Plamen Iliev is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ludogorets Razgrad and the Bulgarian national team. Iliev spent his early years with his hometown club Balkan Botevgrad, before joining Vidima-Rakovski's youth academy in 2006. He made his professional debut in 2009 at the age of 17 and quickly became a regular starter. In December 2010, Iliev moved to Levski Sofia for an undisclosed fee. Four and a half years later he signed for Romanian club Botoșani. In February 2017, he moved to Astra Giurgiu where he stayed two years before he returned to Bulgaria to join up with Ludogorets Razgrad. A former regular for Bulgaria at Under-21 level, Iliev made his senior international debut in May 2012.
In his youth years in Botevgrad, Iliev started to play football at Balkan. He joined Vidima-Rakovski when he was fourteen years old and signed his first professional contract in 2009. At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Iliev was added to Vidima's senior squad by manager Dimitar Todorov. He made his B Group debut in the starting line-up on 8 August 2009 in a 1–1 draw against Kom-Minyor. During the season he became first choice goalkeeper and earned 23 appearances, helping his team to win promotion to the A Group. Iliev was also the first choice keeper for the team from Sevlievo in the first half of the 2010–11 season and earned praise for his performances.
Levski Sofia
On 17 December 2010, Iliev was sold to Levski Sofia. He made his debut for Levski against Lokomotiv Sofia on 6 March 2011, with Iliev succeeding in keeping a clean sheet. On 6 April 2012, Iliev was appointed as Levski's captain, but became vice-captain for the 2012–13 season, as new coach Ilian Iliev decided to give the captain's armband to Stanislav Angelov. On 14 September 2012, Iliev signed a new contract keeping him at the club until 2016.
Following his good display at Botoșani, Iliev was signed by defending champions Astra Giurgiu on 1 February 2017. He kept a clean sheet in his competitive debut against Politehnica Iași, with Astra conceding two goals before his substitution. On 3 April, Iliev saved two penalties in six minutes, but in an eventual 1–2 home loss to Viitorul Constanța. After the departure of Silviu Lung Jr. to Kayserisporin the summer of 2017, Iliev became the starting goalkeeper for Astra.
Ludogorets Razgrad
On 7 January 2019, Ludogorets Razgrad confirmed that Iliev had signed a preliminary contract under the Bosman ruling and is set to join the team as a free agent in June 2019 if the negotiations between Astra and Ludogorets in January didn't end with a transfer agreement, but on 12 January the teams reached an agreement and Iliev joined the team for an undisclosed fee.
International career
Since 2010 Iliev has been a regular with the Bulgaria U21 side, gradually becoming first choice, taking over from Stefano Kunchev. On 11 October 2011, he was sent off in the last minute of Bulgaria's 3–2 win against Luxembourg U21 in a 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifier after an altercation with Tom Laterza. Iliev was subsequently banned for 3 matches. Iliev received his first call-up to the senior team of his country in 2011 and made his debut on 29 May 2012, in the 0–2 loss against Turkey in a friendly match after replacing Stoyan Kolev in the 76th minute. Iliev appeared as a starter for the first time in the 2–1 win over Kazakhstan in another exhibition match held on 4 June 2013, managing to keep a clean sheet, with Bulgaria conceding after his replacement. On 31 August 2017, he saved a penalty taken by Emil Forsberg and the subsequent shot from the rebound in the 16th minute of the game in a historical 3–2 home win against Sweden. Iliev established himself as the first choice goalkeeper during Petar Houbchev's tenure as manager.
