283: Borislav Mihailov, Bulgaria, USA ’94 World Cup, UK and Eire Edition

Today Richard Allinson takes a look at a follicly challenged shot stopper who performed heroics to help his nation defy the odds at a World Cup which was clearly enough to persuade Berkshire’s finest to snap him up the following year. As footballers’ hair has become so influential to fashion, much to the chagrin of the previously permed Graeme Souness, it’s nice to think back to a simpler time when just whacking a syrup on was enough for an international captain. Over to Rich.

“He looks like a f***ing balloon with Weetabix crushed on top.” When Wayne “Wazza” Rooney ventured into the world of hair transplants, I’d imagine it would’ve been with a degree of trepidation bearing in mind the likely reaction from most football fans. However, he probably wasn’t expecting his new hair do to be met with such a surreally accurate assessment as the above viewpoint that was put forward by Liam Gallagher. Quite what the ex-Oasis frontman would have made of today’s blog subject is unknown. However, given he once told the NME: “No one wants to see bald rock stars, man. If I ever go bald, I’ll be getting a wig. F***ing too right, without a doubt. There’s no shame in that…” it is likely that he would have approved. 

Boris Mihailov is a rare breed: A footballer in a toupee. He is not, as my initial Wikipedia research led me to believe, Boris Mikhailov: “one of the most important artists to have emerged from the former USSR”. However, I know very little about art, so let’s get back to bald goalies. When our Boris Mihailov first emerged on to the international scene in the mid 1980s, he was rocking the classic no hair on top, sensible trim around the back and sides. Sort of like Prince William, or Jim Smith the ex-Derby County manager. Bulgaria then became a bit crap at football for a few years and disappeared from the world scene, but come USA ‘94 they were back. Only this time their goalkeeper and captain miraculously had a full head of hair. Sadly, he hadn’t gone for anything like a Carlos Valderrama Sideshow Bob, or a Jack Grealish Vileda Mop. Instead he opted for an understated “standard man” look. Missed opportunity. 

It was at USA ‘94 when I first became aware of Mihailov and his teammates. I’d never heard of Hristo Stoichkov or his attacking sidekick Yordan Letchkov, and the spectacular in every way Trifon Ivanov was a complete unknown to me. In fact, the only Bulgarian that had appeared on my radar previously was Ipswich Town (and future Carshalton Athletic) star Bontcho Guentchev. And that was only because he’d scored a hat-trick against Grimsby Town in the previous season’s FA Cup. Regardless of all that, Bulgaria’s fourth placed finish at the competition was unexpected to say the least, as prior to the tournament kicking off they had never won a game at the World Cup finals. After getting stuffed 3-0 by a Daniel Amokachi inspired Nigeria in their first group game, they went on to batter Greece 4-0 in their next match and thus make history. Next up was a showdown with Argentina in the final group game. The Argentines (shorn of Maradona who had been kicked out of the tournament for indulging in a few PEDs) weren’t a match for Bulgaria, with the game ending 2-0 to Mihailov’s men. This win moved them up to second place in the group and meant that they qualified for the knockout rounds. However, a quirk of USA ‘94 meant that three teams qualified from some groups, so Argentina and Nigeria both qualified anyway.

First up in the knockout phase for Boris and the Bulgarians was a game against Mexico. They negotiated Jorge Campos’ wacky kit, and eventually progressed having won a penalty shoot out 3-1, with Bozza saving two penalties. They then met reigning champions Germany (pedants… I know West Germany technically won Italia ‘90 and this was a post Hasselhoff unification side, but just go with it) in the next round. Two goals in three minutes saw Boris’ men through to the semi-finals, where they eventually succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Italy. Rumours that Mihailov let the two goals in because he was too busy wondering if a Roberto Baggio ponytail wig would suit him are, however, unsubstantiated.

Prior to Bulgaria’s footballing and Boris’s folical  ‘94 renaissance, Mihailov had spent his career keeping goal in stadiums across Bulgaria, Portugal and France. However, in 1995 he left Botev Plovdiv to join Reading for a then club record £800,000. On hearing of my intention to write about Mihailov, Sticker 500’s resident Royals’ fan, Emlyn Jones summed up his time in Berkshire by saying “… he played for the Ding for a bit but was not worth 800k. My feedback on him is broadly limited to that, but feel free to mention that the Ding only sold Hislop because we didn't get promoted despite finishing second because the Premier League was streamlined and WELL IF IT WASN'T FOR ALL THE STREAMLINING WE'D HAVE BEEN IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE SO... WELL.” Seems a fair summary. 

So Borislav Mihailov then, played 102 international matches for Bulgaria (60 of them as captain), played in leagues across Europe and at one point was the most expensive player in Reading FC’s history. And, somehow, he did all this without his wig falling off.