Spas Borislavov Delev (; born 22 September 1989) 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 winger for Lokomotiv Sofia.

Club career

Youth career

Born in Klyuch, part of

Petrich Municipality Petrich Municipality is a municipality in Blagoevgrad Province in Southwestern Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly sout ...

, Delev started to play football in

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 ...

. During the season 2007–08 he played for the team in the Bulgarian amateur division. Pirin took first place and were promoted to the "B" professional football group. On 9 August 2008 Delev made his debut in professional football in a match against Botev Krivodol. In this match he scored his first goal in B PFG. In the first half of 2008–09 season Delev scored 8 goals in 16 matches.

New Pirin

After the union of the two Pirin clubs from

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 ...

in December 2008, Delev joined the part of the team, which plays in the top division. On 4 March 2009, he scored a goal in a match 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'' ...

for 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 ...

and Pirin eliminated their opponent. In the semi-final of that tournament against Levski, Delev had a tragic accident. After a spasm of the lungs he remained lying on the grass, and was later sent to the emergency hospital. It was later found that he had played while suffering from the flu. Delev made his

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 ...

debut on 8 March, in a match against Cherno More. On 5 April, he scored twice against Belasitsa Petrich. Those were his first goals in A PFG. On 11 June, Delev was named the Best Young Footballer of the 2008–09 season in Bulgaria. Just 19, Delev's goals helped Pirin to reach the Bulgarian Cup final.

CSKA Sofia

On 27 June 2009, Delev joined CSKA on one-year loan for 2009–10 and later signed a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for CSKA in the second-leg of the

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 ...

play-off of against Dynamo Moscow on 27 August 2009, bringing the score to 1–1 with a header. Delev netted the third goal in the victory over The New Saints in the

play-off. On 16 December 2010, he found the net in a 1–3 away loss to F.C. Porto in the Europa League group stage. He also scored two goals in the

semi-final against Litex Lovech on 20 April 2011, as well as the winning goal against Slavia Sofia in the final on 25 May 2011. During the 2010–11 season he managed 13 goals in the league.

Mersin Idmanyurdu

On 12 January 2012, Delev signed a 3,5-year contract with Turkish side

Mersin İdmanyurdu Mersin İdman Yurdu was a Turkish sports club from Mersin, Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Region. The team played in the Turkish first division for 15 seasons, and after the 1983–84 season the football team played in the Turkish second and ...

. Delev's debut came on 15 January, in a 0–2 home loss against

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional multi-sport club based in Antalya, southern Turkey. The club's colours are red and white. The association football, football side play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the cl ...

in a

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 ...

match, during which he appeared as a second-half substitute. On 24 January, Delev netted his first goal for the team, opening the scoring in a 1–2 home loss against

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 June 2012, he dissolved his contract due to financial reasons.

CSKA Sofia

After seven months without a club, Delev returned to

on 31 January 2013.

Las Palmas

On 30 July 2013, Delev completed his move to

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

on a free transfer. He signed a two-year contract and was given the number 22 shirt.

Pogoń Szczecin

On 20 June 2016, Delev signed for Polish side Pogoń Szczecin on a three-year contract. He made his

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

debut on 16 July, replacing Mateusz Lewandowski in the 66th minute of Pogoń's 2–1 loss against Wisła Kraków. He scored his first goal in a 4–0 away win against Kalisz in a game of

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

on 10 August. His first league goals for Pogon came on 29 October when he scored twice in a 2–1 home win over

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...

. He scored a brace in a 2-4 away win against Nieciecza, on 17 March 2018.

Ludogorets Razgrad

In December 2021, Delev joined

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 ...

Lokomotiv Sofia

On 31 December 2024, he was confirmed as a new signing of Lokomotiv Sofia.

International career

In October 2008, the Bulgaria under-21s manager Ivan Kolev called Delev into the Bulgaria U21 team for the friendly matches with

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. He made his debut for the senior side on 26 March 2011, in the

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

match against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. On 4 June 2011, he came on as a substitute in the qualifier against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. His first Bulgaria goals came on his 14th appearance on 25 March 2017, scoring twice in the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

qualifying match against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, which ended in a 2–0 victory.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.''

Honours

Pirin Blagoevgrad *

runner-up:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

CSKA Sofia * Bulgarian Championship runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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 ...

Arda Kardzhali *

runner-up:

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 ...

Ludogorets Razgrad *

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 ...

: 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 * Bulgarian Supercup:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

: 2022–23 Individual *

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 ...

n Best Young Player of the Season: 2008–09 *

Goal of the Week: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delev, Spas 1989 births Living people Footballers from Blagoevgrad Province Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football forwards First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Süper Lig players Segunda División players Ekstraklasa players III liga players OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players PFC CSKA Sofia players Mersin Talim Yurdu footballers UD Las Palmas players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Pogoń Szczecin players FC Arda Kardzhali players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Poland 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen