Stefan Velkov
Bulgarian footballer (born 1996)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stefan Ivov Velkov (Bulgarian: Стефан Ивов Велков; born 12 December 1996) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Danish Superliga club Vejle.[2]
|
Velkov with Slavia Sofia in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stefan Ivov Velkov | ||
| Date of birth | 12 December 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | Sofia, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Vejle | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2013 | Slavia Sofia | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2018 | Slavia Sofia | 86 | (2) |
| 2018–2020 | Den Bosch | 41 | (4) |
| 2020 | → RKC Waalwijk (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | KFC Uerdingen | 5 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | MSV Duisburg | 19 | (0) |
| 2022– | Vejle | 96 | (8) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011–2012 | Bulgaria U16 | 5 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Bulgaria U17 | 21 | (1) |
| 2013 | Bulgaria U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2013–2018 | Bulgaria U21 | 20 | (2) |
| 2020– | Bulgaria | 2 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13:12, 17 March 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:54, 18 November 2025 (UTC) | |||
Career
Slavia Sofia
Born in Sofia, Velkov began his football career with Slavia Sofia in 2005.[3] He made his first-team debut on 27 July 2013, at 16 years 227 days, coming on as a substitute for Hristo Yanev in a 0–0 away league draw against Cherno More Varna. On 18 December 2013, it was reported that Velkov was on trial with Manchester United.[4] After the great debut season and a few trials in big European teams, Velkov got a serious injury, which took him out of football for a minimum of six months.[5]
In March 2015, Velkov extended his contract with Slavia for a further three years.[6] He returned to training in April, but he did not take part in any further matches, so he missed the entire 2014–15 season.[7]
Velkov returned to play in the first match of the 2015–16 season against Lokomotiv Plovdiv as a substitute in the 88th minute.[8]
Velkov scored his debut goal for Slavia in the league on 17 September 2016 in a match against Ludogorets Razgrad, lost by his team with 3–1.[9]
Den Bosch
On 10 August 2018, Velkov signed for the Dutch Eerste Divisie team Den Bosch. He made his debut a week later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away win over FC Volendam.[10] He scored his first goal for the club on 25 September, in a 2–1 loss against Heracles Almelo in the KNVB Cup.
MSV Duisburg
After a short stint at KFC Uerdingen he moved to MSV Duisburg in January 2021.[11] He signed a new one-year contract on 27 May 2021.[12] In the summer of 2022, he left Duisburg.[13]
Vejle
On 17 June 2022, Velkov signed with newly relegated Danish 1st Division side Vejle Boldklub, penning a deal until June 2024.[14] On 29 May 2025, Velkov extended his contract with the club until June 2027.[15]
International career
Youth levels
Velkov represented Bulgaria at the under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels. On 1 June 2013, he made his debut for the Bulgaria under-21 side at the age of 16 years, 5 months and 22 days, making him the second-youngest player to debut for the team after Nikolay Mihaylov.[16][17] On 25 March 2016 Velkov was in the starting lineup for the goalless draw with Wales U21.[18][19] He served as the team captain.
Senior level
On 14 March 2017, he received his first call-up for Bulgaria senior team for the match against the Netherlands on 25 March 2017,[20] in which he was an unused substitute.[21] Velkov earned his first cap on 26 February 2020, playing the first 75 minutes of the 1–0 home loss against Belarus in a friendly game.[22]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 1 March 2026[23]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Slavia Sofia | 2013–14 | A Group | 21 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 23 | 1 | ||
| 2014–15 | A Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | A Group | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Bulgarian First League | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 24 | 1 | |
| 2017–18 | Bulgarian First League | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 1 | |||
| Total | 86 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 96 | 3 | ||
| Den Bosch | 2018–19 | Eerste Divisie | 20 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 2[c] | 0 | 23 | 3 | |
| 2019–20 | Eerste Divisie | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 2 | |||
| Total | 41 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 5 | ||
| Waalwijk (loan) | 2019–20 | Eredivisie | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| KFC Uerdingen | 2020–21 | 3. Liga | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| MSV Duisburg | 2020–21 | 3. Liga | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | 3. Liga | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 19 | 0 | — | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||||
| Vejle | 2022–23 | Danish 1st Division | 27 | 1 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Danish Superliga | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | Danish Superliga | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 3 | |||
| 2025–26 | Danish Superliga | 20 | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 21 | 5 | |||
| Total | 96 | 8 | 7 | 2 | — | — | 103 | 10 | ||||
| Career total | 250 | 13 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 271 | 18 | ||
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in Bulgarian First League relegation play-offs
- Appearances in Eredivisie promotion play-offs
International
- As of match played 18 November 2020[24]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | |||
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | |
