Andrey Kolev Zhelyazkov (; born 9 July 1952 in

Radnevo Radnevo ( ) is a town in southern Bulgaria, part of Stara Zagora Province, located in the eastern Upper Thracian Lowlands. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Radnevo Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 13 ...

) 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 a forward. He spent 12 years of his career playing for

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...

and is the club's all-time top goalscorer in the A Group with 136 goals. Zhelyazkov is also the most capped player in the history of the club with 338 league appearances. He participated in the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

Career

Zhelyazkov played in his home country for Minyor Radnevo and

, in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace, commonly known as RC Strasbourg (, ; RCS) or simply just Racing, is a French professional association football club founded in 1906 and based in the city of Strasbourg, Alsace. It became a professional club in ...

, in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

for Beerschot, and for the

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 ...

. With Slavia he won the

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 ...

in 1975 and 1980 and reached the final twice more in 1972 and 1981. He hold Slavia's record for both most caps with 338 and most goals 136.

Feyenoord

In 1981, Zhelyazkov joined

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side

. During 1983–84 season he formed a successful partnership with

Johan Cruijff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest players in history and as the greatest Dutch footballe ...

and

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a former Dutch Association football, footballer and subsequent manager. Regarded among the greatest footballers of all time, he was also noted for his Utility player#Association football, abili ...

, which led

to the first league title since 1974. They contributed a total of 34 goals in the campaign.

Honours

Slavia Sofia *

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Feyenoord *

: 1983–84 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 1983–84 Individual * Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 1980

References

External links

1952 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Men's association football forwards PFC Slavia Sofia players Feyenoord players RC Strasbourg Alsace players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Ligue 1 players Eredivisie players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in France Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Bulgarian football managers PFC Levski Sofia managers People from Radnevo Footballers from Stara Zagora Province 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen {{Bulgaria-footy-forward-stub