Nikolay Asenov Arabov (; born 14 November 1953) 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 ...

n 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 ...

and manager who played as a defender from 1971 to 1994, most notably for

Sliven Sliven ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. It is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of th ...

. Arabov was capped 42 times 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 ...

and represented the nation at 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

Arabov made his debut for

in 1971 and stayed in the club for 15 years, with 310 games in the

A PFG 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 ...

. Capped 42 times for the

in the period 1976 – 1986, including 3 games at

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Arabov has also played for Spartak Pleven,

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

, Anagennisi Dherynia and Albanian

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. The men's football club is part of the multi-discipli ...

before returning to Sliven for its last season in

(1993). After his retirement as a player Arabov worked for many years in Albania, coaching

, KF Partizani, and

KS Flamurtari Flamurtari Football Club is an Albanian professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria Superiore, which is the first tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Alba ...

References

1953 births Living people Footballers from Sliven Men's association football defenders Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players FC Sliven players OFC Spartak Pleven players Anagennisi Deryneia FC players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players KF Tirana players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Albania Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Albania Kategoria Superiore players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Cypriot First Division players Bulgarian football managers FK Partizani Tirana managers Flamurtari FC managers Bulgarian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Albania 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen {{Bulgaria-footy-defender-stub