Nikolay Bodurov

Nikolay Georgiev Bodurov (Bulgarian: Николай Георгиев Бодуров; born 30 May 1986) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays for Pirin Blagoevgrad and the Bulgaria national team. Bodurov plays mainly as a centre back but has also played as a right back on some occasions.

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Georgiev and the family name is Bodurov.
Nikolay Bodurov
Personal information
Full name Nikolay Georgiev Bodurov[1]
Date of birth (1986-05-30) 30 May 1986
Place of birth Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Pirin Blagoevgrad
Number 5
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2009 Pirin Blagoevgrad 104 (1)
2009–2014 Litex Lovech 109 (8)
2014–2016 Fulham 41 (1)
2016 → Midtjylland (loan) 15 (0)
2017–2019 CSKA Sofia 95 (3)
2020 Esteghlal 3 (0)
2020– Pirin Blagoevgrad 54 (0)
International career
2010–2019 Bulgaria 50 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 October 2023

He started his professional career at his hometown club Pirin Blagoevgrad, playing five seasons before moving to Litex Lovech in 2009, with whom he won two league titles. In 2014, he signed with Fulham for a fee in the region of €1 million and then spent time on loan at Midtjylland during the 2015–16 season. In August 2016, his contract with Fulham was cancelled by mutual consent.

Internationally, Bodurov made his debut for Bulgaria in 2010.

Career

Pirin Blagoevgrad

Born in Blagoevgrad, Bodurov started to play football at early age with Pirin 1922. He made his way through the youth ranks at the club before making his first team debut on 8 August 2004 against Shumen, when he was only 18 years old. Bodurov quickly established himself in the Pirin 1922 first-team. He earned 29 league appearances in 2004–05 season and helped the team to win promotion to A Group.

Bodurov scored his only goal for Pirin during a 2007–08 season. On 27 October 2007, he scored a last-minute goal to secure a 1–0 away win over Vidima-Rakovski.

In the 2008–09 season with the team, he qualified for the final of Bulgarian Cup. Bodurov played in 125 matches at the club of Blagoevgrad until 2009.

Litex Lovech
Bodurov with Litex in 2009

In July 2009, Litex Lovech signed Bodurov[3] on a four-year deal. He was given the number 33 shirt. He made his competitive debut for Litex on 1 August 2009, against Levski Sofia for the Bulgarian Supercup. Bodurov made his league debut against Montana on 30 August, playing the full 90 minutes. The game ended with a 3–0 victory to Litex.[4] On 25 March 2010, he netted his first goal for the club, scoring header in the 1–0 home win against Sliven 2000.[5] In his first season playing for Litex, he made 18 appearances in the A PFG and ended the season winning his first league golden medal. During a campaign, he was mainly used as a right-back.[6]

On 20 December 2010, Bodurov was named 2010 A PFG Defender of the Year.[7] He collected his second A PFG title winner's medal at the end of the 2010–11 season.

On 3 August 2011, he scored the only goal for Litex in a 1–3 away loss against Wisła Kraków in the Champions League qualifying match.[8] On 21 August 2011, as a result of injury to regular captain Nebojša Jelenković,[9] Bodurov captained Litex for the first time in the last 22 minutes against Svetkavitsa at the Lovech Stadium in a 6–0 Litex victory.[10] A week later, he scored his first league goal of the 2011–12 season in a 2–0 win at Slavia Sofia.[11]

Fulham

On 1 August 2014, Bodurov signed a three-year contract with English side Fulham with an additional one-year option.[12] The 28-year-old immediately joined up with his new club on their pre-season tour of Austria at a training camp in Innsbruck. He made his league debut in the opening game of the season, in a 2–1 loss to Ipswich Town on 9 August, playing full 90 minutes in the centre of defence.[13] Bodurov scored his first goal for Fulham to open the scoring against Derby County in a 2–0 home win on 28 February 2015.[14] Bodurov's contract was cancelled by mutual consent on 26 August 2016.[15]

FC Midtjylland (loan)

On 1 February 2016, Bodurov signed on loan for Midtjylland for the remainder of the campaign.[16] He played 15 games in the Danish Superliga and helped his team finish third. Bodurov also participated in Europa League matches against Manchester United, scoring an own goal.[17]

CSKA Sofia

On 23 January 2017, Bodurov signed with CSKA Sofia until the end of the season.[18] He quickly established himself as a key player for the "redmen", but was frozen out of the first team in August 2019 (alongside Rúben Pinto) by manager Ljupko Petrović, reportedly for disciplinary reasons.[19] After Petrović's resignation, it was confirmed by owner Grisha Ganchev that Bodurov will not be reinstated to the first team.[20]

Esteghlal

On 30 January 2020, Bodurov signed for Iranian club Esteghlal[21] on a six-month contract until the end of the season, with an option to extend his contract until the end of the 2020–21 season.[22] He was handed the number 20 jersey.[23] On 10 February 2020, he made his official debut for the club in an AFC Champions League away match against Al-Shorta.[24]

International career

On 8 October 2010, Bodurov made his debut for the Bulgaria national team[25] in the 1–0 away win in a Euro 2012 qualifying match against Wales in Cardiff. During a 2014 World Cup qualifying match against Denmark on 26 March 2013, Bodurov ruptured his ligament of ankle,[26] and received surgery two days later.[27] He reclaimed his starting spot for the national team following his return from injury, but was sent off on 11 October 2013, in the 1–2 away loss against Armenia in a World Cup qualifier.[28]

On 9 September 2014, Bodurov captained his country for the first time in the 2–1 away victory over Azerbaijan in a Euro 2016 qualifier after regular captain Ivelin Popov had sustained an injury a few days prior to the match. He subsequently dedicated the win to Popov.[29][30]

International goals
Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.[25]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 October 2014Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway Norway1–11–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
2.26 March 2018Pancho Aréna, Felcsút, Hungary Kazakhstan2–12–1Friendly

Career statistics

Club
Bodurov playing for Pirin in 2009

Updated 17 February 2020

Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Pirin 1922 2004–05 B Group 29050––340
2005–06 A Group 13030––160
Pirin Blagoevgrad 2006–07 B Group 16030––190
2007–08 A Group 27130––301
2008–09 22040––260
Pirin total 1071210–001281
Litex Lovech 2009–10 A Group 18220–00202
2010–11 25230–50332
2011–12 19330–61284
2012–13 18050––230
2013–14 27120––291
2014–15 2000–4060
Litex total 1098150–1511399
Fulham 2014–15 Championship 3814020–441
2015–16 300020–50
Fulham total 411404000491
Midtjylland 2015–16 Danish Superliga 15000–20170
Midtjylland total 150000020170
CSKA Sofia 2016–17 First League 16100——161
2017–18 33231——363
2018–19 29040—30360
2019–20 2000—3050
CSKA total 80371—60934
Esteghlal 2019–20 Persian Gulf Pro League 0000—2020
Career total 352134714025142815

National team
Bulgaria
YearAppsGoals
201030
201140
201290
201360
201461
201550
201620
201740
201881
201930
Total502

Honours

Litex Lovech

Personal life

Bodurov has a daughter, named Nikol, who was born in 2017.[31]

References
  1. "EFL: Retained list: 2015/16" (PDF). English Football League. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  2. "Българите с половин сантиметър по-високи" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  3. "Литекс взе Бодуров от Пирин" (in Bulgarian). dariknews.bg. 5 July 2009.
  4. "Litex 3–0 Montana". soccerway.com. 30 August 2009.
  5. "Литекс стигна до минимален успех срещу Сливен" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 25 March 2010.
  6. "Бодуров недоволства от Червенков" (in Bulgarian). topsport.com. 6 March 2010.
  7. "Годината на Бодуров" (in Bulgarian). webcafe.bg. 23 December 2010.
  8. "Wisła within sight after ousting Litex". UEFA. 3 August 2011.
  9. "Литекс размаза слабака Светкавица с 6:0" (in Bulgarian). blitz.bg. 21 August 2011.
  10. "Литекс закопа Светкавица" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 21 August 2011.
  11. "Slavia 0–2 Litex". soccerway.com. 21 August 2011.
  12. "Fulham sign Nikolay Bodurov on three-year deal". Sky Sports. 1 August 2014.
  13. "Ipswich Town 2–1 Fulham". BBC. 9 August 2014.
  14. "Fulham's Nikolay Bodurov's brilliant shot sinks leaders Derby County". The Guardian. 28 February 2015.
  15. "Bodurov Departs". fulhamfc.com. 26 August 2016.
  16. "Fulham sign Rohan Ince and Zakaria Labyad on loan".
  17. "Manchester United 5 Midtjylland 1 (Agg 6-3) – Official Manchester United Website".
  18. "Николай Бодуров е футболист на ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). cska.bg. 23 January 2017.
  19. "ЦСКА замина за Украйна без Бодуров и Пинто, Люпко мълчи на летището" (in Bulgarian). news.bg. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  20. Domuschiev, Angel (15 October 2019). "Гриша Ганчев с ексклузивно интервю пред ТОПСПОРТ: За ЦСКА, новия стадион, емблемата, целите, Борислав Михайлов и... Бодуров" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  21. نیکولای بودورف به استقلال پیوست [Nikolay Bodurov joined Esteghlal] (in Persian). Esteghlal F.C. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  22. بودوروف رسماً به استقلال پیوست/عکس [Bodurov officially joined Esteghlal] (in Persian). Khabar Online. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  23. Baghlani, Foad (1 February 2020). نیکولای بودوروف، مدافع جدید استقلال شماره 20 را بر تن می کند [Nikolay Bodurov will wear Esteghlal's number 20] (in Persian). Tarafdari. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  24. Kalhori, Ali (10 February 2020). الشرطه 1-1 استقلال؛ تساوی تلخ که با مصدومیت قائدی همراه بود [Al-Shorta 1-1 Esteghlal] (in Persian). Tarafdari. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  25. Nikolay Bodurov at National-Football-Teams.com
  26. "Бодуров е със скъсана връзка" (in Bulgarian). novsport.com. 27 March 2013.
  27. "Оперираха Бодуров, аут до края на сезона" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 28 March 2013.
  28. "Адио, Рио! Националите не издържаха в Армения" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 11 October 2013.
  29. "България показа характер и пречупи азерите в Баку, Венци Христов ни донесе успеха" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 9 September 2014.
  30. "Бодуров: Ивелине, това е за теб, трудна победа" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 9 September 2014.
  31. "Николай Бодуров стана татко на момиченце" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
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