Plamen Iliev ( bg, Пламен Илиев; born 30 November 1991) 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 Romanian

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

club

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first ...

and the Bulgarian national team. Iliev spent his early years with his hometown club Balkan Botevgrad, before joining Vidima-Rakovski's youth academy in 2006. He made his professional debut in 2009 at the age of 17 and quickly became a regular starter. In December 2010, Iliev moved to

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...

for an undisclosed fee. Four and a half years later he signed for Romanian club

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Western Moldavia, Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. ...

. In February 2017, he moved to

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent th ...

where he stayed two years before he returned to Bulgaria to join up with Ludogorets Razgrad. A former regular for Bulgaria at Under-21 level, Iliev made his senior international debut in May 2012.

Club career

Vidima-Rakovski

In his youth years in

Botevgrad Botevgrad ( bg, Ботевград ) is a town in western Bulgaria. It is located in Sofia Province and is close to Pravets. Botevgrad lies 47 km from Sofia. History and name The village was called Samundzhievo (Самунджиево) until ...

, Iliev started to play football at

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. He joined Vidima-Rakovski when he was fourteen years old and signed his first professional contract in 2009. At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Iliev was added to Vidima's senior squad by manager

Dimitar Todorov Dimitar Todorov may refer to: * Dimitar Todorov (footballer, born 1957) * Dimitar Todorov (footballer, born 1996) {{hndis, Todorov, Dimitar ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut in the starting line-up on 8 August 2009 in a 1–1 draw against Kom-Minyor. During the season he became first choice goalkeeper and earned 23 appearances, helping his team to win promotion to the

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 ...

. Iliev was also the first choice keeper for the team from

Sevlievo Sevlievo ( bg, Севлиево ) is a town in north-central Bulgaria, part of Gabrovo Province. Sevlievo is known as one of the wealthiest towns in Bulgaria owing to the well developed local economy, high employment rate and major foreign inve ...

in the first half of the 2010–11 season and earned praise for his performances.

Levski Sofia

On 17 December 2010, Iliev was sold to

. He made his debut for Levski against

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 ...

on 6 March 2011, with Iliev succeeding in keeping a

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 ...

. On 6 April 2012, Iliev was appointed as Levski's captain, but became vice-captain for the 2012–13 season, as new coach

Ilian Iliev Ilian Dimov Iliev ( bg, Илиан Димов Илиев; born 2 July 1968) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player. He is the head coach at Bulgarian First League club Cherno More. He is best known for having played ...

decided to give the captain's armband to

Stanislav Angelov Stanislav Angelov ( bg, Станислав Ангелов; born 12 April 1978), also known as Peleto ( bg, Пелето), is a former Bulgarian footballer and currently owner and manager of Levski-Rakovski. Angelov played as a defensive midfiel ...

. On 14 September 2012, Iliev signed a new contract keeping him at the club until 2016.

Botoșani

On 5 June 2015, Iliev moved abroad for the first time, agreeing to a three-year deal with Romanian

club

FC Botoșani Fotbal Club Botoșani (), commonly known as FC Botoșani or simply Botoșani, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Botoșani, Botoșani County, that competes in the Liga I. In 2013, twelve years after being established, ...

Astra Giurgiu

Following his good display at Botoșani, Iliev was signed by defending champions

on 1 February 2017. He kept a clean sheet in his competitive debut against Politehnica Iași, with Astra conceding two goals before his substitution. On 3 April, Iliev saved two penalties in six minutes, but in an eventual 1–2 home loss to Viitorul Constanța. After the departure of

Silviu Lung Jr. Silviu Lung (born 4 June 1989) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Professional League club Al-Raed. International career He played his first match for Romania in 2010, being used by coach Răzvan Lucescu to ...

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...

in the summer of 2017, Iliev became the starting goalkeeper for Astra.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 7 January 2019, Ludogorets Razgrad confirmed that Iliev had signed a preliminary contract under the

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association ...

and is set to join the team as a free agent in June 2019 if the negotiations between Astra and Ludogorets in January didn't end with a transfer agreement, but on 12 January the teams reached an agreement and Iliev joined the team for an undisclosed fee.

Dinamo București

After being released from Ludogorets, Iliev returned to Romania, signing a contract with local giants

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

International career

Since 2010 Iliev has been a regular with the Bulgaria U21 side, gradually becoming first choice, taking over from Stefano Kunchev. On 11 October 2011, he 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 ...

in the last minute of Bulgaria's 3–2 win against Luxembourg U21 in a 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifier after an altercation with

Tom Laterza Tom Laterza (born 9 May 1992) is a Luxembourgian international footballer who plays in Luxembourg for Schifflange 95, as a right back. Career Laterza played club football in France for Sedan B from 2009 to 2012. He made his international deb ...

. Iliev was subsequently banned for 3 matches. Iliev received his first call-up to the senior team of his country in 2011 and made his debut on 29 May 2012, in the 0–2 loss against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

after replacing Stoyan Kolev in the 76th minute. Iliev appeared as a starter for the first time in the 2–1 win over

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

in another

exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

held on 4 June 2013, managing to keep a

, with Bulgaria conceding after his replacement. On 31 August 2017, he saved 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 ...

taken by

Emil Forsberg Emil Peter Forsberg (; born 23 October 1991) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Sweden national team. Forsberg was awarded Guldbollen in 2021 as Sweden's best footba ...

and the subsequent shot from the rebound in the 16th minute of the game in a historical 3–2 home win against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Iliev established himself as the first choice goalkeeper during

Petar Hubchev Petar Kanchev Hubchev ( bg, Петър Кънчев Хубчев; born 26 February 1964) is a Bulgarian football manager and former player who played for Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga. Considered one of the great ...

's tenure as manager.

Personal life

Iliev has two children with his wife Anna - daughter Isabella and son Vladi.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Levski Sofia *

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 tournament ...

: Runner-up 2012–13, 2014–15 ;Astra Giurgiu *

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

: Runner-up 2016–17 ;Ludogorets Razgrad *

First Professional Football League 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 ...

(3): 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020-21 *

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual

Best goalkeeper in the

Bulgarian First League 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 ...

- 2019

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iliev, Plamen 1991 births Living people People from Botevgrad Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria under-21 international footballers Bulgaria international footballers Association football goalkeepers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo players PFC Levski Sofia players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players Liga I players Liga II players FC Botoșani players FC Astra Giurgiu players FC Dinamo București players FC Hermannstadt players FC Universitatea Cluj players Bulgarian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Romania Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Sportspeople from Sofia Province