Dimitar Ivanov Evtimov ( bg, Димитър Иванов Евтимов; born 7 September 1993) is a Bulgarian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for First League club

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

. A former Bulgaria under-21 international, he was signed to Chavdar Etropole from Volov Shumen in 2009. He made his first-team debut during the 2010–11 season, before he joined English club

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in April 2011. From Forest he has spent time on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

Ilkeston Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/texti ...

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

Nuneaton Town Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton to ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

, Olhanense (Portugal), and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. He was named as the Championship Apprentice of the Year for the 2012–13 season, however, he left the club in August 2018 after making a total of just three first-team appearances. He signed with

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

in September 2018, and then moved on to

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

four months later. He returned to Bulgaria to sign with CSKA Sofia in July 2020 and won the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournamen ...

at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Club career

Chavdar Etropole

Evtimov signed with Chavdar Etropole from Volov Shumen in 2009. He made his first-team debut in a 5–1 victory over

Kom Kom or KOM may refer to: Ethnic groups * Kom people (Afghanistan), a Nuristani tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan * Kom people (Cameroon), an ethnic group of northwest Cameroon * Kom people (India) a subgroup of the Kuki in north-eastern India * ...

on 18 September 2010. He made a total of five appearances in the

B Group The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...

in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season.

Nottingham Forest

Evtimov signed for the English club

in April 2011. He spent a brief time on

, before he joined

in the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

on a one-month loan on 10 November 2011. He played three matches in the space of a week for Steve Housham's "Holy Blues", before losing his first-team place. He was named the Championship Apprentice of the Year for the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. On 16 July 2013, he joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

club

on a three-month loan deal. He made four appearances during his stay at

Liberty Way Liberty Way is a multi-use Stadium, sports stadium in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, which is leased by Nuneaton Town F.C. but is also used by Nuneaton R.F.C., which rents the stadium from the football club. Liberty Way has been used by the rug ...

. He made his first-team debut for Forest on 21 April 2014, coming on as a late substitute for the injured

Dorus de Vries Dorus de Vries (born 29 December 1980) is a Dutch former association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. De Vries began his professional career in his native the Netherlands with Telstar (football ...

in a 2–0 win at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. He signed a new two-year

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

with the club three months later after new

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Stuart Pearce was told by caretaker manager

Gary Brazil Gary Nicholas Brazil (born 19 September 1962) is an English former professional footballer and football manager, who is now academy manager at Nottingham Forest. He scored 160 goals in 658 league and cup games in an 18-year professional career. ...

that he was a good prospect. A loan to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

fell through in July 2014 after manager

Kevin Wilkin Kevin Wilkin (born 1 October 1967) is an English manager and former professional footballer. He is the manager of AFC Telford United. Playing career Born in Cambridge but raised in the Cambridgeshire village of Milton, Wilkin started his career ...

was unable to accept an instant recall option demanded by Forest due to regulations by the FAW. Evtimov instead joined Nottinghamshire

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

on 19 August, on loan until 3 January, after impressing manager Paul Cox during pre-season. He was named on the Football League team of the week for his performance in a 1–0 win at AFC Wimbledon on 20 December. He played a total of 11 games for the "Stags", and new manager Adam Murray stated that "we attempted to extend his loan but unfortunately for us, Forest see him as part of their long-term plans". Evtimov extended his contract with Forest by a further four years in July 2015, tying him to the club until 2019. Following an injury to de Vries, he made his second appearance for Forest at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

on 31 October 2015, and manager

Dougie Freedman Douglas Alan Freedman (born 25 May 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Crystal Palace. Freedman played as a striker, primarily for Crystal Palace and also had spells as ...

said that he "cost us the game" after he allowed a strike from

Fernando Forestieri Fernando Martin Forestieri (born 15 January 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a second striker for Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim. Born in Argentina, he is a former Italy youth international. Club career Born in Ros ...

to creep underneath him for the only goal of the game. On 31 August 2016, he signed on loan with Portuguese club Olhanense for the 2016–17 season, who were bottom of the LigaPro. His loan spell at the

Estádio José Arcanjo Estadio José Arcanjo is a multi-purpose stadium in Olhão Olhão (), officially known as Olhão da Restauração, is a city and municipality in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 45,396, in ...

proved a difficult one as he conceded within three minutes of his debut, in a 3–2 defeat at

União da Madeira União is the Portuguese word for Union. It may refer to: *the Brazilian federal government *União do Vegetal, a church known for its usage of Hoasca as tea * Brazilian frigate ''União'' (F45), a general-purpose ''Niterói'' class frigate launc ...

on 10 September. Manager Cristiano Bacci lost his job the following month, and though Evtimov established himself in the first-team under new boss Bruno Baltazar, he was recalled from his loan spell earlier than planned on 13 January, having made ten appearances for the "Lions". Evtimov started the 2017–18 season as

Mark Warburton Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player who is a first-team coach at West Ham United. As a player, Warburton was a right back at non-League level with Enfield and Boreham Wood. He beg ...

's third-choice goalkeeper behind Jordan Smith and Stephen Henderson, and was advised by former "Reds" goalkeeper Barry Roche to go out on loan to find first-team football. On 8 August 2017, Evtimov started Forest's first round EFL Cup tie against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

, conceding a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

in a 2–1 win. This was Evtimov's first game for Forest since October 2015, and his home debut at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

six years after first joining the club. On 28 October 2017, Evtimov joined League Two club

on an emergency loan following an injury to loanee goalkeeper

Kelle Roos Kelle Willem Roos (born 31 May 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Aberdeen. Roos spent his youth with a wide variety of Dutch clubs, including: VV Toxandria, VV Trekvogels, Juliana '31, Quick 1888, PSV ...

, and made his "Valiants" debut later that day against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

. At fault for at least one of the goals in a 3–0 defeat, '' The Sentinels Michael Baggaley wrote that "Evtimov looked as though he had only just been introduced to his defence, but that’s not a criticism because actually he had". Manager

Neil Aspin Neil Aspin (born 12 April 1965) is an English football manager and former player. A solid defender who could play at centre-back and right-back, he was a good marker and an adept tackler. He made his debut in the English Football League for L ...

reserved his criticism for the club's medical staff as they only ruled Roos as unfit to play the previous day. On 31 August 2018, Evtimov's contract with Nottingham Forest was terminated by mutual consent after he found himself behind

Costel Pantilimon Costel Fane Pantilimon (; born 1 February 1987) is a Romanian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He is currently a free agent. Pantilimon began his senior career at FC Poli ...

, Luke Steele and Jordan Smith in the first-team pecking order.

Burton Albion

On 14 September 2018, Evtimov signed a one-month contract with EFL League One club

after manager

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was ...

looked for a goalkeeper with experience in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

to stand in for the injured Stephen Bywater and

Bradley Collins Bradley Ray Collins (born 18 February 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Coventry City. Career Chelsea Born in Southampton, Collins joined Chelsea in 2010 at under-12 level, and signe ...

. He made his debut the following day in a 2–1 win over Sunderland at the

Pirelli Stadium Pirelli Stadium is an association football stadium on Princess Way in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was built in 2005 and is the current home of Burton Albion FC Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association foo ...

. After the game he said that he was happy with the win and passed on his best wishes to opposition striker Charlie Wyke, who he injured during an accidental collision. On 16 October, Evtimov signed a new one-month contract. Despite Collins being restored to the starting line-up, Evtimov went on to sign a second contract extension with the "Brewers" to keep him at the club until January.

Accrington Stanley

On 19 January 2019, Evtimov signed an 18-month contract with EFL League One club

. He was signed by manager John Coleman after loanee goalkeeper Connor Ripley was recalled by

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. He made his debut the same day, replacing

Luke Armstrong Luke Thomas Armstrong (born 2 July 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for League Two club Harrogate Town. Club career Early career Armstrong began his career with Middlesbrough, making his way up through the ac ...

in the 83rd minute of the club's 1–0 defeat at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

after

Jonny Maxted Jonathan James Maxted (born 26 October 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Newport County. Early and personal life Born in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, Maxted grew up in Boston Spa. His uncle, Paul Ma ...

was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

; after the match he said he was "gutted" to concede the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the third minute of stoppage-time. On 5 March, he was sent off after he tossed a bottle thrown by a Blackpool fan back into the crowd. He was sent off for the second time in his Stanley career on 20 April after giving away two penalties in a 3–0 defeat to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

at the

Crown Ground The Crown Ground is a multi-use stadium in Accrington, Lancashire, England. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Accrington Stanley. Opened in 1968, the stadium has a capacity of 5,450. The ground is curren ...

. He was one of five players released by the club at the end of the 2019–20 season.

CSKA Sofia

On 17 July 2020, Evtimov returned to Bulgaria, signing for First League side

, a club he supported growing up. He was a back-up to Brazilian goalkeeper Gustavo Busatto and played only seven games during the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season. He won a

winners' medal after being an unused substitute in the 2021 cup final win over Arda Kardzhali at the

Vasil Levski National Stadium Vasil Levski National Stadium ( bg, Национален стадион „Васил Левски“), named after Bulgarian national hero and revolutionary Vasil Levski (1837–1873), is the country's second largest stadium. The stadium has 43 ...

. He featured twelve times in the 2021–22 season and played six games in the 2022–23 campaign.

International career

Evtimov won caps for the under-19 and under-21 teams before he was called up to the senior

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

squad in November 2018.

Career statistics

Honours

CSKA Sofia *

Individual * Championship Apprentice of the Year:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evtimov, Dimitar 1993 births Living people People from Shumen Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Ilkeston F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players S.C. Olhanense players Port Vale F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players PFC CSKA Sofia players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Northern Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Liga Portugal 2 players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players