Andrey Asenov Galabinov (; born 27 November 1988) is a Bulgarian professional

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 plays as a striker. After playing youth football for

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

and

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia (; ''Athlitikós Sýllogos Omónoia Lefkosías''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (also Romanization of Greek, transliterated as Omonoia), is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional multi-sport club, esta ...

, Galabinov moved to Italy with his parents at the age of 16. He began his career at

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

club Castellarano, before moving to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in 2007. Bologna then loaned him out to

Giulianova Giulianova ( Giuliese: ' ) is a coastal town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo region, Italy. The ''comune'' also has city () status, thus also known as Città di Giulianova. Geography The town lies in the north of the Abruzzo regi ...

and Giacomense. In July 2009 he joined

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

club Lumezzane and remained there until January 2011 when signing for

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

. He had loan spells at

Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...

, Bassano,

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

and

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

before leaving Livorno to join

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

in 2015. In July 2017 he signed with

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and stayed with the club for a one season. Galabinov made his senior debut for

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 ...

in March 2014.

Early life

Andrey was born in

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 ...

to Asen Galabinov and Polina Filipova. His father is a former national volleyball team player and his mother also played the sport. Andrey's maternal

grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a m ...

Yordan Filipov Yordan Filipov (; 18 June 1946 - 27 July 1996) was a Bulgarian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was maternal grandfather of Andrey Galabinov. In his career Filipov played for Rozova Dolina, Spartak Plovdiv, CSKA Sofia, Sliven, Dunav ...

formerly played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

and the Bulgarian national team. His paternal grandfather was a volleyball player and coach.

Club career

Early career

Galabinov began his football career with

. In 2004, he moved to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

with his family and joined

youth academy. A year later, his father had been appointed as a coach of Pallavolo Modena and Andrey moved to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 2006, he signed with Castellarano. In July 2007, Galabinov joined

but could not break his way into the first team and went out on loan to

, and then to Giacomense.

Livorno

On 1 February 2011, Galabinov signed with

on a four-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He made his

debut on 7 February, in a 1–0 home loss against

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

. He appeared in only three league games to the end of the season. In an attempt to earn some playing time, Galabinov spent the 2011–12 season on loan in the

, where he played for

and Bassano.

Gubbio (loan)

In July 2012, Galabinov moved to

. The move was agreed as a one-year loan deal.

Avellino (loan)

On 15 July 2013, newly promoted Serie B side

signed Galabinov on a season-long loan deal. He made his debut in a 2–1 home win over

on 24 August, playing the full 90 minutes. On 30 September, he scored his first goal, netting a 35th-minute penalty in a 1–0 win over

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

. On 19 October, Galabinov scored a twice in a resounding 4–1 home victory against Carpi. He continued his goal-scoring form with another brace against

Cittadella Cittadella () is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around . There are fo ...

, ten days later. On 25 January 2014, he netted Avelino's only goal in their 2–1 defeat at Novara, taking his tally of league goals this season to 10. Galabinov made 39 appearances during the 2013–14 season finishing as the club's top scorer with 15 goals.

Return to Livorno

Galabinov returned to

at the end of the season, scoring eight goals in six pre-season friendly games. On 17 August 2014, he scored his first competitive goal for Livorno in a 4–2

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

loss against Bassano Virtus. He then continued his goalscoring form by scoring his first league goal for the club on the opening day of the 2014–15 season in

, a 1–1 draw against Carpi at

Stadio Armando Picchi The Stadio Armando Picchi is a multi-purpose stadium in Livorno, Italy. A.S. Livorno Calcio originally used the Villa Chayes Stadium, part of the nearby the Naval Academy, for matches but when the city team was promoted to the Serie A in 1928-29 ...

on 30 August. Two months later, on 1 November, Galabinov scored a penalty in a 3–2 home win over

. He left Livorno after his contract expired in summer 2015.

Novara

On 12 August 2015, Galabinov signed as a free agent with

. At first he wore no.35 shirt, but picked no.16 after Nicolas Schiavi switched to no.20. For two seasons he scored 25 goals in 73

matches.

Genoa

In summer 2017, Galabinov joined

side

on a free transfer after his contract with Novara had expired. He scored his first goal for the club on 26 August 2017, on the second matchday of the season, converting a penalty for a 2–0 lead in a match that ended in a 2–4 home defeat to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Spezia

On 17 August 2018, Galabinov joined

side

Spezia Calcio Spezia Calcio is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in La Spezia, Liguria, currently competing in the Serie B. Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni (or Hurny in some documents), who ...

on a three-year deal. In his second season at Spezia he earned promotion to the

for the first time in club's history, scoring 7 goals in 19 league games. On 27 September 2020, he scored Spezia's first-ever Serie A goal, in a 4–1 loss against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

in the 2nd round of the 2020–21 season at the

Stadio Dino Manuzzi The Stadio Dino Manuzzi is a football stadium in Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada ...

. On 30 September, he scored a brace in a 2–0 away win against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

, to secure Spezia's first victory in Serie A.

Reggina

On 18 August 2021, Galabinov joined Serie B side Reggina on a permanent transfer, signing a 3-year contract.

Return to Lumezzane

On 7 March 2024, Galabinov returned to Serie C club Lumezzane on a short-term contract until the end of the season.

International career

On 20 February 2014, Galabinov was called up to the

squad, for their friendly fixture against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. He made his debut in the match on 5 March, playing in the first 45 minutes and hitting the woodwork after an individual effort. Galabinov opened his account for the national side on 23 May 2014, scoring the first goal in the 1–1 draw against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Personal life

Since 2017 Galabinov is dating the Italian model Natasha Cinelli, the sister of his former teammate Antonio Cinelli.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Galabinov goal''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Galabinov, Andrey Living people 1988 births Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Men's association football forwards AC Giacomense players FC Lumezzane players US Livorno 1915 players Sorrento Calcio 1945 players Bassano Virtus 55 ST players AS Gubbio 1910 players US Avellino 1912 players Novara FC players Genoa CFC players Spezia Calcio players AS Reggina 1914 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy PD Castellarano players 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen