First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

For other sports leagues which may be referred to by this name, see List of professional sports leagues.
First Professional Football League
Country Bulgaria
Confederation UEFA
Founded 1924 (as BSFC)
1948 (as A Group)
2016 (as Parva Liga)
Divisions 1
Number of teams 14
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to Second League
Domestic cup(s) Bulgarian Cup
Bulgarian Supercup
International cup(s) Champions League
Europa League
Current champions Ludogorets Razgrad (5th title)
(2015–16)
Most championships CSKA Sofia (31 titles)
TV partners Nova Broadcasting Group
Website www.fpleague.bg
2016–17 season

The First Professional Football League (Bulgarian: Първа професионална футболна лига) is a Bulgarian professional league for men's association football clubs. Standing at the top of the Bulgarian football league system, it serves as the country's primary football competition. The league determines the champion of Bulgaria and is contested by fourteen teams. It operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the second tier of the Bulgarian football league pyramid, the Second League. Known by its previous name A Group, the Bulgarian top-tier was fully restructured during the summer of 2016, when new licensing criteria were introduced.

The Bulgarian football championship was inaugurated in 1924 as the Bulgarian State Football Championship and has been played in a league format since 1948, when the A Group was established. The champions of the First League have the right to participate in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League based on the league's European coefficient. Additionally, two UEFA Europa League spots are allocated to the second team in the final standings and the winner of the European playoffs. A further fourth spot may also be granted to the fourth placed team in the final league ranking, given that the Bulgarian Cup holder has finished among the top three teams at the end of the season.

A total of 67 clubs have competed in the Bulgarian top-tier since its establishment. In the last decade, many teams such as the current champions Ludogorets were introduced for the first time in the league. In 2016–17, Vereya Stara Zagora became the 67th club to participate in the competition. Since 1948, eleven different teams have been crowned champions of Bulgaria. The three most successful clubs are CSKA Sofia with 31 titles, Levski Sofia with 26 titles and Slavia Sofia with 7 titles respectively. The current champions Ludogorets Razgrad won their fifth consecutive title in their fifth First League season in 2015–16.

History

Former A Group logo

Foundation

The first football championship of Bulgaria started in 1924 in 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. [1] (needs direct citations)

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

A Group

The A Group Trophy as of 2005

The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group was created in 2003. 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 were 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 one point ahead of CSKA. Later on, two years in a row Litex Lovech won another two 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.

The Bulgarian Football Union decided to make some changes in the format of A Group prior to season 2014–15 with the reduction of the number of the teams participating in the top league from 16 to 12.

First for season 2013–14, the number of teams competing in A Group was reduced from sixteen to fourteen. The championship was 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 were divided into two subgroups, which were 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 determined 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 determined the four teams that are to be relegated to B Group for season 2014–15 and two teams promoted in their place from the lower level division.

For the next 2014–15 A Group season, the teams that took part were 12, with Ludogorets winning their fourth consecutive championship.

Before the beginning of season 2015–16, the Sofia teams, including title record-holder CSKA and Lokomotiv were excluded from the league due not receiving license to play in A Group.

First Professional Football League

On June 7, 2016 the league's name was changed to First Professional Football League, following an approval of new licensing criteria for the clubs.[2]

Competition format

Starting from the 2016-17 season, a new league format was approved by the Bulgarian Football Union, in an attempt to improve each participating club's competitiveness, match attendance and performance in the league. It involves 14 teams playing in two phases, a regular season and playoffs. The first phase includes each club competing against every other team twice in a double round-robin system, on a home-away basis at a total of 26 games per team and played in 26 fixtures. Seven matches are played in every fixture at a total of 182 games played during the first phase. In the second phase, the top six teams form an European qualifying table, while the bottom eight teams participate in a relegation group. The winner of the top group is declared as Champions of Bulgaria and is awarded with the title.

International qualification

The six top teams compete against each other on a home-away basis. Three matches are played in every fixture of the top six, with the results and points after the regular season also included. At the end of the stage, every team will have played a total of 36 games. The winner of the group is declared as Champions of Bulgaria and automatically secures participation in the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. The team that ranks second is awarded with a place in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. The third team in the final standings would participate in a play-off match against a representative team from the bottom eight. Depending on the winner of the Bulgarian Cup final, a possible fourth team from the first six may compete in a play-off match for an UEFA Europa League spot instead of the third ranked team.

Note: If the Bulgarian Cup winner has secured its qualification for the European tournaments for the next season through results from Parva Liga, then the place in the UEFA Europa League play-off is awarded to the fourth ranked team in the final standings.

Relegation

The teams in the bottom eight are split in two sub-groups of four teams, Group A and Group B, depending on their final position after the regular season standings. The teams that enter Group A are the 7th, 10th, 11th and the 14th, and the teams that participate in Group B are the 8th, 9th, 12th and the 13th. Every participant plays twice against the other three teams in their group on a home-away basis. The teams from the botttom eight also ccmpete with the results from the regular season. After the group stages, every team will have played a total number of 32 games. Depending on their final position in Group A and Group B, two sections will be formed, one for a play-off spot in next season's European competitions and one to avoid relegation. The first two teams from each group continue in the semi-finals, and the last two teams of each group continue to the semi-finals for a relegation match. After this phase, one team is directly relegated to the Second League and the remaining two teams will compete in two relegation matches against the second and the third ranked clubs from the Second League.[3]

Tiebreakers

In case of a tie on points between two or more clubs, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[4]

  1. Number of wins;
  2. Goal difference;
  3. Goals pro;
  4. Goals away;
  5. Fewer red cards;
  6. Less number of yellow cards;
  7. Draw

Current clubs

The following clubs are competing in First Professional Football League during the 2016–17 season.[5]

Club City[6] Stadium Capacity
Botev Plovdiv Hristo Botev Stadium (Plovdiv) 18,000
Cherno More Varna Ticha Stadium 8,250
Levski Sofia Georgi Asparuhov Stadium 30,000
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Lokomotiv Stadium (Plovdiv) 11,800
Pirin Blagoevgrad Hristo Botev Stadium (Blagoevgrad) 7,500
Ludogorets Razgrad Ludogorets Arena 8,808
Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe Stadium 12,128
Montana Montana Ogosta Stadium 6,000
CSKA Sofia Balgarska Armia Stadium 22,995
Slavia Sofia Ovcha Kupel Stadium 25,556
Vereya Stara Zagora Trace Arena 3,000
Dunav Ruse Gradski Stadium 19,960
Neftochimic Burgas Lazur Stadium 18,037
Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa Lokomotiv Stadium (Gorna Oryahovitsa) 10,500

List of champions

Performance by club

Club Titles Runners-up Winning Years(s)
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
32
 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
Ludogorets Razgrad
5
–
 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Lokomotiv Sofia
4
6
 1940, 1945, 1964, 1978
Cherno More Varna
6
 1925, 1926, 1934, 1938
Litex Lovech
1
 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011
Botev Plovdiv
2
2
 1929, 1967
Spartak Varna
1
2
 1932
Spartak Plovdiv
1
 1963
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
1
 2004
Beroe Stara Zagora
1
 1986
Etar Veliko Tarnovo
–
 1991
Sportklub Sofia
–
 1935
Athletic Slava 1923
–
 1931

Notes:

All-time league table (1948-present)

Source: All-time table of the A Group at bgclubs.eu

# Club City S Pl. W D L GF GA GD Pts Best
classification		 Notes
1 Levski Sofia 68 1912 1139 438 335 3770 1716 +2054 3199 1st (21 titles) Never relegated.
2 CSKA Sofia 67 1912 1161 433 314 3955 1678 +2277 3159 1st (31 titles)
3 Slavia Sofia 67 1890 826 451 613 2860 2198 +662 2432 1st (1 title)
4 Lokomotiv Sofia 64 1835 770 460 605 2644 2215 +429 2279 1st (2 titles) Dissolved in 2015.
5 Botev Plovdiv 61 1725 668 401 656 2505 2391 +114 1949 1st (1 title)
6 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 55 1594 621 363 609 2177 2187 -10 1885 1st (1 title)
7 Cherno More Varna 52 1473 521 378 572 1760 1869 -109 1637 3rd
8 Beroe Stara Zagora 49 1421 477 326 618 1732 2092 -360 1472 1st (1 title)
9 Litex Lovech 20 608 354 123 131 1113 552 +561 1149 1st (4 titles)
10 Spartak Varna 43 1202 378 270 554 1385 1829 -444 1144 3rd
11 Minyor Pernik 38 1055 330 248 477 1175 1594 -419 1000 4th
12 Spartak Pleven 35 994 314 245 435 1150 1511 -361 886 3rd
13 Chernomorets [lower-alpha 1] Burgas 29 866 277 188 401 1057 1410 -353 775 5th Dissolved in 2006.
14 Botev Vratsa 28 848 288 185 375 1055 1266 -211 774 3rd
15 Marek Dupnitsa 29 838 251 177 410 920 1374 -454 737 3rd
16 Etar [lower-alpha 2] Veliko Tarnovo 24 726 264 161 301 951 1043 -92 731 1st (1 title) Dissolved in 2003.
17 Sliven 2000 Sliven 25 750 246 164 340 906 1109 -203 675 6th
18 Pirin Blagoevgrad 23 688 220 167 301 743 934 -191 650 5th
19 Dunav Ruse 25 699 220 172 307 747 1064 -317 609 4th
20 Neftochimic [lower-alpha 3] Burgas 13 394 161 76 157 560 512 +48 538 2nd Dissolved in 2014.
21 Akademik Sofia 18 505 163 136 206 589 676 -87 467 3rd Dissolved in 2012.
22 Spartak Plovdiv 17 441 158 121 162 562 581 -19 455 1st (1 title) Dissolved in 2016.
23 Dobrudzha Dobrich 14 414 126 82 206 448 682 -234 411 7th
24 Spartak Sofia 15 377 135 124 118 456 416 +40 394 2nd Dissolved in 2007.
25 Belasitsa Petrich 12 368 116 68 184 377 590 -213 360 6th
26 Ludogorets Razgrad 5 130 87 28 15 268 73 +195 359 1st (5 titles)
27 Chernomorets Burgas Burgas 7 218 92 53 73 288 223 +65 329 4th
28 Velbazhd Kyustendil 7 201 98 27 76 299 269 +30 314 3rd
29 Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa 9 268 95 48 125 280 390 -110 259 8th
30 Montana Montana 8 210 55 48 107 212 321 -109 213 9th
31 Shumen 2010 [lower-alpha 4] Shumen 7 212 61 38 113 219 368 -149 201 4th Dissolved in 2013.
32 Pirin Blagoevgrad [lower-alpha 5] Blagoevgrad 6 178 53 41 84 189 254 -65 200 8th Merged to form Pirin in 2008.
33 Yantra Gabrovo 7 214 65 50 99 239 332 -93 174 8th
34 Vihren Sandanski 4 118 38 14 66 117 173 -56 128 9th
35 Haskovo Haskovo 7 212 52 31 129 210 400 -190 139 8th
36 Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo 5 150 28 36 86 126 271 -145 120 12th
37 Rodopa Smolyan 4 118 31 17 70 106 194 -88 110 10th
38 Akademik Svishtov 4 120 36 26 58 136 195 -59 97 11th
39 Maritsa Plovdiv 4 120 28 25 67 129 225 -126 89 14th
40 Tundzha Yambol 3 97 28 22 47 98 152 -57 78 13th
41 Zavod 12 Sofia 3 74 23 27 24 72 80 -8 73 4th
42 Metalurg Pernik 2 58 22 6 30 60 77 -17 72 10th
43 Hebar Pazardzhik 3 86 20 21 45 85 141 -56 68 9th
44 Lokomotiv [lower-alpha 6] Mezdra 2 60 17 13 30 69 89 -20 64 8th Dissolved in 2012.
45 Pirin Gotse Delchev 2 68 16 8 44 62 148 -86 56 11th
46 Septemvri Sofia 3 78 16 20 42 101 160 -59 56 5th
47 VVS Sofia 2 54 13 21 20 60 63 -3 47 8th Merged into CDNA in 1956.
48 Stroitel Sofia 2 50 13 18 19 47 53 -6 44 8th Disbanded in 1954.
49 Kaliakra Kavarna 2 60 10 11 39 45 117 -72 41 12th
50 Cherveno Zname Sofia 2 40 13 13 14 46 50 -4 39 6th Merged with CSKA in 1962.
51 Rilski Sportist Samokov 2 56 11 6 39 51 116 -65 39 14th
52 Olimpik Teteven 1 30 11 2 17 26 50 -24 35 14th
53 Rakovski Ruse 2 60 9 6 45 41 151 -110 33 13th
54 Torpedo Pleven 3 66 9 14 43 48 137 -89 32 8th Merged with Spartak in 1957.
55 Akademik Varna 1 28 9 7 12 26 43 -17 25 10th Merged with Cherno More in 1969.
56 Dimitrovgrad Dimitrovgrad 1 30 8 6 16 32 66 -34 21 16th
57 Lyubimets Lyubimets 1 38 6 3 29 35 104 -69 21 14th
58 Himik Dimitrovgrad 1 30 7 6 17 36 60 -24 20 16th Merged to form Dimitrovgrad in 1967.
59 Nesebar Nesebar 1 30 5 5 20 26 63 -37 20 15th
60 Rozova Dolina Kazanlak 1 30 7 5 18 30 53 -23 19 15th
61 Sportist Svoge 1 30 5 4 21 23 59 -36 19 15th
62 Slavia Plovdiv 1 18 4 8 6 16 21 -5 16 7th
63 Pavlikeni Pavlikeni 1 26 5 4 17 12 45 -33 14 14th
64 Etar 1924 Veliko Tarnovo 1 30 4 4 22 20 75 -55 13 16th Dissolved in 2013.
65 Bdin Vidin 1 18 2 4 12 13 35 -22 8 9th
66 Svetkavitsa Targovishte 1 30 1 5 24 8 71 -63 8 16th
67 Conegliano German 1 30 0 1 29 8 131 -123 −2 16th Dissolved in 2007.
Key
Competing in First League
Competing in Second League
Competing below Second League
Not competing (See Notes)

Currently, Sliven 2000, Spartak Plovdiv and Tundzha Yambol have only youth academies.

  1. ↑ Team was dissolved in 2006. PSFC Chernomorets Burgas and FC Chernomorets 1919 Burgas are recognized by the fans, but they are not official representers of the original club.
  2. ↑ Team was dissolved in 2003. FC Etar 1924 Veliko Tarnovo and later OFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo are recognized by the fans, but they are not official representers of the original club.
  3. ↑ Team was dissolved in 2014. Neftochimic Burgas is recognized by the fans, but it is not an official representer of the original club.
  4. ↑ Team was dissolved in 2014. FC Shumen 1929 is recognized by the fans, but itis not an official representer of the original club.
  5. ↑ Team was dissolved in 2008. OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad is recognized by the fans, but it is not an official representer of the original club.
  6. ↑ Team was dissolved in 2012. FC Lokomotiv 2012 Mezdra and FC Lokomotiv 1929 Mezdra are recognized by the fans, but they are not official representers of the original club.

The Derbies

There are some matches 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 the Eternal Derby. The second largest city in Bulgaria Plovdiv has its own derby match, the Plovdiv Derby, between the two historic clubs of the city, Botev and Lokomotiv. Other derby matches with teams from one city are the derby of the third largest city, Varna, between Spartak and Cherno More and the derby of the fourth largest city Burgas between Chernomorets and Neftochimic. The oldest Sofia derby is between Levski (1914) and Slavia (1913).

The Eternal Derby

The Eternal Derby of Bulgarian football is contested by the two most successful football clubs in Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia.

The Plovdiv Derby

The second largest city in Bulgaria, Plovdiv also has a football derby match. It is called the Plovdiv Derby, performed by the two historic clubs of the city, Botev (created 1912) 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 (on 8 September 1974), and the biggest win for Botev is 5:0 twice, in seasons 1988/89 and 1995/96.

The two teams are the most supported ones in Plovdiv and the games between them are well known to the Bulgarian football community. This may be one of the fiercest rivalries in the world.[7] Botev is the country's oldest team, created in 1912, whereas Lokomotiv grew popular in the 1970s. Traditionally, Lokomotiv drew support from the lower working classes of society, whereas Botev drew support form the middle and upper classes, although that no longer applies.[8]

Media coverage

Georgi Hristov from Slavia playing Nikolay Bodurov from 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 two 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 season, 2009/10, 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,[9] Livesport.bg,[10] Bookmakers.bg,[11] and Sportline.bg.[12]

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.[13]

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.

The next seasons will be broadcast on the channels Diema, Diema Sport and Diema Sport 2, part of the Diema Extra paid pack.[14]

Sponsorship

Until 2011 the official sponsor of A Group was TBI Credit and the league was officially known as TBI A Football Group.[15]

For 2011–12, A Group had a new sponsor, the Victoria FATA Insurance, and therefore the league name in that season was Victoria A Football Championship.[16]

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.[17]

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)

Records

Teams

All-time top scorers

[19] (Needs to be checked)

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 Martin Kamburov 183
6 Bulgaria Plamen Getov 164
7 Bulgaria Nikola Kotkov 163
8 Bulgaria Stefan Bogomilov 162
9 Bulgaria Petar Mihtarski 158
10 Bulgaria Petko Petkov 152
In bold: currently playing in A Group
Goals updated as of November 29, 2016.

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
FC 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 Milanov (2)PFC CSKA Sofia14
1952Bulgaria Dimitar Isakov
Bulgaria Dobromir Tashkov		PFC Slavia Sofia
Spartak Sofia		10
1953Bulgaria Dimitar MinchevPFC Spartak Pleven and VVS Sofia15
1954Bulgaria Dobromir Tashkov (2)PFC Slavia Sofia25
1955Bulgaria Todor DievFC Spartak Plovdiv13
1956Bulgaria Pavel VladimirovPFC Minyor Pernik16
1957Bulgaria Hristo Iliev
Bulgaria Dimitar Milanov (3)		PFC Levski Sofia
PFC CSKA Sofia		14
1958Bulgaria Dobromir Tashkov (3)
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 (2)		FC Dunav Ruse
FC Spartak Plovdiv		23
1962–63Bulgaria Todor Diev (3)FC 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 Zhekov (2)PFC Beroe Stara Zagora31
1968–69Bulgaria Petar Zhekov (3)PFC CSKA Sofia36
1969–70Bulgaria Petar Zhekov (4)PFC CSKA Sofia31
1970–71Bulgaria Dimitar YakimovPFC CSKA Sofia26
1971–72Bulgaria Petar Zhekov (5)PFC CSKA Sofia27
1972–73Bulgaria Petar Zhekov (6)PFC 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 (2)
Bulgaria Pavel Panov		PFC Beroe Stara Zagora
PFC Levski Sofia		18
1976–77Bulgaria Pavel Panov (2)PFC 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 PehlivanovPFC Botev Plovdiv20
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 Sirakov (2)PFC Levski Sofia28
1988–89Bulgaria Hristo StoichkovPFC CSKA Sofia23
1989–90Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov (2)PFC CSKA Sofia38
1990–91Bulgaria Ivaylo YordanovFC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa21
1991–92Bulgaria Nasko Sirakov (3)PFC Levski Sofia26
1992–93Bulgaria Plamen Getov (2)PFC Levski Sofia26
1993–94Bulgaria Nasko Sirakov (4)PFC 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 Kamburov (2)PFC 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 Kamburov (3)PFC 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 (4)		PFC Litex Lovech
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv		20
2014–15Spain Antonio Salas QuintaPFC Levski Sofia14
2015–16Bulgaria Martin Kamburov (5)PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv18

See also

References

External links

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