, “Hristo Botev” stadium got electric lighting, creating the opportunity for FC Pirin home games to be played in the evenings when the air temperature is more comfortable for players and fans.
Training grounds in Riltsi and Padesh
The infrastructural capacity of FC Pirin has been one of the big obligations and priorities of Blagoevgrad municipality in the past several years. Some very important reconstructions and repairs were made, which improved significantly the work conditions, mostly at the club’s academy.In the “Sport Complex Pirin” (Internata), the sport base and the dormitories were completely renovated. At the moment, there are 50 beds there. The sport complex is located near the center of Blagoevgrad, close to the leading high-schools in the city. It has a mini football pitch with artificial grass for the needs of the youngest groups in the club. In winter, training sessions are held indoors in the handball hall of the complex.
Two new standard sized pitches were built at the base in the nearby village Rilci. The first team and the academy teams train there. The base itself is 18 acres and has three grass pitches for training, as two of them are full sized stadiums for official games of the academy teams. The village Rilci is 4km from Blagoevgrad, on the E79 main road.
The academy teams train also at the baseball stadium “Porter Park” , close to Blagoevgrad, where the conditions for training are excellent. This base is situated in park “Bachinovo,” 2km from Blagoevgrad.
A brand-new base was recently built on the territory of the village Padesh in the Blagoevgrad municipality. The two new pitches are licensed for official championship games of the teams from the academy and have their own electrical lighting. Along with the pitches, there are new changing rooms and sanitary facilities. The base is 10 km. from Blagoevgrad.