Georgi Hristov ( bg, Георги Христов; born 10 January 1985) 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 Macedon ...

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 le ...

who played as a striker.

Career

Maritsa Plovdiv

Hristov was born 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 ...

. He grew up as part of Maritsa Plovdiv's academy and made his debut for the senior team in 2002/2003 season. He played for Maritsa until 2007. During the 2005/2006 season he was

B PFG The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...

's top scorer, with 18 goals. In the same season he was chosen the best footballer of B PFG East group by other players.

Botev Plovdiv

He signed a contract with Botev during summer of 2007. In his first season in

A PFG The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

he became a topscorer, scoring 19 goals and was chosen the best footballer of the season by other players. Hristov became a free-agent on 4 July 2008.

Levski Sofia

Hristov started training with Levski Sofia on 23 June 2008. Later, he signed his contract with 'the Blues'. He scored a hat-trick against his ex-team Botev, in one of his first matches for Levski. On 13 August 2008, Hristov earned a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

for Levski Sofia in the first leg of a decisive Champions League match against

BATE Borisov FC BATE Borisov (russian: link=no, ФК БАТЭ Борисов, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; be, ФК БАТЭ Барысаў, ''BATE Barysaw,'' ) is a professional Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusi ...

, but it was not converted and the "bluemen" subsequently lost the match by a score of 0:1. On 26 April 2009 Hristov scored four goals against

PFC Belasitsa Petrich OFC Belasitsa ( bg, ОФК Беласица Петрич) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Petrich, currently playing in the Second League. The team was founded in 1923. They play at the Stadion Tsar Samuil in Petrich, which has a ...

. He scored in 56th, 63rd, 65th and 86th minute. The result of the match was 1:7 with a guest win for Levski Sofia. On 9 May 2009 Hristov scored the first goal for Levski Sofia in

The Eternal Derby The Eternal derby of Bulgarian football or simply The Eternal derby ( bg, Вечното дерби) is the name of the local derby Association football, football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulg ...

against CSKA. The result of the match was 0:2 with a guest win for Levski. He became a Champion of Bulgaria in 2009. On 15 July 2009, Hristov opened his goal account for the new season with two goals in the first official match for Levski during 2009/2010 season. The event took place in the 2nd Qualifying round of

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, where Levski beaten the team of

UE Sant Julià Unió Esportiva Sant Julià, also known as UE Sant Julià, is an Andorran football club based in the parish of Sant Julià de Lòria. The club currently plays in Primera Divisió. History Founded in 1982 UE Sant Julià is the main football club ...

. The result of the match was 4:0 with a home win for Levski. On 5 August 2009, he also scored against

FK Baku FC Baku ( az, "Bakı" Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Baku that has been an amateur club since 2016. Prior to that, Baku played 18 seasons in the Azerbaijan Premier League, winning the championship twice and earning the Nat ...

to wrap up a 2:0 win for the team from

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 ...

. In the play-off round Levski was eliminated by

Debreceni VSC Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club is a professional football club, based in Debrecen, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the first tier of Hungarian football. They are best known internationally for reaching the group stages of the ...

with 4:1 (on aggregate). However, Levski qualified for

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. On 8 January 2009. the coach of Levski Georgi Ivanov, announced that he gave 'his' ex-kit-number 9 to Hristov.

Wisła Kraków

On 26 February 2010

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. It ...

signed the

n forward on loan from

PFC 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 ...

. On 7 June 2010 it was announced that Hristov's loan contract would be terminated and he would return to Levski, unlike the initial plans of

Wisła Wisła (; german: Weichsel; cs, Visla) is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,132 (2019), near the border with Czech Republic. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in t ...

having him on loan until December 2010.

Return to Bulgaria

On 31 August 2010, Hristov moved to

PFC Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground ...

. In August 2012, he moved to another

outfit

PFC Lokomotiv Sofia Lokomotiv 1929 ( bg, Локомотив 1929) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at th ...

. In February 2013, he trialed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

Tampa Bay Rowdies

On 8 March 2013, The

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

, of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, announced that the club had signed Hristov to a two-year deal. Year two of the contract is a club option. Hristov scored his first goal for the Rowdies in a 2-0 win against the

San Antonio Scorpions The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadiu ...

. Hristov made 22 appearances during his first season in USA, finishing as the club's top scorer with 12 goals. He also made 8 assists. He won the MVP award of the league that year. On July 4, 2018 Hristov scored his 58th career goal for the Rowdies, making him the Rowdies’ all-time top scorer. Since retiring from professional football, Hristov has featured for

Nashville United Nashville United is an American soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team competes in the Southeast Conference of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), generally considered to be the fourth tier of the United States soccer league ...

during 2020 U.S. Open Cup qualification, and for South Tampa FC of the Florida Suncoast Soccer League, which is a Tampa Bay-area Sunday league.

International career

Georgi Hristov was called up for one friendly match against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

in August 2008, but remained an unused substitute.

Personal life

Hristov is an avid

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

fan, and cited the American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

as his favourite. His older brother Hristo is a guitarist in the rock band P.I.F.

Statistics

: ''(As of 22 May 2018)''

Honours

Levski

: 2008–09 *

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 and ...

: 2009

Individual

Top Goalscorer: 2005–06 *

Top Goalscorer: 2007–08 * B PFG "East" Footballer of the Season: 2005–06 * A PFG Footballer of the Season: 2007–08 * NASL Golden Ball: 2013 * NASL Best XI: 2013 * NASL Player of the Month - September 2013

References

External links

*
Tampa Bay Rowdies profile

Profile at LevskiSofia.info
1985 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers Association football forwards First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Israeli Premier League players Ekstraklasa players North American Soccer League players USL Championship players FC Maritsa Plovdiv players Botev Plovdiv players PFC Levski Sofia players Wisła Kraków players PFC Slavia Sofia players F.C. Ashdod players{{citation needed, date=October 2021 FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate footballers in Israel Expatriate soccer players in the United States Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Footballers from Plovdiv United Premier Soccer League players