Yordan Letchkov Yankov (also transliterated Jordan, Iordan, Lechkov) (; born 9 July 1967) is a Bulgarian 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 ...
. He is generally regarded as one of the best players to come out of Bulgaria and was a key member of the squad which reached the semi-finals of the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...
. Known to many as "The Magician", Letchkov was a gifted player who could play as a
central 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 ...
or on the
left side of midfield, and he was easily recognizable for his baldness. He was best known for his
dribbling
In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score.
As ...
ability. However, his career was often adversely affected by his moody nature and the numerous arguments and fallings-out he had with fellow players and managers. He was the mayor of his home town for eight years, but was removed from duty due to corruption.
Club career
Born in
Straldzha
Straldzha ( ) is a small town in Yambol Province, southeastern Bulgaria, situated in the Sliven Valley. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Straldzha Municipality. As of 2022, the town had a population of 6,199.
The municipality ...
, Letchkov began his career as a youngster with
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 ...
football club (Bulgaria), after breaking into the first team at a young age he secured a transfer to Bulgaria's top side
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'' ...
(Bulgaria, 1991–92 season) and soon after he made the move to Germany with
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...
(Germany, from the 1992–93 season to the 1995–96 season). After that he secured a move to
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...
(France, 1996–97 season), at this point one of the top clubs in Europe. However a difficult relationship with the club's management led to his departure after one season.
His next stop took him to Turkey with
Beşiktaş
Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...
(Turkey, from the 1997–98 season). However, just after six months with the club, he returned late from holidays and fell into a dispute with the manager
John Toshack
John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager.
He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...
. After being fined by the club, he refused to pay, stated that he has quit football and subsequently returned to Bulgaria. He has been variously quoted since as saying the Istanbul club owes him money, that he was unable to get on with its coach Toshack and that his wife could not settle in Turkey. However he soon started training with a Bulgarian club. Beşiktaş appealed to FIFA which declared Letchkov in breach of contract and ordered him to pay 200.000 DM in compensation. Beşiktaş renewed its appeals to UEFA and FIFA when Letchkov turned out without club permission for Bulgaria in a friendly against Argentina. FIFA subsequently ruled that Letchkov was ineligible to play for any other team without clearance from Beşiktaş, and that included his national side. Despite helping Bulgaria to reach 1998 World Cup, he could not play due to his dispute with Beşiktaş.
After about three years away from football, Letchkov returned to the game in the 2001–02 season with CSKA Sofia. Between 2002 and 2004 he became player-coach of OFC Sliven, a club in the second division of Bulgarian football. Letchkov is often referred to as being part of the "Golden Generation" of Bulgarian football, who along with
Stoichkov,
Kostadinov and
Balakov led the national side to the semifinals of the 1994 World Cup.
International career
Letchkov played 45 matches and scored five goals 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 ...
; however his international career was limited by a series of disagreements with coaches and the Bulgarian Football Federation.
He is perhaps best remembered for scoring the winner against
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 ...
in the quarter-finals of the
1994 World Cup, as Bulgaria reached the semi-finals where they were beaten by
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Above all thanks to his very good matches in that World Cup, he was placed in the 13th position of the
1994 Ballon d'Or.
Letchkov went on to shine in the 1996 European Championships in England despite the failure of Bulgaria to reach the quarter finals: he played very well against Spain and Romania, and producing a man-of-the-match performance in the group B last match, against a strong French side. He went on to contribute greatly to his nation's successful qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup championships. However his chance to play in the tournament was blocked by FIFA due to a little publicised contractual dispute with Beşiktaş (see also above in "Club").
Post-football
Letchkov took part in a TV series called ''Golden Boots'' in 1998 with various other footballers, and in 2012 in the sport documentary called ''Stoichkov''. After his retirement from football he has successfully started a career as a businessman (owning luxury hotels and a football academy) and politician. He was elected Mayor of his home town, Sliven, in 2003 and reelected in 2007.
Since 2005, he has also been vice president of the Bulgarian Football Union. In April 2010 he was removed from the mayorship by the Sliven district court after he was charged with
official misconduct
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of the ...
, but the Burgas appellate court restored him to his position on 28 June 2010. Letchkov was replaced by the new mayor of Sliven Kolyo Milev in the 2011 local elections, who outran him with 56,72% vs. 43,28% of the votes. Many citizens stated that they had voted for a member of the opposing party to the ones they support only to remove Letchkov from his post. Many of the major boulevards in the city were left dug up and in deep pot-holes for nearly two years due to "controversy" and a lawsuit between the company working on restructuring the city's water supply and the city council. In contrast, while he was still mayor, the streets that lead to Letchkov's hotels in the city were reconstructed and refreshed with the addition of gardens and aesthetic sidewalks and street lighting.
Other scandals constantly accompanied him during his time as mayor, including the disrespecting of journalists and police officers (showing the middle finger) because he was wanted by the police after fleeing from a traffic stop after throwing his documents at them.
Career statistics
International
:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Letchkov goal.''
Honours
CSKA Sofia
*
Bulgarian Championship:
1991–92
OFC Sliven
*
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 ...
:
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
Beşiktaş
*
Turkish Cup
The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...
: 1998
Bulgaria
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
: fourth place
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letchkov, Yordan
1967 births
Living people
Footballers from Sliven
Bulgarian men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Bulgaria men's international footballers
1994 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1996 players
First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players
Ligue 1 players
Bundesliga players
Süper Lig players
FC Sliven players
PFC CSKA Sofia players
Hamburger SV players
Olympique de Marseille players
Beşiktaş J.K. footballers
Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in France
Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Mayors of places in Bulgaria
Bulgarian sportsperson-politicians
20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen