site.btaBulgaria Marks 80 Years since Football Legend Georgi Asparuhov's Birth

May 4 of this year marks the 80th birth anniversary of one of Bulgaria’s all-time greatest football players Georgi (Gundi) Asparuhov. Posthumously declared Bulgaria's best football player of the 20th century and presented with the Order of Stara Planina for his exceptional contribution to sports, he was one of the most beloved athletes in the country’s history.

Gundi made his senior debut for PFC Levski Sofia in 1960 as a 17-years-old and quickly made a name for himself on the football pitch. He wore the blue jersey for the rest of his career, excluding the period between 1961 and 1963 when he served his mandatory military service in Plovdiv and played for the local PFC Botev.

Georgi Asparuhov became the epitome of Levski Sofia – not only because of his undeniable football skills and many goals (153 in 240 matches for the club), but also for the way he carried himself on and off the pitch. In 1965 he won the sportsmanship award of the Bulgaria’s football top tier. His performances managed to get the attention of some of the top European football clubs, but chose to stay with his boyhood club. Gundi was wanted by Benfica, as well as Italy's AC Milan. AC Milan's emissary is quoted as saying the following about Asparuhov's response to their offer: "Tell them that there is a country named Bulgaria. In that country there is a team named Levski, you might not have heard of it. But I was born in this team and I will die in this team." In 1990 Levski Sofia named their stadium after him.

Among his individual accolades were also Bulgarian sportsperson of the year and Bulgarian No.1 footballer in 1965, as well as 8th place in the Ballon d’Or rankings for the season. In international football, Asparuhov made his Bulgaria debut on May 6, 1962 at the age of 19. He made 49 appearances in total, appearing at three FIFA World Cup tournaments and scoring 18 goals.

The football legend died in a tragic fiery car crash on June 30, 1971 on his way from Sofia to the northwestern city of Vratsa, where he was invited to play in a football match hosted by the local Botev Vratsa football team on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Levski Sofia teammate Nikola Kotkov also lost his life during the accident. Their funeral was attended by 150,000 mourners (some sources put this figure as high as 500,000) which was more than the number of attendees of any organized event by the communist government, such as dictator Georgi Dimitrov's funeral.