Bulgarian Footballer of the Year

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Kiril Despodov is the current prize holder.

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year (Bulgarian: Футболист №1 на България, Futbolist №1 na Balgariya) is an annual title awarded to the best Bulgarian association football player of the year. The award has been given since 1961, and the winner is elected by authorized journalists from the leading Bulgarian media.[citation needed]

History[edit]

2011 was the first year with a vote held online by fans.[1] The poll has been organized by the Futbol newspaper (1961–1975), the Start newspaper (1975–1998), the Futbol newspaper and Start magazine (1999–present).

The footballers to have won the award the most times are Dimitar Berbatov (7 times - 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), Hristo Stoichkov (5 times - 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994), Kiril Despodov (4 times - 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023), Hristo Bonev (1969, 1972, 1973) and Ivelin Popov (2015, 2016, 2017).[2] The club with the most winners is Levski Sofia with 11 and CSKA Sofia a close second with 10.

List of Bulgarian Footballer of the Year[edit]

Hristo Bonev was Bulgarian Footballer of the Year for 1969, 1972 and 1973

Men[edit]

Year Footballer Position Club
1961 Georgi Naydenov Goalkeeper Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1962 Ivan Kolev Defender Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1963 Aleksandar Shalamanov Defender Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
1964 Nikola Kotkov Forward Bulgaria Lokomotiv Sofia
1965 Georgi Asparuhov Forward Bulgaria Levski Sofia
1966 Aleksandar Shalamanov Defender Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
1967 Dimitar Penev Defender Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1968 Simeon Simeonov Goalkeeper Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
1969 Hristo Bonev Forward Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
1970 Stefan Aladzhov Defender Bulgaria Levski Sofia
1971 Dimitar Penev Defender Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1972 Hristo Bonev Forward Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
1973 Hristo Bonev Forward Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
1974 Kiril Ivkov Defender Bulgaria Levski Sofia
1975 Kiril Ivkov Defender Bulgaria Levski Sofia
1976 Bozhidar Grigorov Forward Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
1977 Pavel Panov Midfielder / Forward Bulgaria Levski Sofia
1978 Rumyancho Goranov Goalkeeper Bulgaria Lokomotiv Sofia
1979 Atanas Mihaylov Forward Bulgaria Lokomotiv Sofia
1980 Andrey Zhelyazkov Forward Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
1981 Georgi Velinov Goalkeeper Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1982 Radoslav Zdravkov Defender Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1983 Stoycho Mladenov Midfielder / Forward Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1984 Plamen Nikolov Defender Bulgaria Levski Sofia
1985 Georgi Dimitrov Defender Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1986 Borislav Mihaylov Goalkeeper Bulgaria Levski Sofia
1987 Nikolay Iliev Defender Bulgaria Levski Sofia
1988 Lyuboslav Penev Forward Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1989 Hristo Stoichkov Midfielder / Forward Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
1990 Hristo Stoichkov Midfielder / Forward Spain Barcelona
1991 Hristo Stoichkov Midfielder / Forward Spain Barcelona
1992 Hristo Stoichkov Midfielder / Forward Spain Barcelona
1993 Emil Kostadinov Forward Portugal Porto
1994 Hristo Stoichkov Midfielder / Forward Spain Barcelona
1995 Krasimir Balakov Midfielder Portugal Sporting CP / Germany VfB Stuttgart
1996 Trifon Ivanov Defender Austria Rapid Wien
1997 Krasimir Balakov Midfielder Germany VfB Stuttgart
1998 Ivaylo Yordanov Defender / Midfielder / Forward Portugal Sporting CP
1999 Aleksandar Aleksandrov Midfielder Bulgaria Levski Sofia
2000 Georgi Ivanov Forward Bulgaria Levski Sofia
2001 Georgi Ivanov Forward Bulgaria Levski Sofia
2002 Dimitar Berbatov Forward Germany Bayer Leverkusen
2003 Stiliyan Petrov Midfielder Scotland Celtic
2004 Dimitar Berbatov Forward Germany Bayer Leverkusen
2005 Dimitar Berbatov Forward Germany Bayer Leverkusen
2006 Martin Petrov
2nd Dimitar Berbatov
3rd Stiliyan Petrov		 Midfielder / Forward
Forward
Midfielder		 Spain Atlético Madrid
England Tottenham Hotspur
England Aston Villa
2007 Dimitar Berbatov
2nd Martin Petrov
3rd Georgi Petkov		 Forward
Midfielder / Forward
Goalkeeper		 England Tottenham Hotspur
England Manchester City
Bulgaria Levski Sofia
2008 Dimitar Berbatov
2nd Georgi Petkov
3rd Blagoy Georgiev		 Forward
Goalkeeper
Midfielder		 England Manchester United
Bulgaria Levski Sofia
Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
2009[3] Dimitar Berbatov
2nd Stiliyan Petrov
3rd Blagoy Georgiev		 Forward
Midfielder
Midfielder		 England Manchester United
England Aston Villa
Russia Terek Grozny
2010[4] Dimitar Berbatov
2nd Ivelin Popov
3rd Nikolay Mihaylov		 Forward
Forward
Goalkeeper		 England Manchester United
Turkey Gaziantepspor
Netherlands Twente
2011 Nikolay Mihaylov
2nd Stiliyan Petrov
3rd Dimitar Berbatov		 Goalkeeper
Midfielder
Forward		 Netherlands Twente
England Aston Villa
England Manchester United
2012 Georgi Milanov
2nd Ivan Ivanov
3rd Stanislav Manolev		 Midfielder
Defender
Defender		 Bulgaria Litex Lovech
Serbia Partizan
Netherlands PSV
2013 Ivan Ivanov
2nd Ivelin Popov
3rd Svetoslav Dyakov		 Defender
Midfielder
Midfielder		 Switzerland Basel / Serbia Partizan
Russia Kuban Krasnodar
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
2014 Vladislav Stoyanov
2nd Svetoslav Dyakov
3rd Dimitar Berbatov		 Goalkeeper
Midfielder
Forward		 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
France Monaco
2015 Ivelin Popov
2nd Ivaylo Chochev
3rd Georgi Milanov		 Forward
Midfielder
Midfielder		 Russia Spartak Moscow
Italy Palermo
Russia CSKA Moscow
2016 Ivelin Popov
2nd Svetoslav Dyakov
3rd Vladislav Stoyanov		 Forward
Midfielder
Goalkeeper		 Russia Spartak Moscow
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
2017 Ivelin Popov
2nd Martin Kamburov
3rd Todor Nedelev		 Forward
Forward
Midfielder		 Russia Spartak Moscow
Bulgaria Beroe Stara Zagora
Bulgaria Botev Plovdiv
2018 Kiril Despodov
2nd Georgi Petkov
3rd Todor Nedelev		 Forward
Goalkeeper
Midfielder		 Bulgaria CSKA-Sofia
Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
Bulgaria Botev Plovdiv
2019 Dimitar Iliev
2nd Anton Nedyalkov
3rd Vasil Bozhikov		 Forward
Defender
Defender		 Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava
2020 Dimitar Iliev
2nd Valentin Antov
3rd Anton Nedyalkov		 Forward
Defender
Defender		 Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Bulgaria CSKA-Sofia
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
2021 Kiril Despodov
2nd Martin Kamburov
3rd Georgi Yomov		 Forward
Forward
Midfielder		 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Bulgaria Beroe Stara Zagora
Bulgaria CSKA-Sofia
2022 Kiril Despodov
2nd Ilia Gruev
3rd Ivaylo Chochev		 Forward
Midfielder
Midfielder		 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Germany Werder Bremen
Bulgaria CSKA 1948
2023 Kiril Despodov
2nd Ilia Gruev
3rd Ivaylo Chochev		 Forward
Midfielder
Midfielder		 Greece PAOK
England Leeds United
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad

Youth[edit]

Year Footballer Position Club
2014 Bozhidar Kraev Midfielder Bulgaria Levski Sofia
2015 Bozhidar Kraev Midfielder Bulgaria Levski Sofia
2016 Petko Hristov Defender Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
2017 Kiril Despodov Forward Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
2018 Valentin Antov Defender Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
2019 Stanislav Ivanov Forward Bulgaria Levski Sofia
2020 Dominik Yankov Midfielder Bulgaria Botev Vratsa / Ludogorets
2021 Svetoslav Vutsov Goalkeeper Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
2022 Nikola Iliev Midfielder Italy Inter Milan
2023 Hristiyan Petrov Defender Bulgaria CSKA Sofia

Women[edit]

Year Footballer Position Club
2015[5] Silvia Radoyska Midfielder Bulgaria NSA Sofia
2016 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward United States Racers Ohio
2017 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward United States Racers Ohio
2018 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward United States Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
2019[6] Evdokiya Popadinova Forward United States Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
2020 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward Italy Napoli Femminile
2021 Simona Petkova Midfielder Switzerland FC Lugano
2022 Simona Petkova Midfielder Switzerland YB Frauen
2023 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward Italy Lazio Women 2015

Statistics[edit]

Multiple winners[edit]

Winner Number of wins Winning years
Dimitar Berbatov 7 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Hristo Stoichkov 5 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994
Kiril Despodov 4 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023
Hristo Bonev 3 1969, 1972, 1973
Ivelin Popov 3 2015, 2016, 2017
Krasimir Balakov 2 1995, 1997
Georgi Ivanov 2 2000, 2001
Kiril Ivkov 2 1974, 1975
Dimitar Penev 2 1967, 1971
Dimitar Iliev 2 2019, 2020

Winners by league[edit]

Country Winners Clubs featured
 Bulgaria 39 Levski (11), CSKA (11), Lokomotiv Plovdiv (5), Slavia Sofia (5), Lokomotiv Sofia (3), Ludogorets Razgrad (3), Litex Lovech (1)
 Germany 5 Bayer Leverkusen (3), Stuttgart (2)
 Spain 5 Barcelona (4), Atlético Madrid (1)
 England 4 Manchester United (3), Tottenham Hotspur (1)
 Portugal 3 Sporting (2), Porto (1)
 Russia 3 Spartak Moscow (3)
 Austria 1 Rapid Wien (1)
 Greece 1 PAOK (1)
 Netherlands 1 Twente (1)
 Scotland 1 Celtic (1)
 Serbia 1 Partizan (1)
 Switzerland 1 Basel (1)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bulgarian PM wins player of the year but wants award annulled bbc.co.uk
  2. ^ Бербатов за седми път Футболист на годината news.bg
  3. ^ "Бербатов за шести път е футболист №1 на България" (in Bulgarian). Труд. 2010-01-14. Archived from the original on 2010-01-19. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Димитър Бербатов с нов рекорд - №1 за 2010 година и общо за седми път" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 2010-12-20. Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  5. ^ Това са най-добрите футболисти в "А" група по постове
  6. ^ Petkov, Georgi (5 January 2020). "Димитър Илиев е "Футболист на годината", получи наградата си лично от Бербатов". topsport.bg. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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