Ivan Tsvetkov (; born 31 August 1979) 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 forward. He works as an assistant manager and is employed as a scout for

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultura ...

, Tsvetkov took up football with local side

Pirin The Pirin Mountains ( ) are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with the highest peak, Vihren, at an altitude of . The range extends about from the north-west to the south-east and is about wide, spanning a territory of . To the north ...

. At the age of 18, he joined Dutch

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

's youth academy. In 1998 Tsvetkov started his senior career and during his two seasons at

Abe Lenstra Stadion Abe Lenstra Stadion () is a association football, football stadium, located in Heerenveen, Netherlands. It is currently used mostly as a home ground for Eredivisie club SC Heerenveen, Heerenveen. The current capacity is 27,224. Naming The stad ...

, he scored 2 goals in 16 matches. In summer of 2000, Tsvetkov joined

BV Veendam Sportclub Veendam () was a Dutch professional association football club based in Veendam, province of Groningen. Founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out, it became P.J. Veendam in 1909, Veendam in 1910, SC Veendam in 1974, BV Veendam in 1997 ...

. After 18 goals in his first season, he was named as the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

top scorer at the close of the following 2001–02 season with a total of 22 goals in the league. In July 2002, Tsvetkov transferred to

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

after Veendam accepted an undisclosed bid. He spent two years at Zwolle, where he capped 41 times and scored 1 goal, before moved to

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport () is a Dutch professional football club based in Helmond, North Brabant. Founded in 1967 following the acquisition of the professional license of , the club achieved promotion to the top-tier Eredivisie in 1982. After two seasons ...

. In January 2007 after making 41 appearances for

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

, Tsvetkov was transferred to Turkish side

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

. He scored his first

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on 30 March 2007, scoring four in a 4–0 win over Kasımpaşa. On 27 August 2008, Tsvetkov signed for Azerbaijani club Khazar Lankaran. During that season, Ivan became a topscorer of his team, scoring 15 goals, and the second best goalscorer of the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

Return to Pirin

On 4 March 2011, Tsvetkov returned to Bulgaria and signed for Pirin Blagoevgrad on a rolling contract until the end of the season. On 2 April, in a 3–0 home victory over

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, he netted his first goal in an

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 ...

match and assisted

Krum Bibishkov Krum Georgiev Bibishkov (; born 2 September 1982) is a Bulgarian former footballer and football manager. His son, Marsel Bibishkov, is also a footballer, currently playing for Juventus FC Youth Sector. Club career Early career He started h ...

and

Anton Karachanakov Anton Karachanakov ( Bulgarian: Антон Карачанаков; born 17 January 1992) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Vihren Sandanski. Career Pirin Blagoevgrad Born in Novo Delchevo, near Sandanski, Kara ...

. Four days later Tsvetkov scored his first

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 ...

goal as he netted the first in a 2–1 away victory over

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 continued his goal scoring form on 30 April, scoring the opening goal in the 2–0 home win over Beroe. On 4 May Ivan scored twice in a 3–2 home defeat 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 ...

. Tsvetkov's 5th Pirin league goal came during a 2–2 away draw against

on 7 May. On 14 May, he scored the fifth goal of a 6–0 home victory over Akademik Sofia. Four days later, Tsvetkov scored Pirin's second in a 2–2 away draw against

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'' ...

. On 21 May, he netted from a free-kick in a 1–1 home draw against Chernomorets Burgas, securing Pirin's place in the top flight for the next season.

Levski Sofia

In June 2011, Tsvetkov signed for

. On 2 July, he made his unofficial debut and netted the only goal in the 1–0 win 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 ...

in an

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 ...

, which marked the end of former Bulgarian international

Georgi Markov Georgi Ivanov Markov ( ; 1 March 1929 – 11 September 1978) was a Bulgarian dissident writer. He originally worked as a novelist, screenwriter and playwright in his native country, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, until his defection in 196 ...

's professional football career. His official debut for Levski came on 28 July 2011 – he played the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 win over Slovak side

Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Slovak league system, having participated in more seasons than any other club. Founded in ...

in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

match. On 8 August 2011, in his first

match for Levski, he scored the only goal in the 1–0 win against

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 ...

. On 28 October 2011, Tsvetkov made his first appearance in

The Eternal Derby The Eternal derby of Bulgarian football or simply The Eternal derby () is the name of the local derby football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulgaria: Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia. The dominant forc ...

of Bulgaria, coming on as a late substitute in the 0–1 loss against

. On 23 November 2011, he scored the only goal for Levski in the 1–0 win over

FC Bansko Bansko Team () is a Bulgarian professional association football club from the town of Bansko, currently playing in the South-West Third League, the third division of Bulgarian football. Its home matches take place at the Saint Petar Stadium. Th ...

in a

2011–12 Bulgarian Cup The 2011–12 Bulgarian Cup was the 30th official season of the Bulgarian annual football knockout tournament. The competition began in September 2011 with the matches of the preliminary round and ended with the final in May 2012. CSKA Sofia were ...

match. Tsvetkov netted his first

for Levski in the 7–0 rout over Svetkavitsa on 23 May 2012.

Botev Plovdiv

In June 2012, Tsvetkov signed a two-year contract with newly promoted A Group side

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 ...

2012–13 season

In his debut for Botev on 11 August 2012, Tsvetkov scored a hattrick and missed a penalty kick to help his team to a 3–0 home win over

. On 9 March 2013, he scored the second goal for Botev in the 2–0 milestone home win (the first one in 16 years) over

. Tsvetkov has since become the team's captain and ended his first season as the second highest goalscorer with 17 goals.

2013–14

In May 2013, Tsvetkov sustained an injury which kept him out of action for 5 months. He spent most of the time during this season on the bench and finished it with only three goals in the league. On 12 October 2013, Tsvetkov marked his return with a goal in the 3–0 win over Neftochimic Burgas in a

match. On 16 March 2014, he scored the winning goal in the 2–1 victory over

. Tsvetkov came as a substitute and four minutes later scored the second goal for the 2–0 win against

on 26 April 2014.

2014–15

Tsvetkov has among the few players which agreed to reduce their wages and remained at the club for season 2014–15 despite the financial crisis. He scored his first goal for the club in

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

against A.C. Libertas.

won the game with 4–0. Tsvetkov scored again in the same competition during the 2–1 home win against the Austrian team SKN St. Pölten. On 27 June, Tsvetkov scored a late equalizer in the away game against Beroe Stara Zagora. Two weeks later, on 9 August, he scored the opening goal in the dramatic 3–3 draw against

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 ...

. His excellent performance continued on 30 August 2014 during the 7th round of A Group when he scored a goal and made an assist during the second half of the game with

Haskovo Haskovo ( ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Development of Bulgaria ...

. On 12 September, Tsvetkov was brought on as a substitute in the match against

and scored his 4th goal for the season from a penalty kick. Despite his good performance, Botev was defeated 2–1. The excellent performance of Tsvetkov this season continued in the first round of the

. On 23 September, he scored the opening goal in the away game against Lokomotiv Mezdra which was won by Botev Plovdiv with final score 0–4. On 27 September, Tsvetkov played his 100th match in the league and scored a goal for the 2–0 win over the local rivals

. He scored his seventh goal for the season in the league on 24 October during the 3–1 win over Beroe. the first one in seven years. On 3 December, Tsvetkov scored another goal for the Bulgarian Cup tournament during the

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

match against Lokomotiv Plovdiv. Despite his efforts Botev was dramatically defeated with two goals in the last six minutes of the game. On 16 May, Tsvetkov performed extremely well during the 3–2 victory over

. He provided an assist to

Lachezar Baltanov Lachezar Baltanov (; born 11 July 1988) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Botev Plovdiv, while being a captain of Botev Plovdiv II. Career Levski Sofia He raised through PFC Levski Sofia youth ranks a ...

for the second goal and scored the third goal for Botev. Tsvetkov received the award for man of the match. He was named the second-place winner of the best player in A Group for the 2014–15 season. Tsvetkov announced his retirement at the end of the campaign.

International career

Tsvetkov was part of the Bulgaria U21 roster for one game. In November 2012, Tsvetkov was called up to the Bulgaria national team by head coach

Lyuboslav Penev Lyuboslav Mladenov Penev (; born 31 August 1966) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player. Penev played as a forward for several clubs in Bulgaria and Spain. He started his career at CSKA Sofia in 1984, winning two B ...

for 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 ...

against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He earned his only cap on 14 November, playing 27 minutes in the 0–1 defeat against the Ukrainians.

Coaching career

Pirin Blagoevgrad

In January 2017, Tsvetkov returned to Pirin Blagoevgrad as player and assistant to manager Milen Radukanov.

Personal life

Tsvetkov also holds Dutch citizenship. In 2003, he had to give up his Bulgarian nationality in order to acquire a Dutch passport, but in November 2012 Tsvetkov reclaimed his

Bulgarian citizenship Bulgarian nationality law is governed by the Constitution of Bulgaria (article 25 and 26) of 1991 and the citizenship law of 1999 (with changes made in various years through to 2009). It is mainly based on jus sanguinis; however, it is possibl ...

Honours

SC Heerenveen *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

runner-up: 1999–2000 Botev Plovdiv *

runner-up: 2014 *

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. ...

runner-up: 2014 Individual * Botev Plovdiv player of the year: 2014 * City of

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

player of the year: 2014 * A Grupa best player runner-up: 2014–15Марселиньо спечели приза "Футболист на футболистите"
/ref>

References

External links

Profile at LevskiSofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsvetkov, Ivan 1979 births Living people Dutch people of Bulgarian descent Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players SC Heerenveen players SC Veendam players PEC Zwolle players Helmond Sport players Sparta Rotterdam players Sivasspor footballers Khazar Lankaran FK players PFC Levski Sofia players Botev Plovdiv players Men's association football forwards Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Süper Lig players Azerbaijan Premier League players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Footballers from Blagoevgrad