Robert Alexander Petar Stambolziev[1][3] (born 26 October 1990) is an Australian retired professional footballer who last played as a winger for National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 club Preston Lions.
He was a member of Australia's European Football Institute, and travelled to England to work as a glass collector at the Walkabout in Swindon.
Stambolziev returned to England aged sixteen with an Australian representative team which participated in a tour, again he was spotted by Bristol City and was officially offered a youth contract.
On 19 September 2007, Stambolziev started in an away tie against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2007–08 Premier Academy League at South Spurs Lodge.
[10] Stambolziev played in successive games for the Academy in September, October and November, making his last appearance for 2007 on 15 December.
[11][12][13][14] Bristol City's U18 squad also participated in the 2007–08 FA Youth Cup, during which Stambolziev scored a double (including a last-gasp winner) against Leeds United U18 in a 2–1 win on 16 January 2008.
[20] In July 2008, Stambolziev and teammates Tom Bradley and striker Marlon Jackson played in a 2–0 away victory for Bristol City's Academy against Cirencester Town at the Corinium Stadium before the start of the 2008–09 season.
[21] Stambolziev controlled a cross from Andy Minturn and had his shot narrowly clearing the bar, before scoring from a ball given over the Cirencester Town back line in the last four minutes of the game.
[21] In August 2008, Stambolziev attracted an invitation to join an 18-man squad for an Australia national youth team training camp in Canberra.
[23] Stambolziev played against Chelsea players like Daniel Philliskirk, Billy-Joe King, Marko Mitrovic, Fabio Borini, Jordan Tabor and Frank Nouble.
[27] On 11 December 2008, Stambolziev made his last appearance of 2008 in the Third round of the 2008–09 FA Youth Cup for the club's Academy team against Queens Park Rangers U18, during which Stambolziev scored one of three goals for Bristol City to lead 3–0 in the second half before QPR came back to win 5–3 in extra time from a hat-trick by Josh Parker.
[7][38] He was one of four academy graduates to eventually be offered a contract,[39][7][40] with teammates Marlonon Jackson, Ashley Kington and Joe Edwards.
[41] On 11 June 2009, Sky Sports reported that Stambolziev had turned down a four figured contract in favour of joining a club in Greece.
[43] In July 2009, Stambolziev attended pre-season training with the Panathinaikos first-team in Switzerland, sharing the sessions with players like Djibril Cisse, Kostas Katsouranis, Giorgos Karagounis, Marcelo Matos and Sebastian Leto.
[47][48] Stambolziev joined Australians Zeljko Kalac, Craig Moore, Andreas Govas and Apostolos Giannou during his loan at Kavala.
[51] In January 2010, Stambolziev returned to Panathinaikos when he joined teammate Academy players, including Lando Fusu, in first-team training.
[71] In July 2012, Stambolziev signed with Cypriot First Division side Olympiakos Nicosia on a free transfer for the 2012–13 season.
On 3 June 2015, a squad listing of Sydney FC's retained players was released with the absence of Stambolziev's name, and it was thought that he would no longer remain at the club.
[82] In January 2017, Robert Stambolziev signed with Cypriot Second Division side PAEEK on a short-term deal until the end of the 2016–17 season.
One more fixture went by and Stambolziev would score a double for Preston Lions as they defeated Westgate 7–0 on 11 June 2017, totalling to eight goals in three consecutive appearances.
[5] On 27 May 2017, a day before the opening of the mid-season transfer window, National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 club Altona Magic SC announced the signing of Stambolziev for the remainder of the season.
[91][92] In August 2008, Stambolziev was invited to join an 18-man squad for an Australia national youth team training camp in Canberra.