Steven Petkov

Steven Petkov (Bulgarian: Стивън Петков; born 7 May 1995) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Levski Sofia, on loan from Feirense.

Steven Petkov
Personal information
Full name Steven Valentinov Petkov
Date of birth (1995-05-07) 7 May 1995
Place of birth Sofia, Bulgaria[1]
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward / winger
Club information
Current team
 Levski Sofia
(on loan from Feirense)
Number 9
Youth career
2001–2004 Botev Vratsa
2004–2014 Levski Sofia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Levski Sofia 7 (0)
2014 Ludogorets Razgrad 0 (0)
2015–2016 Beroe Stara Zagora 18 (1)
2016–2017 Montana 23 (7)
2017–2018 Botev Plovdiv 44 (21)
2019– Feirense 13 (1)
2019 → Karviná (loan) 11 (0)
2020– → Levski Sofia (loan) 8 (0)
National team
2011–2012 Bulgaria U17 6 (3)
2014 Bulgaria U19 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:22, 13 December 2020 (UTC)

Career

Born in Sofia, Petkov arrived in Levski Sofia's youth academy in 2004, from Botev Vratsa, and progressed through the club's youth academy. He made his first team debut at 16 years and 351 days, when he came off the bench against Kaliakra Kavarna on 23 April 2012.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 3 July 2014, Petkov joined the Bulgarian champion Ludogorets Razgrad.[2] On 5 August, Petkov was released from the team due to a match-fixing scandal involving Bulgaria U19.[3]

Match-fixing scandal

Just before the UEFA Euro U19 2014 Petkov was released from the Bulgaria U19. After the team came back from the tournament it was announced that there had been a scheme for match-fixing, according to which the Bulgarian team should lose the matches with big results. Dimitar Gyaurov was arrested for this.[4] Later it was announced that Petkov had been part of the scheme. He talked with other players from the team to join him and to lose the matches for money, but the player Stefan Velkov revealed this to head coach Aleksandar Dimitrov.[5] On 5 August 2014, the Bulgarian Football Union announced that Petkov is with blocked rights to play football until the investigation is over. Later that day Ludogorets announced that Petkov is released from the team due to this scandal.[3][6] On 7 May 2015, Petkov gained back his rights to play after he was not indicted.[7]

On 8 April 2016 Petkov was found not guilty in taking part of the scheme.[8] Same day was found out that the footballer who revealed to the coach about the scheme was Preslav Petrov and together they were witnesses on the case.[9]

Beroe Stara Zagora

In June 2015, Petkov signed a contract with Beroe Stara Zagora.

Montana

Petkov played one season for Montana but left the club in July 2017.[10]

2017–18

On 14 August 2017, Petkov signed a two-year contract with Botev Plovdiv.[11] A few days later, Petkov made a debut and scored a goal during the 1–2 defeat from PFC Cherno More Varna.[12] On 27 October Petkov scored the winning goal for the 1–2 away win over Pirin Blagoevgrad.[13] A week later, on 3 November, Steven Petkov scored just a few seconds after he came on the pitch as a substitute for the 1–1 draw with Slavia Sofia.[14]

Despite scoring numerous important goals, Steven Petkov was never included in the starting line-up until 12 December. He used the opportunity to impress and scored a hat-trick for the 5–0 win over Litex Lovech in the quarter final of the Bulgarian Cup.[15]

On 12 March, on day when Botev Plovdiv celebrated 106 years from its foundation, Steven Petkov scored for the dramatic 2–4 away win over FC Vereya.[16] On 31 March 2018 Steven scored the only goal for Botev Plovdiv during the 1–4 away defeat from CSKA Sofia.[17] A week later, on 6 April, Petkov came on as a substitute and scored the winning goal for the 1–0 victory over Levski Sofia.[18]

On 14 April Steven Petkov scored during the 3–2 away defeat by Beroe Stara Zagora.[19] A week later, on 21 April he scored again in Stara Zagora, this time during the 2–2 away draw with FC Vereya.[20] On 29 April Steven Petkov scored a wonderful goal for the 2–1 home win over CSKA Sofia and won the award for man of the match.[21][22] A week later, on 5 May, during the first half he scored again but this time Botev Plovdiv was dramatically defeated with 3–2 by Levski Sofia.[23]

2018–19

On 28 July 2018 Steven Petkov scored his first goal for the season for the 0–2 away win over Septemvri Sofia.[24] He was selected for the man of the match.[25] On 3 August Petkov scored during a 2–0 home win over Etar Veliko Tarnovo.[26] A week later, on 11 August, he scored again but this time his team lost the away game against Beroe Stara Zagora.[27]

Feirense

On 4 January 2019, Petkov was transferred to Portuguese Primeira Liga side Feirense for an undisclosed fee, signing a contract until the summer of 2022.[28][29] On 10 February 2019, he scored his first goal for the club, a bicycle kick, in a 1–3 loss to Sporting.[30] Feirense announced on 1 September 2019, that Petkov had been loaned out to Czech club MFK Karviná until the end of 2019.[31]

Club statistics

Club
As of 5 December 2020
Club Division Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Levski Sofia A Group 2011–12 10000010
2012–13 00000000
2013–14 60000060
Ludogorets Razgrad 2014–15 00000000
Beroe Stara Zagora 2015–16 1810000181
Montana First League 2016–17 23721–258
Botev Plovdiv 2017–18 261554003119
2018–19 18621–207
Feirense Primeira Liga 2018–19 12110–131
LigaPro 2019–20 1000–131
Karviná Fortuna liga 2019–20 11010–120
Levski Sofia First League 2020–21 80100090
Career Total 123301260013536
  1. Includes appearances in the Bulgarian Cup, Bulgarian Supercup, Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga.

References
  1. "Берое атакува Европа със Спаско, Стивън, Жоро, Ванката и Венелин" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. "Steven Petkov joins Ludogorets". 7sport.net.
  3. "Steven Petkov was released from Ludogorets". sportal.bg.
  4. "Арестуваха български футболист за "черно тото"". monitor.bg. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014.
  5. "Стефан Велков спрял черното тото в националния". sportline.bg.
  6. "Трима играчи със спрени права заради скандал". dnevnik.bg.
  7. "ДК възстанови правата на Стивън Петков". sportal.bg.
  8. "Стивън Петков: Времето за разплата винаги идва". Sportal.bg.
  9. "Осъдиха трима за черно тото при юношите". www.monitor.bg.
  10. "Решение СТК 11.07.2017 г" (in Bulgarian). bfunion.bg. 11 July 2017.
  11. "Стивън Петков е играч на Ботев" (in Bulgarian). botevplovdiv.bg. 14 August 2017.
  12. "Ботев надигра, но загуби от Черно море в Пловдив". botevplovdiv.bg.
  13. "Ботев обърна Пирин като гост, Стивън с нов победен гол". botevplovdiv.bg.
  14. "Ботев не победи Славия, но увеличи серията си без поражение".
  15. "Ботев изпрати паметната 2017-та с 5 гола и полуфинал". botevplovdiv.bg.
  16. "Драма в стил Ботев за 106-ия рожден ден".
  17. "Ботев влезе в плейофите със загуба от ЦСКА".
  18. "Ботев подчини Левски, Стивън пак герой". botevplovdiv.bg.
  19. "Ботев загуби от Лудогорец в поредния си голов екшън". botevplovdiv.bg.
  20. "Ботев завърши наравно като гост на Верея". botevplovdiv.bg.
  21. "Драма в Пловдив, Ботев би ЦСКА и прати титлата в Разград". Gong.bg.
  22. "Стивън Петков: Всеки даде максимума, отиваме на Герена за победа". Gong.bg.
  23. "Ботев изпусна Левски на Герена". botevplovdiv.bg.
  24. "Ботев удари Септември в центъра на София и взе първа победа за сезона". botevplovdiv.bg.
  25. "Стивън Петков: Надявам се да вкарам още много попадения". Gong.bg.
  26. "Втори пореден успех за Ботев след 2:0 над Етър".
  27. "Ботев загуби от Берое след късен обрат в Стара Загора". botevplovdiv.bg.
  28. "Официално: Стивън Петков ще играе в елита на Португалия". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian).
  29. "Steven Petkov reforça o ataque do Feirense". www.record.pt.
  30. "Браво! Първият гол на Стивън Петков в Португалия е истинско бижу (видео)". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 10 February 2019.
  31. STEVEN EMPRESTADO AO MFK KARVINA, cdfeirense.pt, 1 September 2019
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