First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

The First Professional Football League (Bulgarian: Първа професионална футболна лига, romanized: Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons,^[1] is a professional association football league, located at the top of the Bulgarian football league system. Contested by 16 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Second Professional Football League.

First Professional Football League

Organising body	Bulgarian Football Union (BFU)
Founded	1924; 99 years ago (1924) (knockout) 1937–1940; 1948 (as round-robin)
Country	Bulgaria
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	16
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Second League
Domestic cup(s)	Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Supercup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa Conference League
Current champions	Ludogorets Razgrad (11th title) (2021–22)
Most championships	CSKA Sofia (31 titles)
Most appearances	Georgi Iliev (461)
Top goalscorer	Martin Kamburov (256 goals)
TV partners	Nova Broadcasting Group
Website	fpleague.bg
Current: 2022–23 season

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 74 clubs have competed in the Bulgarian top-tier since its establishment. 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 Ludogorets Razgrad with 11 titles. The current champions Ludogorets Razgrad won their eleventh consecutive title in their eleventh First League season in 2021–22. Historically, the competition has been dominated by Sofia-based teams. Together they have won a total number of 70 titles.

History

Foundation

Main article: Bulgarian State Football Championship

The first football championship in Bulgaria was held in 1924 as a knockout tournament. It was organised by the Bulgarian National Sports Federation (BNSF). The six inaugural teams were Vladislav Varna, Orel Vratsa, Levski Sofia, Krakra Pernik, Pobeda Plovdiv and Chernomorets Burgas, each having won and representing its regional sports federation, called sportna federatsiya. The championship was abandoned, because of a dispute between Vladislav and Levski over the replay of the final game. In the following 1925 season, SK Vladislav became the first champion of Bulgaria. The championship was reorganised for three seasons, from season 1937–38 to 1939–40, ten teams participated in a round-robin tournament, called the National Football Division.^[2]

A Republican Football Group

The inaugural season of the A Republican Football Group began in the autumn of 1948. The ten teams participating in the league were Levski, Septemvri, Lokomotiv, Slavia and Spartak from the capital city Sofia, and Botev Varna, Botev Burgas, Slavia Plovdiv, Marek Stanke Dimitrov, Benkovski in a spring-autumn cycle like 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 were 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 2005–06 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 licence 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 made some changes in the format of A Group prior to season 2013–14 with the reduction of the number of the teams participating in the top league from 16 to 14 and the reintroduction of the two phase league with a regular season and a playoff/play out phase. For the 2014–15 season, the league was once more decreased, this time to 12 teams, keeping the two phase format. This season was memorable since two of the most popular and successful clubs, CSKA Sofia and Lokomotiv Sofia, were both excluded from the league, despite finishing in the top 5 places. Both teams had accumulated debts and did not have the financial resources to pay them, so the BFU decided to take away their professional licenses. This was the first time in the history of the A Group that CSKA was relegated.^{[citation needed]} For the 2015–16 season, the BFU decided to further decrease the number of teams competing, this time to just 10, with a quadruple round robin format introduced, a format used in the Croatian First Football League and Albanian Kategoria Superiore.

First Professional Football League

On 7 June 2016 the league's name was changed to First Professional Football League, following approval of new licensing criteria for the clubs.^[3]

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.^[4]

Tiebreakers

In case of a tie on points between two or more clubs, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:^[5]

1. Number of wins;
2. Goal difference;
3. Goals for;
4. Goals against;
5. Fewest red cards;
6. Fewest yellow cards;
7. Draw

Current clubs

The following clubs are competing in the First League during the 2022–23 season.

Arda	Beroe	Botev Plovdiv	Botev Vratsa
Arena Arda	Beroe	Futbolen kompleks Botev 1912	Hristo Botev
Capacity: 11,114	Capacity: 12,128	Capacity: 4,000	Capacity: 12,000
Cherno More	CSKA 1948	CSKA Sofia	Hebar
Ticha	Bistritsa	Balgarska Armia	Georgi Benkovski
Capacity: 8,250	Capacity: 2,500	Capacity: 22,995	Capacity: 13,128
Levski Sofia	Sofia   Beroe   Arda   Botev Vratsa   Cherno More Spartak   Ludogorets   Botev Plovdiv Lokomotiv Plovdiv   Pirin   CSKA 1948   Hebar class=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2022–23 First League     CSKA   Levski   Lokomotiv   Septemvri   Slavia class=notpageimage| Sofia 2022–23 First League football clubs		Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Vivacom Arena – Georgi Asparuhov			Lokomotiv
Capacity: 25,000			Capacity: 10,000
Lokomotiv Sofia			Ludogorets
Lokomotiv			Huvepharma Arena
Capacity: 22,000			Capacity: 10,422
Pirin Blagoevgrad	Septemvri Sofia	Slavia Sofia	Spartak Varna
Hristo Botev	Vasil Levski National Stadium	Aleksandar Shalamanov	Spartak
Capacity: 7,500	Capacity: 43,230	Capacity: 25,556	Capacity: 6,000

List of champions

Main article: List of Bulgarian football champions

Performance by club

^[6]Bold indicates clubs which play in the 2022–23 First League.

Club	Titles	Winning seasons
CSKA Sofia	31	1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2007–08
Levski Sofia	26	1933, 1937, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948–49, 1950, 1953, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09
Ludogorets	11	2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Slavia Sofia	7	1928, 1930, 1936, 1938–39, 1941, 1943, 1995–96
Litex Lovech	4	1997–98, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2010–11
Lokomotiv Sofia	3	1945, 1963–64, 1977–78
Vladislav	3	1925, 1926, 1934
Botev Plovdiv	2	1929, 1966–67
AS-23	1	1931
Beroe	1	1985–86
Etar	1	1990–91
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	1	2003–04
Shipchenski sokol	1	1932
Spartak Plovdiv	1	1962–63
Sportklub Sofia	1	1935
Ticha	1	1937–38
ZhSK Sofia	1	1939–40

Notes:

• 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 1984–85 title originally awarded to Trakia.

All-time ranking (since 1948)

The all-time Parva Liga table^[7] is an overall record of all match results, points and goals for each team that has participated in the league since its inception in 1948. It also shows every team's number of top three finishes,^[8] their best classification, debut season and current spell in Parva Liga, or the season they were last part of the championship.^[9]

The table is accurate as of the end of the 2021–22 season.^[update]

All-time Parva Liga table

#	Club	S	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	1st	2nd	3rd	Debut	Since/ Last App	Best	Notes
1	CSKA Sofia	73	2113	1281	487	345	4283	1819	+2464	3561	31	27	7	1948–49	2016–17	1
2	Levski Sofia	74	2146	1252	494	400	4097	1918	+2179	3538	21	27	12	1948–49	1948–49	1	^[a]
3	Slavia Sofia	73	2122	911	507	704	3132	2493	+639	2694	1	7	11	1948–49	1952	1	^[b]
4	Lokomotiv Sofia	64	1835	770	460	605	2644	2215	+429	2279	2	3	10	1948–49	2014–15	1
5	Botev Plovdiv	67	1957	753	459	745	2799	2691	+108	2229	1	2	11	1951	2012–13	1
6	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	61	1826	712	426	688	2476	2473	+3	2171	1	2	4	1948–49	2001–02	1
7	Cherno More	58	1707	610	440	657	2033	2134	-101	1928	–	–	2	1948–49	2000–01	3
8	Beroe	55	1653	573	384	696	2018	2343	-325	1765	1	1	2	1954	2009–10	1
9	Litex Lovech	21	608	354	123	131	1113	552	+561	1149	4	1	3	1994–95	2015–16	1
10	Spartak 1918	43	1202	378	270	554	1385	1829	-444	1144	–	–	2	1950	2022–23	3
11	Minyor Pernik	38	1055	330	248	477	1175	1594	-419	1000	–	–	–	1951	2012–13	4
12	Botev Vratsa	32	977	322	217	438	1194	1461	-267	908	–	–	1	1964–65	2018–19	3
13	Spartak Pleven	35	994	314	245	435	1150	1511	-361	886	–	–	1	1952	2001–02	3
14	Ludogorets 1945	11	363	236	78	49	745	259	+486	830	11	–	–	2011–12	2011–12	1	^[d]
15	Pirin Blagoevgrad	27	822	254	201	367	884	1125	-241	786	–	–	–	1973–74	2021–22	5
16	Chernomorets 1919	29	866	277	188	401	1057	1410	-353	775	–	–	–	1948–49	2003–04	5	Dissolved in 2006.^[c]
17	Dunav Ruse	29	838	260	206	372	888	1270	-382	763	–	–	–	1951	2019–20	4
18	Marek 1915	29	838	251	177	410	920	1374	-454	737	–	–	1	1948–49	2014–15	3
19	Etar	24	726	264	161	301	951	1043	-92	731	1	–	2	1969–70	1997–98	1	Dissolved in 2003.^[e]
20	Sliven	25	750	246	164	340	906	1109	-203	675	–	–	–	1963–64	2010–11	6
21	Neftochimic Burgas	14	430	171	83	176	600	567	+33	575	–	1	–	1994–95	2016–17	2
22	Akademik Sofia	18	505	163	136	206	589	676	-87	467	–	–	2	1950	2010–11	3
23	Spartak Plovdiv	17	441	158	121	162	562	581	-19	455	1	1	–	1953	1995–96	1
24	Dobrudzha 1919	14	414	126	82	206	448	682	-234	411	–	–	–	1962–63	2002–03	7
25	Spartak Sofia	15	377	135	124	118	456	416	+40	394	–	2	–	1948–49	1967–68	2	Dissolved in 2007.
26	Belasitsa Petrich	12	368	116	68	184	377	590	-213	360	–	–	–	1980–81	2008–09	6
27	Chernomorets Burgas	7	218	92	53	73	288	223	+65	329	–	–	–	2007–08	2013–14	4
28	Velbazhd Kyustendil	7	201	98	27	76	299	269	+30	314	–	–	3	1954	2000–01	3
29	Lokomotiv GO	10	304	102	59	143	310	462	-152	291	–	–	–	1963–64	2016–17	8
30	Montana	10	310	70	71	169	291	488	-197	281	–	–	–	1994–95	2020–21	9
31	Volov Shumen	7	212	61	38	113	219	368	-149	201	–	–	–	1972–73	1999–00	4	^[f]
32	Pirin Bl. Blagoevgrad	6	178	53	41	84	189	254	-65	200	–	–	–	2003–04	2010–11	8	Merged to form Pirin in 2008.
33	Yantra Gabrovo	7	214	65	50	99	239	332	-93	174	–	–	–	1970–71	1993–94	8
34	Etar Veliko Tarnovo	4	134	41	36	57	141	188	-47	159	–	–	–	2017–18	2020–21	7
35	Haskovo	7	212	52	31	129	210	400	-190	139	–	–	–	1978–79	2014–15	8
36	Septemvri Sofia	5	148	40	31	77	176	273	-97	139	–	–	–	1959–60	2022–23	5
37	Vihren Sandanski	4	118	38	14	66	117	173	-56	128	–	–	–	2005–06	2008–09	9
38	Arda	3	93	29	33	31	108	124	-16	120	–	–	–	2019–20	2019–20	4
39	Sevlievo	5	150	28	36	86	126	271	-145	120	–	–	–	2003–04	2011–12	12
40	Rodopa Smolyan	4	118	31	17	70	106	194	-88	110	–	–	–	2003–04	2006–07	10	^[g]
41	Akademik Svishtov	4	120	36	26	58	136	195	-59	97	–	–	–	1976–77	1986–87	11
42	Tsarsko Selo Sofia	3	95	23	25	47	82	127	-45	94	–	–	–	2019–20	2021–22	8	Dissolved in 2022.
43	Vereya	3	106	24	19	63	73	195	-122	91	–	–	–	2016–17	2018–19	6
44	Maritsa 1921	4	120	28	25	67	129	225	-126	89	–	–	–	1967–68	1996–97	14
45	CSKA 1948	2	63	23	19	21	92	79	+13	88	–	–	–	2020–21	2020–21	5
46	Tundzha 1915	3	97	28	22	47	98	152	-57	78	–	–	–	1970–71	1972–73	13
47	Zavod 12 Sofia	3	74	23	27	24	72	80	-8	73	–	–	–	1954	1956	4	Merged with Slavia in 1957.
48	Metalurg Pernik	2	58	22	6	30	60	77	-17	72	–	–	–	1997–98	1998–99	10
49	Hebar 1918	3	86	20	21	45	85	141	-56	68	–	–	–	1989–90	2022–23	9
50	Lokomotiv Mezdra	2	60	17	13	30	69	89	-20	64	–	–	–	2008–09	2009–10	8	Dissolved in 2012.^[h]
51	Vitosha Bistritsa	3	101	15	18	68	67	173	-106	63	–	–	–	2017–18	2019–20	13	Dissolved in 2020.
52	Pirin Gotse Delchev	2	68	16	8	44	62	148	-86	56	–	–	–	2012–13	2013–14	11
53	VVS Sofia	2	54	13	21	20	60	63	-3	47	–	–	–	1953	1955	8	Merged into CDNA in 1956.
54	DSO Stroitel Sofia	2	50	13	18	19	47	53	-6	44	–	–	–	1950	1953	8	Dissolved in 1954.
55	Kaliakra Kavarna	2	60	10	11	39	45	117	-72	41	–	–	–	2010–11	2011–12	12
56	Cherveno Zname Sofia	2	40	13	13	14	46	50	-4	39	–	–	–	1950	1951	6	Merged with CSKA in 1962.
57	Rilski Sportist	2	56	11	6	39	51	116	-65	39	–	–	–	2002–03	2006–07	14
58	Olimpik Teteven	1	30	11	2	17	26	50	-24	35	–	–	–	1997–98	1997–98	14
59	Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia	1	32	8	10	14	27	46	-19	34	–	–	–	2021–22	2021–22	11
60	Rakovski Ruse	2	60	9	6	45	41	151	-110	33	–	–	–	1995–96	1996–97	13
61	Septemvri Pleven	3	66	9	14	43	48	137	-89	32	–	–	–	1950	1954	8	Merged with Spartak in 1957.
62	Akademik Varna	1	28	9	7	12	26	43	-17	25	–	–	–	1953	1953	10	Merged with Cherno More in 1969.
63	Dimitrovgrad	1	30	8	6	16	32	66	-34	21	–	–	–	1986–87	1986–87	16
64	Lyubimets	1	38	6	3	29	35	104	-69	21	–	–	–	2013–14	2013–14	14
65	Himik Dimitrovgrad	1	30	7	6	17	36	60	-24	20	–	–	–	1962–63	1962–63	16	Merged to form Dimitrovgrad in 1967.
66	Nesebar	1	30	5	5	20	26	63	-37	20	–	–	–	2004–05	2004–05	15
67	Rozova Dolina	1	30	7	5	18	30	53	-23	19	–	–	–	1982–83	1982–83	15
68	Sportist Svoge	1	30	5	4	21	23	59	-36	19	–	–	–	2009–10	2009–10	15
69	Slavia Plovdiv	1	18	4	8	6	16	21	-5	16	–	–	–	1948–49	1948–49	7
70	Pavlikeni	1	26	5	4	17	12	45	-33	14	–	–	–	1955	1955	14
71	Etar 1924	1	30	4	4	22	20	75	-55	13	–	–	–	2012–13	2012–13	16	Dissolved in 2013.
72	Bdin 1923	1	18	2	4	12	13	35	-22	8	–	–	–	1948–49	1948–49	9
73	Svetkavitsa 1922	1	30	1	5	24	8	71	-63	8	–	–	–	2011–12	2011–12	16
74	Conegliano German F.C.	1	30	0	1	29	8	131	-123	−2	–	–	–	2006–07	2006–07	16	Dissolved in 2007.

Key

Competing in Parva Liga

Competing in Vtora Liga

Competing in the amateur leagues

Not competing (see notes)

a.^ Never relegated.

b.^ Never relegated, withdrawn with political decision during the 1950 season, due to league reogranisation.^[10]

c.^ Club dissolved in 2006, successor clubs PSFC Chernomorets Burgas and FC Chernomorets 1919 Burgas were founded in 2005 and 2015.

d.^ Won the championship each season they've been in Parva Liga.

e.^ Club dissolved in 2003, successor clubs FC Etar 1924 Veliko Tarnovo and later SFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo were founded in 2002 and 2013.

f.^ Club dissolved in 2014 and refounded in 2018. successor club FC Shumen 1929 was founded 2013 and dissolved in 2016.

g.^ Club only supports a youth academy.

h.^ Club dissolved in 2012, successor clubs FC Lokomotiv 1929 Mezdra and OFC Lokomotiv Mezdra were founded in 2011 and 2012.

Bulgarian derbies

See also: Oldest capital derby, Little capital derby, Battle for Thrace, and Railroaders derby

The Eternal Derby

Main article: Eternal derby of Bulgarian football

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

Plovdiv derby

Main article: Plovdiv derby

The Plovdiv derby is contested between Botev and Lokomotiv.^[11]

Media coverage

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.^[12]

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.^[13]

Sponsorship

Until 2011 the official sponsor of the championship was TBI Credit and the league was officially known as TBI A Football Group.^[14]

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.^[15]

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.^[16]

On 11 July 2019, the Bulgarian Football Union announced that the football division's name had been changed to efbet League, following a two-year sponsorship deal with a betting company of the same name.^[1]

Statistics

UEFA coefficients

See also: UEFA coefficient

The following data indicates Bulgarian coefficient rankings between European football leagues.^[17]

Country ranking UEFA League Ranking as of 29 May 2021:^[18] 22.   (22)   Eliteserien (21.000) 23.   (21)   Allsvenskan (20.500) 24.   (27)   First Professional Football League (20.375) 25.   (28)   Liga I (18.200) 26.   (26)   Azerbaijan Premier League (16.875)

Club ranking UEFA 5-year Club Ranking as of 29 May 2021:^[19] 057.   (60) Ludogorets Razgrad (28.000) 137.   (256) CSKA Sofia (8.000) 278.   (287) Lokomotiv Plovdiv (4.075) 278.   (287) Slavia Sofia (4.075) 278.   (284) Levski Sofia (4.075) 278.   (287) Botev Plovdiv (4.075) 278.   (287) Dunav Ruse (4.075) 278.   (287) Beroe Stara Zagora (4.075)

Managers

The following is a table of all current Parva Liga head coaches and managers, and the time they've spent working with their respective clubs.

As of 7 July 2022

Current managers

Nat.	Manager	Club	Appointed	Time as manager
	Ilian Iliev	Cherno More	28 December 2017^[20]	5 years, 14 days
	Vasil Petrov	Spartak 1918	18 August 2020^[21]	2 years, 146 days
	Azrudin Valentić	Botev Plovdiv	8 January 2021^[22]	2 years, 3 days
	Zlatomir Zagorčić	Slavia Sofia	12 April 2021^[23]	1 year, 274 days
	Stanimir Stoilov	Levski Sofia	1 September 2021^[24]	1 year, 132 days
	Ante Šimundža	Ludogorets 1945	3 January 2022^[25]	1 year, 8 days
	Slavko Matić	Septemvri Sofia	9 January 2022^[26]	1 year, 2 days
	Petar Hubchev	Beroe	17 February 2022^[27]	328 days
	Aleksandar Tomash	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	11 April 2022^[28]	275 days
	Aleksandar Tunchev	Arda 1924	19 May 2022^[29]	237 days
	Lyuboslav Penev	CSKA 1948	28 May 2022^[30]	228 days
	Rosen Kirilov	Botev Vratsa	1 June 2022^[31]	224 days
	Saša Ilić	CSKA Sofia	2 June 2022^[32]	223 days
	Stanislav Genchev	Lokomotiv 1929	6 June 2022^[33]	219 days
	Fulvio Pea	Hebar 1918	14 June 2022^[34]	211 days
	Krasimir Petrov	Pirin Blagoevgrad	4 July 2022^[35]	191 days

Records

All-time league appearances

 

Georgi Iliev holds the records for most appearances in First League

Top 10 appearances in Bulgarian First League

Rank	Player	Period	App.
1	Georgi Iliev	2000–2019	461
2	Martin Kamburov	1998–2021	456
3	Marin Bakalov	1980–1999	454
4	Dinko Dermendzhiev	1959–1978	447
5	Vidin Apostolov	1959–1976	444
6	Todor Marev	1972–1994	422
7	Hristo Bonev	1964–1984	410
8	Zapryan Rakov	1983–1999	403
9	Malin Orachev	1990–2008	398
10	Todor Yanchev	1997–2014	395
Bold displays footballers currently playing in First League As of 20 February 2022^[update]

All-time top scorers

 

Martin Kamburov is the all-time top goalscorer in First League with 256 goals

Top 10 goalscorers in Bulgarian First League

Rank	Player	Period	Goals	Average
1	Martin Kamburov	1998–2021	256	0.56
2	Petar Zhekov	1962–1975	253	0.76
3	Nasko Sirakov	1980–1998	196	0.59
4	Dinko Dermendzhiev	1959–1978	194	0.43
5	Hristo Bonev	1964–1984	185	0.45
6	Plamen Getov	1977–1998	164	0.57
7	Nikola Kotkov	1956–1971	163	0.51
8	Stefan Bogomilov	1962–1976	162	0.46
9	Petar Mihtarski	1982–2001	158	0.48
10	Petko Petkov	1968–1980	152	0.53
Bold displays footballers currently playing in First League As of 20 February 2022^[update]

Other records

As of 6 January 2023

• Youngest player to appear in the league –   Radoslav Uzunov (aged 15 years and 1 month)^[36]
• Oldest player to appear in the league –   Georgi Petkov (aged 45 years and 343 days)^[37]
• Foreign player with the most appearances in the league –   Vančo Trajanov (328)
• Foreign player with the most goals in the league –   Claudiu Keșerü (113)
• Fastest goal scored in the league –   Miroslav Manolov (6 seconds)^[38]
• Fastest red card in the league –   Nenad Filipović (20 seconds)^[39]
• Tallest player to appear in the league –   Alessandro Coppola (2.05 m)^[40]

Top scorers by season

^[41][42]

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)	BUL	20
1974–75	Ivan Pritargov (Botev Plovdiv)	BUL	20
1975–76	Petko Petkov (2) (Beroe Stara Zagora)	BUL	19
1976–77	Pavel Panov (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)	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) Boncho Genchev (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   CPV	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
2018–19	Stanislav Kostov (Levski Sofia)	BUL	23
2019–20	Martin Kamburov (6) (Beroe)	BUL	18
2020–21	Claudiu Keșerü (3) (Ludogorets Razgrad)	ROM	18
2021–22	Pieros Sotiriou (Ludogorets Razgrad)	CYP	17

See also

•  Association football portal
•  Bulgaria portal

• List of foreign football players in A PFG
• Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

References

1. "The Bulgarian first division has a new brand identity". bfunion.bg. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
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3. . Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
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6. Julian Dontchev (12 August 2020). "Bulgaria – List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
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19. "Club coefficients". UEFA. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
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25. "Ante Simundza is Ludogorets' new coach". ludogorets.com. 3 January 2022.
26. "Славко Матич е новият треньор на Септември (София)". bnr.bg. Bulgarian National Radio. 9 January 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
27. "Петър Хубчев официално е новият старши треньор на "Берое"". beroe.bg (in Bulgarian). 17 February 2022.
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29. "АРДА избра новия треньор". fcarda.bg (in Bulgarian). 19 May 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
30. "Любослав Пенев е начело на ЦСКА!". bg.cska1948.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
31. "Росен Кирилов е новият старши треньор на "Ботев" (Враца)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 24 Chasa. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
32. "Саша Илич е новият наставник на ЦСКА". cska.bg (in Bulgarian). 2 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
33. "Първа тренировка Сезон 2022-2023". fclokomotiv1929.com (in Bulgarian). 6 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
34. "Фулвио Пеа и Владимир Манчев поеха Хебър". hebarfc.com (in Bulgarian). 14 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
35. "Пирин с нов треньорски тандем". fcpirin.com (in Bulgarian). 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
36. Delchev, Dorian (25 April 2021). "Радослав Узунов стана най-младият играч в елита" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
37. Kyrtunov, Bozhidar (6 January 2023). "Вратарят Георги Петков оглави световна класация за 2022 г." (in Bulgarian). dnevnik.bg. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
38. "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.
39. "ЦСКА громи в куриозен мач с червен картон в 20-та секунда – Платини се скъса да изпуска (видео+галерия)" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 14 April 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
40. "Вторият най-висок футболист в света подсилва Царско село" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
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42. "За БФС // История // Шампиони на България" (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Football Union. Retrieved 13 December 2021.

External links

• Official website^{[permanent dead link]}
• League at UEFA
• Bulgaria – List of Champions, RSSSF.com
• Table, at xscores.com