PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv teams are the most supported ones in the second largest city in Bulgaria. Botev is one the country's oldest teams, whereas Lokomotiv grew popular in the 70s. Traditionally, Lokomotiv drew support from the lower working classes of society whereas Botev drew support form the middle and upper classes, although that no longer applies. Another rivalry Lokomotiv Plovdiv has is with one of Bulgaria's most successful football clubs - CSKA Sofia. The rivalry has a geopolitical nuance, first because of the historical competition between the cities of Plovdiv and Sofia as cultural, political and economical centres, and second because of the
Church of the Holy Mother of God, Plovdiv 10 January 1860 the bishop of Plovdiv Paisius held a service in Bulgarian language and publicly announced that his congregation denounced the Greek Patriarch of Istanbul which became a great scandal and Plovdiv became the most radical center for the struggle of the autonomy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. On 30 April Paisius organized a Church and People's counsel in which the citizens were also represented in order to discuss the church question. Plovdiv sent a delegation to the Ottoman government asking officially for an autonomous Church. That Counsel was held annually until 1870 when the Bulgarian Exarchate was recognized