Ivan Georgiev Bandalovski (; born 23 November 1986) is a Bulgarian former 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 played as a defender.

Club career

Early career

Bandalovski started playing football in the youth team of

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 ...

at the age of six. He was not offered a professional contract with the club and in the summer of 2004, at the age of 17, signed with

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 ...

. He earned his first professional cap against Lokomotiv Plovdiv for

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. ...

in Burgas on 31 July 2004 at the age of 17. In

Lovech Lovech (, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near Lovech are the towns of ...

Bandalovski played several championship matches and was noticed by

Feyenoord Rotterdam Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called ...

. In January 2005 the player went on loan to the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

team for 18 months. In June 2006 he returned to Litex.

Lokomotiv Sofia

In January 2008 Bandalovski signed for

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 ...

. Performing as a solid back, it didn't last long until he gained head coach

Dragan Okuka Dragomir "Dragan" Okuka (; born 2 April 1954) is a Serbian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. As a player, he was predominantly associated with his time with FK Velež Mostar, Velež ...

's trust and became a starter. Sometimes credited as having a bad temper, he maintained the status of one of the most trustworthy defenders in the league, and soon was called up to 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 ...

CSKA Sofia

In the fall of 2010 he signed with

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () 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 Sports Club of the Army'' ...

. He made his competitive debut for CSKA Sofia on 13 November 2010, in a 1–0 home league win against

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

. He has won a

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 ...

and

in 2011. In 2012, he won the prize best defender in

Bulgarian A Football 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 ...

. On 4 March 2012, Bandalovski has first time played for CSKA Sofia as captain in the match against

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 ...

. He was followed by some clubs in Europe like

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

S.S. Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club'') is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian footba ...

FC Steaua București Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of th ...

. On 22 March 2012, Bandalovski has scored his first goal for CSKA, against his former club, Lokomotiv Sofia in 1–0 home win. In 2012, he became the captain of the team. Due to its financial difficulties the club wasn't able to offer him a new contract, instead it had to release him as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Oud-Heverlee Leuven

On 25 July 2013, Bandalovski signed a three-year contract with

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian professional football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it i ...

in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

. Because he was a

, the player was brought in without a

transfer fee In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can onl ...

. On 10 August 2013, Bandalovski made his

debut, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–1 away draw with

KV Oostende Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende () or KVO, was a Belgian professional football club based in Ostend, West Flanders. The team was founded in 1904 as ''VG Oostende'' and had ''matricule'' number 31. The club was declare ...

. After facing relegation with Oud-Heverlee Leuven, Bandalovski left the team in the summer of 2014.

Partizan

On 30 January 2015, Bandalovski signed a contract with Serbian team Partizan to replace the injured

Miroslav Vulićević Miroslav Vulićević (; born 29 May 1985) is a retired Serbian professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Early years Vulićević began playing football at Kosmet Leposavić, before moving to Bane. He made his debut for the ...

. He was given the number 2 jersey upon promotion to the club, and it was revealed that Bandalovski had been recruited by coach Marko Nikolić. For Partizan made his debut on 21 February 2015 against

Voždovac Voždovac ( sr-Cyrl, Вождовац, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 174,864 inhabitants. The municipality is located in the south ...

. Throughout the spring part of the championship, Bandalovski was played all matches in

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...

and

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

. During all 18 matches (including the Serbian league and cup of Serbia) he got only one yellow card. During the first part of the 2015–16 season, after an injury of Gregor Balažic, Bandalovski began to play in the starting lineup as centre defender. On 21 November 2015, he has first time played as centre back against

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...

in 3–0 home league win. Five days later, Bandalovski has played full match against

club

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

AFAS Stadion AFAS Stadion is a stadium in Alkmaar, Netherlands. It is used for association football, football matches and is the home stadium of AZ Alkmaar. AZ Alkmaar (women), AZ's women's team also plays select matches in the stadium. The stadium is able to ...

in 1–2 away win in

2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage was played from 17 September to 10 December 2015. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League knockout phase, knockout phase of the ...

. On 20 April 2016, Bandalovski scored his first goal for Partizan against Spartak Subotica in the second leg of Semi-finals of

in 3–0 away win.

Vereya

On 2 March 2017, Bandalovski signed with

Vereya Vereya () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Vereya, Naro-Fominsky District, Moscow Oblast, a town in Naro-Fominsky District of Moscow Oblast ;Rural localities * Vereya, Orekhovo-Zuyevsky District, Moscow O ...

until the end of the season. He left the team in June after his contract expired.

Anorthosis

On 6 June 2017, Bandalovski signed with

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

Beroe

On 16 January 2018, Bandalovski signed with First League of Bulgaria club

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 ...

International career

Since 2004 Bandalovski has been playing for Bulgaria's under-21 team. However, in October 2009, he earned his first call-up to the

against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. On 14 October 2009, he made his debut against Georgia in

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualifier the 6–2 win. On 12 October 2012, Bandalovski was sent off against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

after a foul on

Daniel Wass Daniel Wass (born 31 May 1989) is a Danish professional association football, footballer who plays for Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF, Brøndby and the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team. He is capable of playing as a midfi ...

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

qualifier. His solid performances with Partizan earned him a return to the national team in the friendly game 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 ...

played on 8 June 2015. He also played the full 90 minutes in the 0:1 loss against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in a Euro 2016 qualifier held on 3 September 2015.

Career statistics

Club

International matches

Honours

;Litex *

:* 2007–08 ;CSKA Sofia *

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 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

;Partizan *

:* 2014–15 *

:* 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bandalovski, Ivan 1986 births Living people Footballers from Sofia Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders FC Lovech players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players PFC CSKA Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium FK Partizan players Serbian SuperLiga players Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia FC Vereya players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Botev Plovdiv players FC Tsarsko Selo Sofia players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Bulgarian people of Russian descent 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen