Iliya Iliev (; born 20 December 1974) is a former

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 ...

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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career

Iliev started his professional career with

Septemvri Sofia Septemvri () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Its home ground is the Septemvri Stadium, but due to its poor condition the ...

after coming up through their youth academy. He played a major part in the club's promotion to the

A PFG 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 ...

in 1998, after a 37-year exile. In 1998–99 season he made his debut in the top flight, making 23 appearances during the campaign, but Septemvri won just four games and were relegated. He was sold to

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

in 2000 for €40,000, winning the

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 ...

a year later. Iliev played only 10 games in the league for Litex. Having failed to break into the first team, he signed for

Spartak Varna FC Spartak Varna () is a Bulgarian association football club based in Varna, which currently competes in the First League, the top level of Bulgarian football league system. Spartak plays its home matches at the local Stadion Spartak. Founded ...

in early 2002. In 2003 Iliev joined Russian side

Terek Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat (; ), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, and formerly as Terek Grozny from 1958 to 2017, is a Russian professional football club based in Grozny that plays in the Russian Premier League. History The club was foun ...

. He became a regular in the Terek first team, scoring three goals in 30 appearances in the

Russian First Division The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Russian football league system. The Russian Professional Football League (PFL) used to ...

. However, at the end of 2003 season in Russia, he returned to Bulgaria and signed for

Marek Dupnitsa FC Marek () is a Bulgarian football club based in Dupnitsa, currently playing in the Second League, the second level of the Bulgarian football league system. It was founded in 1947 following the unification of four local clubs. Home matches take ...

. In Marek Iliev spent two and a half seasons. He made 66 league appearances and scored 4 league goals. On 19 July 2006, Iliev signed with

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () 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 is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...

. In June 2008, Iliev joined

Lokomotiv Mezdra FC Lokomotiv Mezdra (ФК Локомотив Мездра) was a Bulgarian football club from the town of Mezdra, which last played in the A RFG Vratsa, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground was the Lokomotiv Stadium i ...

. On 24 October, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 league win over

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 ...

. He spent a half-season at Lokomotiv, scoring 8 goals for 15 appearances. In December 2008, Iliev signed a three-year contract with Sliven 2000. In June 2010, his contract with Sliven was terminated and he re-signed for

. Iliev made his second Slavia debut as a substitute in a 1–0 home loss against

Kaliakra Kavarna FC Kaliakra Kavarna () is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Kavarna, which currently competes in the A RFG Dobrich, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1922 as Kaliakra Sport Club, the club spent most of its history in am ...

on 31 July. On 13 March 2011, he scored Slavia's only goal in their 2–1 defeat at

Beroe Stara Zagora Professional Football Club Beroe Stara Zagora, better known as just Beroe (), is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Stara Zagora, that competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league syst ...

. During

2010–11 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 ...

season, Iliev earned 24 appearances in the

. In the first half of the following campaign he scored 2 goals in 9 matches. On 14 December 2011, Iliev signed with

Botev Vratsa Botev () is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Si ...

. He made his debut on 3 March 2012 in a 1–0 home loss against his former club Slavia. He netted his first goal as he scored Botev's only goal in their 3–1 defeat at

Chernomorets Burgas PSFC Chernomorets Burgas () or simply Chernomorets () was a Bulgarian football club from the city of Burgas. The club never won any major competition, its most notable achievement being a second-place finish in the UEFA Intertoto Cup competitio ...

on 22 April. In August 2012, Iliev was announced as Botev's new captain.

Career statistics

Honours

; Litex Lovech *

(1): 2000–01

References

External links

Profile
at Guardian {{DEFAULTSORT:Iliev, Iliya 1974 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC Septemvri Sofia players FC Lovech players FC Spartak Varna players FC Akhmat Grozny players FC Marek Dupnitsa players PFC Slavia Sofia players FC Lokomotiv Mezdra players FC Sliven players POFC Botev Vratsa players Expatriate men's footballers in Russia 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen