Villyan Bijev ( bg, Вилиян Бижев, born 3 January 1993) 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 ...

who currently plays 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 ...

for

Central Valley Fuego FC Central Valley Fuego FC, also known as CV Fuego FC or simply Fuego FC, is an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. The team was founded in 2020, and played its inaugural season in 2022. The team competes in USL League O ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

Early life

Villyan Bijev was born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, Bulgaria, and moved with his family to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the age of five in 1998. He grew up in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

and began his youth career with the Bullard Flyers U-12 local school team. In 2008, at the age of 15, Bijev joined the Clovis-based California Odyssey. He also played for the Edison High School team in Fresno, graduating in 2011. He was named to the 2010 ''Parade'' All-America soccer team.

Career

Liverpool

Bijev originally signed to play college soccer at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

in the fall of 2011, but in July 2011,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

invited Bijev for a trial with the Under 18s. He left a great impression, netting five goals in two pre-season friendly games, earning himself a permanent switch to the Merseyside outfit in the process on a reported three-year deal with an additional two-year option. Liverpool officially announced the signing from US outfit California Odyssey on 31 August 2011. He was released from the club at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Loan spells

The same day he signed for Liverpool, it was announced that Bijev had signed on loan for

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

side

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

for the 2011–12 season. Bijev played mostly for Fortuna B-squad, where he scored 4 goals in 16 games. He appeared once for the first team, playing the last 8 minutes of a 2–1 away loss against

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

on 5 April 2012, in the place of Adam Matuszczyk. On 27 August 2012, Bijev joined

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are ...

side

IK Start Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start, translates to The sports club Start ) is a Norwegian football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the 1. divisjon, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The c ...

on a one-year loan, as this will help him gain the necessary work permits to play in England. Bijev made his debut for the club in a 2–1 win over Hødd. Though he made one appearance, the club would be promoted to

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

Slavia Sofia

After being released by Liverpool, Bijev joined

Bulgarian A Football 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 ...

side

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 ...

. He made his league debut for the club in a 4–1 home win against

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. ...

on 19 July 2014. Bijev marked his debut with a goal, scoring the fourth. In December 2014, his contract with Slavia was terminated by mutual consent.

Cherno More

On 12 January 2015, Bijev signed with

Cherno More Varna Cherno More ( bg, Черно Море) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on March 3, 1913, as an asso ...

on a one-and-a-half-year deal. He made his debut on 27 February, starting in a 2–0 home league win against

. Bijev scored his first official goal for Cherno More on 5 March, netting the fourth in a 5–0 success at

Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa Lokomotiv ( bg, Локомотив) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Gorna Oryahovitsa, which currently competes in the Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football. Established in 1932 as a sports association of the rai ...

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 ...

Return to the US

Bijev returned to the United States in 2016, playing for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

sides

Portland Timbers 2 Portland Timbers 2 is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. The team, often referred to as "T2", serves as the reserve squad for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team was a member of the USL Champio ...

and Sacramento Republic FC. In March 2021, Bijev joined

Oklahoma City Energy FC Oklahoma City Energy Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. History Oklahoma City businessma ...

. After OKC Energy announced a year-long hiatus, Bijev made a return to his hometown of Fresno by signing with

expansion club

. On 8 June 2022, Bijev was named USL League One Player of the Month for May, in recognition of his three goals and one assist which led Central Valley to their first ever unbeaten month.

International career

Born in Bulgaria but raised in the United States and holding American citizenship, Bijev is eligible for both nations. He has represented the United States at the under-18 and under-20 level and Bulgaria at the under-21 level. He has yet to represent either at the senior level.

Career statistics

Honors

Cherno More *

: 2014–15 *

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 ...

: 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bijev, Villyan 1993 births Living people Footballers from Sofia Sportspeople from Fresno, California Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers American soccer players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' soccer) United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Bulgarian emigrants to the United States Men's association football forwards Liverpool F.C. players Fortuna Düsseldorf II players Fortuna Düsseldorf players IK Start players PFC Slavia Sofia players PFC Cherno More Varna players Portland Timbers 2 players Sacramento Republic FC players OKC Energy FC players Central Valley Fuego FC players 2. Bundesliga players Norwegian First Division players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players USL Championship players American expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Norway Soccer players from California