The trainer from Moscow held a doctorate in Sports science and was appointed as head coach of Spartak Kostroma in November 1959, and spent six years at the club.

The coach continued to build the national side around his youth team players such as Jalal Abdul Rahman, Rahim Karim, Falah Hassan, and Ali Kadhim, with his influential captain and midfield general Douglas Aziz however after a surprising 1–0 defeat to Lebanon in a 1972 Olympic qualifier in Beirut, the coach's contract with the Iraq FA had finished and he returned to Moscow to work as a scientific worker at the Central State Institute of Physical Culture.

In only a couple of years, he managed to form a strong selection however after his contract ended the Soviet authorities did not agree to an extension to remain in Iceland, and he returned to teach Physical Education in Moscow.

He returned in 1976 and managed the team for two years before moving to Víkingur until the Soviet authorities called the coach back to Moscow.

His compatriot Yuri Sedov was offered to Víkingur in his place and he went on to win the league title with the club, with the team that Ilichev had built.