My name is Ivaylo Petev. I was born оn 9th of July 1975 in Lovech, Bulgaria.

My childhood dream came true in 1996 when I signed my first professional contract as a football player with Litex Lovech. Being part of the team for six years, I had the chance to experience the great emotion of becoming twice champion of Bulgaria (1998, 1999) and once Bulgarian cup winner (2001).

Getting closer to the end of my playing career, I decided to take a step forward to my next adventure – becoming a football coach. In а period of one year I was acting manager of Lyubimets. After that I had one more year as a player at Etar Veliko Tarnovo.

After my retirement in the summer of 2010 I signed a contract with Ludogorets Razgrad to become their head coach. In just three years we managed to win a promotion to the Bulgarian First League, became two times champions of Bulgaria and also winnners of the Bulgarian Cup and Supercup.

In October 2013 I left Bulgaria for Cyprus to become the head coach of AEL Limassol. Finding the club at 4th position we lost out on the league title to APOEL on goal difference but we manage to qualify for the Champions League.

I left AEL in the autumn of 2014 and at the end of the year I was appointed as the head coach of the Bulgarian national team – an honor which I couldn’t miss. I led the team in two consecutive qualifications which was a great experience and emotion I will never forget.

In charge of Dinamo Zagreb I experienced the magic of the Champions League group stage. In December 2017 I was introduced as the new coach of AC Omonia Nicosia in the Cypriot First Division. I left Omonia in March 2018 and in November the same year I became the head coach of Saudi Arabian Al-Qadsiah FC. During the tough 2020 I was appointed as head coach of Jagiellonia Białystok. 

Since January 2021 I am the national head coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

To my experience I would like to add the time at FC Barcelona, Valencia CF and RCD Espanyol. There I was able to gain knowledge by learning from the highly respected and successful managers as Josep Guardiola, Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino.

I speak Bulgarian, English, Russian, Serbian and Croatian and I believe that great success comes with hard and constant work.

Best regards,
Ivaylo Petev