Bozhin Georgiev Laskov (; (15 February 1922 – 31 March 2007) was a naturalised Slovak

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player of Bulgarian descent and origin, who played as a striker, noted for his tall stature, impressive physique and great heading. In addition, post-retirement Laskov served as a

otorhinolaryngologist Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the surgical an ...

and a trained

Bulgarian Orthodox The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and the oldest Slavic Orthod ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. After 1946, he lived and worked in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and is counted among Bulgaria's and Slovakia's best footballers of the era.

Biography

Laskov was born in the village of , today administratively part of

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 ...

. He graduated from the

Sofia Seminary The Sofia Seminary of St John of Rila (, ''Sofiyska duhovna seminariya „Sv. Yoan Rilski“''), located in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is the main seminary of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and an ecclesiastical institution of high education ...

, from where his nickname Popeto (Попето; "the little priest") stems. His youth team was FC Pobeda from the Sofia neighbourhood of

Orlandovtsi Orlandovtsi ( , also transliterated as ''Orlandovci'' or ''Orlandovtzi'') is a neighbourhood of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It lies in the northeast of the city and is administratively part of the Serdika municipality. Orlandovtsi lies betwe ...

, for which he played in 1939–1940. In 1940, Laskov moved to

PFC Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was ...

and featured for their senior team between 1941 and 1946 as their number 9 striker. Laskov appeared in 56

Bulgarian Championship 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 ...

matches, scoring the remarkable 40 goals. In 46

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 ...

matches, he scored 21 times; he also appeared in 9 international games, scoring 5 goals, as well as 35 other games with 24 goals on his name. During his stay with Levski, Laskov won the Bulgarian Championship twice (in 1942 and 1946), the Bulgarian Cup three times (in 1942, 1946 and 1947) and the Sofia Championship four times (in 1942, 1943, 1945 and 1946). 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 ...

, his tally stands at 8 matches and 2 goals. At the 1946

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup (officially ''Coupe Balkanique de Football'') was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. ...

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, he was proclaimed the best footballer of the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. Reportedly, ''

France Football ''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...

'' also deemed him the best footballer in Europe later on. On 15 February 1946, Laskov immigrated to

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, Czechoslovakia, where he studied medicine at the

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) (; ) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno, it now consists of ten faculties and 35,115 students. It is named after To ...

and played for SK Židenice, the modern 1. FC Brno. In 1947, he moved to

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, where he married a Slovak beautician and was granted Czechoslovak citizenship. In Bratislava, he played for

ŠK Slovan Bratislava ŠK Slovan Bratislava (, "Bratislava Slavs") is a professional association football, football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, that plays in the Slovak First Football League. Founded as I. ČSŠK Bratislava in 1919, the club changed its name ...

between 1947 and 1952, winning the

Czechoslovak First League The Czechoslovak First League (, ) was the premier football (soccer), football league in the Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1993, with the exception of World War II. Czechoslovakia was occupied by German forces who formed Gauliga Sudetenland and Ga ...

in 1949, 1950 and 1951. In Czechoslovakia, he has also played for

FK Inter Bratislava FK Inter Bratislava () is a football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, temporarily playing its home matches in Štadion Pasienky. History Inter Bratislava was founded in 1940 by the Apollo refinery (later renamed Slovnaft). Following the end of ...

(then ''Červená Hviezda'') and

TTS Trenčín TTS Trenčín was a Slovak football club, playing in the town of Trenčín. History The club was founded in 1904 as Trencsény Torna Egyesület (TTE). TTS Trenčín first played in the top flight of Slovakia during World War II, when Slovak and ...

, until 1960. In the Czechoslovak Championship, he played a total of 169 games, of which 98 (with 48 league goals) for Slovan; he also featured in 3 games for the

Czechoslovakia national football team The Czechoslovakia national football team (, ) represented Czechoslovakia in men's international Association football, football from 1919 to 1993. The team was controlled by the Czechoslovak Football Association, and the team qualified for eight ...

. He was awarded several fair play prizes in Czechoslovakia. Later on, he worked as a manager, managing FK Inter Bratislava,

FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Football in Slovakia#System, Slovak league system, hav ...

and

Trenčín Trenčín (, also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a List of towns in Slovakia, city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech Republic, Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a populati ...

. He also served as a professional physician specialized in

otolaryngology Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the surgical an ...

and was an active member of the Bulgarian association in Slovakia. Laskov died in Bratislava on 31 March 2007.

Honours

;

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 ...

*Bulgarian

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

–

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

–

*Sofia Championship – 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946 ;Individual *

Best player of Europe – 1949 *Best player of the

– 1946Една забравена футболна легенда… Не само на България
/ref> ;

SK Slovan Bratislava SK may refer to: People * SK (actor) or Sivakarthikeyan, Indian actor * Salman Khan or SK, Indian actor * Shahram Kashani (SK), an Iranian-American singer * Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, known by the initialism SK * Søren Kierkegaard, Dan ...

* Czechoslovak champion –

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

;

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 ...

1946 Balkan Cup The 1946 Balkan Cup was the 8th edition of this tournament. The participanting teams were Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and for the first time ever, Albania, who ended up winning the tournament in their first try. Squads *The four men's nationa ...

– Fourth place *

1947 Balkan Cup The 1947 Balkan Cup, officially called the Balkan and Central European Championship, was played between May and October 1947 between Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Hungary. It was Hungary's first participation in the tournament (which ...

– Fourth place

References

* * *

External links

*
Profile at LevskiSofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laskov, Bozhin 1922 births 2007 deaths Bulgarian men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers Footballers from Sofia PFC Levski Sofia players FC Zbrojovka Brno players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players FK Inter Bratislava players TTS Trenčín players Bulgarian Orthodox priests Bulgaria men's international footballers Czechoslovakia men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) Bulgarian surgeons Otolaryngologists Slovak surgeons Bulgarian football managers Czechoslovak football managers Bulgarian emigrants Immigrants to Czechoslovakia Masaryk University alumni Slovak people of Bulgarian descent FC Spartak Trnava managers Sportspeople from Sofia City Province 21st-century Eastern Orthodox priests 20th-century Bulgarian physicians 21st-century Bulgarian physicians Men's association football forwards 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen