Stefan Milkov Ginchev (born 16 June 1994) (

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

: Стефан Милков Гинчев), is a

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 for

FC Pavlikeni Football Club Pavlikeni ( bg, Павликени) are a Bulgarian Association football, football club based in Pavlikeni, who compete in the Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria), North-West Third League, the third division of Bulgarian footba ...

Early life

Ginchev was born in

Pavlikeni Pavlikeni ( bg, Павликени ) is a town in Veliko Tarnovo Province, Northern Bulgaria, about 41 kilometers from the city of Veliko Tarnovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Pavlikeni Municipality. As of December 2010, the ...

to Stela Chudomirova Gincheva, a teacher and Milko Georgiev Ginchev, a doctor. Also, they both were professional athletes: His mother was a handball player, while his father was a football

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. He has an elder brother, Georgi, who is currently a

. When he is not on the field, he is a very family oriented person. Growing up, when he was about to choose football as his career, he said that it was very difficult for him as that would mean less time with his family, who he says play a major role in his life.

Club career

The city of

was also the place where Ginchev first learned to master his skills as a

. He spent his early years playing for his local team and by the time he turned thirteen years old, he had already made a name for himself as one of

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 ...

's top

footballers 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 ...

. In 2007, Ginchev became one of the regional winners in the national Children and Football programme in

. He was given an award by the

football stars Dimitar Berbatov and

Martin Petrov Martin Petyov Petrov ( bg, Мартин Петьов Петров; born 15 January 1979) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a winger. Club career Petrov began his career for Botev Vratsa. After a few good seasons, he signed with CS ...

on a special ceremony in

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 ...

. He was then spotted by Vidima-Rakovski and moved to the club of

Sevlievo Sevlievo ( bg, Севлиево ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in north-central Bulgaria, part of Gabrovo Province. Sevlievo is known as one of the wealthiest towns in Bulgaria owing to the well developed local economy, high em ...

at the age of fourteen. From 2008 to 2012 he played for the youth teams and showed some very good skills. It wasn't long before he started to catch the attention of other big

clubs. He eventually chose to stay with the club and stressed to the public that he had no intentions of leaving. In 2010, Ginchev signed a contract with the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sportswear manufacturer Nike. The brand unveiled a marketing exercise in

, aiming to make young athletes look like the biggest stars in the business. He was the first youngster to be equipped under that scheme. In May 2012, he made his professional debut in

First Professional Football League 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 a game against

Botev Vratsa Botev ( bg, Ботев) is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Since 1948, Botev have played their home games at St ...

Honours

* Regional winner in the national Children and Football programme in

: 2007

References

External links

Profile on Soccerway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginchev, Stefan 1994 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria youth international footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Association football forwards Association football midfielders PFC Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo players FC Etar Veliko Tarnovo players People from Pavlikeni Sportspeople from Veliko Tarnovo Province