by JAKE NUTTING

After winning two scoring titles, a league title and Player of the Year honors in the top division of his native Bulgaria, Georgi Hristov was looking for a new challenge at the start of 2013.

As he inched closer to 30, Hristov was getting the itch to test the waters abroad that many players get at some point. With his solid resume from his time in Bulgaria, there were plenty of quality offers from other countries in Eastern Europe, but there was just something alluring to the striker about giving America a shot.

“I had already had a career of like 10, 11 years over there,” Hristov says. “At that point I felt I needed a big change because in Bulgaria I had won everything at that time, individually, with the team, everything. At the age of 28 you have to start to think about doing something and where you’re going.”

With a solid resume from his time in Bulgaria, there were plenty of quality offers from other countries in Eastern Europe, but there was just something alluring to the striker about giving America a shot.

“I kinda wanted to achieve more for myself and my future family,” he explains. “I had offers from places like Romania, Russia, Turkey, but I kinda just felt that I wanted to try it here. I don’t know why. I guess it was about getting away and finding a new adventure.”

Four seasons and over 100 appearances for the Tampa Bay Rowdies later and Hristov has cemented his reputation as one the best and most revered players to suit up for the reincarnated Rowdies. His 100th match for the green and gold came on a Wednesday night in Minnesota, but he only had to wait a few days to be honored by the supporters at Al Lang Stadium.

“That night was a very good experience for me,” he says of the celebration honoring his achievement. “Everything the fans did for me, the tifo, just everything. It was all unbelievable. It was a very, very special day that I’m going to remember for sure.”

Hristov reached the milestone just a few weeks after his teammate Keith Savage did the same, a happy coincidence for Hristov as Savage was one of the first to welcome him into the Rowdies family.

“When I first came here Keith was the first guy that I talked to,” he says. “He’s such a nice guy, one of the best friends that I have on the team. We’ve talked about how we much we went through with the Rowdies. It feels good for there to have been such a short time between Keith having 100 and me having it. Obviously he had to go through a very bad injury last year so he had to wait a little bit, but I’m so happy for him. And for me, I’m proud of it, but I’m humble and looking forward to playing more games for the Rowdies.”

The Rowdies, though, were not the first stateside team to show interest in the Bulgarian. MLS’ Philadelphia Union were keen to sign him but didn’t have an open international spot at the time. According to Hristov, it was another Rowdies legend, Perry Van Der Beck, who stepped in to lure him to Tampa Bay despite having better financial opportunities on the table.

“Perry Van Der Beck is the guy who I’m always going grateful to. The way he talked to me, he really convinced me to be with the Rowdies. I felt that I was really wanted at this club and that this was the team for me. I don’t want to talk about the financial part of things, but I had to take a step backward regarding finances. But I was truly happy to be here, and at the end of the day he’s the guy that really, along with Ricky Hill, convinced me that I had to be here.”

It wasn’t just Tampa Bay that was an unknown for Hristov at the time. Cousins who lived in St Petersburg offered some helpful advice, but his first time ever setting foot in the U.S. was the few days before signing with the Rowdies.

“It was a different world in general, not only in soccer,” Hristov recalls. “But really all my teammates really made it so easy for me, great guys, all of them. They just made me feel at home in my first year.”

The big move did force Hristov to make a huge sacrifice. He had to leave behind his wife, who was set to give birth to their first child in the first month of the NASL season.

“It was a very, very tough time. It wasn’t easy,” he admits. “My wife was pregnant and I really wanted to come here. Basically this meant I wasn’t going to be there when she was going to give birth to our first child, my daughter. But then she talked to me, and she’s so strong. She’s a Bulgarian woman, just strong. She said, ‘You’re going to go there and do your thing. Don’t worry.’ Obviously her family and my family was going to be there so she wasn’t going to be there alone, but I came here and signed with the Rowdies in February and my daughter was born in April and I was here. I wasn’t there, which is something that I really missed out on.”

Fortunately, the new NASL Spring and Fall Season format gave Hristov the opportunity to take a quick trip over to Bulgaria to meet his daughter. After a few months of uncertainty of when it would happen, their family was finally whole in Tampa Bay in August of that year and they welcomed a son last year.

Hristov’s most memorable moment in a Rowdies shirt is easy to pin down, as it’s probably the same for every fan out there. His lone goal in Tampa Bay’s U.S Open Cup upset over the Seattle Sounders in his first year stands as one of the most electrifying moments for the club in the modern era.

Equally important to Hristov, though, is his connection to fans off the field. This is plainly evident by his relationship with Cole Eicher, a cancer survivor who the Rowdies signed to a contract in 2014. Hristov was one of the players to surprise the then 12-year-old with the contract, a moment the veteran cherishes.

“Probably one of my favorite moments is meeting Cole,” he says. “Good moments for us are not only on the field but also off of it. Life is not only soccer at the end of the day. So that was another great moment for me.”

Like many who have watched Hristov over the years in Tampa Bay, Eicher admires him for the way he handles himself on the field and in personal moments with the supporters.

“I respect Georgi as a player because he works hard, is a team player and when he accomplishes a goal he celebrates, but quickly gets back to business,” Eicher says. “He doesn’t look for added attention to himself, it’s always about the team.

“After every game you can always see Georgi being approachable and signing autographs. He makes every fan feel important, especially me.”

The strong bond between the two is just one example of how Hristov has embraced being a part of the Rowdies. Not only is he the team’s leading scorer in the modern era, you’d be hard-pressed to find any supporter who has had a bad interaction with the amiable player.

“I’m happy and I’m delighted to be with this team and to be a part of its great history,” the veteran says. “In coming from Bulgaria, this was one of the only teams here that I knew. I knew about the Rowdies and the Cosmos. That was it.”