Georgi Nikolov Dermendziev ( bg, Георги Николов Дерменджиев; born 4 January 1955) is a

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 Macedo ...

n professional football manager and former player who played as a defender.

Coaching career

After managing

Spartak Plovdiv PFC Spartak Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Спартак Пловдив) is a Bulgarian football club based in Plovdiv, which currently plays in the third tier of Bulgarian football, the Third League. The club was established in 1947 and folded its seni ...

as a head coach for one season, he became an assistant at

Litex Lovech Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...

under Ferario Spasov. He remained in this role for several years, followed by short spells at Botev Plovdiv and

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

. He later briefly managed the latter during the 2010-11 A Group, but was unable to help them avoid relegation.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On July 31, 2014, Dermendzhiev replaced Stoycho Stoev as head coach at Ludogorets following the latter's disappointing 0-0 home draw against

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

in a Champions League qualifying match. On 27 August 2014, Dermendzhiev became the second Bulgarian manager (after Stanimir Stoilov in 2006) to qualify a team from his country to the group stage of the Champions League. On 22 October 2014 he became the first Bulgarian coach to achieve a win in the Champions League's group phase when Ludogorets beat Basel. He resigned from the team on 31 May 2015, but after Ludogorets was unsuccessfully led by his successors Bruno Ribeiro and

Eduard Eranosyan Eduard Antranik Eranosyan ( bg, Едуард Антраник Ераносян; born 8 February 1961), nicknamed ''"Edo"'' ''( bg, Едо)'', is a Bulgarian football manager and a former player who played as a striker. Eranosyan played for Lok ...

, he was appointed again as manager on 6 November. In the 2016–17 Champions League Ludogorets won the qualifiers against Mladost Podgorica and

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, and the play-off against

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

, respectively, thus becoming the first Bulgarian team to qualify twice for the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

of the tournament, both times with Georgi Dermendzhiev as a coach. Dermendzhiev resigned on 9 August 2017 after the team failed to win the 2017 Bulgarian Supercup.

Ordabasy

On 9 January 2018 Dermendzhiev signed a deal with the

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

team Ordabasy. He left the position in June 2018.

Levski Sofia

On 22 January 2019, Dermendzhiev returned to Bulgaria, being appointed as head coach of

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 ...

. He was released from his duties on 29 April 2019.

Bulgaria

In October 2019, Dermendzhiev was appointed as head coach of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

to manage the side during the remaining Euro 2020 qualifiers. In April 2020, his contract was extended for an additional six months, with the option for a further one year and a half. In December 2020, the Football Union announced that Dermendzhiev will not continue in his position as manager after the national team failed to qualify for

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

via the playoff route and was relegated from League B to League C in the Nations League. Dermendzhiev had previously faced strong criticism by Minister of Youth and Sports

Krasen Kralev Krassen Kirilov Kralev ( bg, Красен Кирилов Кралев), born 2 January 1967 in Varna, is a Bulgarian businessman and politician, who was the Minister of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria as part of the Second Borisov Government and ...

due to the perceived failure to integrate more U-21 players into the senior team and the results attained, including the team's tendency to concede

last-minute goal The term "last-minute goal" is used in sport, primarily association football, to describe a goal scored very late in a game, usually one that affects the outcome of the game. The definition of a "last-minute goal" commonly used is one scored either ...

Managerial statistics

Career honours

Player

;Slavia Sofia

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 tournamen ...

: *Winners (1): 1979–80

Head coach

;Ludogorets Razgrad Bulgarian A Group: *Champions (3): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match an ...

: *Winners (1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

;Bulgarian Manager of the Year: *Winner (1): 2014

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dermendzhiev, Georgi 1955 births Living people Bulgarian footballers PFC Slavia Sofia players FC Yantra Gabrovo players FC Spartak Plovdiv players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Association football defenders Bulgarian football managers Bulgarian expatriate football managers PFC Ludogorets Razgrad managers FC Ordabasy managers PFC Levski Sofia managers Expatriate football managers in Kazakhstan Bulgarian expatriates in Kazakhstan Footballers from Plovdiv Bulgaria national football team managers