[1] Born in Pleven, Barkanichkov was a squad member of numerous clubs in the top division of Bulgarian football, most notably becoming champion of Bulgaria twice - in 2001 with Levski Sofia[2] and in 2004 with Loko Plovdiv.
[1] In 2001, after having impressed Uzbek scouts during an Albena Cup match between Levski Sofia and Uzbekistan, Barkanichkov received a lucrative financial offer to represent the Central Asian country's national team, but refused it, as he was at the time on then manager of Bulgaria Stoycho Mladenov's radar.
Eventually he never got to play international football, as he was plagued by injury problems during the year 2001.
[1][3] Following retirement, Barkanichkov was employed as a fitness instructor in Pleven in addition to continuing to play football at the amateur level in Bulgaria.
[1] He is a fan of Premier League team Southampton, with Matthew Le Tissier being one of his football idols.