In the semifinal played on 22 April 1981, in Karlovo, Belasitsa lost to eventual winners Botev Plovdiv, by a score of 6–0.

During these years, Belasitsa earned themselves a reputation for playing very strong football for a team not based in a major city.

They played in the Bulgarian elite up until season 1983-84, when they were relegated after playoffs, ending a four-year stint in the A Group.

A year later, Belasitsa returned to the top level, and began its best ever campaign in the Bulgarian elite, managing to stay 6 consecutive seasons, up until 2009.

One of the reasons for such strong results during these years was that the team had brought a lot of talented Brazilian players, including Marcelo Vava, Dianu, Marquinos, and Eduardo Du Bala.

In 2005, the team hired Macedonian coach Stevica Kuzmanovski, under whose guidance Belasitsa achieved its best ever result in the Bulgarian league, finishing in 6th place.

Belasitsa was further relegated to the fourth tier of Bulgarian football, the regional amateur league for the 2012–13 season.

In seasons 2020/21 and 2021/22, the team had largely fought for promotion to the Second League, but Belasitsa narrowly missed the first spot by a few points on both occasions.