Boris Nikolov or Boris Nikolof ( bg, Борис Николов), nicknamed The Bear (Мечката, ''Mechkata''), 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 Macedo ...

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, rugb ...

and football manager. In the inceptive years of leading Turkish (then Ottoman) football club

Galatasaray S.K. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, which he co-founded, Nikolov was both the club's first manager and first

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. In autumn 1905, Nikolov was, along with

Ali Sami Yen Ali Sami Yen, born Ali Sami Frashëri (20 May 1886 – 29 July 1951) was an Albanian-Turkish sports official best known as the founder of the Galatasaray Sports Club. After the enactment of law on family names in 1934, he took the surname Yen, ...

, among the thirteen founders of Galatasaray. In Galatasaray's all-time debut game, against

Cadi-Keuy FC Cadi-Keuy FC is a defunct sports club of Istanbul, Ottoman Empire. History Cadi-Keuy FC was a club which was founded by Englishmen James Lafontaine and Horace Armitage in 1899. Its name is a foreign rendering of Kadıköy, its home ground, as ...

, Nikolov scored a goal for Galatasaray's 2–0 victory. Nikolov's height and strength led to him receiving the nickname The Bear. As

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

, Nikolov also took part in Galatasaray's first league game of the

1906–07 Istanbul Football League The 1906–07 İstanbul Football League season was the third season of the league. Cadi-Keuy FC won the league for the second time. Season Matches * November 1906 Moda FC 5 - Cadi-Keuy FC 0 * November 1906 Galatasaray - Moda FC: 1-1 * December ...

, against

HMS Imogene FC HMS Imogen FC is a defunct sports club of Istanbul, Ottoman Empire. The club was founded by Englishmen. History HMS Imogene FC was a club which was founded by the crew of in 1904. They were the first club to win the Istanbul Football League. Hon ...

. Nikolov scored Galatasaray's only goal in a 1–1 draw. Out of nationalist concerns, the name of Nikolov had been erased from the official list of founders of Galatasaray as the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

commenced in 1912, along with the names of several other non-Turkish founders. However, the original list with Nikolov's name on it was reinstated after the foundation of the modern Republic of Turkey by

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

in 1923. The signature of one Boris Nikolov stands on the second copy of Bulgarian football club PFC Slavia Sofia's record of foundation from the early 1930s, reconfirming the club's original establishment in 1913. An article from the Bulgarian-language sports portal

Sportal Sportal was a company of the dotcom boom at the end of the 1990s. Founded by Rob Hersov, and backed by BSkyB and Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest among others, the company, originally called Pangolin, acquired rights to host a many official website ...

.bg theorizes about this Boris Nikolov being the same person as the co-founder, first manager and first captain of Galatasaray. The article recognizes the lack of any further evidence, other than the fact that multiple Bulgarian footballers returned to that country from

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

as the Balkan Wars began and were members of the pioneering football teams of

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 h ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolov, Boris Bulgarian footballers Bulgarian football managers Galatasaray S.K. (football) managers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Association footballers not categorized by position Bulgarian expatriate footballers Bulgarian expatriate football managers