Martin Petyov Petrov ( bg, Мартин Петьов Петров; born 15 January 1979) is 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 ...

n former

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 ...

who played as a winger.

Club career

Petrov began his career for

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 ...

. After a few good seasons, he signed with

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 ...

and after two successful games against Servette in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

, the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

side bought the 19-year-old for 1.2 million

German mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

VfL Wolfsburg

In 2001 Petrov moved to

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

, where he established himself as an explosive player. He made his competitive debut on 14 July 2001 in a 4–3 home win over Dinamo Minsk in the Intertoto Cup, scoring a goal and laying on an assist. Petrov made his league debut for Wolfsburg on the opening day of the 2001–02 Bundesliga season, in a 2–1 away loss against

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, ...

on 28 July. In his first season at Wolfsburg, Petrov earned 32 appearances in the Bundesliga, scored 6 goals and provided 11 assists. On 30 October 2004, Petrov scored all four goals in Wolfsburg's 4–3 win over

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the t ...

. He made 30 appearances during the 2004–05 season finishing as the club's top scorer with 12 goals. He also made 14 assists.

Atletico Madrid

In summer 2005, Petrov was bought by

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

for a fee of €10 million. On 14 October 2006, Petrov suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a game against

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

and was sidelined for more than six months. He made his comeback for Atlético from a serious knee injury on 28 April 2007, playing for 56 minutes in a 0–0 draw against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito ...

. On 6 May, Petrov netted Atlético's only goal in their 2–1 defeat at

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

. On 24 July 2007, after constant press speculation about him leaving the club, it was reported that

had placed a £6.2 million price on the player. Later that day, he left the Atlético Madrid training camp to think over his future with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

reputedly interested in the player. On 25 July, reports in the Spanish press suggested that Petrov had already agreed terms and had medical tests with

and that only minor details needed completing before finalising a move to Eastlands. Manchester City confirmed the £4.7 million (€7 million) move on a three-year contract on 26 July 2007.

Manchester City

His first

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

game was on 11 August 2007 when he in Manchester City's 2–0 win over West Ham United at Upton Park. His first goals came on 22 September 2007 against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

. After that Petrov scored two goals, one in the 3–1 win over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

the other one in the 2–1 win over

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

and also notched up six assists. He was sent off by referee

Rob Styles Robert Styles (born 21 April 1964
at

in the home loss to Everton, for kicking Leon Osman. The challenge earned him a straight red card which banned him for three games. Petrov added to his tally with a goal against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

. Following the influx of new players at Manchester City such as Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor, Petrov was linked with a move away from the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

. He was often in and out of the first team. However, he scored goals in the first two games that he had started, prompting Hughes to start Petrov in place of

Shaun Wright-Phillips Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 25 October 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He played in the Premier League and Football League for Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, in Major Leagu ...

at home against Fulham. Though he scored, he also aggravated the knee injury that had plagued him. After the sacking of Mark Hughes and arrival of

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sam ...

, he started both league games and scored in the 2–0 win over

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 26 December. He also publicly expressed his anger against Hughes as Petrov was frequently moved in and out of the starting 11. On 18 April 2010, Petrov announced that his season was over and that he would miss the four remaining Premier League games due to a knee injury. On 8 June 2010, it was announced that Petrov's contract had expired and that he would be leaving the club, along with Benjani Mwaruwari, Karl Moore and Sylvinho.

Bolton Wanderers

On 22 June 2010, it was announced that Petrov had agreed terms with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

, and the free transfer was completed when the transfer window opened on 1 July. He scored his first goal for the club against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

on 26 September 2010, and finished the season with three goals. His 2nd season saw him score six goals, four in the League, one in the League Cup and one in the FA Cup as Bolton were relegated from the Premier League. At the end of the season, Petrov had played enough matches (needed 30 played 35) to activate a clause in his contract, extending his contract for another season.

Espanyol

Petrov signed for La Liga side

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

for the remainder of the 2012–13 season on 14 January 2013. He struggled to establish himself as part of the first team and left the club at the end of the season.

CSKA Sofia

After 15 years abroad Petrov made his return to

in October 2013. On 31 October 2013, Petrov made his return debut for the "armymen" after coming on as a second-half substitute in the 1–0 home win over Beroe in an

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 ...

match. He played for the first time as a starter on 16 November, in the 0–0 draw with

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 ...

in a

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 tourname ...

game. His first goal came in the 3–1 away win over

PFC Neftochimic Burgas Neftochimic ( bg, Нефтохимик) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Burgas, which currently competes in B RFG Burgas, the fifth tier of the Bulgarian football league system, after being disqualified for financi ...

on 25 November. Petrov participated in his last match as a professional footballer on 17 May 2014, in the 1–1 draw against

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park a ...

, which was part of the last round of the

2013–14 A Group The 2013–14 A Group was the 90th season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, and 66th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid. The season started on 19 July ...

season.

International career

In June 1999, he received his first call-up to the Bulgarian national team for a Euro 2000 qualifier against

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 ...

. He came as a substitution at the place of his idol

Hristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov ( bg, Христо Стоичков Стоичков, ; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who is a football commentator for TUDN. A prolific forward, he is regarded as one of the bes ...

. However, it proved to be an inauspicious start to his international career; he was sent off for a second yellow card just eight minutes after coming on as a substitute. Petrov cried while he was leaving the pitch. Petrov was the key player in Bulgaria's unsuccessful Euro 2004 participation, excelling in all three games and scoring Bulgaria's only goal at the finals; a penalty against Italy in Bulgaria's 1–2 loss. On 2 September 2006, Petrov played a crucial role in the Bulgarian national team's

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

opening qualifying game against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in Constanţa, nailing two goals in two minutes to equalize from 2–0 in the last minutes of the game. This was seen as a remarkable comeback. He also went on to score against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

(in a 3–0 win) and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(in a 1–1 draw). His performances in the 2006 qualifying campaign earned him the 2006 Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award. On 7 September 2010, Petrov earned his 80th cap for Bulgaria in the 0–1 home loss in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Club

CSKA Sofia * Bulgarian A Group: 1996–97 *

: 1996–97 Servette *

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 seaso ...

: 1998–99 *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

: 2000–01 Atlético Madrid *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, ' betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Fo ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

Individual

* Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 2006

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrov, Martin 1979 births Living people People from Vratsa Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in England Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Spain Association football wingers FC Botev Vratsa players PFC CSKA Sofia players Servette FC players VfL Wolfsburg players Atlético Madrid footballers Manchester City F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players RCD Espanyol footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players La Liga players Premier League players English Football League players UEFA Euro 2004 players