Spas Borislavov Delev ( bg, Спас Бориславов Делев; born 22 September 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 Macedo ...

n 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 ...

who currently plays as a winger for Ludogorets Razgrad and the Bulgarian national team.

Club career

Youth career

Born in Klyuch, part of

Petrich Municipality Petrich Municipality is a municipality in Blagoevgrad Province in Southwestern Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the east ...

, Delev started to play football in

Pirin , photo=Pirin-mountains-Bansko.jpg , photo_caption=Pirin scenery in winter , country= Bulgaria, , parent= , geology= granite, gneiss, marble, limestone , area_km2=2585 , range_coordinates = , length_km=80 , length_orientation= north-s ...

. During the season 2007–08 he played for the team in the Bulgarian amateur division. Pirin took first place and were promoted to the "B" professional football group. On 9 August 2008 Delev made his debut in professional football in a match against Botev Krivodol. In this match he scored his first goal in B PFG. In the first half of 2008–09 season Delev scored 8 goals in 16 matches.

New Pirin

After the union of the two Pirin clubs from

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( bg, Благоевград ) is а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultural centre ...

in December 2008, Delev joined the part of the team, which plays in the top division. On 4 March 2009, he scored a goal in a match against

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 ...

for 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 ...

and Pirin eliminated their opponent. In the semi-final of that tournament against Levski, Delev had a tragic accident. After spasm of the lungs he remained to lie on the grass, and later was sent to emergency hospital. It was later found out that he had played with a flu. Delev 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 on 8 March, in a match against Cherno More. On 5 April, he scored twice against

Belasitsa Petrich OFC Belasitsa ( bg, ОФК Беласица Петрич) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Petrich, currently playing in the Second League. The team was founded in 1923. They play at the Stadion Tsar Samuil in Petrich, which has ...

. Those were his first goals in A PFG. On 11 June, Delev was named the Best Young Footballer of the 2008–09 season in Bulgaria. Just 19, Delev's goals helped Pirin to reach the Bulgarian Cup final.

CSKA Sofia

On 27 June 2009, Delev joined CSKA on one-year loan for 2009–10 and later signed a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for CSKA in the second-leg of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

play-off of against

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

on 27 August 2009, bringing the score to 1–1 with a header. Delev netted the third goal in the victory over The New Saints in the

play-off. On 16 December 2010, he found the net in a 1–3 away loss to F.C. Porto in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

group stage. He also scored two goals in the

semi-final 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 20 April 2011, as well as the winning goal against

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 the final on 25 May 2011. During the 2010–11 season he managed 13 goals in the league.

Mersin Idmanyurdu

On 12 January 2012, Delev signed a 3,5-year contract with Turkish side

Mersin İdmanyurdu Mersin Talim Yurdu, formerly Mersin İdman Yurdu, is a Turkish sports club from Mersin, Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Region. The team played in the Turkish first division for 15 seasons, and after the 1983–84 season the football team pla ...

. Delev's debut came on 15 January, in a 0–2 home loss against

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Antalya. The club's colours are red and white. They play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the club won the First League twice in 1982 and ...

in a

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

match, during which he appeared as a second-half substitute. On 24 January, Delev netted his first goal for the team, opening the scoring in a 1–2 home loss against

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 fi ...

. In June 2012, he dissolved his contract due to financial reasons.

CSKA Sofia

After seven months without a club, Delev returned to

on 31 January 2013.

Las Palmas

On 30 July 2013, Delev completed his move to

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

on a free transfer. He signed a two-year contract and was given the number 22 shirt.

Pogoń Szczecin

On 20 June 2016, Delev signed for Polish side

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

on a three-year contract. He made his

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

debut on 16 July, replacing Mateusz Lewandowski in the 66th minute of Pogoń's 2–1 loss against

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. ...

. He scored his first goal in a 4–0 away win against Kalisz in a game of

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

on 10 August. His first league goals for Pogon came on 29 October when he scored twice in a 2–1 home win over Ruch Chorzów. He scored a brace in a 2-4 away win against

Nieciecza Nieciecza is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Żabno, within Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Żabno, north-west of Tarnów, and east of the regional capital K ...

, on 17 March 2018.

Ludogorets Razgrad

In December 2021, Delev joined Ludogorets Razgrad.

International career

In October 2008, the Bulgarian under-21s manager Ivan Kolev called Delev into the Bulgaria U21 team for the friendly matches with

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and Macedonia. He made his debut for the senior side on 26 March 2011, in the

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was hel ...

match against Switzerland. On 4 June 2011, he came on as a substitute in the qualifier against

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

. His first Bulgaria goals came on his 14th appearance on 25 March 2017, scoring twice in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, which ended in a 2–0 victory.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.''

Honours

;Pirin Blagoevgrad *

: Runner-up 2009 ;CSKA Sofia * Bulgarian Championship: Runner-up 2010 *

: Winner 2011 Ludogorets Razgrad * Bulgarian First League: 2021–22 *

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 an ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

;Individual * Bulgarian Best Young Player of the Season – 2008–09

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delev, Spas 1989 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers Bulgaria under-21 international footballers Association football forwards First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Süper Lig players Segunda División players Ekstraklasa players OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players PFC CSKA Sofia players Mersin İdman Yurdu footballers UD Las Palmas players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Pogoń Szczecin players FC Arda Kardzhali players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players Bulgarian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Spain Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Poland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Poland People from Blagoevgrad Province Sportspeople from Blagoevgrad Province