Early years (1921–1957)

PFC Montana was founded in 1921 under the name SC Hristo Mihaylov, after a merger of a few sports clubs from the city. Until 1946, the most popular team was Botev 22. After 1944, many reforms in the club occurred. On 10 February 1946, Botev 22, along with Yunak and Spartak formed Physical Culture Company YBS 45 (Yunak-Botev-Spartak 45). On 20 March 1947, YBC 45 was united with Workers Physical Culture Company Avram Stoyanov, the turist branch Pustrina and the local horse-riding and moto-organisation, under the name of Hristo Mihaylov. During the autumn of 1949, many changes took place. The city began to form voluntary sports organizations on a departmental basis, the most famous of which is Septemvri, which from 1953 played their first three seasons in the B Group. In 1957 they merged into SFS Septemvriyska Slava.

Settle in the professional football (1958–1992)

From 1957 to 1990 the sports club bore the name of Septemvriyska Slava. Montana gained a promotion for the second time in the B Group in 1962, after which they finished in third position, which remained their best ranking for the 1960s and 1980s, during which they almost always finished in the middle of the table. Since 1990, the club has used the name PFC Montana 1921.

Becoming a Bulgarian top team (1993–1998)

During the 1994–1995 season the team reached the Bulgarian first division A group for the first time, where they finished in 13th place and remained in the division for three consecutive years. Montana reached the semi-final of the Bulgarian Cup. Montana's best season in the A PFG was in the 1995–1996 season, in which they took 9th place. In this campaign, the team was led by Anatoli Tonov, Todor Pramatarov, Rumen Panayotov and Angel Chervenkov. The club reached the final of the currently folded Bulgarian League Cup tournament, but was knocked out by Neftochimic Burgas. Stiliyan Petrov was a key player for the team and was spotted by CSKA Sofia and sold in 1996, aged 17 years old. He enjoyed a successful stay there and was eventually bought by Celtic FC in 1999. Montana had to get a percent of the transfer, but the money never went to the club's cash register. In the 1996–1997 season, Montana finished in 15th place and was relegated to the second division. They defeated the champions CSKA Sofia 3–1 in the last match. Otherwise, according to the fans, Boyan Gergov is Montana's most prominent figure, being the club's top goalscorer with a total of 157 goals in 364 matches. The following 1997–1998 season, after a financial collapse, Montana was relegated to the Bulgarian V AFG.

Return to the top flight (2004–2011)

After a seven-year stay in the V AFG, the club finished in second position in the North-West V AFG, and Montana returned to the West B PFG for the 2004–2005 season. In 2008, the chairman of PFC Montana appointed Ivan Marinov as manager. The following year, with the financial support of mayor Zlatko Zhivkov, the club finished the season in the West B PFG in the first place and therefore gained promotion to the top flight for the upcoming season. The same year, Montana's striker Ventsislav Ivanov became the top goalscorer of the division with 19 goals.

In the 2009–2010 season in the then "A" football group, Montana finished 11th and remained in the league for four consecutive seasons, before being relegated to the lower division in 15th place. They remained in the "B" group for two seasons before finishing first and being promoted to the first division.

First Bulgarian Cup Final, 100th anniversary (2015–)

Montana started the new 2015–2016 season with a 0–0 draw as guest to a strong-sided Beroe, then defeating Botev Plovdiv 6–0, with Ivan Minchev scoring a hattrick. The good matches continued as Montana finished 1–1 with the champion Ludogorets Razgrad. The same season Montana would go all the way to the Bulgarian Cup final, before losing 1–0 to CSKA Sofia in a match with above 33,300 attendance. However, Montana would later finish ninth in the "A" group and successfully defend its place in the relegation playoffs for the next season in the renamed First League. The season did not go well for Montana as they finished 13th and lost the relegation playoff against Septemvri Sofia in a close 2–1 match. In the 2018–2019 season Montana finished second and once again played in a promotion playoff against FC Vitosha Bistritsa, in which they lost 3–0.

However, in the next season, after three years of waiting for promotion, Montana finished third in the 2019–2020 season in the second tier, qualifying for playoffs. On 17 July, Montana defeated Dunav Ruse 4–1, and was finally promoted to the First League after the long wait. The team started the new season in the first tier with a 3–3 draw against Arda Kardzhali, then drew 0–0 with FC Tsarsko Selo away, before finally getting a 1–0 triumph against Etar Veliko Tarnovo.

Recent seasons

League positions

• 10 seasons in A Group
• 46 seasons in B Group

Current squad

As of 1 August 2023^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 DF  BUL Nikola Borisov 5 DF  BUL Denis Dinev 6 MF  CMR Franck-Landry Essouma 7 MF  BUL Ivelin Georgiev 8 MF  BUL Petar Atanasov 9 FW  NGA Philip Ejike 10 DF  BUL Aleksandar Todorov 11 FW  BUL Borislav Damyanov 12 GK  BUL Aleksey Andreev 14 DF  BUL Dimitar Burov 15 DF  BUL Bogdan Kostov

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 FW  FRA Lyvann Obissa 17 DF  BUL Simeon Chatov 18 DF  BUL Kostadin Iliev 19 FW  BUL Vladislav Tsekov 20 FW  FRA Kevin Bemanga 21 FW  BUL Rumen Georgiev 22 MF  BUL Stefan Kamenov 23 DF  BUL Anton Tungarov 24 MF  BUL Emil Yanchev 30 GK  BUL Vasil Simeonov

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2023 and Transfers winter 2023–24.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Foreign players

Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League; however, only three can be used during a match day. Those non-EU nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim Bulgarian citizenship after playing in Bulgaria for five years.

Board of directors

Position	Name	Nationality
President	Rumen Panayotov
Administrative Director	Pantaley Zakov

Current technical body

Position	Name	Nationality
Sporting director	Atanas Dzhambazki
Director of Football	Mihail Madanski
Head coach	Angel Stoykov
Assistant coach	Svetlan Kondev
Conditioning Coach	Ivaylo Mladenov
Physiotherapist	Petko Petkov
Physiotherapist	Veselin Zahariev
Housekeeper	Ivo Aleksandrov
Driver	Ventsi Borisov