Osam Lovech

Osam Lovech had not stood on a podium since 2001. It did: the club took silver in the A RHG, its first medal in twenty years, and the run was carried by Preslav Stanchev, who finished the season as the league's top scorer with 174 goals in 18 matches. The silver came with a place in the EHF European Cup the following season, where the club went out in the second round to HC Robe Zubří.

Founded in 1961, Osam had built most of its record out of near-misses rather than titles: runners-up in the league in 2000/01, when they lost the final series to Lokomotiv Varna, and beaten finalists in the Bulgarian Cup in 2003/04, losing 22-34 to Spartak Varna. A fourth-place Cup finish in 2007/08 was the closest they came in between.

The club plays out of a hall in Lovech that holds 600. There is no name attached to that fixture, just the recurring fact of it on the calendar.

In Lovech, though, it is still Stanchev's 2020/21 season that people reach for first when the club comes up.