Iliya Gruev

Iliya Gruev
	Gruev with Bulgaria in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Iliya Hristov Gruev
Date of birth	30 October 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Sofia, Bulgaria
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1988–1991	Levski Sofia
1992	Slavia Sofia
1992–1993	Altay
1993–1994	Lokomotiv Sofia
1994–1995	Altay
1995–1996	Montana
1996–2000	Naftex Burgas
2000–2004	MSV Duisburg
2004–2005	KFC Uerdingen 05
2005–2006	Rot-Weiß Erfurt
Total
International career
1997–1999	Bulgaria
Managerial career
2009–2010	Chernomorets Burgas (assistant)
2011	Bulgaria (assistant)
2011–2012	Hajduk Split (assistant)
2012	Kaiserslautern (assistant)
2012–2013	MSV Duisburg (assistant)
2013–2015	Kaiserslautern (assistant)
2015–2018	MSV Duisburg
2019–2020	Werder Bremen (assistant)
2021–2022	Arminia Bielefeld (assistant)
2022	Arminia Bielefeld (caretaker)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Iliya Hristov Gruev (Bulgarian: Илия Христов Груев; born 30 October 1969) is a Bulgarian retired professional footballer. Until 2022 he was assistant manager at Arminia Bielefeld.

Playing career

Gruev started out at Levski Sofia. Later, he played for Slavia Sofia, Lokomotiv Sofia and Montana in his home country and Altay in Turkey. After that he spent almost five years at Neftochimic Burgas before leaving for Germany to represent MSV Duisburg from 2000 to 2004. Following that he played for KFC Uerdingen 05 before finishing his active career in Rot-Weiß Erfurt.

Gruev has 13 caps for Bulgaria, scoring once – on 11 October 1997, in the 2–4 away loss in a 1998 World Cup qualifier against Russia.

Managerial career

Assistant manager

He was assistant coach in Chernomorets Burgas, Hajduk Split, Duisburg, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Bulgaria from 2009 to 2015.^[1]

MSV Duisburg

After MSV Duisburg's bad results and following the release of their manager Gino Lettieri, Gruev was announced as the new manager of the team, signing a contract until 2017, becoming a first team manager for the first time.^[2]^[3] In the 2016–17 season, Duisburg won the 3. Liga and got promoted to the 2. Bundesliga.

Gruev was sacked on 1 October 2018 after the team scored only two points out of the first eight matches.^[4] Torsten Lieberknecht became the new head coach.

Werder Bremen

In summer 2019, Gruev joined Werder Bremen as an assistant coach with a focus on set pieces.^[5]

Personal life

Gruev's son Ilia is also a professional footballer for Leeds United.^[6]

Career statistics

International goal

Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gruev goal.

List of international goals scored by Iliya Gruev
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 October 1997	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Russia	1–4	2–4	1998 World Cup qualifier

Managerial statistics

As of 29 September 2018

Team	From	To	Record
Team	From	To	G	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD
MSV Duisburg	6 November 2015	1 October 2018	105	38	33	34	036.19	143	139	+4

References

^ "Илия Груев стана помощник-треньор на "Дуисбург", ще спасява отбора заедно с новия наставник" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
^ Официално: Илия Груев пое Дуисбург
^ ""Legen wir los": Gruev unterschreibt bei den Zebras" ["Let's go": Gruev signs with the zebras]. kicker.de (in German). 3 November 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
^ "MSV entbindet Ilia Gruev und Yontcho Arsov von ihren Aufgaben – Neuer Coach zeitnah". msv-duisburg.de. 1 October 2018. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
^ Gruev wird Co-Trainer
^ Lüddecke, Tim (27 July 2023). "Gruev im Interview: "Man muss immer Mensch bleiben"" [Gruev in an interview: ‘You always have to stay human’]. Kicker (in German). Retrieved 16 May 2024.

External links

Iliya Gruev at National-Football-Teams.com
Profile at LevskiSofia.info
Iliya Gruev at WorldFootball.net

[1] "Илия Груев стана помощник-треньор на "Дуисбург", ще спасява отбора заедно с новия наставник" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. Retrieved 29 January 2015.

[2] Официално: Илия Груев пое Дуисбург

[3] ""Legen wir los": Gruev unterschreibt bei den Zebras" ["Let's go": Gruev signs with the zebras]. kicker.de (in German). 3 November 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.

[4] "MSV entbindet Ilia Gruev und Yontcho Arsov von ihren Aufgaben – Neuer Coach zeitnah". msv-duisburg.de. 1 October 2018. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.

[5] Gruev wird Co-Trainer

[6] Lüddecke, Tim (27 July 2023). "Gruev im Interview: "Man muss immer Mensch bleiben"" [Gruev in an interview: ‘You always have to stay human’]. Kicker (in German). Retrieved 16 May 2024.

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