Nikola Todorov Kotkov ( bg, Никола Тодоров Котков) (9 December 1938 – 30 June 1971), nicknamed Koteto (Котето, "The

Kitten A kitten is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are totally dependent on their mothers for survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop qu ...

") was 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 ...

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. Born in the capital

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 ...

, Kotkov started his football career as a

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 ...

trainee and went on to spend much of it (1956–1969) with the club, winning the

Bulgarian Championship 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 ...

in 1964. He then played for

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 ...

, until his death in 1971. Kotkov died together with his friend and teammate

Georgi Asparuhov Georgi Asparuhov Rangelov ( bg, Георги Аспарухов Рангелов; 4 May 1943 – 30 June 1971), nicknamed Gundi, was a Bulgarian footballer who played as a striker. A prolific forward of his generation, Asparuhov was renowned ...

in a traffic accident in the

Vitinya Pass Vitinya Pass ( bg, Витиня) is a mountain pass in the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) in Bulgaria. It connects Sofia and Botevgrad. The Hemus motorway passes it in a tunnel just below the summit. The motorway includes a notable girder brid ...

of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

, en route to

Vratsa Vratsa ( bg, Враца ) is the largest city in northwestern Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is located about 112 km north of Sofia, 40 km southeast of Montana. ...

. With Levski, Kotkov became once again champion in 1970, winning 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 tournament ...

the same year. Kotkov played a total of 322 matches and scored 163 goals in the Bulgarian Championship and was given the

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 ...

award in 1964. For the Bulgaria national team, he had 26 caps and scored 12 goals, taking part in the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

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 ...

. Kotkov was known for his technique, pinpoint passing and skillful free kick taking.

Statistics

* National teams — 59 matches, 33 goals * Bulgarian championship — 322 matches, 163 goals — 286/145 for Lokomotiv, 45/25 for Levski * European club tournaments — 11 matches, 10 goals — CEC-6, CWC-5 * First match — with Lokomotiv Sofia 1956 * Last match — with Levski against CSKA — 28 June 1971 * All - 392 matches, 206 goals

Honours

* Champion of Bulgaria — 2 times, 1964 with Lokomotiv and 1970 with Levski * Holder of the National Cup — 2 times 1970, 1971 (posthumously) with Levski *

— 1964 * UEFA Euro Under-19 Champion with

—

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

* Holder of an Order of Labour — 1970 * Deserved Master of Sports * 25th place in the Golden Ball quiz —

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

References

External links

Article about Kotkov from a PFC Lokomotiv Sofia fansite

Profile at LevskiSofia.info
1938 births 1971 deaths Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players PFC Levski Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players 1966 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Sofia Road incident deaths in Bulgaria 20th-century Bulgarian people Association football forwards {{bulgaria-footy-forward-stub