Bulgarian A Football Group

For other sports leagues which may be referred to by this name, see List of professional sports leagues.
A Football Group
Country Bulgaria
Confederation UEFA
Founded 1924 (as BSFC)
1948 (as A RFG)
Divisions 1
Number of teams 12
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to B Group
Domestic cup(s) Bulgarian Cup
Bulgarian Supercup
International cup(s) Champions League
Europa League
Current champions Ludogorets Razgrad (3rd)
(2013–2014)
Most championships CSKA Sofia (31)
TV partners Nova, Diema
Nova Sport, Diema Sport
Website a-pfg.com
2014–15 season

The Bulgarian A Football Group (Bulgarian: "А" Футболна Група), commonly known as A Group (Bulgarian: А Група), is a Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs and is the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. A Group determines the champion of Bulgaria and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the second tier of the Bulgarian football league pyramid – B Group. Currently, it is contested by fourteen teams and the competition is formed by a regular season and playoffs. Seasons run from late July to May in the following year with a winter break, which usually lasts two months. Each team must play at least two times against every other team on a home-away basis. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with some played during weekday evenings, mainly on Friday and Monday. The TV rights are owned by Nova Broadcasting Group and the matches are broadcast live on their channels Nova, Diema, Nova Sport and Diema Sport.

The Bulgarian football championship was inaugurated in 1924 as BSFC and it has been playing as a league format since 1948 when the present A Group was created. It is administered by the Bulgarian Professional Football League and the Bulgarian Football Union. The champion of A Group has the right to take part in the UEFA Champions League from the stage allowed by the league's coefficient. The two UEFA Europa League spots for the league are for the second and third teams in the final standings. The last four teams are directly relegated to B Group. All teams qualify for the domestic cup – the Bulgarian Cup. In every season, the teams in A Group start participating in the competition from Round 2 (Round of 32) in the middle of November.

A total of 66 clubs have competed in A Group. In the last couple of seasons, many teams such as the current champions Ludogorets made their debuts in the league. In the 2013–14 season, PFC Lyubimets became the last 66th club in that table. Since 1948, eleven teams have been crowned champions of Bulgaria. The two most successful clubs are CSKA Sofia (thirty-one championships) and Levski Sofia (twenty-six championships). The current champions are Ludogorets Razgrad, who won their 3rd championship title in their 3rd A Group season.

History

Bulgarian State Football Championship

The first football championship of Bulgaria started in 1924 with a knockout format. An attempt to form a league as the top division of the Bulgarian football league system was made in 1937–1940, when the National Football Division was created. There were 10 teams, each playing twice against all the others, once home and once away. The team that finished first in the table became champions.

A Republican Football Group

The first season of the A Republican Football Group started in the autumn of 1948. In that season, ten teams participated in the league: Levski, Septemvri, Lokomotiv, Slavia and Spartak from the capital city Sofia, and Botev (Varna), Slavia (Plovdiv), Marek Stanke Dimitrov, Benkovski (Vidin) and Luybislav (Burgas). The first football champion of the A Republican Football Group was Levski in 1948–49.

The 1949/50 season in the A Group was not completed. The league was stopped after the first fixture. It was then decided that the championship of Bulgaria would be played in a spring-autumn cycle as in the Soviet Union. In the autumn of 1949, qualification tournaments were played to determine the teams that would play in the next 1950 season. In the next two seasons the number of teams in the league was increased to 12, and for the 1953 season there were 15 teams (the 16th team was the Bulgarian National Football Team). In seasons 1954 and 1955 there were 14 teams in the league, and in seasons 1956 and 1957 there were 10.

In 1958, the championship was again stopped after the spring half-season, as had happened in 1948. New re-organizations were accepted and the league was again going to be played in the autumn-spring format. Despite the fact that the teams had played just 1 match, CDNA was crowned as the champion of Bulgaria.

The frequent changes in the number of teams in A Group continued in the 1960s. In the first two seasons after the reforms in 1958, the number of teams in the league was 12, in the period 1960–1962 - 14, until season 1967/68, when the teams were 16.

There were new reforms at the end of the 1960s. There were many mergers between Bulgarian clubs. The most-famous are between CSKA Red Flag and Septemvri Sofia in CSKA September Flag, the capital teams Levski and Spartak in Levski-Spartak, Lokomotiv and Slavia in Slavia, the Plovdiv teams Botev, Spartak and Academic in Trakiya. Mergers happened between other Bulgarian clubs too. These mergers between clubs and reforms in A Group where made at the winter break of the 1968/69 season and after that A Group began to look like "a punctured bag".

After the winter reforms in 1968 until 2000, A Group remained with 16 teams, except in seasons 1971/72 and 1972/73, when 18 teams competed in the league.

Premier Professional Football League

The 52 years of traditions of the A Republican Football Group were finally broken at the doorstep of the new millеnnium when the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Football Union decided to make reforms. The Premier Professional Football League, created in the autumn of 2000, had 14 teams participating in it. At the end of the 2000/01 season, the last two teams were directly relegated to the lower division and the team that finished 12th had the chance to compete in the promotion/relegation play-off for the remaining place in the league. Levski Sofia became champions in the first season of the Premier League. They finished with 22 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss in 26 games. They were followed by CSKA Sofia (2nd) and Velbazhd (3rd). The relegated teams were Botev and Minyor.

In the 2001/02 season there was experimentation with the regulations. The championship was divided into two phases. In the first phase the teams played a regular season, each team playing twice against all the others, once home and once away. The second phase was a play-off phase. The league was again divided into 2 subgroups. The teams who finished from 1st to 6th played in a home and away format to determine the champion of Bulgaria and the other teams that would play in the UEFA European club tournaments the following season. The teams from 7th to 14th played in a home and away format to determine the teams that would be relegated to the lower division. Levski were again the champions in 2001/02, finishing with 56 points. The UEFA Cup spots were filled by Litex Lovech and CSKA Sofia. The relegated teams were Spartak Pleven, Belasitsa and Beroe. But this experiment was tested only in that season.

In the following season, 2002/03, the championship returned to the regulations of 2000/01 - 14 teams playing in a home and away format. For the first time in 6 years, CSKA Sofia became champions: they were 6 points ahead of their biggest rivals, Levski. Dobrudzha and Rilski Sportist were relegated after just one season.

Bulgarian A Professional Football Group

The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group was created in 2003, returning to the traditions of A Republican Football Group. The group was formed by 16 teams, each playing twice against all the others, once home and once away. In the first season of the newly created A Group, the 2003/04 season, for the first time in history, Lokomotiv Plovdiv became champions, finishing with 75 points. In 2004/05, CSKA Sofia won A Group for the 30th time. For the next two seasons, Levski Sofia became champions under manager Stanimir Stoilov. From 2005/2006 the league's name has been A Football Group. In 2007/08, CSKA became champions of A Group for a record-breaking 31st time without a loss out of 30 matches. But in the summer, UEFA didn't give a license for the club to play in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds and Levski Sofia entered to play in the tournament instead of CSKA. In the following season Levski Sofia won their last A Group title, finishing just one point ahead of CSKA. Later on, two years in a row Litex Lovech won another 2 titles like in 1997/98 and 1998/99. In 2011/12, after winning promotion from B Group, Ludogorets Razgrad became the second team after Litex to win the A Group in their first season.

A Republican Football Group, the Premier Professional Football League and the present A Group are all presented in football history and statistics as the Bulgarian A Football Group - the top level of the Bulgarian football league system.

Competition format

As of the 2013–14 season, the number of teams competing in A Group has been reduced from sixteen to fourteen. The championship is divided into two stages. In the first stage, the regular season, each team must play two times against the other thirteen teams on a home-away basis until each team has played with each of the other teams twice, for a subtotal of 26 matches per team. In the second stage, the playoffs, the top seven teams and the bottom seven are divided into two subgroups, which are to play twice with each of their respective group rivals, again on a home-away basis, for a subtotal of 12 games per team. The top seven teams determine the champion of Bulgaria as well as the teams eligible to play in the European tournaments because of their position at the end of the season. The bottom seven determine the four teams that are to be relegated to B Group for season 2014–15. The total number of games each team have to play is 38.

Three points are awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. A club's place in the league table is determined by the number of points it has earned during the season. If two or more teams have equal points in the standings of A Group, the team with the better aggregate result form the head-to-head matches is placed higher. If some of the teams are tied in the aggregate result, the number of head-to-head away goals between those teams are considered. If tied again, the team with the better goal difference in the season is placed higher. If those teams have the same goal difference, the one with more goals scored during the season concerned is placed higher. If tied again, teams are positioned by "sportsmanship" - the one with fewer red cards (and if equal - fewer yellow cards) is placed higher. In the case where teams are tied again, their position is determined by a draw.

As of the 2014–15 season, the number of teams competing in A Group has been reduced to twelve so only two teams are to be promoted to the top division from B Group.

The top three positions in the final standings of A Group qualify for the following season's UEFA competitions – the champion (first place) advances to the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds and the teams that finish 2nd and 3rd in the final standings - to the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. The league operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system - B Group. In season 2013/14 the last four teams are directly relegated. Typically, seasons start in August, and end in May or June of the following year. However, because of the two stages, season 2013–2014 began on 20 July 2013.

European qualification (as for season 2013–14):

Clubs

From the creation of A Group in 1948, 65 clubs have competed in the top level of the Bulgarian football league system. In the last couple of seasons many of them, just like the current champions Ludogorets made their debut in the league. In season 2011/12, PFC Svetkavitsa competed for the first time but relegated in the same season after finishing at the bottom of the table, and in the last 2012/13 season PFC Pirin from Gotse Delchev who remained place in the league after finishing 11th. In the coming season, PFC Lyubimets will become the 66th club that have been part of the top division.

Only two teams have never been relegated from A Group; they are the two most successful clubs in the history of Bulgarian football: CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia.

A Group members for season 2014–15

The following twelve clubs will compete in A Group during the 2014–15 season.

Club
 Finishing position
in 2013/14		 First season in
top division		 First season after
most recent promotion		 Stadium
Beroe (Stara Zagora)7th19542009–10 Beroe Stadium
Botev (Plovdiv)4th1937-382012–13 Hristo Botev Stadium
Cherno More (Varna)6th1937–382000–01 Ticha Stadium
CSKA (Sofia)2nd1948–491948–49 Balgarska Armiya Stadium
Levski (Sofia)5th1937–381937–38Georgi Asparuhov Stadium
Litex (Lovech)3rd1994–951997–98 Lovech Stadium
Lokomotiv (Plovdiv)7th1938–392001–02 Lokomotiv Stadium (Plovdiv)
Lokomotiv (Sofia)10th1939–401971-72 Lokomotiv Stadium (Sofia)
Ludogorets (Razgrad)1st2011–122011–12 Ludogorets Arena
Marek (Dupnitsa)1st in 2013/14 B Group19572014–15 Bonchuk Stadium
Haskovo2nd in 2013/14 B Group1978–792014–15 Haskovo Stadium
Slavia (Sofia)9th1937–381952 Slavia Stadium

Records

The A Group trophy as of 2005

By clubs

Note: Bold indicates clubs currently playing in the top division. The teams in italics no longer exist.

Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years
CSKA Sofia
31
22
 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2008
Levski Sofia
26
31
 1933, 1937, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2009
Slavia Sofia
7
10
 1928, 1930, 1936, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1996
Lokomotiv Sofia
4
6
 1940, 1945, 1964, 1978
Litex Lovech
4
1
 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011
Ludogorets
4
0
 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Vladislav Varna
3
4
 1925, 1926, 1934
Spartak Varna
1
2
 1932
Ticha Varna
1
2
 1938
Spartak Plovdiv
1
1
 1963
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
1
1
 2004
Beroe S.Zagora
1
0
 1986
Etar Veliko Tarnovo
1
0
 1991
Atletic Slava 1923 (Sofia)
1
0
 1931
Sportclub (Sofia)
1
0
 1935

By city

The following table lists the Bulgarian champions by cities.

Rank City / town Titles Winning Clubs
1
 Sofia
70
 CSKA (31), Levski (26), Slavia (7), Lokomotiv (4), Atletic Slava 1923 (1), Sportclub (1)
2
 Varna
5
 Vladislav* (3), Ticha* (1), Spartak (1)
=3
 Plovdiv
4
 Botev (2), Lokomotiv (1), Spartak (1)
=3
 Lovech
4
 Litex (4)
5
 Razgrad
3
 Ludogorets (3)
=6
 Stara Zagora
1
 Beroe (1)
=6
 Veliko Tarnovo
1
 Etar (1)

* Cherno More Varna was created after Vladislav Varna and Ticha Varna merged.

A Group All-time ranking 1948–2014

Pos. Team N S G W D L F A Pts 1º 2º 3º
1 CSKA Sofia 1st 66 1880 1151 423 306 3910 1651 3107 31 22 6
2 Levski Sofia 1st 66 1880 1122 433 325 3704 1683 3087 26 31 9
3 Slavia Sofia 1st 65 1858 814 444 600 2820 2160 2340 1 7 10
4 Lokomotiv Sofia 1st 63 1803 754 453 596 2605 2184 2224 2 3 9
5 Botev Plovdiv 1st 59 1693 656 395 642 2467 2352 1874 1 2 10
6 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1st 53 1562 612 359 591 2149 2135 1804 1 1 4
7 Cherno More Varna 1st 50 1441 506 373 560 1718 1833 1549 – – 2
8 Beroe Stara Zagora 1st 47 1389 462 316 611 1689 2062 1364 1 – 1
9 Spartak Varna 2nd 43 1202 378 270 554 1385 1829 1144 – – 2
10 Litex Lovech 1st 19 576 338 117 121 1064 516 1095 4 1 3
11 Minyor Pernik 3rd 38 1055 330 248 477 1175 1594 1000 – – –
12 Spartak Pleven 3rd 35 994 314 245 435 1150 1511 886 – – 1
13 Chernomorets N.E. 29 866 277 188 401 1057 1410 775 – – –
14 Botev Vratsa 2nd 28 848 288 185 375 1055 1266 774 – – 1
15 Etar Veliko Tarnovo Y.A. 24 726 264 161 301 951 1043 731 1 – 2
16 Marek Dupnitsa 1st 28 806 246 172 388 906 1303 717 – – 1
17 Sliven 2000 3rd 25 750 246 164 340 906 1109 675 – – –
18 Pirin 2nd 23 688 220 167 301 743 934 650 – – –
19 Dunav Ruse 3rd 25 699 220 172 307 747 1064 609 – – –
20 Neftochimic Burgas N.E. 13 394 161 76 157 560 512 538 – 1 –
21 Akademik Sofia 4th 18 505 163 136 206 589 676 467 – – 2
22 Spartak Plovdiv 3rd 17 441 158 121 162 562 581 455 1 1 –
23 Dobrudzha Dobrich 2nd 14 414 126 82 206 448 682 411 – – –
24 Spartak Sofia N.E. 15 377 135 124 118 456 416 394 – 1 –
25 Belasitsa Petrich 3rd 12 368 116 68 184 377 590 360 – – –
26 Chernomorets Burgas 2nd 7 218 92 53 73 288 223 329 – – –
27 Velbazhd Kyustendil 3rd 7 201 98 27 76 299 269 314 – – 3
28 Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa 2nd 9 268 95 48 125 280 390 259 – – –
29 Ludogorets Razgrad 1st 3 98 69 19 10 205 49 226 3 – –
30 Montana 2nd 7 210 55 48 107 212 321 213 – – –
31 Shumen 2010 4th 7 212 61 38 113 219 368 201 – – –
32 Pirin Blagoevgrad N.E. 6 178 53 41 84 189 254 200 – – –
33 Yantra Gabrovo 3rd 7 214 65 50 99 239 332 174 – – –
34 Vihren Sandanski 3rd 4 118 38 14 66 117 173 128 – – –
35 Haskovo 1st 6 180 48 28 104 192 329 124 – – –
36 Vidima-Rakovski 3rd 5 150 28 36 86 126 271 120 – – –
37 Rodopa Smolyan 4th 4 118 31 17 70 106 194 110 – – –
38 Akademik Svishtov 3rd 4 120 36 26 58 136 195 97 – – –
39 Maritsa Plovdiv 3rd 4 120 28 25 67 129 225 89 – – –
40 Tundzha Yambol 3rd 3 97 28 22 47 98 152 78 – – –
41 Zavod 12 Sofia N.E. 3 74 23 27 24 72 80 73 – – –
42 Metalurg Pernik 4th 2 58 22 6 30 60 77 72 – – –
43 Hebar Pazardzhik N.E. 3 86 20 21 45 85 141 68 – – –
44 Lokomotiv Mezdra 2nd 2 60 17 13 30 69 89 64 – – –
45 Pirin Gotse Delchev 3rd 2 68 16 8 44 62 148 56 – – –
46 Septemvri Sofia 4th 3 78 16 20 42 101 160 56 – – –
47 VVS Sofia N.E. 2 54 13 21 20 60 63 47 – – –
48 Stroitel Sofia N.E. 2 50 13 18 19 47 53 44 – – –
49 Kaliakra Kavarna 3rd 2 60 10 11 39 45 117 41 – – –
50 Cherveno Zname Sofia N.E. 2 40 13 13 14 46 50 39 – – –
51 Rilski Sportist 4th 2 56 11 6 39 51 116 39 – – –
52 Olimpik Teteven 4th 1 30 11 2 17 26 50 35 – – –
53 Rakovski Ruse N.E. 2 60 9 6 45 41 151 33 – – –
54 Torpedo Pleven N.E. 3 66 9 14 43 48 137 32 – – –
55 Akademik Varna N.E. 1 28 9 7 12 26 43 25 – – –
56 Lyubimets 3rd 1 38 6 3 29 35 104 21 – – –
57 Dimitrovgrad 3rd 1 30 8 6 16 32 66 21 – – –
58 Himik Dimitrovgrad N.E. 1 30 7 6 17 36 60 20 – – –
59 Nesebar 3rd 1 30 5 5 20 26 63 20 – – –
60 Rozova Dolina 3rd 1 30 7 5 18 30 53 19 – – –
61 Sportist Svoge 3rd 1 30 5 4 21 23 59 19 – – –
62 Slavia Plovdiv N.E. 1 18 4 8 6 16 21 16 – – –
63 Pavlikeni 3rd 1 26 5 4 17 12 45 14 – – –
64 Etar 1924 N.E. 1 30 4 4 22 20 75 13 – – –
65 Bdin Vidin 3rd 1 18 2 4 12 13 35 8 – – –
66 Svetkavitsa 3rd 1 30 1 5 24 8 71 8 – – –
67 Chernomorets Burgas Sofia N.E. 1 30 0 1 29 8 131 –2 – – –

The Derbies

There are a few matches in the Bulgarian football, that can be called derby matches. Of course the matches between the two most successful clubs in the history of Bulgarian football, CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia are called as the Eternal Derby. The second largest city in Bulgaria Plovdiv - "The Plovdiv Derby" between Botev and Lokomotiv. Other derby matches with teams from one city are: The derby of the third largest city Varna - "The Varna Derby" between Spartak and Cherno More from Varna and "The Burgas Derby'" between Chernomorets and Neftochimic from Burgas.

In the years of A Group were formed many derby matches with big clubs participating in them, usually between teams aiming for the championship title. Those are the matches between Levski Sofia, CSKA Sofia, Litex Lovech and Ludogorets Razgrad. The oldest Sofia derby is Levski against Slavia.

The Eternal Derby

The Eternal Derby of Bulgarian football is contested by the two most successful clubs in Bulgaria - CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia. On every match between the two teams no matter in which league or cup is, there is a fantastic atmosphere with thousands of fans supporting their favourite team.

Over 130 matches have been played between the two teams in A Group, with Levski Sofia having the upper hand.

The biggest derby wins have been 7:2 (17 November 1968) and 7:1 (23 September 1994) for Levski. The biggest wins for CSKA Sofia were 5:0 (23 September 1953 and 1 October 1989) and 4:0 (14 April 1957).

The highest attendance was on 11 March 1967, at the Vasil Levski National Stadium - 70,000 spectators (Levski Sofia 1:1 CSKA Sofia). The lowest attendance is 8,000 spectators, on 18 November 1995, at the Vasil Levski National Stadium (Levski Sofia 3:1 CSKA Sofia).

The Plovdiv Derby

The second largest city in Bulgaria, Plovdiv also has football derby in Bulgaria, The Plovdiv Derby, performed by the two historic clubs of the city, Botev and Lokomotiv.

The first match between the two teams in A Group was in 1951 when Lokomotiv Plovdiv won 3-0. The biggest win for Lokomotiv was 7:3 (8 September 1974), and the biggest win for Botev is 5:0 twice, in season 1988/89 and in season 1995/96.

The games between the two teams are well known to the Bulgarian football community as well as to the police - before and after every game there are violent incidents with the supporters of the clubs. The atmosphere at those games is electric - comparable even to the best Latin American football derbies.

Broadcasting

Georgi Hristov and Slavia against Nikolay Bodurov and Litex in a 2011 A Group match.

From 2000 to 2008 the Bulgarian National Television broadcast all matches from A Group on its first channel - Kanal 1.

In 2008, the broadcasting rights were purchased by the private channels TV2 and Ring TV for three plus 2 years for the price of $33 million. BNT had the first pick for each fixture and broadcast the most interesting match for the weekend. For seasons 2009/10 and 2010/11, PRO.BG (the former TV2) and RING.BG (the former Ring TV) bought the rights to broadcast the full pack of six matches from each fixture. At the end of season 2010/11, after bTV bought PRO.BG, the channel was re-branded to bTV Action and got on broadcasting only on cable networks. The new owners didn't want to fully pay to every club in the league, because of the unmet stadium requirements for journalists and cameramen places at some stadiums. The clubs weren't happy and they threatened to ban cameras at their matches. Matches in that period were broadcast also in Romania. In the 2008–09 season, the Romanian sports channel Sport.ro broadcast the Friday game, and in the next 2009/10 season, only the matches of CSKA Sofia.

Days before the start of the 2011/12 season, the private terrestrial channel TV7 bought the rights to broadcast two matches per fixture. As before, the national television BNT1 got the first pick and broadcast the most interesting match for the fixture. The rest of the matches were broadcast live online on the websites Topsport.bg, Livesport.bg, Bookmakers.bg and Sportline.bg.

For the start of the new 2012/2013 season, the clubs refused the rights requests from four TV stations because of low payments offered - Bulgarian National Television, Nova Television, TV7 and TV+. Finally after the first set of fixtures, the satellite broadcaster Bulsatcom with its channel TV+ bought the rights, along with BNT. Before the start of the spring half-season the rights were bought by TV7 and News7, who had rights for the first, third and fourth pick, and BNT 1 along with the international channel BNT World broadcasting the second pick of a match.

For the 2013–14 season, 7 Media Group bought the full rights for another three seasons prior to 2016 and will broadcast six matches per fixture on their channels - TV7 and News7. In 2014 because of financial problems TV7 lost the rights for the championship and they were transferred to Nova Broadcasting Group. The 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons will be broadcast by Nova, Diema, Nova Sport and Diema Sport.

Sponsorship

Until 2011 the official sponsor of A Group was TBI Credit and the league was officially known as TBI A Football Group.

For 2011/12, A Group had new sponsor - the Victoria FATA Insurance and therefore the league name in that season was Victoria A Football Championship.

In early 2013, for a short period of time the naming rights of A Group were bought from the news television network News7 and therefore the league's name was NEWS7 Football Championship.

UEFA Ranking

The national league rankings for the 2013/14 season of UEFA competitions is based upon results in UEFA competitions from the 2008/09 through 2012/13 seasons.

Current Bulgarian A Group ranking (2013)

Referees

A Group has over 20 active referees that are available for matches as from the 2012/13 season. Only 7 of them are fully certified international FIFA referees. They are: Anton Genov, Angel Angelov, Stanislav Todorov, Georgi Yordanov, Tsvetan Georgiev, Nikolai Yordanov and Alexander Kostadinov. There are other 9 assistant referees that are fully certified international FIFA referees.

Records

Teams

Players

All-time top scorers

All-time top scorers in A Group
RankPlayerGoals
1 Bulgaria Petar Zhekov 253
2 Bulgaria Nasko Sirakov 195
3 Bulgaria Dinko Dermendzhiev 194
4 Bulgaria Hristo Bonev 185
5 Bulgaria Plamen Getov 164
6 Bulgaria Nikola Kotkov 163
7 Bulgaria Stefan Bogomilov 162
8 Bulgaria Petar Mihtarski 158
9 Bulgaria Martin Kamburov 156
10 Bulgaria Petko Petkov 152
In bold Currently playing in A Group
Goals updated as of April 14, 2015.

All-time appearances

All-time appearances in A Group
RankPlayerAppearances
1 Bulgaria Marin Bakalov 454
2 Bulgaria Dinko Dermendzhiev 447
3 Bulgaria Viden Apostolov 444
4 Bulgaria Todor Marev 422
5 Bulgaria Hristo Bonev 410
6 Bulgaria Zapryan Rakov 403
7 Bulgaria Malin Orachev 398
8 Bulgaria Dimitar Mladenov 388
9 Bulgaria Bozhil Kolev 373
10 Bulgaria Dobromir Zhechev 369
In bold Currently playing in A Group

Topscorers

Year Topscorer(s) Club(s) Goals
1937-38Bulgaria Krum MilevPFC Slavia Sofia12
1938-39Bulgaria Georgi PachedzhievAS 23 Sofia14
1939-40Bulgaria Yanko Stoyanov
Bulgaria Dimitar Nikolaev		PFC Levski Sofia
FK 13 Sofia		 14
1948-49Bulgaria Dimitar Milanov
Bulgaria Nedko Nedev		PFC CSKA Sofia
PFC Cherno More Varna		11
1950Bulgaria Lyubomir HranovPFC Levski Sofia13
1951Bulgaria Dimitar MilanovPFC CSKA Sofia14
1952Bulgaria Dimitar Isakov
Bulgaria Dobromir Tashkov		PFC Slavia Sofia
Spartak Sofia		10
1953Bulgaria Dimitar MinchevPFC Spartak Pleven; VVS Sofia15
1954Bulgaria Dobromir TashkovPFC Slavia Sofia25
1955Bulgaria Todor DievFC Spartak Plovdiv13
1956Bulgaria Pavel VladimirovPFC Minyor Pernik16
1957Bulgaria Hristo Iliev
Bulgaria Dimitar Milanov		PFC Levski Sofia
PFC CSKA Sofia		14
1958Bulgaria Dobromir Tashkov
Bulgaria Georgi Arnaudov		PFC Slavia Sofia
PFC Spartak Varna		9
1958-59Bulgaria Aleksandar VasilevPFC Slavia Sofia13
1959-60Bulgaria Dimitar Yordanov
Bulgaria Lyuben Kostov		PFC Levski Sofia
PFC Spartak Varna		12
1960-61Bulgaria Ivan SotirovPFC Botev Plovdiv20
1961-62Bulgaria Nikola Yordanov
Bulgaria Todor Diev		FC Dunav Ruse
FC Spartak Plovdiv		23
1962-63Bulgaria Todor DievFC Spartak Plovdiv26
1963-64Bulgaria Nikola TsanevPFC CSKA Sofia26
1964-65Bulgaria Georgi AsparuhovPFC Levski Sofia27
1965-66Bulgaria Traycho SpasovPFC Marek Dupnitsa21
1966-67Bulgaria Petar ZhekovPFC Beroe Stara Zagora21
1967-68Bulgaria Petar ZhekovPFC Beroe Stara Zagora31
1968-69Bulgaria Petar ZhekovPFC CSKA Sofia36
1969-70Bulgaria Petar ZhekovPFC CSKA Sofia31
1970-71Bulgaria Dimitar YakimovPFC CSKA Sofia26
1971-72Bulgaria Petar ZhekovPFC CSKA Sofia27
1972-73Bulgaria Petar ZhekovPFC CSKA Sofia29
1973-74Bulgaria Petko Petkov
Bulgaria Kiril Milanov		PFC Beroe Stara Zagora
PFC Levski Sofia		19
1974-75Bulgaria Ivan PritargovPFC Botev Plovdiv20
1975-76Bulgaria Petko Petkov
Bulgaria Pavel Panov		PFC Beroe Stara Zagora
PFC Levski Sofia		18
1976-77Bulgaria Pavel PanovPFC Levski Sofia20
1977-78Bulgaria Stoycho MladenovPFC Beroe Stara Zagora21
1978-79Bulgaria Rusi GochevPSFC Chernomorets Burgas and PFC Levski Sofia19
1979-80Bulgaria Spas DzhevizovPFC CSKA Sofia23
1980-81Bulgaria Georgi SlavkovPFC Botev Plovdiv31
1981-82Bulgaria Mihail ValchevPFC Levski Sofia24
1982-83Bulgaria Antim PehlivanovBotev20
1983-84Bulgaria Eduard Eranosyan
Bulgaria Emil Spasov		PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv
PFC Levski Sofia		19
1984-85Bulgaria Plamen GetovPFC Spartak Pleven26
1985-86Bulgaria Atanas PashevPFC Botev Plovdiv30
1986-87Bulgaria Nasko SirakovPFC Levski Sofia36
1987-88Bulgaria Nasko SirakovPFC Levski Sofia28
1988-89Bulgaria Hristo StoichkovPFC CSKA Sofia23
1989-90Bulgaria Hristo StoichkovPFC CSKA Sofia38
1990-91Bulgaria Ivaylo YordanovFC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa21
1991-92Bulgaria Nasko SirakovPFC Levski Sofia26
1992-93Bulgaria Plamen GetovPFC Levski Sofia26
1993-94Bulgaria Nasko SirakovPFC Levski Sofia30
1994-95Bulgaria Petar MihtarskiPFC CSKA Sofia24
1995-96Bulgaria Ivo GeorgievPFC Spartak Varna21
1996-97Bulgaria Todor PramatarovPFC Slavia Sofia26
1997-98Bulgaria Anton Spasov
Bulgaria Bontcho Guentchev		Neftochimic Burgas
PFC CSKA Sofia		17
1998-99Bulgaria Dimcho BelyakovPFC Litex Lovech21
1999-2000Bulgaria Mihail MihaylovVelbazhd Kyustendil20
2000-01Bulgaria Georgi IvanovPFC Levski Sofia22
2001-02Bulgaria Vladimir ManchevPFC CSKA Sofia21
2002-03Bulgaria Georgi ChilikovPFC Levski Sofia23
2003-04Bulgaria Martin KamburovPFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv25
2004-05Bulgaria Martin KamburovPFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv27
2005-06Slovenia Milivoje Novakovič
Portugal Jose Emilio Furtado		PFC Litex Lovech
Vihren and PFC CSKA Sofia		16
2006-07Bulgaria Tsvetan GenkovPFC Lokomotiv Sofia27
2007-08Bulgaria Georgi HristovPFC Botev Plovdiv19
2008-09Bulgaria Martin KamburovPFC Lokomotiv Sofia17
2009-10France Wilfried NiflorePFC Litex Lovech19
2010-11Mali Garra DembelePFC Levski Sofia26
2011-12Bulgaria Ivan Stoyanov
Brazil Júnior Moraes		PFC Ludogorets Razgrad
PFC CSKA Sofia		16
2012-13Guinea-Bissau Basile de CarvalhoPFC Levski Sofia19
2013-14Colombia Wilmar Jordán
Bulgaria Martin Kamburov		PFC Litex Lovech
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv		20

See also

References

    External links