Levski congratulated the owner of the club Nasko Sirakov on the occasion of his birthday.
Here is what the website of the “blues” says:
“Today, the majority owner of “PFK Levski” and #1 scorer in the history of the club, Nasko Sirakov, celebrates his 62nd birthday.
Sirakov was born on April 26, 1962 in Stara Zagora, and is the son of the great Bulgarian wrestler Petko Sirakov. At the age of 13, he started training at the “Levski” school. He plays as a central striker, and he takes his first steps towards the men’s team of the “blues” in the matches between the first team of the club and the junior seniors. Then he caught the attention of coach Ivan Vutsov and became the first of Levski’s looming “golden” generation to debut for the men in the 1979/1980 season. Recorded two more games, after which he was sent to play in other teams. In Haskovo, under the guidance of coach Sasho Kostov, he scored 9 goals and helped the team achieve the best ranking – 8th place in “A” group.
After his return to “Gerena”, Sirakov became the legend we all know today and together with players such as Emil Spasov, Mikhail Valchev, Emil Velev, Nikolay Iliev, Borislav Mihailov and Bozhidar Iskrenov became the big star in the considered one of the strongest “Levski” teams of all time.
In six seasons, until the summer of 1988, Sirakov scored 116 goals. They help the “blues” to win the championship title of Bulgaria three times, the Cup once and the Cup of the Soviet Army three times. Sirakov also became the top scorer of the championship in the 1986/1987 seasons; 1987/1988.
The campaign in 1986/87 is particularly memorable. Then Sirakov scored 36 goals in 27 games and won a “bronze boot”, which was donated to the Levski museum.
The striker’s performance in this period earned him a transfer to Zaragoza in the summer of 1988. He quickly became one of the favorites of Serbian coach Radomir Antic, and during his entire stay at La Romareda he scored 10 goals in 41 games. Then there was one season for Espanyol, where he scored three times in 24 games.
In the summer of 1991, Sirakov returned to Levski. He became the top scorer of the “A” group with 26 goals, but the “blues” remained in second place in the standings. In 1992, he moved to the French “Lance”, but stayed there for only half a season, after which he returned to “Guerna” again. In 1994, he became the captain of the team. He scored 30 goals in the championship, which again made him the top scorer of the championship. In 1994/95 he was a major contributor to the Blues’ title, scoring 12 goals in 10 matches.
In the autumn of 1994, Sirakov immortalized himself in “blue” history after scoring 4 goals against CSKA in a historic 7:1 victory
This is also his last campaign for Levski, after which he played for Botev (South) and Slavia. For the “blues”, he recorded 264 matches and 209 goals, which makes him No. 1 in the club’s all-time ranking, holding the leading position both for goals in the championship and for the Bulgarian Cup.
He played 82 matches for the national team, scoring 23 goals. Participant of the world championships in 1986 (goal against Italy) and 1994 (goal against Argentina). Bronze medalist from USA 94. Participant of the European Championship in 1996.
In 1998, he was appointed executive director of “Levski”. As manager of Gerena, he won 5 titles (1999/2000, 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2005/2006, 2006/2007), 5 cups (1999/2000, 2001/2002, 2002/2003, 2004/2005, 2006/2007), 2 Super Cups (2005, 2007), 1/4-final in the UEFA Cup tournament in the 2005/2006 season and participation in the group stage of the Champions League (2006/2007).
In 2020, he returned as the majority owner of the club, in perhaps the most difficult period both financially and from a sports technical side. On May 15, 2022, he will add another Bulgarian Cup to his trophy cabinet as a manager.
“PFK Levski” congratulates Nasko Sirakov on the holiday and wishes him good health, happiness, personal and professional success and many future unforgettable moments with his beloved team.”
