Ivailo Dimitrov ( bg, Ивайло Димитров) (born 8 January 1989) is a retired Bulgarian

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 played as a midfielder. He began his career in England in the youth systems at

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and returned to Bulgaria to sign for

A Group 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 ...

club

Vihren Sandanski OFC Vihren ( bg, ОФК Вихрен) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Sandanski, currently playing in the Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria), South-West Third League. Sandanski's home ground is the Sandanski Stadium in Sandan ...

in 2008. Dimitrov made his professional debut with the club and returned to England in 2010, to end his career in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

Club career

Hendon and Brentford

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Dimitrov began his career in England in the youth system at

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

. He was named as Hendon's 2001–02 U13 Player Of The Year. Dimitrov joined the Centre of Excellence at

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 Engla ...

club

in 2004 and was part of the Brentford youth team which beat Premier League club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

(containing first team fringe players

Nicklas Bendtner Nicklas Bendtner (; born 16 January 1988) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a forward. His preferred position was centre-forward, but he has also played on the right side of attack, and occasionally on the left. A large, ...

, Vito Mannone,

Anthony Stokes Anthony Christopher Stokes (born 25 July 1988) is an Irish professional footballer, who plays as a striker. He was also an Irish international, having played at the under-21, team B and Republic of Ireland national football team. He began hi ...

and

Alexandre Song Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong (born 9 September 1987), better known as Alex Song, is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays for Djiboutian side Arta/Solar7 as a central or defensive midfielder. He can also play as a central defender. ...

) on

penalties 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) * Penalty ...

in the third round of the 2004–05

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

. Dimitrov signed a two-year scholarship deal in May 2005. Dimitrov was included in Brentford's first team squads during the 2006–07 pre-season and scored in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

versus non-League club

Harrow Borough Harrow Borough Football Club is an English football club based in Harrow, London. They were founded in 1933 and compete in the . Harrow Borough's home ground is Earlsmead Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,070. Harrow Borough moved into Earlsme ...

. Dimitrov was released at the end of the 2006–07 season. He spent a week training with

club Levski Sofia and featured in a friendly versus

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

in October 2007, but was not offered a contract, despite being recommended to the club by

Radostin Kishishev Radostin Prodanov Kishishev ( bg, Радостин Проданов Кишишев; born 30 July 1974) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who works as director of youth/U19 coach of Chernomorets 1919. Kishishev earned 88 caps for B ...

. Dimitrov re-signed for Hendon in October 2007. He left made four appearances and scored one goal.

Vihren Sandanski

Dimitrov returned to Bulgaria and secured a move to A Group club

prior to the beginning of the 2008–09 season. He made 10 league appearances during an unsuccessful 2008–09 season, which saw the club suffer relegation to 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 ...

Non-League nomad

Dimitrov closed out his career in non-League football between 2010 and 2012, making a handful of appearances each for

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

, Southern League and

Spartan South Midlands League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

clubs

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

, Aylesbury United (two spells),

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

, Walton & Hersham, Broxbourne Borough V & E, Berkhamsted (two spells) and Hanwell Town.

International career

Dimitrov was capped by Bulgaria at youth level.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitrov, Ivailo 1989 births Living people Men's association football midfielders National League (English football) players Hendon F.C. players OFC Vihren Sandanski players Maidenhead United F.C. players Aylesbury United F.C. players Men's association football forwards Kingstonian F.C. players Walton & Hersham F.C. players F.C. Broxbourne Borough players Berkhamsted Town F.C. players Hanwell Town F.C. players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in England Bulgarian men's footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players Berkhamsted F.C. players