View source for Petar Hubchev

{{short description|Bulgarian footballer and manager}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{family name hatnote|Kanchev|Hubchev|lang=Bulgarian}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Petar Hubchev
| image = Petar Hubchev.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = Hubchev in 2017
| fullname = Petar Kanchev Hubchev
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1964|2|26}}
| birth_place = [[Glozhene, Lovech Province|Glozhene]], [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]
| height = 1.85 m
| currentclub = 
| position = [[Sweeper (association football)|Sweeper]]
| youthyears1 = 
| youthclubs1 = 
| years1 = 1981–1989
| clubs1 = [[PFC Litex Lovech|Osam Lovech]]
| caps1 = 249
| goals1 = 26
| years2 = 1989–1993
| clubs2 = [[PFC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]]
| caps2 = 125
| goals2 = 5
| years3 = 1993–1996
| clubs3 = [[Hamburger SV]]
| caps3 = 65
| goals3 = 2
| years4 = 1996–2001
| clubs4 = [[Eintracht Frankfurt]]
| caps4 = 107
| goals4 = 2
| totalcaps = 546
| totalgoals = 35
| nationalyears1 = 1984–1996
| nationalteam1 = [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria]]
| nationalcaps1 = 35
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| manageryears1 = 2002
| managerclubs1 = [[Eintracht Frankfurt]] (assistant)
| manageryears2 = 2003–2004
| managerclubs2 = [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria]] (assistant)
| manageryears3 = 2004
| managerclubs3 = [[FV Bad Vilbel]]
| manageryears4 = 2005
| managerclubs4 = [[PFC Slavia Sofia|Slavia Sofia]]
| manageryears5 = 2005–2007
| managerclubs5 = [[Eintracht Frankfurt II]]
| manageryears6 = 2008–2009
| managerclubs6 = [[VfL Wolfsburg|VfL Wolfsburg II]]
| manageryears7 = 2009–2011
| managerclubs7 = [[OFC Pomorie|Chernomorets Pomorie]]
| manageryears8 = 2011
| managerclubs8 = [[PFC Botev Plovdiv|Botev Plovdiv]]
| manageryears9 = 2012–2016
| managerclubs9 = [[PFC Beroe Stara Zagora|Beroe Stara Zagora]]
| manageryears10 = 2016−2019
| managerclubs10 = [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria]]
| manageryears11 = 2019−2020
| managerclubs11 = [[PFC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]]
| manageryears12 = 2022
| managerclubs12 = [[PFC Beroe Stara Zagora|Beroe Stara Zagora]]
}}

'''Petar Kanchev Hubchev''' ({{langx|bg|Петър Кънчев Хубчев}}; born 26 February 1964) is a Bulgarian [[Manager (association football)|football manager]] and former player who played for [[Hamburger SV]] and [[Eintracht Frankfurt]] in the German [[Bundesliga]]. Considered one of the greatest defenders in the Bulgarian football history, he was an integral part of the Bulgarian squad that reached the semi-finals of the [[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994 World Cup]] and also played at the [[UEFA Euro 1996|Euro 1996]].

==Career==
Born in the village of [[Glozhene, Lovech Province|Glozhene]], [[Lovech Province]], Hubchev initially began his career as a [[Defender (association football)#Centre-back|centre-back]] at [[PFC Litex Lovech|Osam Lovech]] and being called up for the national team while still playing in the [[Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|B Group]]. He made his debut for the [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria national team]] on 25 April 1984 in a match against [[Greece national football team|Greece]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://paper.standartnews.com/archive/2004/06/12/folio/s4107_9.htm|title=Започваме ги с Швеция. 10 години след лудото американско лято се готвим за скок в Европа|date=12 June 2004|access-date=4 September 2017|publisher=standartnews.com|language=bg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820035722/http://paper.standartnews.com/archive/2004/06/12/folio/s4107_9.htm|archive-date=20 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Hubchev was subsequently bought by [[PFC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]] in 1989 after 249 matches for Osam. He stayed until 1994, winning two domestic [[First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|titles]] and two [[Bulgarian Cup|national cups]]. His success during the 1994 World Cup led him to a move to German club [[Hamburger SV]], a team which he captained for a brief period. He then played for [[Eintracht Frankfurt]] until 2001,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/1996-97/1030/vereinsspieler_petar-hubchev.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140501184037/http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/1996-97/1030/vereinsspieler_petar-hubchev.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 1 May 2014 | title = Houbchev, Petar | language = de | publisher = [[Kicker (magazine)|Kicker]] | access-date = 29 December 2011}}</ref> where he finished his professional career at the age of 38 and continued as an assistant manager and reserves manager, having played 128 matches and scored two goals in the German [[Bundesliga]], as well as 44 matches in the [[2. Bundesliga]] with another two goals.

==Coaching and managerial career==
In 2003, Hubchev became the assistant manager of the Bulgaria national team under head coach [[Plamen Markov]], as he helped Bulgaria qualify for the [[UEFA Euro 2004|Euro 2004]]. He continued afterwards as an assistant manager under new Bulgaria national team manager [[Hristo Stoichkov]], and also briefly worked as a [[PFC Slavia Sofia|Slavia Sofia]] manager in 2005. After his career as an assistant coach of the national team of Bulgaria, Houbtchev successfully worked as the head coach of the [[Eintracht Frankfurt II|Eintracht Frankfurt U-23]] formation in Germany, reaching promotion for the Regionalliga with the “Eagles”. Following his successful stay at Eintracht Frankfurt, Houbtchev was hired by the former Stuttgart, Bayern Munich and Fulham manager [[Felix Magath]] to take the wheel of the [[VfL Wolfsburg II|VfL Wolfsburg U23]] formation. Houbtchev managed to gain a very prolific experience during his command in Wolfsburg, as he collaborated with one of the best German coaches. From the summer of 2009 he went on to manage [[OFC Pomorie|Chernomorets Pomorie]], a feeder club of [[PSFC Chernomorets Burgas|Chernomorets Burgas]] at the time in the Bulgarian [[Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|B Group]]. Hubchev managed the team to a surprise appearance in the [[2010 Bulgarian Cup Final]] by eliminating [[FC Minyor Pernik|Minyor Pernik]] with 2–0 in the quarter-final and [[FC Kaliakra Kavarna|Kaliakra Kavarna]] (4–1 after penalties) respectively. Chernomorets Pomorie players were the second ones from a B Group side in the Bulgarian Cup history to appear in the final of the competition since Chernomorets Burgas' similar achievement in 1989. Chernomorets Pomorie lost the final 0–1 against [[PFC Beroe Stara Zagora|Beroe Stara Zagora]] after conceding a late goal just before extra time was to commence. In 2011, he was appointed as a manager of [[PFC Botev Plovdiv|Botev Plovdiv]]. Under his management, Botev recorded only one defeat in 10 games. He left Botev however, as a result of internal differences among club officials.

In February 2012, he was appointed as a sports director at Beroe Stara Zagora. In October 2012, Hubchev was announced as the new head coach of Beroe Stara Zagora. The very same season he guided the team to a Bulgarian Cup triumph against Levski Sofia in the final, combined with a Super Cup brace against domestic title holders [[PFC Ludogorets Razgrad|Ludogorets Razgrad]]. In the follow-up [[2014–15 A Group]], he also led Beroe Stara Zagora to a historic second place in the final league ranking, mostly by securing crucial wins at home against title contenders Levski Sofia and [[PFC CSKA Sofia|CSKA Sofia]], alongside [[PFC Lokomotiv Sofia|Lokomotiv Sofia]] and Slavia Sofia. Beroe Stara Zagora also avoided losing against these four in the away league matches in Sofia respectively.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gol.bg/nachalo/2015-05-13/beroe-prevarna-sofiya-v-provintsiya | title=Берое превърна София в провинция }}</ref> Hubchev was released from his duties in April 2016, following a 0–2 home loss against CSKA Sofia in a first leg Bulgarian Cup semi-final match,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://topsport.ibox.bg/news/id_1995958418|title = В Берое вдигнаха мерника на Хубчев, бъдещето на треньора неясно | language = bg | publisher = topsport.bg| date = 27 October 2014|access-date = 6 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=598563|title = Официално: "Берое" уволни Петър Хубчев| language = bg | publisher = sportal.bg| date= 7 April 2016|access-date = 16 April 2016}}</ref> with the management of the club proclaiming him to be the most successful manager Beroe Stara Zagora has had in the club's history. In October 2016 Houbtchev was appointed the new head coach of the [[Bulgaria national football team]]. Under his command the Bulgaria national team put up one of their best performances in recent years, beating the Netherlands 2–0 as well as Sweden 3–2 in Sofia for the 2018 World Cup Qualification. As for the Nations League, Bulgaria were drawn in Euro Cup Nations League C qualifying group 3 with Norway, Slovenia and Cyprus.

Bulgaria opened up the campaign well, with an impressive 2-1 win over Slovenia and an even more astounding 1-0 shutout win over Norway coached by Lars Lagerbäck. Bulgaria also managed to beat Cyprus 2-1 in Sofia, thereby earning 9 points out of the first three games. Bulgaria eventually closed out the second round of games with two 1-1 draws against Slovenia and Cyprus. This ultimately resulted in securing two important playoff games for the 2020 UEFA Euro qualification against Hungary and the winner between Iceland/Romania. Owing to his achievements as the head coach of the Bulgaria national team Petar Houbtchev was voted Coach of the Year in 2018 by local media representatives. During his spell, the Bulgaria national team managed to achieve several decent wins against prominent and strong sides such as [[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]], [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]], [[Norway national football team|Norway]], [[Slovenia national football team|Slovenia]], [[Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi Arabia]], [[Belarus national football team|Belarus]], [[Kazakhstan national football team|Kazakhstan]] and [[Cyprus national football team|Cyprus]], securing an average of 1.45 points per match.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.dnevnik.bg/sport/2022/06/30/4363855_tursi_se_trenyor_ili_kak_nacionalniiat_otbor_se_vurti/|title = Търси се треньор: как националният отбор се върти в омагьосан кръг | language = bg | publisher = dnevnik.bg| author=Kichukov, Simeon|date = 30 June 2022|access-date = 5 July 2022}}</ref>

After his successful tenure at the Bulgaria national team he was appointed as the new head coach of [[PFC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]] in June 2019, with the team under his guidance being defensively very solid, and quick on transitions. In January 2022 he returned to Beroe Stara Zagora. Under Hubchev, the team first managed to avoid relegation and furthermore qualified for the UEFA Conference League play-off, that was narrowly lost against Botev Plovdiv. <ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.kotasport.com/tazhna-statistika-za-levski-pri-hubchev/|title = Тъжна статистика за Левски при Хубчев! | language = bg | publisher = kotasport.com| author=Velkov, Zhelyazko |date = 12 June 2020|access-date = 12 October 2020}}</ref>

==Managerial statistics==
{{updated|match played 1 August 2019}}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan=2|Team
!rowspan=2|From
!rowspan=2|To
! colspan="4" |Record
|-
!G
!W
!D
!L
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria (assistant)]]
|align=left|1 June 2003
|align=left|1 October 2004
||–||–||–||–
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Germany}} [[FV Bad Vilbel]]
|align=left| -
|align=left| -
{{WDL|7|5|0|2}}
|-
|align=left|{{Flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[PFC Slavia Sofia|Slavia Sofia]]
|align=left|1 August 2005
|align=left|1 December 2005
||–||–||–||–
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Eintracht Frankfurt II]]
|align=left|15 December 2005
|align=left|13 December 2007
{{WDL|68|29|17|22}}
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Germany}} [[VfL Wolfsburg II]]
|align=left|4 January 2008
|align=left|1 January 2009
{{WDL|17|2|3|12}}
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[OFC Pomorie|Chernomorets Pomorie]]
|align=left|31 July 2009
|align=left|1 May 2011
||–||–||–||–
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[PFC Botev Plovdiv|Botev Plovdiv]]
|align=left|16 May 2011
|align=left|26 October 2011
{{WDL|9|3|5|1}}
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[PFC Beroe Stara Zagora|Beroe Stara Zagora]]
|align=left|1 February 2012
|align=left|7 April 2016
{{WDL|139|68|36|35}}
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria]]
|align=left|28 September 2016
|align=left|14 May 2019
{{WDL|20|8|5|7}}
|-
|align=left|{{flagicon|Bulgaria}} [[PFC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]]
|align=left|10 June 2019
|align=left|11 June 2020
{{WDL|33|17|8|8}}
|-
!colspan=3|Total
{{WDLtot|260|116|64|80}}
|}

==Honours==

===As player===
'''Levski Sofia'''
*[[First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|A Group]]: [[1992–93 A Group|1992–93]], [[1993–94 A Group|1993–94]]
*[[Bulgarian Cup]]: [[1991–92 Bulgarian Cup|1991–92]], [[1993–94 Bulgarian Cup|1993–94]]

===As manager===
'''Chernomorets Pomorie'''
*[[Bulgarian Cup]] runners-up: [[2009–10 Bulgarian Cup|2009–10]]

'''Beroe Stara Zagora'''
*[[First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)|A Group]] runners-up: [[2014–15 A Group|2014–15]]
*[[Bulgarian Cup]]: [[2012–13 Bulgarian Cup|2012–13]]
*[[Bulgarian Supercup]]: [[2013 Bulgarian Supercup|2013]]

===Individual===
* Bulgarian Coach of the Year 2018: winner
* Bulgarian Coach of the Year 2019: runner-up
* Bulgarian Footballer of the Year 1992: runner-up
* Trifov Ivanov Lionheart Award 2023<ref name="KirilDespodovNumberOneBulgaria2023">{{cite web | title=Три зад Бербатов, една зад Стоичков: Кирил Десподов e Футболист №1 за четвърти път| website=dnevnik.bg |author=Kichukov, Simeon|language=Bulgarian| url=https://www.dnevnik.bg/sport/2024/03/18/4602523_tri_zad_berbatov_edna_zad_stoichkov_kiril_despodov_e/| date=18 March 2024|access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Fussballdaten|hubtchevpetar|Petar Houbchev}}
*[http://www.eintracht-archiv.de/houbtchev.html Petar Houbchev] at eintracht-archiv.de {{in lang|de}}
*[http://en.levskisofia.info/player/petar-hubchev/ Profile at LevskiSofia.info]

{{Navboxes colour
|title = Bulgaria squads
|bg = #FFFFFF
|fg = #006400
|list1 =
{{Bulgaria squad 1994 FIFA World Cup}}
{{Bulgaria squad UEFA Euro 1996}}
}}
{{Bulgaria national football team managers}}
{{PFC Levski Sofia managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubchev, Petar}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Lovech]]
[[Category:Footballers from Lovech Province]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:Bulgarian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Bulgaria men's international footballers]]
[[Category:1994 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 1996 players]]
[[Category:First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players]]
[[Category:Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players]]
[[Category:Bundesliga players]]
[[Category:2. Bundesliga players]]
[[Category:FC Lovech players]]
[[Category:PFC Levski Sofia players]]
[[Category:Hamburger SV players]]
[[Category:Eintracht Frankfurt players]]
[[Category:Bulgarian football managers]]
[[Category:Eintracht Frankfurt non-playing staff]]
[[Category:PFC Beroe Stara Zagora managers]]
[[Category:PFC Slavia Sofia managers]]
[[Category:Botev Plovdiv managers]]
[[Category:Bulgaria national football team managers]]
[[Category:PFC Levski Sofia managers]]
[[Category:First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) managers]]
[[Category:Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany]]
[[Category:Bulgarian expatriate football managers]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Germany]]
[[Category:20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen]]