Vladislav Boykov Stoyanov (; born 8 June 1987) is a

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 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Stoyanov began his youth career with Metalurg Pernik before transferring to

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'' ...

in 2000, where he developed in their academy. In 2004, he left CSKA to sign first professional contract with

Naftex Burgas PFC Naftex Burgas () is a former football club from Burgas, Bulgaria. History The club was created in 1962 by a group of workers, laying the foundations of the future Petroleum Refinery Neftochim, which had not yet been named. The team startе ...

. Stoyanov then spent a three-and-a-half seasons at Chernomorets Burgas. In 2010, he joined

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier o ...

where he won two

Moldovan National Division The Moldovan Liga, officially known as Liga 7777.md for sponsorship reasons, is an association football league that is the top division of Football in Moldova, Moldovan football league system. The competition was established in 1992, when Moldov ...

titles and one

Moldovan Cup Cupa Moldovei (), officially known as Cupa Orange Group, Orange for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football competition, held annually in Moldova. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. Finals Th ...

. After success in Moldova, Stoyanov moved back to Bulgaria to play 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 ...

. He was named 2014

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year Bulgarian Footballer of the Year (, ''Futbolist №1 na Balgariya'') is an annual title awarded to the best Bulgarian association football player of the year. The award has been given since 1961, and the winner is elected by authorized journalists ...

. In March 2017 he received a heavy injury while training with Bulgaria and returned at the end of 2019, but was forced to retire two years later, aged 34, due to ongoing problems.

Career

Early career

Born in

Pernik Pernik ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a town in western Bulgaria (about south-west of Sofia) with a population of 70,285 . Pernik is the most populated town in western Bulgaria after Sofia. It is the main town of Pernik Province an ...

, Stoyanov began his career with the local club Metalurg, but joined the

Academy in 2000, when he was 13. Stoyanov played four seasons for CSKA, but before he signed his first professional contract with the club, he decided to join

Naftex Burgas

Stoyanov started his first 2005–06 season in the senior squad as third-choice goalkeeper, behind Svilen Simeonov and Ivan Čvorović. He kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in his

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 ...

debut in a 1–0 victory over

Cherno More Varna Cherno More () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on 3 March 1913, as an association football branch ...

on 15 October 2005.

Chernomorets Burgas

In June 2006 Stoyanov joined Chernomorets Burgas in the East B PFG. He made his debut on 19 August, in a 1–1 home draw against

Nesebar Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur, , pronounced ) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous ...

. After Chernomorets'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 ...

, he became a first-choice goalkeeper for the 2007–08 season. He earned 28 appearances and kept ten clean sheets during the season. In July 2008,

Dinamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet ...

officially invited Stoyanov to join the training sessions for a week. He was the first choice goalkeeper for the team from

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

during most of the 2008–09 season, but lost his place after the arrival of

Pascal Borel Pascal Borel (born 26 September 1978) is a German football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. In 1999, Borel earned two caps for Germany at the U21 level. Playing career Borel was born in Karlsruhe. He played for FC Germania Fr ...

Sheriff Tiraspol

In January 2010 Stoyanov signed for

. He made his

debut on 7 March, in a 2–0 home win against

Tiraspol Tiraspol (, ; also /; , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Transnistria, a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the third-largest city. The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a regional hub of cul ...

. Stoyanov started his time with Sheriff great, keeping clean sheets in his first nine matches. On 4 August 2010, he saved three

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, in an eventual 6–5 win after penalty shootout over

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 Champions League. On 18 December Stoyanov was named Goalkeeper of the year in Moldova.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 11 January 2013,

completed the transfer of Stoyanov from Sheriff. On 13 December 2013, Stoyanov was named in the 2013–14 Team of the Europa League group stage. He kept a four clean sheets in five

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...

games. Ludogorets moved on to reach the 1/8 finals of the competition during that season. On 27 August 2014, Stoyanov kept a

in the 1–0 home win over Steaua București, but was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 119th minute of the match for fouling the advancing Fernando Varela and denying a goalscoring opportunity. His team won the

to decide the match after field player

Cosmin Moți Cosmin Iosif Moți (born 3 December 1984) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a central defender and currently the technical director of Bulgarian First League club Ludogorets Razgrad. Moți began his career at Universita ...

saved two penalties and Ludogorets advanced to the group stages of the Champions League for the first time in their history. On 1 October 2014, in Ludogorets' home debut in the 2014–15 Champions League group phase against the current holders

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, Stoyanov managed to save one of the two

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

penalties, although his team eventually succumbed to a 1–2 loss.

Heavy injury

On 21 March 2017, Stoyanov suffered an injury while in training with the Bulgarian national team. A few days later it turned out that the injury was very serious - a torn patellar tendon, which would cause him to miss between six and eight months. On 25 April 2017, he needed a second intervention due to a problem, postponing his return until no earlier than 2018. In an interview on 4 February 2018, Stoyanov said that he hoped to return for the beginning of 2018–19 season, but after a few training sessions with the team, on 5 December 2018, Stoyanov announced that he would undergo another intervention due to a displaced kneecap. He was set to miss a second season in a row and was expected to return in the summer of 2019.

Return from injury

In September 2019 Stoyanov finally returned in the team and trained together with his teammates for first time in 30 months. On 9 November 2019 he returned in play after 966 days, playing for Ludogorets Razgrad II in league match against Hebar Pazardzhik. 3 years after his last match for

, he returned in the starting eleven on 5 March 2020 in a Cup match against

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 ...

, lost by Ludogorets on penalties.

Retirement

On 7 July 2021, Stoyanov announced his retirement, due to ongoing problems with his injury.

Tundzha Tenevo

On 27 March 2023 it was announced that Stoyanov will play for the Tundzha 2006 Tenevo team in "B" Yambol Regional Group, the fifth and last division in

. On 26 March he played, showed great skills and turned the match into a celebration.

International career

Stoyanov earned his first call-up to the Bulgarian squad in 2010 while at

. On 12 October, he made his international debut in 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

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–0 victory. On 25 March 2016, Stoyanov made close to a dozen important saves, including one penalty from

, to help Bulgaria secure an unexpected 1–0 away win in a friendly game against

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 ...

. It was Bulgaria's first win against the Portuguese since December 1981, when they beat them 5–2 in

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 ...

. It was also Stoyanov's second career penalty save against Cristiano Ronaldo.

Interesting facts

He is only the second goalkeeper (behind Diego Alves) to save more than one penalty from

. The first was saved on 1 October 2014 in Ludogorets' Champions League group stage match against

, lost 1–2, and the second in

's friendly against

, won 1–0.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Sheriff Tiraspol * Divizia Naţională (2): 2009–10, 2011–12 *

: 2009–10 Ludogorets *

Bulgarian First Professional 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 ...

(6):

2012–13 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 ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20, 2020-21 *

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 ...

: 2013–14 *

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. ...

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 ...

Individual

Goalkeeper of the Year: 2010 * A Group Goalkeeper of the season:

, 2013–14 * Best XI Goalkeeper in the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage The group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was played from 19 September to 12 December 2013. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage. Draw The draw was held on 30 August 2013, 13:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco. T ...

: 2014 * Lionheart Award Trifon Ivanov: 2019

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoyanov, Vladislav 1987 births Living people Footballers from Pernik Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers PFC Naftex Burgas players PSFC Chernomorets Burgas players FC Sheriff Tiraspol players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad II players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Moldovan Super Liga players Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Men's association football goalkeepers 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen