Akademik became one of the top Bulgarian teams in the 1950s and 1970s, performing strongly in the domestic and European competitions alike, having been crowned Balkans Cup champion in 1974, among other achievements.

In the next campaign, Akademik finished fourth and reached the final of Bulgarian Cup, losing 0–1 to CSKA Sofia.

Akademik would wait 12 years for another taste of top level football, when in 1964 the club managed to promote to the A Group again.

In 1974, Akademik won its first international throphy, beating Vardar Skopje 2–0 on aggregate in the final of Balkans Cup.

During this successful period in the club’s history, two players from Akademik were selected to play for the Bulgarian national squad at a FIFA World Cup: Ivan Dimitrov for 1970 and Mladen Vasilev in 1974.

In the next season, the team won promotion back to the top division, scoring 100 goals in the B Group campaign.

After 28 years in the lowers divisions of Bulgarian football, in 2009–10 Akademik finished 2nd in B Group and the club managed to participate in the play-off for promotion in the A PFG.

[1] On May 23, 2010, Akademik managed to win the play-off against Nesebar with a result of 2:1 and finally qualified again for the top division.