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.

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 Hristo Stoichkov (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994) and Dimitar Berbatov (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008), followed by Hristo Bonev (1969, 1972 and 1973). The club with most winners is Levski Sofia with 11 winners while their local rivals CSKA Sofia have ten ones.

[edit] 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	Levksi Sofia
1976	Bozhidar Grigorov	forward	Slavia Sofia
1977	Pavel Panov	midfielder/forward	Levksi 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	Levksi 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

[edit] References

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

[edit] See also

• A PFG Player of the Season
• A PFG Young Player of the Season
• Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year