Boncho Genchev ( bg, Бончо Генчев; born 7 July 1964) is a Bulgarian retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and a current manager. He started in his home country in the lower leagues before moving to Lokomotiv Gorna and Etar. After one year in Portugal with Sporting, he went to England in 1992 and played in the Premier League with Ipswich Town and in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Luton Town. After a short spell in Bulgaria with CSKA Sofia, he played non-league football in England during three years, for

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

and

Carshalton Athletic Carshalton Athletic Football Club is an English football club based in Carshalton in the London Borough of Sutton. They currently play in the and are based at the War Memorial Sports Ground. The club also field a women's team playing in the Lo ...

. Genchev appeared with Bulgaria at the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

and Euro 1996 tournaments.

Club career

Born in General Toshevo, Dobrich Province, Genchev started playing with PFC Dobrudzha Dobrich, switching to PFC Litex Lovech in 1982 for another sole season. In the following year he established himself in the Bulgarian A Football Group, with FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa and

F.C. Etar Football Club Etar, or FC ETAR Veliko Turnovo, (Bulgarian: ФК ЕТЪР Велико Търново), was a Bulgarian professional association football club from Veliko Tarnovo. Founded on 24 April 1924, the club spent most of its history in t ...

, where he played three 1/2 and four 1/2 years respectively. After 22 league goals for Etar in two seasons combined, 27-year-old Genchev moved abroad, signing with

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

in the summer of 1991 alongside compatriot Ivaylo Yordanov, who previously had succeeded him at Lokomotiv GO. Unlike the forward, he had virtually no impact with the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

side, leaving after one sole season and two

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

matches. Genchev revived his career in England, where he played for Ipswich Town and Luton Town, his three years with the ''Blues'' being spent in the Premier League (with relegation in the last one), where he netted a total of six times. He then signed for Luton Town, who were relegated from Division One in his first season there, and were beaten in the Division Two playoff semi-finals in his second season. In 1997, after five years in England, Genchev returned to his country, with PFC CSKA Sofia, winning the top scorer accolade in his debut campaign — although the club could only finish third – and the Bulgarian Cup in his second. After that, he returned, at nearly 35, to England, playing non-league football for Hendon FC and

, and retiring three years after. Four years later, Genchev came out of retirement and rejoined Hendon, scoring his first goal in his second spell on 14 March 2007 against

Hayes FC Hayes Football Club was an English association football club based in Hayes, Middlesex. History left, Botwell Mission, in 1910/11 Hayes were formed in 1909 by Eileen Shackle, who wished to create a club to encourage boys to participate in spo ...

, in the Middlesex Senior Cup. He retired for good in the following year, later going on to work for Ipswich as an international ambassador. In 2016, Genchev become the new manager of

OFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo Etar ( bg, Етър) is a Bulgarian sports football club based in Veliko Tarnovo, that plays in the Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football. Etar is the official successor of Etar 1924, which was dissolved for financial reaso ...

, but on 7 March of that year he was announced as chairman of the zonal council of the

Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( bg, Български футболен съюз, Bǎlgarski futbolen sǎyuz; BFS) is a football association based in Bulgaria and a member of UEFA. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and field ...

in the city.

International career

During six years, Genchev played 12 times for Bulgaria, without scoring. He represented the nation at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

, replacing Nasko Sirakov for the second half of the round-of-16 match against Mexico and scoring in his penalty shootout attempt. Genchev was also picked for the squad at UEFA Euro 1996, playing one minute in the 1–0 group stage win against Romania.

Personal life

After his first retirement, Genchev ran a café/bar in West Kensington, London called 'Strikers', but it ceased trading shortly afterwards. Two of his sons,

Lyubomir Lyubomir is a Bulgarian masculine given name, a variant of the Slavonic Lubomir. Notable people with this name include: * Lyubomir Andreychin (born 1910), Bulgarian linguist * Lyubomir Bogdanov (born 1982), Bulgarian football midfielder * Lyubomir ...

and Yavor, played for

Lowestoft Town Lowestoft Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. They are currently members of the and play at Crown Meadow. History The club was established in 1887 as Lowestoft F.C. by a merger of East Suf ...

in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

, and later joined their father at

Honours

Etar * Bulgarian A Football Group: 1990–91 Bulgaria * FIFA World Cup fourth place: 1994 Individual * Bulgarian A Football Group: Top scorer 1997–98

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Genchev, Boncho 1964 births Living people People from General Toshevo Bulgarian footballers Association football midfielders First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa players FC Etar Veliko Tarnovo players PFC CSKA Sofia players Primeira Liga players Sporting CP footballers Premier League players English Football League players Ipswich Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Hendon F.C. players Carshalton Athletic F.C. players Bulgaria international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players Bulgarian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in England Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in England Bulgarian football managers