Goran Popov (; born 2 October 1984) is a Macedonian former 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 played as a defender. Popov started his career with local side

Belasica Belasica ( Macedonian and Bulgarian: , also translit. ''Belasitsa'' or ''Belasitza'', Ottoman Turkish: بلش Turkish: ''Beleş''), Belles (, ''Bélles'') or Kerkini (, ''Kerkíni'';), is a mountain range in the region of Macedonia in Southe ...

and moved to Greece with

Proodeftiki Proodeftiki Football Club, also known as Proodeftiki Piraeus, simply as Proodeftiki, or with its full name as A.O. Proodeftiki Neolea (, transliterated "Athlitikós Όmilos Proodeftiki Neolea", ''Athletic Club Progressive Youth''), is a Greek fo ...

and

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

. He signed for

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

in 2004 but injuries prevented him from making an impact and he returned to Greek football with

Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( ) is a town and a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens urban area, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo, whose name comes from the words αίγα/a ...

after a short loan spell in Poland with

Odra Wodzisław Odra may refer to: Rivers * Odra (Baltic Sea), better known as Oder, a river in the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany * Odra (Kupa), a river in Croatia * Odra (Pisuerga), a river in Spain Populated places * Odra, Silesian Voivodeship, a vill ...

. Egaleo were relegated in 2007 and Popov joined

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, ...

before moving to Dutch club

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

in July 2008. At Heerenveen he finally found some success and won the

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 ...

in 2009 scoring in the final against

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

. After good form in European competitions Popov signed for Ukrainian side

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

Life and career

Popov was born in

Strumica Strumica (, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedonian (PDF) in so ...

Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

and played football with local club

making six appearances as the side finished second in the

First Macedonian Football League The Macedonian First Football League (), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competition in Macedonia. It is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of t ...

. He moved on to Greek side

and then

. His time at Athens was short and after eight matches he left for

where he made his debut away at

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

in the

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 ...

as Red Star lost 5–0. Injuries prevented him from making at impact with Red Star and he joined Polish side

on loan. At the end of the 2004–05 season Popov returned to Greek football with

spending two seasons there and then one season with

. In 2008, he made the move to Dutch football with

where he won the

in 2009 and impressed enough in European football to earn a move to Ukrainian giants

in June 2010. On 10 August 2012, Popov initially signed for English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

on a season long loan deal, but the move fell through after he failed to be granted a UK work permit. On deadline day, Popov received a UK work permit and he signed instead on a season-long loan for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. After

Artim Šakiri Artim Šakiri (, ; born 23 September 1973) is a Macedonian football manager and a former midfielder from North Macedonia. He is considered to be one of the best players in the history of the Macedonian national team. While managing Kukësi in ...

, Goran Popov is the second Macedonian football player who has ever played at West Bromwich Albion. On 3 February 2013, Popov was dismissed by referee

Mark Clattenburg Mark Clattenburg (born 13 March 1975) is an English former professional Association football, football Referee (association football), referee. Clattenburg is a former member of the Premier League and the Durham County Football Association an ...

for allegedly spitting at fullback

Kyle Walker Kyle Andrew Walker (born 28 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club AC Milan, on loan from club Manchester City, and the England national team. Walker started his career at his boyhood club Sheffi ...

, in a game that ended 1–0 to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. On 9 July 2013, Popov signed a one-year loan deal to return to West Bromwich Albion. On 18 September, Popov signed a three-year contract with

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

for undisclosed fee. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Popov's contract with Vardar expired and he retired from football.

International career

Goran Popov has been part of the Macedonian U-19 and U-21 teams before making his debut senior for the Macedonian national team in June 2004 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 ...

against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. He has earned a total of 46 caps, scoring 2 goals and his final international was a May 2014 friendly against

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

International goals

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of match played 4 January 2014'' :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Johan Cruijff-schaal XIV and

Ukrainian Super Cup The Ukrainian Super Cup () is an association football game of the Ukrainian Premier League in traditional super cup format that acts as the grand-opening for every new football (soccer), football competition season in Ukraine. Originally it was s ...

International

''As of August 2012''

Personal life

He is the younger brother of Robert Popov who is also a football player.

Honours

sc Heerenveen *

: 2008–09 Dynamo Kyiv *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Vardar *

Macedonian First Football League The Macedonian First Football League (), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competition in Macedonia. It is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 * Macedonian Supercup:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* *
Profile at MacedonianFootball
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popov, Goran 1984 births Living people Footballers from Strumica Men's association football fullbacks Macedonian men's footballers 21st-century Macedonian sportsmen North Macedonia men's youth international footballers North Macedonia men's under-21 international footballers North Macedonia men's international footballers FK Belasica players Proodeftiki F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Red Star Belgrade footballers Odra Wodzisław Śląski players Egaleo F.C. players Levadiakos F.C. players SC Heerenveen players FC Dynamo Kyiv players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players FK Vardar players Doxa Katokopias FC players Macedonian First Football League players Super League Greece players Ekstraklasa players Eredivisie players Ukrainian Premier League players Premier League players Macedonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in England Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus