Plamen Krachunov ( bg, Пламен Крачунов; born 11 January 1989) is a

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 ...

n professional footballer who currently plays as a defender for Arda Kardzhali.

Career

Maritsa Plovdiv

Krachunov started playing football with

Maritsa Plovdiv Maritsa ( bg, Марица) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Plovdiv, that plays in the Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football league system. It was established in 1921, after the merger of the teams Vampir and T ...

. He made his first-team debut on 18 August 2007, at 18 years, in a 0–3 away defeat to Kaliakra Kavarna and quickly became a regular starter of the team, as a centre back. His first goal came on 11 May 2008, in a 3–1 home win over Minyor Radnevo. During his first two seasons, he earned 50 appearances in the East B PFG, but Maritsa were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 season. After one season, playing for Maritsa in third league, he joined

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 ...

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

After a short trial, on 6 July 2010, Krachunov signed a three-year contract with Lokomotiv. He made his

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 ...

debut in a 2–2 draw against

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 ...

on 22 August, coming on as a substitute for

Youness Bengelloun Youness Bengelloun (born 3 January 1983) is a French former footballer who played as a defender. He is currently a scout at Manchester City. Career Born in Paris, Bengelloun has played in France, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria ...

. Krachunov netted Lokomotiv's only goal in their

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 ...

loss, a 2–1 defeat at

Pirin Blagoevgrad Futbolen klub Pirin ( bg, Футболен клуб „Пирин“), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. Th ...

on 6 April 2011. Four days later, he scored his first league goal for Lokomotiv, in a 1–1 draw against

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 ...

CSKA Sofia

On 15 August 2011, reports linked Krachunov with a move to

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 ...

, adding depth to the position one day after Apostol Popov was lost for the season because of a knee injury. The following day, he completed his move to CSKA, on a three-year contract. He was handed the number 66 shirt. He made his debut on 21 August, appearing as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Kaliakra Kavarna, and made his first start for the club in the following game against

. On 26 September, he scored his first goal for CSKA, scoring a header in CSKA's 4–1 league win over Vidima-Rakovski from a

Spas Delev Spas Borislavov Delev ( bg, Спас Бориславов Делев; born 22 September 1989) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Ludogorets Razgrad and the Bulgarian national team. Club career Youth ca ...

corner-kick. Krachunov then scored on 3 December in a

game against

Spartak Pleven OFK Spartak ( bg, ОФК Спартак) is a Bulgarian municipal association football club from the city of Pleven founded on 10 September 1919. It currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. The team's grea ...

. On 15 March 2014, Krachunov scored a

last-minute goal The term "last-minute goal" is used in sport, primarily association football, to describe a goal scored very late in a game, usually one that affects the outcome of the game. The definition of a "last-minute goal" commonly used is one scored either ...

in the 1:0 win over

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 ...

in an

match. He joined

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 ground ...

in the summer of 2015, remaining with the "whites" until January 2016.

St Johnstone

On 22 February 2016, Krachunov signed a contract with

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 ...

side

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 ...

, after a successful trial period with the club.

Sandecja Nowy Sącz

On 5 July 2017 he signed a contract with

Sandecja Nowy Sącz Sandecja Nowy Sącz is a Polish football club formed in 1910. In the 2016–17 season, Sandecja won I liga, which promoted the club to the Polish Ekstraklasa, Poland's highest professional football league, for the first time in the club's histor ...

Etar Veliko Tarnovo

After a short stint with

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 ...

, Krachunov joined Etar in June 2020.

International career

In October 2011, Krachunov earned his first call-up to the

national side for 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 ...

against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and a

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

qualifier against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Statistics

''All stats correct as of 22 February 2016.''

Personal life

His brother Stefan Krachunov is also footballer.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krachunov, Plamen 1989 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Association football defenders FC Maritsa Plovdiv players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players PFC CSKA Sofia players PFC Slavia Sofia players St Johnstone F.C. players Ethnikos Achna FC players Sandecja Nowy Sącz players OKS Stomil Olsztyn players Zagłębie Sosnowiec players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players SFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Bulgarian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Poland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Poland