Georgi Petkov (footballer, born 1976)

Georgi Petkov (Bulgarian: Георги Петков; born 14 March 1976) is a Bulgarian football goalkeeper who plays for and captains Slavia Sofia. Petkov has played for the Bulgarian national team as a backup to Zdravko Zdravkov and Dimitar Ivankov from 1998 until 2018, when he made his 18th and final appearance for his country at the age of 42.

Georgi Petkov
Petkov with Slavia Sofia in 2013
Personal information
Full name Georgi Stoyanov Petkov
Date of birth (1976-03-14) 14 March 1976
Place of birth Pazardzhik, Bulgaria
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Slavia Sofia
Number 1
Youth career
1983–1992 Hebar Pazardzhik
1992–1994 FC Bankya
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1996 FC Bankya ? (0)
1996–2001 Slavia Sofia 51 (0)
2001–2011 Levski Sofia 149 (0)
2011–2012 Enosis Paralimni 19 (0)
2012– Slavia Sofia 139 (0)
International career
1998–2018 Bulgaria 18 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 May 2022

Career

Hebar Pazardzhik and Slavia Sofia

Born in Pazardzhik, Petkov started his career at local side Hebar.[2] In June 1996, he was signed by A PFG club Slavia Sofia. Petkov started the 1996–97 season as the third choice goalkeeper and earned only two appearances in his first campaign at Slavia. Following Zdravko Zdravkov's transfer to Turkish İstanbulspor in June 1997, he was promoted to second choice.

Levski Sofia

In July 2001, Petkov joined Levski Sofia for a $400,000, breaking the Bulgarian goalkeeper transfer-record. He was a substitute of Dimitar Ivankov until that season.

After Ivankov left Levski, Petkov showed his real potential and became an important part of the team. With Petkov as a key player, his team was the first Bulgarian team to join the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. He was one of the few players that had their positions secure during the 07-08 transfer season, when a big part of the Levski players were sold. On 25 April 2008 a media report said that Petkov was wanted by Besiktas J.K. during the summer transfer season.

Petkov became a captain of PFC Levski, during the 2008/2009 season.

On 24 January 2008, during the pause of 2008/2009 season, Petkov was the number one goalkeeper in Europe, according to IMScouting. He conceded the fewest goals per minute. Petkov conceded one goal every 810 minutes.

He became a Champion of Bulgaria in 2009, after a contradictory but great season under the coaching of Emil Velev. Despite the bad results during the autumnal part of the season, after great matches in the spring, Levski Sofia fulfilled the plan before the term had set and became a champion for 26 time, before the last round has been played.

During 2009/2010 season, the Levski's team started their European campaign with 9:0 (on aggregate) in the second Qualifying round of Champions League against UE Sant Julià. On the next round, Levski Sofia faced FK Baku. The blues eliminated the team from Azerbaijan with 2:0 (on aggregate). In the play-off round Levski was eliminated by Debreceni VSC with 4:1 (on aggregate). However, Levski qualified for UEFA Europa League. In the group stage, Levski faced Villarreal CF, SS Lazio and Red Bull Salzburg. Levski achieved only one win and 5 losses. Levski took the win against SS Lazio, after Hristo Yovov scored the winning goal in the match. The match was played at Stadio Olimpico. In 2009/2010 season, after couple of bad games and results, Levski however achieved qualifying for UEFA Europa League becoming 3rd in the final ranking.

During the 2010/2011 Levski qualified for UEFA Europa League after eliminating Dundalk F.C., Kalmar FF and AIK Fotboll. Levski was drawn in Group C, facing Gent, Lille and Sporting CP. The first match was against Gent. Levski won the match in a 3–2 home win. The winning goal was scored by Serginho Greene. With this win Levski recorded 8 games in-a-row without losing in European competitions. After that Levski lost catastrophically from Sporting CP with 5–0. Followed by another loss against Lille. In Sofia Levski played very well against Lille and was leading 2–1 until Ivo Ivanov scored an own goal to make it 2–2. In the last match of the Group C, Levski take a win against Sporting CP with 1–0, the winning goal was scored by Daniel Mladenov.

On 10 January 2011, it was announced that Petkov is being released from the club. After ten years in Levski, Petkov told the media that he felt insulted by the actions of his former club.

Enosis Neon Paralimni

Georgi Petkov signed for Enosis Paralimni on 21 January 2011, making a winning debut 24 hours later, by beating Ermis Aradippou 3–1 in Tasos Markou Stadium.

Return to Slavia

Petkov rejoined Slavia Sofia on 22 June 2012.[3] He quickly established himself as the first choice goalkeeper for the team.

On 9 May 2018, at the age of 42, Petkov was named man of the match in the 2018 Bulgarian Cup Final against Levski Sofia. He played an important role in the penalty shoot-out held after the teams remained tied 0–0 after extra time, making two saves.

On 12 July 2018, Petkov captained Slavia in the 1:0 away win over Finnish team Ilves in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, becoming the oldest Bulgarian footballer to appear in a European club tournament match.[4]

International career

Petkov earned 16 caps for Bulgaria between 1998 and 2009.[5] He first played in the national team in the friendly 1–4 loss to Morocco in December 1998.[6] In October 2018, after a 9-year absence from international duty and 20 years after his debut, he was recalled by Petar Hubchev for the UEFA Nations League matches against Cyprus and Norway.[7] On 16 November 2018, in the 1:1 away draw with the Cypriots Petkov became the oldest European goalkeeper to play in an official match of their respective national team at the age of 42 years and 248 days. The previous record holder was Elisha Scott who played for Northern Ireland at the age of 42 years and 200 days.[8] Petkov also played 3 days later against Slovenia.[9]

Career statistics

Club
Updated 23 February 2022
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Slavia Sofia 1996–97 A Group 20000020
1997–98 150??–150
1998–99 190??–190
1999–00 110??–110
2000–01 40??–40
Total 5100000510
Levski Sofia 2001–02 A Group 2705080400
2002–03 806020160
2003–04 20300050
2004–05 20000020
2005–06 23020130380
2006–07 1702080270
2007–08 2801020310
2008–09 1703030230
2009–10 1900090280
2010–11 600050110
Total 14902605002250
Enosis Paralimni 2010–11 Cypriot First Division 8000–80
2011–12 11000–110
Total 1900000190
Slavia Sofia 2012–13 A Group 26050–310
2013–14 32050–370
2014–15 17020–190
2015–16 18000–180
2016–17 Bulgarian First League 1603000190
2017–18 7020–90
2018–19 1402020180
2019–20 2000–20
2020–21 40000040
2021–22 2000–20
2022–23 1000–10
Total 1380190202100
Career totals 35604505204530
  1. Includes appearances in Super Cup games as well, where applicable.

International
As of 19 November 2018.[10]
Bulgaria
YearAppsGoals
199810
199910
200000
200100
200210
200300
200400
200510
200630
200740
200840
200910
201820
Total180

Honours

Club

Individual

References
  1. "Профил на Георги Стоянов Петков" (in Bulgarian). fpleague.bg. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  2. "Шадравана, Урсула или просто... Гошо Вратаря от Славия". sportline.bg. 7 October 2012. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  3. "Георги Петков и Чавдар Янков се завърнаха в Славия, "белите" представиха отбора за новия сезон" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  4. "Славия" с победа във Финландия, Георги Петков рекордьор". petel.bg. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  5. Dimitrov, Ivaylo (29 January 2015). "Топ 7 на най-култовите вратари в историята на "А" група, луди до доказване на противното!". topsport.bg. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  6. "Morocco vs Bulgaria 4-1, Dec 1998". eu-football.info. 23 December 1998. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  7. "Състав на мъжкия национален отбор за мачовете с Кипър и Норвегия" (in Bulgarian). bfunion.bg. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  8. "Георги Петков влезе в историята на европейския футбол" (in Bulgarian). dnevnik.bg. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  9. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Bulgaria vs. Slovenia (1:1)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  10. "Georgi Petkov". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
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