Plamen Ivanov Iliev (; 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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

club

Cherno More Varna Cherno More () 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 3 March 1913, as an association football branch ...

. Iliev spent his early years with his hometown club

Balkan Botevgrad BC Balkan Botevgrad () is a Bulgarian professional basketball club based in Botevgrad.Team profile at ''Bgbasket.com ...

, before joining

Vidima-Rakovski FC Sevlievo () is a Bulgarian association football club based in Sevlievo, which currently competes in the North-West Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football league system. Their home ground is Stadion Rakovski, which currently has ...

'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 PFC Levski Sofia () 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 by a group of high sc ...

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 Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

. 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 last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

where he stayed two years before he returned to Bulgaria to join up with

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

. 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 ( ) 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 it was elevated to ...

, Iliev started to play football at

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with 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 throug ...

. He joined

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. He made his B Group debut in the starting line-up on 8 August 2009 in a 1–1 draw against

Kom-Minyor OFC Kom () is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Berkovitsa, currently playing in the Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria), North-West Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground is the Mramor Stadium ...

. 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 (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

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

Sevlievo Sevlievo ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, 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 maj ...

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 FC Lokomotiv Sofia () 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 refounded in 2015, following ...

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 the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

. 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 (; 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 and the Bulgarian national football team. He is best known for having play ...

decided to give the captain's armband to

Stanislav Angelov Stanislav Angelov (; born 12 April 1978), also known as Peleto (), is a former Bulgarian footballer and currently owner and manager of Levski-Rakovski. Angelov played mainly as a defensive midfielder, but also as a full-back or centre-back. C ...

. 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

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club

FC Botoșani Asociația 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 ...

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 ''Viitorul'' ("The Future") was a daily newspaper published in the Kingdom of Romania, out of Bucharest, as a central organ of the National Liberal Party (PNL). It was formed just months after peasants' revolt of March 1907, being originally li ...

. After the departure of Silviu Lung Jr. to

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

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

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 7 January 2019,

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 associati ...

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 ...

Cherno More Varna

In June 2024, he made a return to his country, joining Cherno More.

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 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, or simply the 2013 Euro Under-21, was the 19th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Israel from 5–18 June 2013. The Is ...

qualifier after an altercation with Tom Laterza. 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, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

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 landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

in another

exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

held on 4 June 2013, managing to keep a

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

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

taken by

Emil Forsberg Emil Peter Forsberg (; born 23 October 1991) is a Swedish professional Association football, footballer who plays as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club New York Red Bulls and the Sweden men's nat ...

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, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Iliev established himself as the first choice goalkeeper during

Petar Hubchev Petar Kanchev Hubchev (; 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 greatest defenders in the Bulgarian football h ...

's tenure as manager.

Personal life

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

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Vidima-Rakovski * B Group:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Levski Sofia *

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 ...

runner-up:

, 2014–15 Astra Giurgiu *

Cupa României The Cupa României () 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. It is the Romania ...

runner-up: 2016–17 Ludogorets Razgrad *

First Professional Football League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

: 2018–19, 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () 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 the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Universitatea Cluj *Cupa României runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual * Best goalkeeper in the

: 2019

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iliev, Plamen 1991 births Living people People from Botevgrad Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second 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 PFC Cherno More Varna players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Footballers from Sofia Province 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen