Aleksandar Aleksandrov (; born 19 January 1975 in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

) is a former

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Aleksandrov was honoured as

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year 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 ...

in 1999 and Footballer of the Year of

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

for 2007 and for 2008.

Career

Aleksandar Aleksandrov began his career in his hometown of

in the Maritsa and played there until 1997. Then his career lead him to

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, as

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

were interested and bought him. He entertained "The Blues" fans for four years, until the Turkish team

Kocaelispor Kocaelispor is a Turkish professional football club based in İzmit, Kocaeli. They were founded in 1966 and played in the top level between 1980 and 1988, 1992–2003, and the 2008–09 seasons. Their best finish was in the 1992–93 season, w ...

lured him from Levski.

Turkish teams

After two years in Kocaelispor, he changed teams and moved to Istanbulspor AS. After

İstanbulspor İstanbulspor Kulübü is a Turkish association football, football and sports club founded by Istanbul High School students in 1926. In 2004–05, they were relegated from the Turkish Süper Lig (Super League) to the TFF First League. For many d ...

he played in

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

and

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

, then signed with Ankaragucu (2006–2007).

Cherno More Varna

In July 2007, Aleksandrov returned to

and signed a three years contract with

Cherno More Varna Cherno More () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on 3 March 1913, as an association football branch ...

. The following 2007–08 season in the Bulgarian championship, Alex was honoured as the most valuable player in the

Bulgarian A PFG The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

. On 28 September 2009, Alex terminated his contract with the Sailors, due to family difficulties and problems with the owners of the club.

Return to Levski

After 10 years, Alex returned to Levski Sofia on 5 January 2010. He signed a one-a-half-year contract with the club and was given the number 7 shirt. Aleksandrov made his re-debut for Levski on 7 March 2010 against

Minyor Pernik FC Minyor () is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, currently competing in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The club's name comes ...

. The result of the match was 3:1 for Levski. In the first friendly match for 2010/2011 season, Aleksandrov played with his nickname Alex, as he did in

Botev Plovdiv

In June 2011, Aleksandrov joined

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

, where he would eventually retire.

International career

Between 1999 and 2003 Aleksandrov played in

Bulgaria national football team The Bulgaria national football team () represents Bulgaria in men's international Association football, football, and is administered by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. Bulgaria's best achievements are reaching the ...

. Alex earned his first cap with

in a 3–0 victory over

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

on 10 October 1999. For

, he was capped 10 times.

Trophies won

Although not famous around the world, his career is marked by a few trophies. The first one is just after his arrival in Levski, in 1998 when "The Blues" win Bulgarian Cup. That trophy is followed by a double in 2000, when Levski not only win the Bulgarian Championship, but the Bulgarian Cup as well. Meanwhile, he has won "The Best Bulgarian Footballer" award in 1999. After his move to

the trophies continue to follow him, as his team wins the Turkish Cup in 2002. ;Levski * Champion of Bulgaria: 2000 *

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

: 1998, 2000 ;Kocaelispor *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 2002 ;Individual *

: 1999 *Footballer of the Year of

: 2007, 2008

Career Stats

:''Updated 2 September 2010.''

References

External links

* *
Profile at Levskisofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleksandrov, Aleksandar 1975 births Bulgarian men's footballers 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen Bulgaria men's international footballers Living people FC Maritsa Plovdiv players PFC Levski Sofia players Kayserispor footballers Kocaelispor footballers Konyaspor footballers PFC Cherno More Varna players Botev Plovdiv players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Süper Lig players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Men's association football midfielders