Stoycho Stoilov (; born 15 October 1971) is a Bulgarian former

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 ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is currently employed in an official capacity with

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

Club career

Stoilov was born in

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultura ...

. In his career he played for Pirin Blagoevgrad,

, Dobrudzha Dobrich and

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

, making a name for himself with the latter when they won their first two domestic titles in the late 1990s. He reached a Bulgarian Cup final with his hometown club, finishing as runner-up. Stoilov also had a spell with 1. FC Nürnberg in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. On 14 November 2002, Stoilov (who was at the time the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and was suffering from a broken foot, which had occurred after being subjected to a tackle in a game against

), was seriously wounded, sustaining life-threatening injuries, after being shot by former army serviceman Simeon Mechev, following a traffic dispute. Stoilov managed to recover after extensive treatment, but the incident effectively spelt the end of his playing career. The culprit was originally to spend 10 years in prison, but his sentence was eventually reduced to 6 years. Mechev was released from jail in August 2011 after remaining behind bars for approximately four years.

International career

Stoilov earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

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 ...

on 25 March 1998, in the 0:1 away loss against

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

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 ...

, substituting

Krasimir Balakov Krasimir Genchev Balakov (, ; born 29 March 1966) is a former Bulgarian footballer and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he was a key member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is considered ...

in the 73rd minute. He was in the Bulgarian squad at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, although he did not play in any games.

International goal

:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.''

Administrative work

Following his retirement, Stoilov became part of the organizational management of Litex Lovech, continuing in this role with

since 2016.

Personal life

He has distant Greek roots and Litex Lovech helped him obtain a Greek passport under the name Stoykas Stoilas, so that Stoilov could be issued a work visa as a citizen of a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

member state A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

, potentially making it easier for him in the case of a transfer to a British club. In June 1999 Stoilov entered

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

with the document when he joined 1. FC Nürnberg. However, in 2001, a German court declared that the passport had been invalid and imposed an 8-month conditional sentence.

Honours

Club

CSKA Sofia * Bulgarian A Group: 1991–92 Litex Lovech * Bulgarian A Group: 1997–98, 1998–99 1. FC Nürnberg * 2. Bundesliga: 2000–01

References

External links

* Living people 1971 births Footballers from Blagoevgrad Men's association football midfielders Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players PFC CSKA Sofia players FC Dobrudzha Dobrich players FC Lovech players 1. FC Nürnberg players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany 1998 FIFA World Cup players Macedonian Bulgarians 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen {{Bulgaria-footy-midfielder-stub