First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

































































First Professional Football League
First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) logo.jpg
Founded 1924 (as BSFC)
1948 (as A Group)
2016 (as Parva Liga)
Country Bulgaria
Confederation UEFA
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 (7th title)
(2017–18)
Most championships
CSKA Sofia (31 titles)
TV partners Nova Broadcasting Group
Website www.fpleague.bg

2018–19 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 seventh consecutive title in their seventh First League season in 2017–18.




Contents






  • 1 History


    • 1.1 Foundation


    • 1.2 A Republican Football Group


    • 1.3 Premier Professional Football League


    • 1.4 A Group


    • 1.5 First Professional Football League




  • 2 Competition format


    • 2.1 International qualification


    • 2.2 Relegation


    • 2.3 Tiebreakers




  • 3 Current clubs


  • 4 List of champions


    • 4.1 Performance by club




  • 5 All-time league table (1948-present)


  • 6 Bulgarian derbies


    • 6.1 The Eternal Derby


    • 6.2 Plovdiv derby




  • 7 Media coverage


  • 8 Sponsorship


  • 9 UEFA ranking


  • 10 Records


    • 10.1 All-time top appearances


    • 10.2 All-time top scorers


    • 10.3 Other records


    • 10.4 Top scorers by season




  • 11 See also


  • 12 References


  • 13 External links





History



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.[citation needed]


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.[citation needed]


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.[citation needed]


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.[citation needed]



First Professional Football League


On June 7, 2016 the league's name was changed to First Professional Football League, following 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 a 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 bottom eight also compete 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 2018–19 season.




First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) is located in Bulgaria

Sofia

Sofia



Beroe Vereya


Beroe
Vereya



Dunav

Dunav



Cherno More

Cherno More



Etar

Etar



Ludogorets

Ludogorets



Botev Lokomotiv


Botev
Lokomotiv



Botev Vratsa

Botev Vratsa



Vitosha

Vitosha




Location of teams in 2018–19 First League




First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) is located in Sofia

CSKA

CSKA



Levski

Levski



Septemvri

Septemvri



Slavia

Slavia




Sofia 2018–19 First League football clubs





























































































Team
Location
Stadium
Capacity (seating)

Beroe

Stara Zagora

Beroe

12,128

Botev

Plovdiv

Botev 1912 Football Complex

4,000

Botev

Vratsa

Hristo Botev

12,000

Cherno More

Varna

Ticha

8,250

CSKA

Sofia

Balgarska Armiya

18,495

Dunav

Ruse

Gradski, Ruse

12,400

Etar

Veliko Tarnovo

Ivaylo

18,000

Levski

Sofia

Vivacom Arena - Georgi Asparuhov

25,000

Lokomotiv

Plovdiv

Lokomotiv

13,000

Ludogorets

Razgrad

Ludogorets Arena

11,000

Septemvri

Sofia

Vasil Levski National Stadium

43,230

Slavia

Sofia

Slavia
Vasil Levski National Stadium

25,556
43,230

Vereya

Stara Zagora

Trace Arena

3,500

Vitosha

Bistritsa

Bistritsa Stadium

2,500


List of champions




Performance by club




  • Bold indicates clubs currently playing in the top division.


  • Italics indicates clubs which no longer exist.



























































































Club
Titles
Runners-up
Winning Years(s)

CSKA Sofia
31
24

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
7


2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

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:




  • Cherno More was created after Vladislav (Varna) and Ticha (Varna) merged. The titles include those won by both teams.


  • CSKA Sofia titles include those won as Septemvri pri CDNV, CDNA, and CFKA-Sredets.


  • Levski Sofia titles include those won as Levski-Spartak and Vitosha, as well as the re-awarded 1984/85 title.


  • Botev Plovdiv total does not include the Trakia originally awarded the 1984/85 title.



All-time league table (1948-present)


Last updated following the 2017–18 season[5][update]



















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































#
Club
City

S

Pl.

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD

Pts
Best
classification
Notes
1 Levski Sofia 70 2017 1192 465 360 3915 1793 +2122 3329 1st (21 titles) Never relegated.
2 CSKA Sofia 69 1984 1208 452 324 4086 1725 +2361 3307 1st (31 titles)
3 Slavia Sofia 69 1991 865 473 653 2988 2335 +653 2522 1st (1 title)
4 Lokomotiv Sofia 64 1835 770 460 605 2644 2215 +429 2279 1st (2 titles)
5 Botev Plovdiv 63 1827 705 426 696 2649 2536 +113 2052 1st (1 title)
6 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 57 1696 660 388 648 2302 2332 -30 1977 1st (1 title)
7 Cherno More Varna 54 1576 557 401 618 1877 2003 -126 1730 3rd
8 Beroe Stara Zagora 51 1523 520 356 647 1854 2199 -345 1578 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 [a]
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 Pirin Blagoevgrad 26 788 244 196 348 844 1072 -228 751 5th
16 Marek Dupnitsa 29 838 251 177 410 920 1374 -454 737 3rd
17
Etar [b]
Veliko Tarnovo 24 726 264 161 301 951 1043 -92 731 1st (1 title) Dissolved in 2003.
18 Dunav Ruse 27 770 245 189 336 824 1158 -334 701 4th
19 Sliven 2000 Sliven 25 750 246 164 340 906 1109 -203 675 6th
20
Neftochimic [c]
Burgas 14 430 171 83 176 600 567 +33 575 2nd
21 Ludogorets Razgrad 7 234 144 54 36 473 168 +305 530 1st (7 titles) Finished 1st each of their seasons in First League.
22 Akademik Sofia 18 505 163 136 206 589 676 -87 467 3rd Dissolved in 2012.
23 Spartak Plovdiv 17 441 158 121 162 562 581 -19 455 1st (1 title) Dissolved in 2016.
24 Dobrudzha Dobrich 14 414 126 82 206 448 682 -234 411 7th
25 Spartak Sofia 15 377 135 124 118 456 416 +40 394 2nd Dissolved in 2007.
26 Belasitsa Petrich 12 368 116 68 184 377 590 -213 360 6th
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 10 304 102 59 143 310 462 -152 291 8th
30 Montana Montana 9 278 64 61 153 265 436 -171 253 9th
31
Shumen [d]
Shumen 7 212 61 38 113 219 368 -149 201 4th
32
Pirin Blagoevgrad [e]
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 Haskovo Haskovo 7 212 52 31 129 210 400 -190 139 8th
35 Vihren Sandanski 4 118 38 14 66 117 173 -56 128 9th
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 Septemvri Sofia 4 111 28 25 58 135 212 -77 97 5th
39 Akademik Svishtov 4 120 36 26 58 136 195 -59 97 11th
40 Maritsa Plovdiv 4 120 28 25 67 129 225 -126 89 14th
41 Vereya Stara Zagora 2 70 24 13 33 60 102 -42 85 6th
42 Tundzha Yambol 3 97 28 22 47 98 152 -57 78 13th
43 Zavod 12 Sofia 3 74 23 27 24 72 80 -8 73 4th
44 Metalurg Pernik 2 58 22 6 30 60 77 -17 72 10th
45 Hebar Pazardzhik 3 86 20 21 45 85 141 -56 68 9th
46
Lokomotiv [f]
Mezdra 2 60 17 13 30 69 89 -20 64 8th Dissolved in 2012.
47 Pirin Gotse Delchev 2 68 16 8 44 62 148 -86 56 11th
48 VVS Sofia 2 54 13 21 20 60 63 -3 47 8th Merged into CDNA in 1956.
49 Stroitel Sofia 2 50 13 18 19 47 53 -6 44 8th Disbanded in 1954.
50 Kaliakra Kavarna 2 60 10 11 39 45 117 -72 41 12th
51 SFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo 1 36 10 10 16 38 54 -16 40 11th
52 Cherveno Zname Sofia 2 40 13 13 14 46 50 -4 39 6th Merged with CSKA in 1962.
53 Rilski Sportist Samokov 2 56 11 6 39 51 116 -65 39 14th
54 Olimpik Teteven 1 30 11 2 17 26 50 -24 35 14th
55 Rakovski Ruse 2 60 9 6 45 41 151 -110 33 13th
56 Torpedo Pleven 3 66 9 14 43 48 137 -89 32 8th Merged with Spartak in 1957.
57 Akademik Varna 1 28 9 7 12 26 43 -17 25 10th Merged with Cherno More in 1969.
58 Dimitrovgrad Dimitrovgrad 1 30 8 6 16 32 66 -34 21 16th
59 Lyubimets Lyubimets 1 38 6 3 29 35 104 -69 21 14th
60 Himik Dimitrovgrad 1 30 7 6 17 36 60 -24 20 16th Merged to form Dimitrovgrad in 1967.
61 Nesebar Nesebar 1 30 5 5 20 26 63 -37 20 15th
62 Rozova Dolina Kazanlak 1 30 7 5 18 30 53 -23 19 15th
63 Sportist Svoge 1 30 5 4 21 23 59 -36 19 15th
64 Slavia Plovdiv 1 18 4 8 6 16 21 -5 16 7th
65 Vitosha Bistritsa Bistritsa 1 35 1 12 22 22 69 -47 15 13th
66 Pavlikeni Pavlikeni 1 26 5 4 17 12 45 -33 14 14th
67 Etar 1924 Veliko Tarnovo 1 30 4 4 22 20 75 -55 13 16th Dissolved in 2013.
68 Bdin Vidin 1 18 2 4 12 13 35 -22 8 9th
69 Svetkavitsa Targovishte 1 30 1 5 24 8 71 -63 8 16th
70 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 and refounded again in 2018. FC Shumen 1929 was recognized by the fans during its existence from 2013 to 2016, but was not an official representative 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.




Bulgarian derbies


Several football matches have been dubbed as derbies in the Bulgarian First League. The football rivalry, which has attracted the most domestic and international attention over the years has been played between the two most successful clubs in the history of Bulgarian football, CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia, otherwise known as the Eternal derby of Bulgarian football. The second largest Bulgarian city Plovdiv also has its own derby match, known as the Plovdiv derby, and is contested between the two historic clubs in the city, Botev and Lokomotiv.


Other notable rivalries include matches contested between Cherno More and Spartak in the city of Varna and cross-city rivals Chernomorets and Neftochimic in Burgas. In recent years, a regional derby between Beroe Stara Zagora and Botev Plovdiv, dubbed alternatively as "The Battle of Thrace" also ignited significant domestic attention.



The Eternal Derby



The Eternal Derby of Bulgarian football is contested between the two most successful football clubs in Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia.[citation needed]



Plovdiv derby



Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria, also has its own football derby match. It is contested between the city's two most successful clubs, Botev and Lokomotiv.[citation needed]


The two teams are the most supported ones in Plovdiv and the games between them are well known to the Bulgarian football community. 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's fanbase was formed from the middle and upper classes, although that no longer applies.[6]



Media coverage





Georgi Hristov from Slavia (white) playing for the ball against Nikolay Bodurov from Litex (orange) 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.[citation needed]


In 2008, the broadcasting rights were purchased by the private channels TV2 and Ring TV for three plus two years at a 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 (formerly as 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. The league matches in this period were also broadcast in Romania. During the 2008–09 season, the Romanian sports channel Sport.ro broadcast the Friday game, and in the following 2009-10 season, only the league matches of CSKA Sofia.[citation needed]


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 to broadcast the most interesting match in the fixture. The rest of the games were broadcast online live on the websites Topsport.bg,[7] Livesport.bg,[8] Bookmakers.bg,[9] and Sportline.bg.[10][citation needed]


For the start of the new 2012-13 season, the football clubs rejected requests from four TV stations due to the low payments being 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.[11]


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 however due to financial problems, TV7 opted-out of its league contract for the championship and the rights were transferred to Nova Broadcasting Group. The 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons will be broadcast by Nova, Diema, Nova Sport and Diema Sport.[citation needed]


The next seasons will also be broadcast on the Nova Broadcasting Group channels Diema, Diema Sport and Diema Sport 2, part of the Diema Extra paid pack, as their contract with the league was additionally extended.[12]



Sponsorship


Until 2011 the official sponsor of the championship was TBI Credit and the league was officially known as TBI A Football Group.[13]


In 2011–12, A Group had a new sponsor, the Victoria FATA Insurance, and therefore the league name in that season was rebranded to Victoria A Football Championship.[14]


In early 2013, for a short period of time the naming rights of A Group were bought from the news television network News7, eventually renaming the competition's name to NEWS7 Football Championship.[15]



UEFA ranking


As of the 2018 UEFA Country Ranking[update],[16][17][18] previous year rank is shown in brackets.



  • 25 Decrease (22) Norway Norwegian Eliteserien

  • 26 Steady (26) Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Premier League


  • 27 Increase (29) Bulgaria Bulgarian First League

  • 28 Decrease (27) Serbia Serbian SuperLiga

  • 29 Decrease (28) Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Premier League



Records



All-time top appearances





Marin Bakalov is the all-time appearances leader in First League with 454 caps
















































































Top 10 by appearances in Parva Liga

Rank Player Period Appearances
1

Bulgaria Marin Bakalov
1980–1999
454
2

Bulgaria Dinko Dermendzhiev
1959–1978
447
3

Bulgaria Vidin Apostolov
1959–1976
444
4

Bulgaria Georgi Iliev
2000–present
423
5

Bulgaria Todor Marev
1972–1994
422
6

Bulgaria Hristo Bonev
1964–1984
410
7

Bulgaria Zapryan Rakov
1983–1999
403
8

Bulgaria Malin Orachev
1990–2007
398
9

Bulgaria Todor Yanchev
1997–2014
395
10

Bulgaria Dimitar Mladenov
1979–1997
389
10

Bulgaria Yordan Todorov
2000–2016
389

Bold displays footballers currently playing in Parva Liga
As of 28 October 2018[update]


All-time top scorers





Petar Zhekov is the all-time top goalscorer in First League with 253 goals










































































Top 10 goalscorers in Parva Liga

Rank Player Period Goals
1

Bulgaria Petar Zhekov
1962–1975
253
2

Bulgaria Martin Kamburov
1998–present
211
3

Bulgaria Nasko Sirakov
1980–1998
196
4

Bulgaria Dinko Dermendzhiev
1959–1978
194
5

Bulgaria Hristo Bonev
1964–1984
185
6

Bulgaria Plamen Getov
1977–1998
164
7

Bulgaria Nikola Kotkov
1956–1971
163
8

Bulgaria Stefan Bogomilov
1962–1976
162
9

Bulgaria Petar Mihtarski
1982–2001
158
10

Bulgaria Petko Petkov
1968–1980
152

Bold displays footballers currently playing in Parva Liga
As of 28 October 2018[update]


Other records



  • Youngest player to appear in the league - Bulgaria Yanko Kirilov (aged 15 years and 72 days)[19]

  • Foreign player with the most appearances in the league - Republic of Macedonia Vančo Trajanov

  • Foreign player with the most goals in the league - Romania Claudiu Keșerü (73)

  • Fastest goal scored in the league - Bulgaria Miroslav Manolov (7 seconds)[20]

  • Player with most appearances for a Bulgarian team in European club tournaments - Bulgaria Svetoslav Dyakov (67 - 66 for Ludogorets Razgrad and 1 for Lokomotiv Sofia) and Romania Cosmin Moti (all 67 for Ludogorets)[21]



Top scorers by season


[22]


Bold indicates all-time highest.































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Season
Player (Club)
Nat.
Goals

1937–38

Krum Milev (Slavia Sofia)

 BUL
12

1938–39

Georgi Pachedzhiev (AS 23 Sofia)

 BUL
14

1939–40

Yanko Stoyanov (Levski Sofia)
Dimitar Nikolaev (FC 13 Sofia)

 BUL
 BUL
14

1948–49

Dimitar Milanov (CSKA Sofia)
Nedko Nedev (Cherno More Varna)

 BUL
 BUL
11

1950

Lyubomir Hranov (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
13

1951

Dimitar Milanov (2) (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
14

1952

Dimitar Isakov (Slavia Sofia)
Dobromir Tashkov (Spartak Sofia)

 BUL
 BUL
10

1953

Dimitar Minchev (Spartak Pleven and VVS Sofia)

 BUL
15

1954

Dobromir Tashkov (2) (Slavia Sofia)

 BUL
25

1955

Todor Diev (Spartak Plovdiv)

 BUL
13

1956

Pavel Vladimirov (Minyor Pernik)

 BUL
16

1957

Hristo Iliev (Levski Sofia)
Dimitar Milanov (3) (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
 BUL
14

1958

Dobromir Tashkov (3) (Slavia Sofia)
Georgi Arnaudov (Spartak Varna)

 BUL
 BUL
9

1958–59

Aleksandar Vasilev (Slavia Sofia)

 BUL
13

1959–60

Dimitar Yordanov (Levski Sofia)
Lyuben Kostov (Spartak Varna)

 BUL
 BUL
12

1960–61

Ivan Sotirov (Botev Plovdiv)

 BUL
20

1961–62

Nikola Yordanov (Dunav Ruse)
Todor Diev (2) (Spartak Plovdiv)

 BUL
 BUL
23

1962–63

Todor Diev (3) (Spartak Plovdiv)

 BUL
26

1963–64

Nikola Tsanev (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
26

1964–65

Georgi Asparuhov (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
27

1965–66

Traycho Spasov (Marek Dupnitsa)

 BUL
21

1966–67

Petar Zhekov (Beroe Stara Zagora)

 BUL
21

1967–68

Petar Zhekov (2) (Beroe Stara Zagora)

 BUL
31

1968–69

Petar Zhekov (3) (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
36

1969–70

Petar Zhekov (4) (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
31

1970–71

Dimitar Yakimov (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
26

1971–72

Petar Zhekov (5) (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
27

1972–73

Petar Zhekov (6) (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
29

1973–74

Petko Petkov (Beroe Stara Zagora)
Kiril Milanov (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
 BUL
19

1974–75

Ivan Pritargov (Botev Plovdiv)

 BUL
20

1975–76

Petko Petkov (2) (Beroe Stara Zagora)
Pavel Panov (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
 BUL
18

1976–77

Pavel Panov (2) (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
20

1977–78

Stoycho Mladenov (Beroe Stara Zagora)

 BUL
21

1978–79

Rusi Gochev (Chernomorets Burgas and Levski Sofia)

 BUL
19

1979–80

Spas Dzhevizov (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
23

1980–81

Georgi Slavkov (Botev Plovdiv)

 BUL
31

1981–82

Mihail Valchev (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
24

1982–83

Antim Pehlivanov (Botev Plovdiv)

 BUL
20

1983–84

Eduard Eranosyan (Lokomotiv Plovdiv)
Emil Spasov (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
 BUL
19

1984–85

Plamen Getov (Spartak Pleven)

 BUL
26

1985–86

Atanas Pashev (Botev Plovdiv)

 BUL
30

1986–87

Nasko Sirakov (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
36

1987–88

Nasko Sirakov (2) (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
28

1988–89

Hristo Stoichkov (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
23

1989–90

Hristo Stoichkov (2) (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL

38

1990–91

Ivaylo Yordanov (Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa)

 BUL
21

1991–92

Nasko Sirakov (3) (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
26

1992–93

Plamen Getov (2) (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
26

1993–94

Nasko Sirakov (4) (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
30

1994–95

Petar Mihtarski (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
24

1995–96

Ivo Georgiev (Spartak Varna)

 BUL
21

1996–97

Todor Pramatarov (Slavia Sofia)

 BUL
26

1997–98

Anton Spasov (Naftex Burgas)
Bontcho Guentchev (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
 BUL
17

1998–99

Dimcho Belyakov (Litex Lovech)

 BUL
21

1999–00

Mihail Mihaylov (Velbazhd Kyustendil)

 BUL
20

2000–01

Georgi Ivanov (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
22

2001–02

Vladimir Manchev (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
21

2002–03

Georgi Chilikov (Levski Sofia)

 BUL
23

2003–04

Martin Kamburov (Lokomotiv Plovdiv)

 BUL
25

2004–05

Martin Kamburov (2) (Lokomotiv Plovdiv)

 BUL
27

2005–06

Milivoje Novaković (Litex Lovech)
José Emílio Furtado (Vihren and CSKA Sofia)

 SVN
 PRT
16

2006–07

Tsvetan Genkov (Lokomotiv Sofia)

 BUL
27

2007–08

Georgi Hristov (Botev Plovdiv)

 BUL
19

2008–09

Martin Kamburov (3) (Lokomotiv Sofia)

 BUL
17

2009–10

Wilfried Niflore (Litex Lovech)

 FRA
19

2010–11

Garra Dembélé (Levski Sofia)

 MLI
26

2011–12

Ivan Stoyanov (Ludogorets Razgrad)
Júnior Moraes (CSKA Sofia)

 BUL
 BRA
16

2012–13

Basile de Carvalho (Levski Sofia)

 GNB
19

2013–14

Wilmar Jordán (Litex Lovech)
Martin Kamburov (4) (Lokomotiv Plovdiv)

 COL
 BUL
20

2014–15

Añete (Levski Sofia)

 ESP
14

2015–16

Martin Kamburov (5) (Lokomotiv Plovdiv)

 BUL
18

2016–17

Claudiu Keșerü (Ludogorets Razgrad)

 ROM
22

2017–18

Claudiu Keșerü (2) (Ludogorets Razgrad)

 ROM
26


See also


  • List of foreign football players in A PFG


References





  1. ^ ""А" ПФГ – история - Bulgarski.futbol – А Група – новини, анализи, прогнози, коментари". bulgarski.futbol. Retrieved 3 May 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ "14 отбора ще участват в новия елитен шампионат "Първа професионална лига"". Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2016.


  3. ^ "Формат на Първа Лига". Retrieved 7 June 2016.


  4. ^ "Регламент на провеждане на Първа Лига". Retrieved 1 August 2016.


  5. ^ "Вечна ранглиста на "А" група". bgclubs.eu (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 26 May 2018.


  6. ^ "Botev Plovdiv vs. Lokomotiv Plovdiv". Retrieved 8 June 2016.


  7. ^ "Спорт, футбол и спортни новини". Topsport.bg. Retrieved 3 May 2017.


  8. ^ "LIVESPORT.BG". livesport.bg. Retrieved 3 May 2017.


  9. ^ "Bookmakers.bg". bookmakers.bg. Retrieved 3 May 2017.


  10. ^ "Tashevi.com". sportline.bg. Retrieved 3 May 2017.


  11. ^ ""А" група остава в ефира на TV7 и News7 - Novinite.bg - Новините от България и света". novinite.bg. Retrieved 3 May 2017.


  12. ^ "БФС - "Нова броудкастинг груп" ще излъчва "А" група". www.bfunion.bg. Retrieved 3 May 2017.


  13. ^ "Ти Би Ай България – генерален спонсор на националното първенство по футбол". www.bulstrad.bg. Retrieved 3 May 2017.


  14. ^ New Season in Victoria A Football Championship


  15. ^ "Schedule for News7 football championship". Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.


  16. ^ "UEFA rankings for club competitions". UEFA.com. Retrieved 22 June 2017.


  17. ^ "UEFA Country Ranking 2018". Bert Kassies. Retrieved 22 June 2018.


  18. ^ "UEFA Country Ranking 2017". Bert Kassies. Retrieved 22 June 2017.


  19. ^ "Уточнение: левскар все още държи рекорда за най-млад играч в елита" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 20 November 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2018.


  20. ^ "Черно море" би в Монтана с най-бързия гол в А група и хеттрик на Манолов" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2018.


  21. ^ ""Лудогорец" загуби в Цюрих с гол в края на мача" (in Bulgarian). dariknews.bg. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.


  22. ^ "Всички голмайстори в България през годините". (in Bulgarian) blitz.bg. Retrieved 16 May 2017.




External links



  • Official website


  • League at UEFA


  • Bulgaria – List of Champions, RSSSF.com


  • Table, at xscores.com













Popular posts from this blog

Guess what letter conforming each word

Port of Spain

Run scheduled task as local user group (not BUILTIN)