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 football (soccer) player of the year. The award has been given since 1961, and the winner is elected by authorized journalists from the leading Bulgarian media.

At least the 2011 vote was 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–).

The footballers to have won the award most times are Dimitar Berbatov (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), Hristo Stoichkov (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994) and Hristo Bonev (1969, 1972, 1973). The club with most winners is Levski Sofia with 11 winners while their local rivals CSKA Sofia have ten.

Bulgarian Footballers of the Year

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 Rumen 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 CKSA 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 Krassimir Balakov midfielder Sporting CP /
Stuttgart
1996 Trifon Ivanov defender Rapid Wien
1997 Krasimir Balakov midfielder 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[2] Dimitar Berbatov
2nd Stiliyan Petrov
3rd Blagoy Georgiev
forward
midfielder
midfielder
Manchester United
Aston Villa
Terek Grozny
2010[3] 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
Striker
FC Twente
Aston Villa
Manchester United

References

See also