Bulgarian Footballer of the Year

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]

Kiril Despodov is the current prize holder.

History

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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

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

Youth

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

Women

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

Statistics

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Multiple winners

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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

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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

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References

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  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

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