Iliya Iliev ( bg, Илия Илиев; born 20 December 1974) is a former

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 ...

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 played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Iliev started his professional career with

Septemvri Sofia Septemvri ( bg, Септември) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the First League, the first tier of Bulgarian football. Its home ground is the Septemvri Stadium, but due to i ...

after coming up through their youth academy. He played a major part in the club's promotion to the

A PFG The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

in 1998, after a 37-year exile. In 1998–99 season he made his debut in the top flight, making 23 appearances during the campaign, but Septemvri won just four games and were relegated. He was sold to

Litex Lovech Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...

in 2000 for €40,000, winning 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 ...

a year later. Iliev played only 10 games in the league for Litex. Having failed to break into the first team, he signed for Spartak Varna in early 2002. In 2003 Iliev joined Russian side

Terek Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat ( ce, футболан клуб Ахмат Соьлжа-ГӀала; russian: Республиканский футбольный клуб Ахмат Грозный), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, is a Russian ...

. He became a regular in the Terek first team, scoring three goals in 30 appearances in the Russian First Division. However, at the end of 2003 season in Russia, he returned to Bulgaria and signed for

Marek Dupnitsa FC Marek ( bg, ФК Марек) is a Bulgarian football club based in Dupnitsa, currently playing in the Third League, the third level of the Bulgarian football league system. It was founded in 1947 following the unification of four local clubs. ...

. In Marek Iliev spent two and a half seasons. He made 66 league appearances and scored 4 league goals. On 19 July 2006, Iliev signed with

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home groun ...

. In June 2008, Iliev joined

Lokomotiv Mezdra FC Lokomotiv Mezdra (ФК Локомотив Мездра) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Mezdra, which currently playing in the Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadiu ...

. On 24 October, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 league win over

Lokomotiv Sofia Lokomotiv 1929 ( bg, Локомотив 1929) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refou ...

. He spent a half-season at Lokomotiv, scoring 8 goals for 15 appearances. In December 2008, Iliev signed a three-year contract with Sliven 2000. In June 2010, his contract with Sliven was terminated and he re-signed for

. Iliev made his second Slavia debut as a substitute in a 1–0 home loss against Kaliakra Kavarna on 31 July. On 13 March 2011, he scored Slavia's only goal in their 2–1 defeat at

Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe ( bg, Берое) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Stara Zagora, that competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded in 1916 under the name ''Vere ...

. During

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, Iliev earned 24 appearances in the

. In the first half of the following campaign he scored 2 goals in 9 matches. On 14 December 2011, Iliev signed with

Botev Vratsa Botev ( bg, Ботев) is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Since 1948, Botev have played their home games at St ...

. He made his debut on 3 March 2012 in a 1–0 home loss against his former club Slavia. He netted his first goal as he scored Botev's only goal in their 3–1 defeat at Chernomorets Burgas on 22 April. In August 2012, Iliev was announced as Botev's new captain.

Career statistics

Honours

; Litex Lovech *

(1): 2000–01

References

External links

Profile
at Guardian {{DEFAULTSORT:Iliev, Iliya 1974 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Association football midfielders First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players FC Septemvri Sofia players PFC Litex Lovech players PFC Spartak Varna players FC Akhmat Grozny players PFC Marek Dupnitsa players PFC Slavia Sofia players PFC Lokomotiv Mezdra players OFC Sliven 2000 players FC Botev Vratsa players Expatriate footballers in Russia