Dimitar Veselinov Mitov ( bg, Димитър Веселинов Митов; born 22 January 1997) 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 le ...

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 club

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and the Bulgaria national team.

Club career

Early career in Bulgaria

Born in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, Mitov spent part of his childhood in

Kozloduy Kozloduy ( ) is a town in northwest Bulgaria, located in Vratsa Province, on the Danube River. The city was liberated from Ottoman rule on 23 November 1877 by the Romanian Army under the command of the Imperial Russian Army. Kozloduy is best know ...

, where he began training football at the age of nine. Initially, he was deployed as an outfield player. After a short stint with Dunav Selanovtsi, in 2009, at age 12, he had a successful tryout with

Hristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov ( bg, Христо Стоичков Стоичков, ; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional Association football, footballer who is a football commentator for TUDN. A prolific Forward (association ...

's academy and joined the ranks of Chavdar Etropole.

Charlton Athletic

Mitov joined

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 C ...

in 2013 from Bulgarian club Chavdar Etropole, after undergoing a trial at

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 2015, he scored a goal from his own six-yard box against Coventry City U18's, gaining press attention. He featured for the club at under-18, under-21 and under-23 level but did not make a senior appearance for the club.

Canvey Island (loan)

In February 2015, Mitov joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division club

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...

on a one-month loan. He made a single appearance in a 1–1 draw with

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

on 28 February.

Cambridge United

Following his release from

, Mitov joined

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 Cambridge United on a two-year contract. On 8 August 2017, he made his debut in a 4–1

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

defeat to Bristol Rovers. Mitov's first league appearances for Cambridge came in the final three games of the 2017–18 season, playing against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

, Newport County 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 ...

. On 16 May 2018, he extended his contract with Cambridge United. The contract kept him at the club until 2021 and was subsequently extended. During the 2018–19 season, Mitov replaced David Forde as the first choice goalkeeper: he went on to make a total amount of 21 league appearances in total over the season. On 8 January 2022, he gained attention for his performance in his team's 1–0 victory over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. On 30 April 2022, Mitov was named Cambridge's Player of the Season. At the end of the 2022–23 season, Mitov departed Cambridge following the expiration of his contract.

St Johnstone

On 14 July 2023, Mitov joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

on a two-year contract. On 26 August, he kept his first

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

of the season in a goalless

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

draw against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Aberdeen

On 19 June 2024, Mitov joined fellow Scottish Premiership side

for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract.

International career

Mitov has represented

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 Macedon ...

at every age level from under-16 to under-19. He also captained his nation at under-17 and under-19 level. In August 2023, he received his first call-up to the Bulgarian senior national team by head coach

Mladen Krstajić Mladen Krstajić ( sr-cyr, Младен Крстајић, ; born 4 March 1974) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. From Janua ...

, for a friendly game against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and a

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament is an upcoming Association football, football competition that will be played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that will join the automatically qualified ...

game against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. On 7 September 2023, Mitov earned his first cap, playing the full 90 minutes in the 0:1 loss against the

former A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature. A former may become an integral part of the ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Individual * Cambridge United Player of the Year: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitov, Dimitar 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Vratsa Province Bulgarian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Canvey Island F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in England Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland