Ivan Kolev Vutsov (; 14 December 1939 – 18 January 2019) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the Bulgaria national team. He played in three matches at the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

and for Levski Sofia.

Playing career

Vutsov's professional playing career as a defender spanned nearly 15 years, during which he played for three clubs:

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

, Levski Sofia and Akademik Sofia. He spent nine seasons with Levski where he won two Bulgarian League titles and one

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () 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's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

. Vutsov was capped 24 times for the

Bulgaria national football team The Bulgaria national football team () represents Bulgaria in men's international Association football, football, and is administered by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. Bulgaria's best achievements are reaching the ...

and appeared in the

. He was also a vice president of the

Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( BFS) is the governing body of association football in Bulgaria, and a member of UEFA since 1954. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and fields its Bulgaria national football team in UEFA and F ...

and manager of the Bulgaria national team, Hajduk Split and

PFC Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was ...

where became famous for overseeing 18 games in the European club competitions during his reign. One of the most prominent players he discovered was Alen Bokšić, when managing Hajduk Split. He also held various administrative positions at the

. His son, Velislav Vutsov, is also a former footballer.

Achievements

''As player of Levski'' * Bulgarian Champion – 1965, 1968 *

– 1967 ''As player of Bulgaria'' *

– 15th Place ''As coach of Levski'' * Bulgarian Champion – 1979 * Bulgarian Cup – 1976, 1979 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

1/4 Finalist –

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

''As coach of Bulgaria'' *

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

– 15th Place

References

External links

Ivan Vutsov player profile
at LevskiSofia.info * * 1939 births 2019 deaths Bulgarian men's footballers 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen Botev Plovdiv players PFC Levski Sofia players PFC Akademik Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Bulgarian football managers Footballers from Gabrovo 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup managers Bulgaria men's international footballers PFC Levski Sofia managers HNK Hajduk Split managers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia Expatriate football managers in Yugoslavia Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers FC Spartak Varna managers Bulgaria national football team managers Bulgarian expatriate football managers PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv managers PFC Slavia Sofia managers Men's association football defenders Expatriate football managers in Greece Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece {{Bulgaria-footy-defender-stub