Robert Stambolziev

Early career

Stambolziev grew up in the suburb Whittlesea of Melbourne's north, where he played in the youth system of Preston Lions, eventually becoming one of few professional footballers to play at the club, such as Sasa Ognenovski, Billy Celeski and Mathew Theodore. Stambolziev was overlooked by the club's reserve-team, which saw him transfer to FFV Division 1 club Hume City in 2006, with whom he was able to play at reserve level. 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. He was then offered a trial with the U18 youth academies of Bristol City, Reading and Southend United aged fourteen. Both Bristol City and Southend United showed interest in signing him to their respective academies. 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.

Bristol City

2007–08 season

In 2007 Stambolziev joined the U18 Academy of English Football League One side Bristol City. On 25 August 2007, Stambolziev appeared for City's Youth Academy. He participated in the 2007–08 Premier Academy League, where Bristol City where in the Academy Group B and finish in fifth position with 38 points. On 19 September 2007, Stambolziev started in an away tie against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2007–08 Premier Academy League at South Spurs…

In July 2008, Stambolziev was listed in a group of Australian footballers aged between 16 and 22 known as "the lost boys", including Paul Giannou, Andreas Govas and Dean Bouzanis, who were likely to play for or had played for national teams of the country of their heritage. In August 2008, Stambolziev was invited to join an 18-man squad for an Australia national youth team training camp in Canberra. In May 2009, Stambolziev was selected for Australia's national youth team to play a series of friendlies in a tournament in Terborg against youth teams including De Graafschap, Valencia CF, Atletico Mineiro, Egypt U-20, PSV Eindhoven, Ajax Amsterdam, Celtic, FC Uitgeest, and Vitesse as part of the under-20 national team's preparation for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Before the Ternborg Tournament, Stambolziev scored a double against FC Twente U19 in a 2-0 friendly win scoring in the 8th minute and 19th minute of the match. Stambolziev was ultimately not selected to take part at the U-20 World Cup, stating that the Australia's national youth teams had neglected him for selection which resulted in his interest of representing Macedonia. It had also been reported that both the Macedonian Football Federation and the Hellenic Football Federation had been chasing him. In a 2008 interview with The World Game, Stambolziev stated that he would play for either Macedonian or Greece upon selection. In August 2014, Stambolziev revealed that he had chosen to represent Macedonia.

Stambolziev is of Macedonian descent. He was an alumni at St. Monica's College in Melbourne.

Australia U20

Under-20 International Cor Groenewegen Tournament: 2009