Huvepharma Arena () is a football stadium in Razgrad, Bulgaria. It is the home ground of the local football club Ludogorets Razgrad. The stadium has a seating capacity of 10,423 spectators.

History The stadium was officially opened on 25 September 2011, with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Bulgarian Football Union president Borislav Mihaylov present at the ceremony.

Starting from August 2014, Ludogorets began a project to reconstruct the stadium and expand its capacity to 12,500, in order to accommodate European tournament matches.

The first stand to be reconstructed was officially unveiled on 15 May 2015, as Ludogorets clinched their fourth consecutive Bulgarian First League title in a 4–1 win against Lokomotiv Sofia. The sector carries a capacity of 2,038 people and was named after Romanian defender Cosmin Moți in recognition of his performance during the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League play-off round second leg against Steaua București, when he replaced the sent-off goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov to save two penalty kicks and score one himself, qualifying his team to the group stage for the first time in the club's history.

On 12 August 2017, the club inaugurated the newly modernized east stand before a league match against Vereya Stara Zagora. The stand, which was built in just five months, added 3,500 seats to the stadium's capacity, bringing the total number up to 9,000 seats. This allowed Ludogorets Arena to host Champions League and Europa League group stage matches for the first time ever, starting from the 2017–18 season onwards. Club officials later announced that they will build a copy of the 'Moți' stand on the north end next, before proceeding with construction of the main one.

On 28 September 2017, the stadium hosted its first ever European competition group stage game, as Ludogorets defeated 1899 Hoffenheim 2–1 in a Group C Europa League fixture, with 6,155 fans in attendance.

On 11 July 2018, Ludogorets officially opened the newly renovated north stand before their Champions League first-round game against Crusaders FC. The sector added a further 2,208 seats to the stadium's capacity, raising it to 10,442.

On 18 December 2019, it was announced that the stadium's name had been changed to Huvepharma Arena.

Other tenants Ludogorets Arena has hosted a number of other teams since its reopening in 2011. Between 2015 and 2017 it was home to Ludogorets' reserve team, Ludogorets Razgrad II, before they moved to the newly built 2,000-capacity Eagles' Nest located at the club's training centre, the Sport Center Ludogorets.

Following the promotion of Dunav Ruse to the First League in 2016, their Gradski Stadium had to be renovated to meet the licensing criteria of the Bulgarian Football Union. Starting from July 2016, Dunav played their home games at the Ludogorets Arena, until they returned to Ruse on 28 April 2017.

National teams On 8 September 2015, Ludogorets Arena hosted the Bulgaria national under-21 football team for the first time ever, as they defeated Luxembourg 3–0 in a Group 5 qualifier for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in front of a crowd of 2,200. As of March 2018 this remains the only under-21 game played in Razgrad.

The stadium was host to the Bulgaria national football team for the first time on 23 March 2018, in a 1–0 friendly game loss against Bosnia and Herzegovina in front of 2,200 spectators.

From 2 June to 23 September 2022, the stadium hosted all three home games in Bulgaria's campaign in 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C.

International matches Bulgaria national football team Senior teams only. Date Result Opponent Competition Attendance 23 March 2018 0–1 Friendly 2,200 2 June 2022 1–1 UEFA Nations League 8,275 5 June 2022 2–5 UEFA Nations League 3,600 23 September 2022 5–1 UEFA Nations League 1,540 24 March 2023 0–1 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 9,180 20 June 2023 1–1 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 6,700

Attendance figures

Season League att. Games Average Change Cup att. Games European att. Games Totalattendance Total games Average Notes 2011–12 56,370 15 3,758 – 5,000 1 – – 61,370 16 3,836 First season in top division 2012–13 41,560 15 2,771 –26.3% 3,000 1 4,000 1 48,560 17 2,856 First season in European competitions 2013–14 58,800 19 3,095 +11.7% 8,190 4 10,890 2 77,880 25 3,115 2014–15 54,780 16 3,424 +10.6% 11,520 3 10,104 2 76,404 21 3,638 2015–16 49,390 17 2,905 –15.2% 0 0 5,120 1 54,510 18 3,028 Moti stand opens, capacity increased to 7,700 2016–17 36,980 18 2,054 –29.3% 630 1 13,759 2 51,369 21 2,446 2017–18 34,490 18 1,916 –6.7% 480 1 44,671 7 79,641 26 3,063 East stand opens, capacity increased to 9,000; first group stage European games 2018–19 40,430 18 2,246 +17.2% 7,100 2 33,748 7 82,013 27 3,038 North stand opens, capacity increased to 10,422 2019–20 27,180 15 1,812 –19.3% 0 0 56,114 8 83,294 23 3,621 2020–21 6,500 16 406 – 0 3 0 4 6,500 23 283 Only 2 home league games had any audience allowed due to COVID-19 restrictions. 2021–22 12,280 13 945 – 5,150 2 25,932 7 43,362 22 1,971 Partial COVID-19 restrictions in place for some games in the early-to-mid season. 2022–23 29,420 18 1,634 – 5,650 3 49,940 8 85,010 29 2,931 2023–24 29,626 18 1,743 – 798 3 55,836 8 86,260 29 3,195 2024–25 32,977 18 1,832 – 3,007 2 44,127 8 80,111 28 2,861 2025–26 10,123 9 1,125 – 0 0 39,490 7 49,613 16 3,101 Total (2011–26) 520,906 243 2,144 – 50,525 23 393,731 68 965,162 334 2,907

Gallery

References

External links

Ludogorets Arena page at Ludogorets.com (in Bulgarian) Ludogorets Arena page at Stadiumdb.com