Petar Petrov Zhekov ( bg, Петър Петров Жеков, born 10 October 1944) is a former

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 ...

, widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the history of the Bulgarian football. He won the silver medal at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport ev ...

. Zhekov was born in Knizhovnik,

Haskovo Province Haskovo Province ( bg, Област Хасково - ''Oblast Haskovo'', former name ''Haskovo okrug'') is a province in southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece and Turkey to the southeast, comprising parts of the Thracian valley along the river ...

, and began his career at F.C. Dimitrovgrad. He was initially deployed as a defender, but on the advice of manager Hristo Hadzhiev switched to the forward position. Later he moved to

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 ...

, where he twice became Bulgaria's top goalscorer. Between 1968 and 1975 Zhekov played for

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 scored 144 goals for the team. This makes him the club's best goalscorer of all time. He also won the European Golden Boot in 1969 and two European Bronze Boots. He has 333 appearances and a record of 253 goals in the Bulgarian A Group. He later coached

PFC Hebar Pazardzhik FC Hebar ( bg, Футболен клуб Хебър) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Pazardzhik. The club currently competes in the First League, the first tier of the Bulgarian football league system. Founded in 1918, Hebar h ...

.Петър Жеков
hebarfc.com

Career statistics

Honours

* Bulgarian League: 6 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75 *

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 ...

: 4 :: 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974

Individual

* European Golden Boot: 1969 * Bulgarian League Top Scorer : 6 times :: 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973

References

1944 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers Olympic silver medalists for Bulgaria Olympic footballers of Bulgaria Footballers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics FC Dimitrovgrad players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players PFC CSKA Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players People from Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria Olympic medalists in football Bulgarian football managers PFC Hebar Pazardzhik managers OFC Vihren Sandanski managers Association football forwards Sportspeople from Haskovo Province {{Bulgaria-footy-forward-stub