Stefan Velkov

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Ivov and the family name is Velkov.

Stefan Velkov
Velkov with Slavia Sofia in 2013
Personal information
Full name Stefan Ivov Velkov
Date of birth (1996-12-12) 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)

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]

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]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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

International

As of match played 18 November 2020[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Bulgaria
2020 1 0
2025 1 0
Total 2 0

Honours

Slavia Sofia

Vejle

References

  1. ^ "Профил на Стефан Ивов Велков" (in Bulgarian). fpleague.bg. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  2. ^ Stefan Velkov at WorldFootball.net
  3. ^ "Суперталантът Стефан Велков: Ходя на мачове с градския транспорт" [Supertalent Stefan Velkov: I go to games by public transport] (in Bulgarian). novsport.com. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Transfer news: Manchester United eye teenage Bulgarian defender". The Independent. Independent Print. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  5. ^ "Стефан Велков ще бъде извън игра 6 месеца след нова тежка контузия". dnevnik.bg. dnevnik. 7 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Стефан Велков преподписа със "Славия", възстановява се от тежка контузия". topsport.bg. topsport editorial board. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  7. ^ Стефан Велков се завърна в първия отбор на Славия
  8. ^ „А” група започна с класическа „бяла” победа
  9. ^ Звездата на Лудогорец започна да вкарва и в Първа лига
  10. ^ Martens, Jan (17 August 2018). "Vernieuwd FC Den Bosch wint in Volendam na sterke tweede helft". bd.nl. de Persgroep Nederland. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  11. ^ ""Aggressiver, kopfballstarker Innenverteidiger": Velkov wird ein Zebra". msv-duisburg.de. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Zebras setzen auch weiter auf Marlon Frey & Stefan Velkov". msv-duisburg.de. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Tobi Fleckstein verlängert – Erste Abgänge fix". msv-duisburg.de. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Vejle Boldklub forstærker sig med ny forsvarsprofil". vejle-boldklub.dk. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Vejle Boldklub forlænger med Stefan Velkov" [Vejle Boldklub extends the contract with Stefan Velkov] (in Danish). Vejle Boldklub. 29 May 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  16. ^ Младежки национал пред трансфер в Наполи
  17. ^ Стефан Велков ще играе само за младежите
  18. ^ България не успя да преклони Уелс
  19. ^ Младежите не успяха да се справят с Уелс (видео)
  20. ^ Много изненади и 6-ма от ЦСКА-София в състава на България за мача с Холандия
  21. ^ "Bulgaria NT vs. Netherlands NT 2:0". flashscore.com. 25 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  22. ^ "Експериментален състав на България отстъпи на Беларус (видео+галерия)". sportal.bg. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  23. ^ Stefan Velkov at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  24. ^ Stefan Velkov at National-Football-Teams.com
  25. ^ "Славия триумфира с купата във финала на Гошо Петков, Левски отново капо". Gong.bg (in Bulgarian). 9 May 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  26. ^ Baunsgaard, Casper Hede (21 May 2023). "Mesterlig Mucolli-træffer da Vejle vandt NordicBet Ligaen". Bold (in Danish). Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
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