Nikolay Dimitrov (footballer, born 1987)

Nikolay Dimitrov (Bulgarian: Николай Димитров; born 15 October 1987) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a winger.

Nikolay Dimitrov
Dimitrov with Ural in 2017
Personal information
Full name Nikolay Emilov Dimitrov
Date of birth (1987-10-15) 15 October 1987
Place of birth Ruse, Bulgaria
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
2000–2004 Levski Sofia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2010 Levski Sofia 89 (18)
2010–2012 Kasımpaşa 58 (16)
2013 Samsunspor 17 (5)
2013–2014 Boluspor 25 (2)
2014–2015 Manisaspor 32 (11)
2015–2016 Xanthi 23 (2)
2016 Slavia Sofia 11 (1)
2017–2020 Ural Yekaterinburg 82 (8)
National team
2007–2008 Bulgaria U-21
2008–2019 Bulgaria 11 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Levski Sofia

Born in Ruse, Nikolay Dimitrov started growing his football abilities in Levski Sofia's Youth academy. Dimitrov took his league bow for Levski in 2004–05 season, making seven substitute appearances in his first campaign. He made his senior debut on 6 August 2004, in a 3–1 win over Slavia Sofia, as an 89th-minute substitute for Emil Angelov.[1]

In the following season Dimitrov scored his first and second goals for the club, during a 6–1 win over Rodopa Smolyan on 30 April 2006. His first start came against Belasitsa Petrich in the final game of the A PFG season on 30 May.[2]

Dimitrov became a regular starter during the 2007–08 season. He ended that season with 8 league goals in 29 matches. With Levski Dimitrov has won three A PFG titles, two Bulgarian Cups and three Bulgarian Supercups.

Kasımpaşa S.K.

On 17 May 2010, Dimitrov together with his teammate Georgi Sarmov signed for Kasımpaşa S.K. for five years.[3] He made his Süper Lig debut on 14 August 2010, in a 0–0 away draw against Gaziantepspor. On 27 October, Dimitrov scored a penalty in a 4–1 Turkish Cup win over Menemen Belediyespor. On 20 November, he scored his first Süper Lig goal against Gençlerbirliği. During the season, he earned 23 league appearances and scored two goals. However, Dimitrov and his Kasımpaşa team mates were relegated at the season's end.

During 2011–12 season he scored 12 goals in the TFF First League. His goals helped the team reach the promotion playoffs for the Süper Lig. On 19 May 2012, Dimitrov scored in a 2–0 away win against Konyaspor in the first leg of the play-offs semi-final. Four days later, en route to the play-off final, he scored the first goal, his fourteenth of the season, in Kasımpaşa's 3–0 home win over Konyaspor. On 27 May he played 120 minutes in the play-off Final against Adanaspor.[4] Kasımpaşa won the match 3–2 after extra time with goals from Gökhan Güleç, Adem Büyük and Azar Karadas sending them back to the Süper Lig after a one season absence.

Slavia Sofia

Dimitrov joined Slavia Sofia on 29 September 2016.[5]

Ural Yekaterinburg

On 10 June 2020, his club FC Ural Yekaterinburg announced that his contract was terminated by mutual consent as Dimitrov decided to retire from playing.[6]

International career

He made his debut for Bulgaria national football team on 6 February 2008 in a friendly match against Northern Ireland, a game in which Bulgaria won with a score of 0–1.[7] Dimitrov came on as a substitute and played during the second half of the match. In November 2016, he was recalled to the national side (after a long absence from international duty) for a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Belarus, during which he remained on the bench.[8]

Career statistics

Club
As of 1 July 2020[9][10]
Club Season League League Cup Europe Other1 Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Levski Sofia 2004–05 A Group 7000100080
2005–06 6200000062
2006–07 83103000123
2007–08 298201000328
2008–09 171312000222
2009–10 224007010304
Levski Sofia Total 8918611401011019
Kasımpaşa 2010–11 Süper Lig 23261-00293
2011–12 TFF First League 301200-323314
2012–13 Süper Lig 2022-0042
Kasımpaşa Total 55148300326619
Samsunspor 2012–13 TFF First League 17500-00175
Boluspor 2013–14 25210-00262
Manisaspor 2014–15 3211101-004212
Skoda Xanthi 2015–16 Superleague Greece 23230-00262
Slavia Sofia 2016–17 First League 111000000111
Ural Yekaterinburg 2016–17 Russian Premier League 12030-00150
2017–18 25200-00252
2018–19 27541-00316
2019–20 18111-00192
Ural Yekaterinburg Total 8288200009010
Career Total 334613671404238870
1 Includes Bulgarian Supercup matches, promotion playoffs for the Turkish Süper Lig and relegation playoffs for the Russian Premier League

International goals
Bulgaria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Dimitrov goal.[11]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 16 November 2018GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus8 Cyprus1–11–12018–19 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

Club
Levski Sofia

References
  1. "Levski Sofia 3-1 Slavia Sofia". levskisofia.info. Retrieved 6 August 2004.
  2. "Belasitsa Petrich 2-1 Levski Sofia". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2006.
  3. Kasimpasa S.K. Scouts Come for Levski Players, standartnews.com, 13 May 2010
  4. "Adanaspor 2-3 Kasımpaşa". tff.org. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  5. "Славия подписа с бивш играч на Левски" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 29 September 2016.
  6. "Николай Димитров покинул «Урал»" (in Russian). FC Ural Yekaterinburg. 10 June 2020.
  7. Jackson, Lyle (6 February 2008), Northern Ireland 0–1 Bulgaria, BBC News Online, retrieved 29 April 2008
  8. "Bulgaria NT vs. Belarus NT 1:0". flashscore.com. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  9. "Nikolay Dimitrov Career Statistics". levskisofia.info.
  10. "Nikolay Dimitrov Career Statistics". tff.org.
  11. "Dimitrov, Nikolay". National Football Teams. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
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