Bulgarian Footballer of the Year (, 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.Bulgarian PM wins player of the year but wants award annulled bbc.co.uk 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).Бербатов за седми път Футболист на годината news.bg The clubs with the most winners are Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia with 11.
List of Bulgarian Footballer of the Year
Men 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 Midfielder / Forward Atlético Madrid 2007 Dimitar Berbatov Forward Tottenham Hotspur 2008 Dimitar Berbatov Forward Manchester United 2009 Dimitar Berbatov Forward Manchester United 2010 Dimitar Berbatov Forward Manchester United 2011 Nikolay Mihaylov Goalkeeper Twente 2012 Georgi Milanov Midfielder Litex Lovech 2013 Ivan Ivanov Defender Basel / Partizan 2014 Vladislav Stoyanov Goalkeeper Ludogorets Razgrad 2015 Ivelin Popov Forward Spartak Moscow 2016 Ivelin Popov Forward Spartak Moscow 2017 Ivelin Popov Forward Spartak Moscow 2018 Kiril Despodov Forward CSKA Sofia 2019 Dimitar Iliev Forward Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2020 Dimitar Iliev Forward Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2021 Kiril Despodov Forward Ludogorets Razgrad 2022 Kiril Despodov Forward Ludogorets Razgrad 2023 Kiril Despodov Forward PAOK 2024 Kiril Despodov Forward PAOK 2025 Ilia Gruev Midfielder Leeds United
Youth 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 Year Footballer Position Club 2015Това са най-добрите футболисти в "А" група по постове Silvia Radoyska Midfielder NSA Sofia 2016 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward Northwestern Ohio Racers 2017 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward Northwestern Ohio Racers 2018 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 2019 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 2024 Evdokiya Popadinova Forward Lazio Women 2015 / Brisbane Roar
Statistics
Multiple winners WinnerNumber of winsWinning 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 CountryWinnersClubs featured 39 Levski (11), CSKA (11), Lokomotiv Plovdiv (5), Slavia Sofia (5), Lokomotiv Sofia (3), Ludogorets Razgrad (3), Litex Lovech (1) 5 Bayer Leverkusen (3), Stuttgart (2) 5 Barcelona (4), Atlético Madrid (1) 4 Manchester United (3), Tottenham Hotspur (1) 3 Sporting (2), Porto (1) 3 Spartak Moscow (3) 1 Rapid Wien (1) 2 PAOK (2) 1 Twente (1) 1 Celtic (1) 1 Partizan (1) 1 Basel (1)
See also A PFG Player of the Season A PFG Young Player of the Season Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
References
Sources
External links