Dimitar Telkiyski (; born 5 May 1977) is a

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 ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and a former player. His nickname is ''Mecho'' () or 'Teddybear', was given to him by the

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 ...

supporters.

Career

Botev Plovdiv

Telkiyski developed his abilities in Botev Plovdiv's Youth Academy between 1990 and 1996. After that, he played three years for the seniors.

Levski Sofia

He joined Levski in 1999 and won three consecutive titles. However, at this time he was used mainly as a substitute. He became a first team regular in 2003. In May 2006, Telkiyski won the Bulgarian championship with Levski for the fourth time. With Levski Sofia he reached 1/4 finals of

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 2005–06. Next season, Levski Sofia with Telkiyski, reached the group-stage of

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, becoming the first Bulgaria team that reached the groups.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

On 3 January 2008, Levski and Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. agreed on the transfers of Elin Topuzakov and Dimitar Telkiyski. The two players went to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. They signed their official contacts with Hapoel on 7 January 2007. Telkiyski chose to play with kit number 31. Both Topuzakov and Telkiyski made their debut for Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. on 12 January 2008 against Hapoel Kfar Saba. Hapoel Tel Aviv lost the match 2–1. Telkiyski scored his first goal for Hapoel against Maccabi Herzliya, in a 3–2 win. In 2008, he won the Fan's player of the year award with his teammate Elin Topuzakov.

Amkar Perm

On 18 July 2009, Telkiyski arrived in Perm, to join FC Amkar on an 18-month deal. On 9 August 2009, he made his debut for the Russian side in the 1:0 away defeat against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

, coming on as a substitute for Nikolai Zhilyaev in the 83rd minute.

Levski Sofia 2nd Period

On 13 October 2009, Telkiyski returned to

to sign a contract as a free agent with his former club

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 ...

. He took the number 32. Mecho immediately started to help his team, assisting 3 goals for 4 matches. Dimitar ended the season with 16 appearances and 6 assistances. After couple of bad games and results, Levski however achieved qualifying for

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

becoming 3rd in the final ranking. On 31 May 2010, Dimitar's contract was extended to summer of 2012. For the next 10/11 season, Dimitar changed his kit number to 8.

Hapoel Ramat Gan

On 10 August 2010, Telkiyski along with his teammate Elin Topuzakov went to Israel, to join Hapoel Ramat Gan.

Lokomotiv Sofia

In October 2011 Telkiyski return to

and sign with

Lokomotiv Sofia FC Lokomotiv Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refounded in 2015, following ...

but leaves it in early December, due to financial problems in the club.

Chernomorets Burgas

On 21 December 2011, Telkiyski signed with Chernomorets Burgas. He played only 4 games because heavy injury received on 21 March. And leaves the club in June, when his contract expired.

Lokomotiv Sofia

In June 2012 Telkiyski returned to

International career

Telkiyski made his debut for the senior national team on 17 November 2004, in the 0:0 draw with

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

Playing style

Telkiyski plays as a winger or as a central midfielder. He is famous with his free-kicks and penalty kicks. His strong foot is the right one. Mecho is a fast player, who can dribble very well, which often makes him hard for marking. He makes many assists.

Career statistics

International goals

Coaching career

In 2016–17, Telkiyski served as head coach of

's U19 team. On 9 June 2017, Telkiyski was appointed as assistant manager of Second League club Oborishte Panagyurishte.

Awards

* Bulgarian League Champion – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 *

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 ...

– 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 *

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...

– 2005, 2007 *

2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...

: 1/4 finals *

2006–07 UEFA Champions League The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan ...

: Group-stage * Fan's player of the year award – 2008 * Goal of the year – 1st and 2nd places – 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Telkiyski, Dimitar 1977 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Russian Premier League players Botev Plovdiv players PFC Levski Sofia players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players FC Amkar Perm players Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players PSFC Chernomorets Burgas players Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Plovdiv Bulgarian football managers