Georgi Vasilev Ivanov ( bg, Георги Василев Иванов; born 9 August 1946), nicknamed Gocheto and The General, 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 Macedo ...

n footballer who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and a current football manager.

Biography

Born in Bobovdol, Vasilev began his football career at Cherveno Zname of Radomir, representing the team between 1961 and 1965, before moving to

FC Sliven FC Sliven (ФК Сливен) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Sliven, currently playing in the Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria), Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground is the Hadzhi Dimit ...

in 1967 and then to

Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa Lokomotiv ( bg, Локомотив) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Gorna Oryahovitsa, which currently competes in the Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football. Established in 1932 as a sports association of the rai ...

in 1967–68. He also played for

Marek Dupnitsa FC Marek ( bg, ФК Марек) is a Bulgarian football club based in Dupnitsa, currently playing in the Third League, the third level of the Bulgarian football league system. It was founded in 1947 following the unification of four local clubs. ...

(1968–69) and Etar Veliko Tarnovo (1969–77), featuring in 220 matches and scoring 32 goals in the

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 ...

. While at Etar, he graduated in history from

Veliko Tarnovo University The St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo ( Bulgarian ''Великотърновски университет „Св. св. Кирил и Методий“'') is a Bulgarian university based in Veliko Tarnovo. History ...

. Finishing the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

school for football managers, Vasilev's first team as a manager was Levski Strazhitsa, which he managed in 1977–79. He was then appointed to work at Etar as an assistant manager (1979–81) and manager (until 1992, with some interruptions). In 1984–85 he was at the helm of

Spartak Pleven OFK Spartak ( bg, ОФК Спартак) is a Bulgarian municipal association football club from the city of Pleven founded on 10 September 1919. It currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. The team's grea ...

and in 1985–86 he was the assistant manager of the Bulgaria national team. Vasilev managed

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 ...

in 1993–95, the

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club fo ...

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) 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 Sport ...

(1996–98) and

Lokomotiv Sofia Lokomotiv 1929 ( bg, Локомотив 1929) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refou ...

, before taking up

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

, whom he led to the 2nd Bundesliga and a

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

final, as well as

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

participation. He then moved to Nea Salamis Famagusta FC in the spring of 2003 and returned to Levski Sofia in 2003–04 only to once again briefly manager

in January 2006. From April 2006 to the summer of 2007, he was in charge of B PFG side

Naftex Burgas ''For the new club claimed as the successor, see PFC Neftochimic Burgas.'' PFC Naftex Burgas ({{Lang-bg, ПФК Нафтекс) is a former football club from Burgas, Bulgaria. History The club was created in 1962 by a group of workers, laying t ...

. In June 2007, Vasilev was announced as the new manager of Greek club Levadiakos. Between December 2009 to June 2010 he managed

PFC Nesebar Nesebar ( bg, Несебър) is a Bulgarian municipal ( bg, общински, pronounced obshtinski) association football club based in Nesebar, Burgas Province, that competes in the Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football. Nesebar h ...

. From March 2011 to May 2011 he led Chernomorets Burgas. Vasilev has won the A PFG with Etar (1991), Levski (1994, 1995) and CSKA (1997), as well as the

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 ...

with Levski (1994) and CSKA (1997). While in charge of Levski, Vasilev eliminated the Scottish

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

from the UEFA Champions League 1993–94. He has been honoured as the coach of the 20th century of

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasilev, Georgi 1946 births Bulgarian football managers Bulgarian footballers Association football midfielders Bulgarian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Germany Living people Lokomotiv Sofia First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa players Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. managers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 1. FC Union Berlin managers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany PFC Levski Sofia managers PFC CSKA Sofia managers PSFC Chernomorets Burgas managers FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia managers Nea Salamis Famagusta FC managers Sportspeople from Kyustendil Province