Aleksandar Aleksandrov ( bg, Александър Александров; born 19 January 1975 in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

) is a former

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

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 le ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

. Aleksandrov was honoured as

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year Bulgarian Footballer of the Year ( bg, Футболист №1 на България, ''Futbolist №1 na Balgariya'') is an annual title awarded to the best Bulgarian association football player of the year. The award has been given since 1961, an ...

in 1999 and Footballer of the Year of

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

for 2007 and for 2008.

Career

Aleksandar Aleksandrov began his career in his hometown of

in the Maritsa and played there until 1997. Then his career lead him to

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, as

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) 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 b ...

were interested and bought him. He entertained "The Blues" fans for four years, until the Turkish team

Kocaelispor Kocaelispor is a Turkish football club based in İzmit. They were founded in 1966 and played in the top level between 1980–1988 and 1992–2003. Their best finish was in 1992–93 season, where they finished fourth. They have won the Turkish ...

lured him from Levski.

Turkish teams

After two years in Kocaelispor, he changed teams and moved to Istanbulspor AS. After

İstanbulspor İstanbulspor is a Turkish football and sports club founded by Istanbul High School students in 1926. In 2004–05 they were relegated from the Turkish Süper Lig (Super League) to TFF 1. Lig. For many decades it was the fourth most famous and ...

he played in

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...

and

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club) is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya. They are better known as Konyaspor. In 1922 Konyaspor were founded with the name Konya Gençlerbirliği and have played at their current home stadium ...

, then signed with Ankaragucu (2006–2007).

Cherno More Varna

In July 2007, Aleksandrov returned to

and signed a three years contract with

Cherno More Varna Cherno More ( bg, Черно Море) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on March 3, 1913, as an assoc ...

. The following 2007–08 season in the Bulgarian championship, Alex was honoured as the most valuable player in the Bulgarian A PFG. On 28 September 2009, Alex terminated his contract with the Sailors, due to family difficulties and problems with the owners of the club.

Return to Levski

After 10 years, Alex returned to Levski Sofia on 5 January 2010. He signed a one-a-half-year contract with the club and was given the number 7 shirt. Aleksandrov made his re-debut for Levski on 7 March 2010 against

Minyor Pernik FC Minyor ( bg, ФК Миньор) is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, that competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The c ...

. The result of the match was 3:1 for Levski. In the first friendly match for 2010/2011 season, Aleksandrov played with his nickname Alex, as he did in

Botev Plovdiv

In June 2011, Aleksandrov joined

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv ( bg, „Ботев“ Пловдив, ) or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, that competes ...

, where he would eventually retire.

International career

Between 1999 and 2003 Aleksandrov played in

Bulgaria national football team The Bulgaria national football team ( bg, Български национален отбор по футбол, Bǎlgarski natsionalen otbor po futbol) represents Bulgaria in men's international Association football, football and is administere ...

. Alex earned his first cap with

in a 3–0 victory over

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

on 10 October 1999. For

, he was capped 10 times.

Trophies won

Although not famous around the world, his career is marked by a few trophies. The first one is just after his arrival in Levski, in 1998 when "The Blues" win Bulgarian Cup. That trophy is followed by a double in 2000, when Levski not only win the Bulgarian Championship, but the Bulgarian Cup as well. Meanwhile, he has won "The Best Bulgarian Footballer" award in 1999. After his move to

the trophies continue to follow him, as his team wins the Turkish Cup in 2002. ;Levski * Champion of Bulgaria: 2000 *

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) 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 ...

: 1998, 2000 ;Kocaelispor *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') 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 ...

: 2002 ;Individual *

: 1999 *Footballer of the Year of

: 2007, 2008

Career Stats

:''Updated 2 September 2010.''

References

External links

Aleksandrov at Levski's official website

Profile at Levskisofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleksandrov, Aleksandar 1975 births Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers Living people FC Maritsa Plovdiv players PFC Levski Sofia players Kayserispor footballers Kocaelispor footballers Konyaspor footballers PFC Cherno More Varna players Botev Plovdiv players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Süper Lig players Bulgarian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Association football midfielders