Nikola Chivarov Tzanev (born 23 December 1996) is a New Zealand 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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for club

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

. Tzanev is a product of the Brentford Academy and began his professional career with the club. He began his senior career with AFC Wimbledon in 2017 and by 2021, had established himself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper. Tzanev is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

international.

Club career

Brentford

, Tzanev moved from his native

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2006. He trained with a

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

development programme and Hampton & Richmond Borough, before joining the

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. He moved to join the

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and progressed through the ranks to sign a Youth Development contract in 2013, which enabled him to continue his education through to his

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

. He made 39 appearances for the

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

during the final three seasons of his youth career and won the club's Youth Team Player of the Year award for his performances during the 2014–15 season. Tzanev signed a one-year Development Squad contract at the end of the 2014–15 season, but made just eight appearances and played a month away on loan at

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division strugglers

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

before his release at the end of the 2015–16 season.

AFC Wimbledon

2016–2018

During the course of the 2016–17 season, Tzanev trialled with EFL clubs

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

and

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

. He joined the

Development Squad on trial in March 2017 and impressed enough to be awarded a contract until the end of the season on 28 April 2017. He was called into the first team squad for the club's final match of the season versus

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

and remained an unused substitute during the 0–0 draw. Tzanev signed a new contract on 8 May 2017 and was an unused substitute on five occasions during the 2017–18 season.

2018–19

Tzanev signed a new contract in July 2018, but received just one call into the first team squad during the first half of the 2018–19 season. On 18 January 2019, Tzanev joined Isthmian League Premier Division club

Potters Bar Town Potters Bar Town Football Club is an English football club based in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England. They were formed in 1960 as Mount Grace Old Scholars, and, after dropping 'Old Scholars' from the name in 1984, changed to their present na ...

on a one-month loan, which was subsequently extended until the end of the season. He made 15 appearances during his spell.

2019–20

Having signed a contract extension in February 2019, injury to first-choice goalkeeper

Nathan Trott Nathan Wallace Newman Trott (born 21 November 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Danish club Vejle Boldklub, on loan from West Ham United. Born in Bermuda, he has represented both Bermuda and England at youth intern ...

allowed Tzanev to make his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2019–20 season, in a 2–1 defeat to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

. Tzanev made three further appearances before spending the remainder of the season away on loan at

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...

, whom he joined on 15 November 2019. He made 19 appearances before the season was ended early.

2020–21

Tzanev served as backup to goalkeepers Connal Trueman and then Sam Walker for much of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season and played predominantly in cup matches. A injury suffered by Walker in March 2021 allowed Tzanev to break into the starting lineup for the first time in his career with the club and he finished the season with 19 appearances.

2022–2023

Ahead of the 2021–22 season, Tzanev was awarded squad number 1 and after starting each of the Dons' first eight matches of the campaign, he signed a new three-year contract. He made a career-high 53 appearances during a 2021–22 season which culminated in relegation to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. Tzanev made 41 appearances during the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, in which the club narrowly avoided a second-successive relegation. Tzanev spent the 2023–24 season behind loanee Alex Bass and made just 9 appearances, predominantly in cup competitions. Tzanev was released when his contract expired and ended his AFC Wimbledon career on 126 appearances.

International career

Tzanev won his maiden call up to the New Zealand U20 squad for two

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

versus

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

in April 2015 and made his debut in the second match, playing the full 90 minutes. He was called into the New Zealand squad for the 2015 U20 World Cup, held on home turf and he made two appearances as the All Whites reached the last-16. He was subsequently called into the U23 squad for the

2015 Pacific Games The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015. It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby. More tha ...

, but failed to make an appearance. Tzanev received his maiden senior international call-up for a friendly match versus

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on 25 March 2018 and was an unused substitute during the 1–0 defeat. He was named in a youthful squad for the 2018 Intercontinental Cup and made his full international debut with a start in a 1–0 victory over

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

on 5 June 2018. Call-ups for pairs of friendlies in October 2021 and June 2023 respectively yielded no appearances. More than five years after his first cap, Tzanev won his second with a start in a 1–1 friendly draw with

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

on 13 October 2023.

Personal life

Tzanev was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

at age three, before moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 2006 at age 9. He attended

Hinchley Wood School Hinchley Wood School is a secondary school with academy status in Hinchley Wood Surrey, England. Overview Hinchley Wood School admits pupils from the age of eleven to between sixteen and eighteen. The school has a Sixth Form which provides a to ...

. He holds

dual nationality Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on t ...

with

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Individual * Brentford Youth Team Player of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

*
Nik Tzanev
at afcwimbledon.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tzanev, Nik Living people New Zealand men's association footballers English Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers Isthmian League players Lewes F.C. players 1996 births New Zealand people of Bulgarian descent New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England New Zealand men's under-20 international footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Association footballers from Wellington City AFC Wimbledon players New Zealand men's international footballers Potters Bar Town F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players National League (English football) players