By Alan Duffy
“It was a game of two halves, but the boys done good”
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has won the Bulgarian Player of the Year award after polling 44% of the votes in the fans’ poll. The 52-year-old, who occasionally plays for third tier team Vitosha Bistritsa, comfortably beat Dimitar Berbatov into second place, with the Man Utd striker polling 24% of the votes.
However, the bizarre outcome of the poll, which was a protest vote against the state of the game in the country, has left Borisov wanting the whole thing scrapped for next year.
“It’s a protest vote,” he said. “It is a signal that Bulgarian football needs reforms and a new policy. Organisers should annul the vote.”
Apparently only 8,000 people actually took part in the poll, which also saw amateur player Vasil Lukaev come third.
With the national side coming bottom of their group in the Euro qualifiers and failing to produce any new top talent in a number of years, it is all a far cry from the heady days of Stoichkov, Balakov and co. in the nineties.
As for a Prime Minister playing football at a decent (ish) label, I’d love to see David Cameron strut his stuff in the Conference for a few games.