Yanaki Smirnov ( bg, Янаки Смирнов; born 20 December 1992) is a Bulgarian

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Dorostol.

Career

Early career

Yanaki moved to Greece with his family where he started his career in the local

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. A year later his family returned to his hometown of

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

, where he joined Spartak Varna's academy. He spent one year in

Hristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov ( bg, Христо Стоичков Стоичков, ; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional Association football, footballer who is a football commentator for TUDN. A prolific Forward (association ...

's academy at the

Vilafranca Vilafranca is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Ports, in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. Prior to 2022, it was part of a different ''comarca'', l'Alt Maestrat. Its official Spanish language name is Villafranca del Cid ...

football club. After that he joined

Litex Lovech Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...

academy. He later moved again to Spartak Varna.

Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa

In the summer of 2014, Smirnov signed with the

B Group The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...

team

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 ...

. He scored a goal in his debut for Loko against Loko Mezdra. He scored 13 goals in his first 9 matches. He became the top goalscorer of

with 23 goals scored in 26 matches.Янаки Смирнов стана голмайстор на "Б" група
/ref>

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 7 July 2015, Smirnov signed a contract with Ludogorets Razgrad II, the B team of Bulgarian champions Ludogorets, who play in Bulgaria's 2nd league

. He chose Ludogorets team over

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 ...

. He made his debut for Ludogorets II on 25 July 2015 in a match against

Dunav Ruse FC Dunav ( bg, Дунав, officially named ''"Дунав от Русе"'') is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Ruse, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system. Part o ...

. On 23 September 2015 he made his debut for Ludogorets Razgrad in a match for 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 ...

against Lokomotiv 1929 Mezdra, scoring a goal in the 5:0 win. On 22 May 2015 he made his complete debut in the

A Group 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 ...

for Ludogorets in a match against

Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe ( bg, Берое) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Stara Zagora, that competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded in 1916 under the name ''Vere ...

Loan to Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa

On 17 June 2016 Smirnov joined

for the second time, but now on loan for a season. His loan was ended on 28 December 2016 and he returned it Ludogorets doubles. A week after he was released from Ludogorets.

Botev Vratsa

On 11 April 2017, Smirnov signed with

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 ...

. In May 2018, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Dobrudzha Dobrich

In June 2018, Smirnov joined Dobrudzha Dobrich.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Litex Lovech *

. (1): 2010–11 Neftochimic Burgas *

. (1): 2012–13

Individual

* Bulgarian B Football Group – Top scorer: 2014–15 (23 goals)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smirnov, Yanaki 1992 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Men's association football forwards First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC Litex Lovech players FC Spartak Varna players PFC Neftochimic Burgas (2009–2014) players FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad II players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players POFC Botev Vratsa players FC Dobrudzha Dobrich players FC Chernomorets Balchik players OFC Pomorie players Footballers from Varna, Bulgaria