Miroslav Manolov
Personal information
Full name Miroslav Manolov Manolov
Date of birth (1985-05-20) 20 May 1985 (age 38)
Place of birth Sopot, Bulgaria
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1993–2000 Metalik Sopot
2000–2003 CSKA Sofia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2006 CSKA Sofia 9 (1)
2005–2006 → Conegliano (loan) 29 (19)
2007–2013 Cherno More 119 (32)
2013–2014 Litex Lovech 31 (3)
2014 Cherno More 17 (2)
2015 Târgu Mureș 29 (2)
2016 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 0 (0)
Total 234 (59)
International career
2006 Bulgaria U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Miroslav Manolov (Bulgarian: Мирослав Манолов; born 20 May 1985 in Sopot) is a former Bulgarian footballer who played as a forward.[1] He retired in early 2016, aged 30.

Manolov has appeared in Bulgaria's top flight for CSKA Sofia, Cherno More Varna and Litex Lovech having also represented Romanian club Târgu Mureș.

Career

Early career

Born in Sopot, Miroslav Manolov start his football career in the local club Metalik. He made his debut for the team in the Bulgarian third division in the year 2000 when he was only 15.[2]

CSKA Sofia

Manolov made his debut during the 2003–04 season on 28 October 2003 in a match of Bulgarian Cup against Pirin Blagoevgrad, coming on as a substitute for Krasen Valkov. Unfortunately a little while after that he broke his leg in a match for the reserve squad and he could not play football for half a year.[citation needed]

In March 2005 Manolov was loaned out to Conegliano German, where he displays his ability to score. Manolov became the West B PFG's top goalscorer for the 2005–06 season with 19 goals in 25 matches.[3] He returned to CSKA at the end of the season. On 27 August 2006, Manolov scored his only league goal for CSKA in a 4–0 home win over Spartak Varna.

Cherno More

On 8 January 2007, Daniel Morales was signed by CSKA Sofia from Cherno More and Manolov was sent to Varna together with Daniel Georgiev in exchange.[4] Manolov made his debut on 5 March, in a 0–0 draw against his former club CSKA.

He scored his first goal for Cherno More on 14 July 2007, in a 3–0 home win over Makedonija Gjorče Petrov in their second round second leg tie of the Intertoto Cup. His first league goal came on 1 December, a winning header[5] in a 1–0 against derby rivals Spartak Varna. On 5 April 2008, Manolov scored his first-ever A PFG hat-trick in his career, in a 4–1 away win over Marek Dupnitsa.

In December 2009, Manolov ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus.[citation needed] He missed the rest of the 2009–10 season and the whole 2010–11 season.

Manolov made his comeback for Cherno More from a serious knee injury on 15 July 2011. He featured 18 minutes in a 1–0 pre-season friendly win against Bansko.[6] In August 2011, Manolov was handed number 10, last worn by Daniel Dimov. His first goal of the season came on 5 November 2011 in a 2–0 home win over Beroe Stara Zagora. On 22 March 2012, Manolov scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 away win over Montana; the first goal was scored in 7 seconds, setting a new A PFG record for the quickest goal.[7] He was sent off for the first time during his Cherno More career against the same opponent on 23 September 2012, for dangerous foul play.[8]

Târgu Mureș

On 17 January 2015, Manolov signed a two-year contract with Romanian club Târgu Mureș, receiving the number 9 shirt.[9]

In 2016, Manolov trialled with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. He was rostered with their National Premier Soccer League reserve team, Rowdies 2.[10]

Club statistics

Club Season Division League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
CSKA Sofia 2003–04 A Group 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0
2004–05 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Conegliano German 2004–05 B Group 4 0 0 0 – 4 0
2005–06 25 19 3 1 – 28 20
CSKA Sofia 2006–07 A Group 7 1 0 0 0 0 7 1
Cherno More 2006–07 11 0 0 0 – 11 0
2007–08 23 9 5 1 4 1 32 11
2008–09 22 9 1 0 5 3 28 12
2009–10 15 6 1 0 4 3 20 9
2010–11 0 0 0 0 – 0 0
2011–12 24 7 0 0 – 24 7
2012–13 25 1 4 0 – 29 1
Litex Lovech 2013–14 31 3 6 5 0 0 37 8
Cherno More 2014–15 17 2 3 2 – 20 4
Târgu Mureș 2014–15 Liga I 17 1 0 0 – 17 1
2015–16 12 1 2 2 1 0 15 3
Total 234 59 27 11 14 7 275 77

Honours

Târgu Mureș

References

  1. ^ "Stats Centre: Miroslav Manolov Facts". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Миро Манолов е гордостта на Сопот" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  3. ^ ""Б" група (1950–2007) – голмайстори" (in Bulgarian). bulgarian-football.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012.
  4. ^ "ЦСКА и Черно море се разбраха за Моралес" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 8 January 2007.
  5. ^ "Черно море излъга Спартак в дербито на Варна" (in Bulgarian). dariknews.bg. 1 December 2007.
  6. ^ "Миро Манолов се завърна на терена" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. 16 July 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  7. ^ "Черно море би в Монтана с най-бързия гол в А група и хеттрик на Манолов" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 22 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Монтана би 10 от Черно море" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 17 November 2012.
  9. ^ "Manolov întărește atacul" (in Romanian). asatirgumures.ro. 17 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 roster". NPSL.com.
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