Lokomotiv established itself as one of Bulgaria's top clubs throughout history, performing strongly both domestically and internationally.

The club has spent the majority of its history in the top tier First League (previously A Group), with brief interruptions including a short-lived merging with Slavia Sofia in 1969, as well as an administrative relegation in 2015, due to financial problems.

The newly established FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia is considered an unofficial successor and is not recognized as the legitimate and rightful owner of the honors and history of the original club, as per the Bulgarian Football Union.

In 1969, the club was united with Slavia Sofia for a brief period to 1971 and the unified team was associated with the Bulgarian railway workers.

The first game in Denmark ended in a 2–2 tie, with Angel Kolev and Boycho Velichkov scoring important away goals.

Seen as clear outsiders, Lokomotiv lost the first game in Sofia 1–0, while they were brutally beaten 4–0 in the return leg in Köln, thus being eliminated from the European Cup.

In 1980, Lokomotiv reached a quarter final in the UEFA Cup where they faced VfB Stuttgart, eliminating before that Ferencváros, AS Monaco and Dynamo Kyiv.

For merely one year (1994–95), from a team struggling not to lose its place in the professional league, Lokomotiv won the silver medals in the Championship and the State Cup.

Lokomotiv beat the Macedonian side 2–0 in the first match in Sofia on 13 July 2006 and finished 1–1 as a guest in Macedonia and continued to the next round of the tournament.

Domestically, Lokomotiv had an amazing run of 10 consecutive wins, before being stopped by CSKA Sofia in the direct clash for the second position.

In the UEFA Cup second qualifying round Lokomotiv eliminated Romanian side Oţelul Galaţi after a 3–1 win at home and a scoreless away draw.

In the next round, Lokomotiv faced the French Rennes and the loss 1–3 in the first leg in Sofia marked an end to the team's winning streak in Europe.

The Bulgarian side showed a surprising rally in the second game in France, which they won 2–1 and were only a single goal short of making it to the extra time.

For a second consecutive year, Lokomotiv were stopped short of entering the group stage of the UEFA Cup, despite being the first Bulgarian club in football history to snatch a victory on French soil.

The team finished third during the 2014–15 season in the A PFG, but was denied a license for the European tournaments and A Group due to unpaid debts.

[3] After being relegated to the third tier of Bulgarian football, Lokomotiv experienced serious financial problems and the club was disqualified from the Third League, after which it was liquidated.

Shortly after, some of the legends of the team including Ivan Vasilev, Boycho Velichkov and Anton Velkov formed a new club in A OFG Sofia (city) - north (4th division).

However, they were denied entry to the top tier by Vitosha Bistritsa, who beat Lokomotiv on penalties to stay in the league.

Lokomotiv eventually managed to finish in second place, thus securing promotion to the First League after six years of absence when counting the records of the former entity.

After the season ended, Lokomotiv announced that they had parted ways with Ivan Kolev and had appointed former Ludogorets manager Stanislav Genchev in his place, with Zhivko Milanov as assistant coach.

Lokomotiv then experienced a more successful 2022–23 season, managing to finish within the Europa Conference League group of the table.

[8] As of 10 February 2025[update] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Lokomotiv's 6–0 win against Neftchi Baku in the UEFA Cup was the largest victory in the Europe competition's history at the time.