20-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Bulgarian 'Footballer of the Year'

Georgi Milanov (left) at the Footballer of the Year ceremony with his team's coach Hristo Stoichkov. Photo by BGNES

Georgi Milanov, 20, a player of Litex Lovech, has been awarded as Bulgaria's "Football Player of The Year" for 2012.

The 20-year-old has thus become the youngest Bulgarian footballer to receive the award.

Milanov, a midfielder of the Bulgarian club Litex and the Bulgarian national team, was recognized by a poll of 126 journalists from 51 media affiliations.

Defender Ivan Ivanov from Serbian club Partizan took the second place, and defensive midfielder Stanislav Manolev from Dutch PSV Eindhoven came third.

Antonio Vutov, 16, a midfielder of PFC Levski, was named the Discovery of the season, while Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov, who is battling acute leukaemia, was honored with a special award for player cementing the prestige of Bulgarian football and uniting the football fans.

Litex's head coach Hristo Stoichkov, a former Barcelona soccer star and Golden Ball winner, was also named the best coach in Bulgaria's "A" Football Group.

Fulham's Dimitar Berbatov, who rose to international fame with Manchester United, is the footballer to have won the title more times than any other player.

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