Bulgarian Footballer of the Year (
Bulgarian: Футболист №1 на България, Futbolist №1 na Balgariya) is an annual title awarded to the best
Bulgarianassociation football player of the year. The award has been given since 1961, and the winner is elected by authorized journalists from the leading Bulgarian media.[citation needed]
History
2011 was the first year with a vote held online by fans.[1] The poll has been organized by the Futbol newspaper (1961–1975), the Start newspaper (1975–1998), the Futbol newspaper and Start magazine (1999–present).
The footballers to have won the award the most times are
Dimitar Berbatov (7 times - 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010),
Hristo Stoichkov (5 times - 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994),
Kiril Despodov (4 times - 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023),
Hristo Bonev (1969, 1972, 1973) and
Ivelin Popov (2015, 2016, 2017).[2] The club with the most winners is
Levski Sofia with 11 and
CSKA Sofia a close second with 10.