Stanimir Stoilov
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Stanimir Kolev Stoilov (; born 13 February 1967) is a Bulgarian former
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 ...
and current manager of
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 ...
side Göztepe. He has previously coached
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 ...
, the Bulgaria national team,
FC Astana Astana Football Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Football in Kazakhstan, Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,000-seat As ...
and the national team of Kazakhstan.


Career


Player

Stoilov began his career at the local club FC Haskovo, where he stayed until 1990. His first spell at
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 ...
spanned for 2 years, between July 1990 and June 1992, when he moved to the Turkish club Fenerbahçe and then played shortly for Levski rival
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'' ...
only to return to Levski Sofia for another year between July 1994 and June 1995. He then spent some time playing in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
and then for
PFC 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 Professional Football League, First League. Slavia's home g ...
before returning again to Levski Sofia for a third spell since July 1998 as a captain and assistant manager since July 2000.


Coach

In 2004, he became the manager of Levski, most notably leading the team to the UEFA Cup 2005-06 quarter final stage and then becoming the first Bulgarian club to ever reach the group stage of the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
during the 2006–07 season. He has also led the team to winning the
national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. For most of th ...
in 2005 and 2007, Bulgarian Supercup in 2005 and 2007 and the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007
national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
. Stoilov briefly coached the Bulgaria national under-19 side (2003–2004). In April 2007, Stanimir Stoilov was assigned as caretaker manager of the Bulgaria national team for the matches against Belarus in June from the Euro 2008 qualification campaign. His side won the first match against Belarus in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
2–0 on 2 June 2007 and the second in
Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
2–1 on 6 June 2007. On 7 May 2008, Stoilov was sacked from Levski Sofia together with his friend and colleague
Nasko Sirakov Nasko Petkov Sirakov (; born 26 April 1962) is a Bulgarian retired professional Association football, footballer who played mainly as a forward (association football), striker. He is the major shareholder of PFC Levski Sofia, Levski Sofia. Par ...
. Before the 2008–09 season he took over at Litex Lovech. He led them to winning the Bulgarian cup in 2009, but quit after the club failed to reach the group stage of the Europa League. In the beginning of 2009, Stanimir was announced as the manager of
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 ...
. Bulgaria under Stoilov did not qualify for the World Cup. After two draws with the main rival for the play-offs
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and a 2–0 victory against
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, Bulgaria's job became even harder. During the summer and autumn of 2009 Bulgaria won against
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
1–0 in a friendly and 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 ...
with 4–1, but then Stoilov suffered his first loss with the national team against
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
with 2–0. From that moment on everything for Stoilov stopped going according to plan and he recorded a disappointing loss to Cyprus with 4–1. Bulgaria finished the campaign with a 6–2 win 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 ...
. The draw for
UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
resulted in Bulgaria finding itself in a qualifying group with
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
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,
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and
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 ...
. 2010 was a very disappointing year for Stoilov and Bulgaria. He recorded a series of weak results, including 5 losses and only 1 draw with
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in 6 games. On 7 September 2010, Bulgaria lost for the first time in 5 years in
Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
to Montenegro in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier with a score of 0–1. After this match Stoilov announced his resignation from his position as coach of the national team. In 2011 he was coaching
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.
, where he banned two players, Mark Fotheringham and Giannis Skopelitis, to train at the club's training ground. In the winter of 2012 Stoilov was appointed as the new manager of
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 ...
. His official debut was on 1 March 2013 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 ...
in a 2:2 draw. In the
2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The final was played between Sevilla and Benfica at the Juventus Stadium in Tu ...
, Botev eliminated 2 teams, before losing to
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on away goals. On a domestic level, Botev became only 2014 cup runner-up. On 22 June 2014, Stoilov signed with
FC Astana Astana Football Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Football in Kazakhstan, Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,000-seat As ...
of the
Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...
. In the
2014–15 UEFA Europa League The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League was the 44th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2015 UEFA Eur ...
, Astana eliminated three teams to reach the play-offs, where they lost to
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. The club won its maiden title in the 2014 season, despite being in third place when Stoilov had become its manager. Astana was entitled to play in the second qualifying round of the
2015–16 UEFA Champions League The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were th ...
, where Stoilov's team eliminated
NK Maribor Nogometni klub Maribor () is a Slovenian professional Association football, football club based in Maribor, Slovenia. It competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of the Football in Slovenia#League system, Slovenian football league system ...
. Astana beat
HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...
in the third qualifying round and APOEL Nicosia in the play-off round. Thus, Stanimir Stoilov became the first Bulgarian to coach two teams in the group stage of the Champions League. On 9 December 2015, Stoilov extended his Astana contract for another two years. On 8 January 2018, Astana announced they had agreed a new contract with Stoilov. On 1 September 2021, Stoilov took over the 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 ...
for the second time in his career. He was appointed as a manager in one of the worst moments in the club's history, ranking 10th in the league standings after the first 6 games with 4 losses and just 2 wins and in a very bad financial state. A few days after his appointment he released three players – Simeon Slavchev, Valeri Bojinov and Hristofor Hubchev and signed two younger – José Córdoba from Etar and Dimitar Kostadinov from Septemvri Sofia. Under his management, the team managed to improve promptly, earning 20 points by the end of the half-season with 5 wins, 5 draws, and 3 losses and qualifying 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 ...
quarter-finals, eliminating Marek Dupnitsa and Septemvri Simitli. The better results of the team were completely justified as Stoilov managed to dramatically improve the team's style of play, with Levski dominating in most of the games. Thus, at the time of the winter break, the team had climbed to 6th place in the league standings. In the upcoming transfer window, Stoilov released 6 players – Gjoko Zajkov, Christos Shelis, Ivaylo Naydenov, Borislav Tsonev, Georgi Aleksandrov and Martin Petkov, and signed just as many –
defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...
Kellian van der Kaap and Noah Sonko Sundberg, Bulgarians Iliyan Stefanov from Beroe and Filip Krastev (on loan from Belgian
Lommel Lommel () is a municipality and city in the Belgian province of Limburg. Lying in the Kempen, it has about 34,000 inhabitants and is part of the arrondissement of Maaseik. Besides the residential town, Lommel also has a number of nature reserv ...
), both
attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
s. The other new additions were Brazilians Wenderson Tsunami (a
left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...
) and Welton (a forward). All of the newcomers became a key part of Stoilov's squad and were relatively young (all of them signed as free agents except Welton). In the second half of the season the team showed tremendous improvement winning 11 league games, drawing 2 and losing 2 finishing 4th in the final standings. In addition, Stoilov's Levski won the
Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...
, securing the first trophy for the team since 2009 and participation in European tournaments. In the quarter-finals, the team eliminated Septemvri Sofia with a 2–0 home win, and then faced Ludogorets in the semis, knocking them out with 4–2 aggregate score. The Cup final was against Levski's biggest rival –
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'' ...
. Stoilov's team won 1–0, with the only goal scored by Iliyan Stefanov from long range. Throughout the whole tournament, Stoilov gave chance to the reserve goalkeeper of Levski – born in 2004 – Plamen Andreev, who started in each of the six matches, conceding only 2 goals (both in the first leg game against Ludogorets).


Coaching philosophy

Stoilov's teams tend to emphasize possession football and good ball control and he has been praised for his openness to promoting young players from the junior squads to the senior team. He also played a part in reinvigorating the career of Hristo Yovov, who subsequently established himself as one of the key players for
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 ...
in the mid-2000s.


Career statistics


Club


International

International goals


Managerial


Honours


Player

Levski Sofia * Bulgarian League: 1994–95, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02 *
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 ...
: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2002–03 Individual * Vtora Liga Top Goalscorer: 1989–90


Manager

Levski Sofia *Bulgarian League: 2005–06, 2006–07 *Bulgarian Cup: 2004–05, 2006–07, 2021–22 * Bulgarian Supercup:
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
,
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
Litex Lovech *Bulgarian Cup: 2008–09 Astana *
Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...
:
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
,
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
,
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
*
Kazakhstan Cup The Kazakhstan Cup is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Kazakhstan Football (soccer), football, run by the Football Federation of Kazakhstan. The tournament was initially founded in 1936 as a competition for club ...
:
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
* Kazakhstan Super Cup:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
Individual *Football manager of the year in Bulgaria: 2017, 2022


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoilov, Stanimir 1967 births Living people FC Astana managers Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers FC Haskovo players PFC Levski Sofia players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers PFC CSKA Sofia players PFC Slavia Sofia players S.C. Campomaiorense players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Süper Lig players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Bulgarian football managers PFC Levski Sofia managers PFC Litex Lovech managers Bulgaria national football team managers Bulgarian expatriate football managers Footballers from Haskovo Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Botev Plovdiv managers Expatriate football managers in Kazakhstan Men's association football midfielders Kazakhstan national football team managers Anorthosis Famagusta FC managers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) managers Expatriate football managers in Turkey Göztepe S.K. managers TFF 1. Lig managers 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen