Bulgarian Footballer of the Year

Ilia Gruev 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.

History

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 clubs with the most winners are Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia with 11.

List of Bulgarian Footballer of the Year

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

Men

YearFootballerPositionClub
1961Georgi NaydenovGoalkeeperBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1962Ivan KolevDefenderBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1963Aleksandar ShalamanovDefenderBulgaria Slavia Sofia
1964Nikola KotkovForwardBulgaria Lokomotiv Sofia
1965Georgi AsparuhovForwardBulgaria Levski Sofia
1966Aleksandar ShalamanovDefenderBulgaria Slavia Sofia
1967Dimitar PenevDefenderBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1968Simeon SimeonovGoalkeeperBulgaria Slavia Sofia
1969Hristo BonevForwardBulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
1970Stefan AladzhovDefenderBulgaria Levski Sofia
1971Dimitar PenevDefenderBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1972Hristo BonevForwardBulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
1973Hristo BonevForwardBulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
1974Kiril IvkovDefenderBulgaria Levski Sofia
1975Kiril IvkovDefenderBulgaria Levski Sofia
1976Bozhidar GrigorovForwardBulgaria Slavia Sofia
1977Pavel PanovMidfielder / ForwardBulgaria Levski Sofia
1978Rumyancho GoranovGoalkeeperBulgaria Lokomotiv Sofia
1979Atanas MihaylovForwardBulgaria Lokomotiv Sofia
1980Andrey ZhelyazkovForwardBulgaria Slavia Sofia
1981Georgi VelinovGoalkeeperBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1982Radoslav ZdravkovDefenderBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1983Stoycho MladenovMidfielder / ForwardBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1984Plamen NikolovDefenderBulgaria Levski Sofia
1985Georgi DimitrovDefenderBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1986Borislav MihaylovGoalkeeperBulgaria Levski Sofia
1987Nikolay IlievDefenderBulgaria Levski Sofia
1988Lyuboslav PenevForwardBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1989Hristo StoichkovMidfielder / ForwardBulgaria CSKA Sofia
1990Hristo StoichkovMidfielder / ForwardSpain Barcelona
1991Hristo StoichkovMidfielder / ForwardSpain Barcelona
1992Hristo StoichkovMidfielder / ForwardSpain Barcelona
1993Emil KostadinovForwardPortugal Porto
1994Hristo StoichkovMidfielder / ForwardSpain Barcelona
1995Krasimir BalakovMidfielderPortugal Sporting CP / Germany VfB Stuttgart
1996Trifon IvanovDefenderAustria Rapid Wien
1997Krasimir BalakovMidfielderGermany VfB Stuttgart
1998Ivaylo YordanovDefender / Midfielder / ForwardPortugal Sporting CP
1999Aleksandar AleksandrovMidfielderBulgaria Levski Sofia
2000Georgi IvanovForwardBulgaria Levski Sofia
2001Georgi IvanovForwardBulgaria Levski Sofia
2002Dimitar BerbatovForwardGermany Bayer Leverkusen
2003Stiliyan PetrovMidfielderScotland Celtic
2004Dimitar BerbatovForwardGermany Bayer Leverkusen
2005Dimitar BerbatovForwardGermany Bayer Leverkusen
2006Martin Petrov
2nd Dimitar Berbatov
3rd Stiliyan Petrov		Midfielder / Forward
Forward
Midfielder		Spain Atlético Madrid
England Tottenham Hotspur
England Aston Villa
2007Dimitar Berbatov
2nd Martin Petrov
3rd Georgi Petkov		Forward
Midfielder / Forward
Goalkeeper		England Tottenham Hotspur
England Manchester City
Bulgaria Levski Sofia
2008Dimitar 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
2011Nikolay Mihaylov
2nd Stiliyan Petrov
3rd Dimitar Berbatov		Goalkeeper
Midfielder
Forward		Netherlands Twente
England Aston Villa
England Manchester United
2012Georgi Milanov
2nd Ivan Ivanov
3rd Stanislav Manolev		Midfielder
Defender
Defender		Bulgaria Litex Lovech
Serbia Partizan
Netherlands PSV
2013Ivan Ivanov
2nd Ivelin Popov
3rd Svetoslav Dyakov		Defender
Midfielder
Midfielder		Switzerland Basel / Serbia Partizan
Russia Kuban Krasnodar
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
2014Vladislav Stoyanov
2nd Svetoslav Dyakov
3rd Dimitar Berbatov		Goalkeeper
Midfielder
Forward		Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
France Monaco
2015Ivelin Popov
2nd Ivaylo Chochev
3rd Georgi Milanov		Forward
Midfielder
Midfielder		Russia Spartak Moscow
Italy Palermo
Russia CSKA Moscow
2016Ivelin Popov
2nd Svetoslav Dyakov
3rd Vladislav Stoyanov		Forward
Midfielder
Goalkeeper		Russia Spartak Moscow
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
2017Ivelin Popov
2nd Martin Kamburov
3rd Todor Nedelev		Forward
Forward
Midfielder		Russia Spartak Moscow
Bulgaria Beroe Stara Zagora
Bulgaria Botev Plovdiv
2018Kiril Despodov
2nd Georgi Petkov
3rd Todor Nedelev		Forward
Goalkeeper
Midfielder		Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
Bulgaria Botev Plovdiv
2019Dimitar Iliev
2nd Anton Nedyalkov
3rd Vasil Bozhikov		Forward
Defender
Defender		Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava
2020Dimitar Iliev
2nd Valentin Antov
3rd Anton Nedyalkov		Forward
Defender
Defender		Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
2021Kiril Despodov
2nd Martin Kamburov
3rd Georgi Yomov		Forward
Forward
Midfielder		Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Bulgaria Beroe Stara Zagora
Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
2022Kiril Despodov
2nd Ilia Gruev
3rd Ivaylo Chochev		Forward
Midfielder
Midfielder		Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Germany Werder Bremen
Bulgaria CSKA 1948
2023Kiril Despodov
2nd Ilia Gruev
3rd Ivaylo Chochev		Forward
Midfielder
Midfielder		Greece PAOK
England Leeds United
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
2024[5]Kiril Despodov
2nd Ilia Gruev
3rd Dimitar Mitov		Forward
Midfielder
Goalkeeper		Greece PAOK
England Leeds United
Scotland Aberdeen
2025[6]Ilia Gruev
2nd Ivaylo Chochev
3rd Kiril Despodov		Midfielder
Midfielder
Midfielder		England Leeds United
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
Greece PAOK

Youth

YearFootballerPositionClub
2014Bozhidar KraevMidfielderBulgaria Levski Sofia
2015Bozhidar KraevMidfielderBulgaria Levski Sofia
2016Petko HristovDefenderBulgaria Slavia Sofia
2017Kiril DespodovForwardBulgaria CSKA Sofia
2018Valentin AntovDefenderBulgaria CSKA Sofia
2019Stanislav IvanovForwardBulgaria Levski Sofia
2020Dominik YankovMidfielderBulgaria Botev Vratsa / Ludogorets
2021Svetoslav VutsovGoalkeeperBulgaria Slavia Sofia
2022Nikola IlievMidfielderItaly Inter Milan
2023Hristiyan PetrovDefenderBulgaria CSKA Sofia

Women

YearFootballerPositionClub
2015[7]Silvia RadoyskaMidfielderBulgaria NSA Sofia
2016Evdokiya PopadinovaForwardUnited States Northwestern Ohio Racers
2017Evdokiya PopadinovaForwardUnited States Northwestern Ohio Racers
2018Evdokiya PopadinovaForwardUnited States Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
2019[8]Evdokiya PopadinovaForwardUnited States Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
2020Evdokiya PopadinovaForwardItaly Napoli Femminile
2021Simona PetkovaMidfielderSwitzerland FC Lugano
2022Simona PetkovaMidfielderSwitzerland YB Frauen
2023Evdokiya PopadinovaForwardItaly Lazio Women 2015
2024[9]Evdokiya PopadinovaForwardItaly Lazio Women 2015 / Australia Brisbane Roar

Statistics

Multiple winners

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 5 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
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

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 2 PAOK (2)
 Netherlands 1 Twente (1)
 Scotland 1 Celtic (1)
 Serbia 1 Partizan (1)
 Switzerland 1 Basel (1)

See also

References

  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. ↑ AFC Media Team (18 March 2025). "Third place for Dimi in Bulgarian Footballer of the year Awards". afc.co.uk. Aberdeen FC. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  6. ↑ "Iliya Gruev wins Footballer of the Year award". Fakti.bg. 22 March 2026. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  7. ↑ Това са най-добрите футболисти в "А" група по постове
  8. ↑ Petkov, Georgi (5 January 2020). "Димитър Илиев е "Футболист на годината", получи наградата си лично от Бербатов". topsport.bg. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  9. ↑ hronika (18 March 2025). "Най-добра футболистка на България за 2024 г. е Евдокия Попадинова" [Bulgaria's best female footballer for 2024 is Evdokia Popadinova]. hronika-bg.com. Retrieved 3 April 2025.

Sources

  • Paytashev, Rumen (2001). Svetovna Futbolna Entsiklopediya. Sofia: KK Trud. p. 383. ISBN 954-528-201-0.
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