Bulgarian Footballer of the Year (, Futbolist âÂÂ1 na Balgariya) is an annual title awarded to the best Bulgarian association 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.
2011 was the first year with a vote held online by fans. The poll has been organized by the Futbol newspaper (1961âÂÂ1975), the Start newspaper (1975âÂÂ1998), the Futbol newspaper and Start magazine (1999âÂÂpresent).
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). The clubs with the most winners are Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia with 11.