Berbatov named Bulgarian Player of the Year for fifth time

Manchester United FC forward Dimitar Berbatov has been named Bulgarian Player of the Year for the fifth time in his career, equalling the record of Hristo Stoichkov.

The 27-year-old took the accolade with 283 points to add to the titles he picked up in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2007. PFC Levski Sofia goalkeeper Georgi Petkov came second with 162 points while PFC Slavia Sofia midfielder Blagoy Georgiev finished third with a tally of 122. During 2008, Berbatov won the first major trophy of his career after lifting the English League Cup with Tottenham Hotspur FC and then joined UEFA Champions League winners Manchester United on 1 September for €38m.

Berbatov, who has scored 41 goals in 68 appearances for Bulgaria, said:

"There is something special about winning this honour for a fifth time. The most important thing for me is to be healthy and to fulfil my aims step by step." Bulgarian legend Stoichkov was on hand to present the award and the former Bayer 04 Leverkusen forward added: "I was really happy to receive it from Stoichkov. It was a great gesture from him."

In the night's other awards, Levski's Georgi Ivanov was voted forward of the year in the Bulgarian A PFG while Aleksander Aleksandrov of PFC Cherno More Varna took the prize in the midfield category. CSKA Sofia's Kiril Kotev was proclaimed top defender, his team-mate Pavel Vidanov most improved player and Petkov named No1 goalkeeper.