Tomas Lafchis also pronounced Thomas Laftsis ( bg, Томас Лафчис, gr, Θωμάς Λαφτσής; born 6 August 1958) is a Bulgarian retired

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

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 clubs in Bulgaria, Greece and Belgium.

Playing career

Lafchis began playing football for Bulgarian clubs PFC Cherno More Varna and OFC Sliven. In 1977, he joined

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 ...

, and helped the club win 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 ...

and the Bulgarian A PFG in 1979. In 1981, Lafchis joined Greek First Division side

OFI Crete F.C. OFI Crete Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Ηρακλείου 1925, ''Club of Fans of Heraklion 1925''), is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is a par ...

for two seasons. He moved to fellow First Division club

Panathinaikos F.C. Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', "All-Athenian ...

for the following two seasons, where he would win the

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

. After a brief spell in Belgium, he returned to play two more seasons in the Greek First Division with OFI Crete.

Managerial career

After he retired from playing, Lafchis became a director. He was the owner of Levski Sofia from 1991 to 1999. In this era, Levski managed to win three Bulgarian A PFG titles and four

Personal

Lafchis is of Greek ethnicity. He is married to Bulgarian National Television director Vyara Ankova.

References

External links

Profile at Events.bgProfile at Levskisofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafchis, Tomas 1958 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers Bulgarian football managers PFC Levski Sofia players OFI Crete F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Super League Greece players Expatriate footballers in Greece Bulgarian people of Greek descent Association football goalkeepers Footballers from Sofia