Svetoslav Todorov
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| Svetoslav Todorov | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Svetoslav Todorov | |
| Date of birth | August 30, 1978 (age 28) | |
| Place of birth | Dobrich, Bulgaria | |
| Height | 1.83m | |
| Nickname | Toddy | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Portsmouth | |
| Number | 9 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1996-1997 1997-2001 2001-2002 2002- 2006-2007 |
Dobrudzha Dobrich Litex Lovech West Ham United Portsmouth → Wigan Athletic (loan) |
12 (2) 69 (35) 14 (1) 77 (33) 5 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998- | Bulgaria | 39 (6) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Svetoslav Todorov (Bulgarian: Светослав Тодоров) (born August 30, 1978 in Dobrich, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian football player, who currently plays in England for Portsmouth.
Todorov began his career at PFC Dobrudzha in his native city and then moved on to Litex Lovech, where he showed he was an impressive striker, scoring 19 goals in 26 games. His skill earned him a call-up to the Bulgaria national football team, for whom more assured performances attracted the attention of foreign clubs. In January 2001 English club West Ham United F.C. swooped to sign Todorov for £500,000.
The Bulgarian international made his West Ham debut in a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool, and scored his first goal for the club in his third game; a 3-2 FA Cup defeat at home to Tottenham.
However, following manager Harry Redknapp's departure from the club, Todorov found himself out of favour, and he played just eight games under new manager Glenn Roeder in the 2001/02 season.
In March 2002, Graham Rix signed Todorov at Portsmouth for £750,000 - however, it was clearly a signing inspired by Redknapp's role as Director of Football, and indeed he replaced Rix as manager soon after. At first Todorov struggled to win over the Pompey fans, he was seen as the replacement for popular top scorer Peter Crouch who was sold to Aston Villa for £5m. In his first few games for the club he clearly was struggling with form and fitness and was red carded in his second appearance away at Preston North End.
It was in his first full season that Todorov showed why Redknapp had been so keen to be reunited with him. He was the First Division's top scorer in 2002/03, with Pompey winning the title. He notched 26 goals in all competitions, overhauling Nottingham Forest's David Johnson with a hat-trick on the final day of the season. During this season Todorov won over the Pompey crowd and became a favourite of the Fratton End.
Days before the start of the club's debut Premiership season, Todorov severely damaged a cruciate knee ligament which ruled him out for months. As with the previous season, Todorov was expected to be one of Portsmouth's key players. His injury was initialliy thought to take less than a season to recover from, meaning he would return for the run-in of Pompey's season as well as Bulgaria's Euro 2004 campaign. By mid-March 2004 he was deemed fit enough to be given a place in the side in an away game at Liverpool. Todorov only lasted 45 minutes before being replaced and it was later found that this appearance had only done further damage to his knee. This caused him to miss not only the remainder of the current season but also the entire 2004/05 season
His struggles with career threatening injuries over the previous two seasons only increased his popularity with the Portsmouth supporters and he was given a superb reception when making his comeback at the start of the 2005/06 season. By this time Pompey were under the management of Alain Perrin who used Todorov sparingly throughout the early parts of the season. When given a rare start in the League Cup match against Football League underdogs Gillingham, Todorov missed a penalty kick and Pompey went on to lose 3-2. The side's poor form led to Harry Redknapp being installed as manager and, as expected, this led to Todorov becoming a regular part of the first team squad again. In Redknapp's first home game back in charge, Todorov scored the winining goal in a crucial 'six pointer' against West Bromwich Albion, his first goal in two-and-a-half years and his first Premiership goal for Portsmouth. He went on to play in important part in Pompey's escape from relegation that season, scoring crucial goals against West Ham, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland. An injury to Lomana LuaLua resulted in Todorov becomig a regular in the first XI in the final weeks of the season.
After scoring twice in the opening three games of the 2006/07 season it came as a surprise to many Portsmouth fans when Todorov was loaned to Wigan Athletic on August 31st 2006. However this loan move was unsuccessful with Todorov returning to Portsmouth in January having failed to score for Wigan.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Tactical Formation. Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved on January 20, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Lewis Buxton |
Portsmouth F.C. Fans' Player of the Year 2002-2003 |
Succeeded by Linvoy Primus |
| Portsmouth F.C. - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 James | 2 Primus | 3 Stefanović | 4 Johnson | 5 O'Brien | 6 Traoré | 9 Todorov | 10 Lauren | 11 Pamarot | 14 Taylor | 15 Ashdown | 19 Kranjčar | 21 Songo'o | 22 Hughes | 23 Campbell | 25 Benjani | 26 O'Neil | 27 Kanu | 28 Davis | 29 Douala | 30 Pedro Mendes | 32 LuaLua | 34 Mvuemba | 35 Jordan | Manager: Redknapp |
