2014–15 A Group

A Group
Season 2014–15
Champions Ludogorets Razgrad
(4th title)
Relegated Marek
Haskovo
Champions League Ludogorets Razgrad
Matches played 132
Goals scored 336 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer Añete (14 goals)
Biggest home win Levski Sofia 8–0 Haskovo
(27 February 2015)[1]
Biggest away win Haskovo 0–5 Levski Sofia
(4 May 2015)[2]
Highest scoring Levski 8-0 Haskovo
(27 February 2015)[3]
Longest winning run 5 games
CSKA Sofia
Longest unbeaten run 14 games
CSKA Sofia
Longest winless run 15 games
Haskovo
Longest losing run 11 games
Haskovo

The 2014–15 A Group was the 91st season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, and 67th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid.

The competition was divided in two phases - Regular season, with every team playing against every other team twice, and Playoffs, with teams divided into Championship group (top six) and Relegation group (bottom six) to determine the champions and the relegated teams, respectively.

Ludogorets Razgrad entered the season as three-time defending champions, and succeeded to retain the title for a 4th consecutive and overall time 2 rounds before the end of the season, after their home win over Lokomotiv Sofia.[4]

Beroe Stara Zagora finished second,[5] while Lokomotiv Sofia claimed the third place.[6]

Marek Dupnitsa and Haskovo survived only one season in A Group and were relegated.

Competition format

The championship is divided in two phases.

In the first phase, the Regular season, every team must play two times against each of the other eleven teams on home-away basis for a subtotal of 22 matches.
In the second phase, the Play-offs, the teams are divided in two groups - Championship group (first six) and Relegation group (bottom six). In those two parallel played groups every team has to play two times, again on home-away basis, only against the remaining five teams in the group for a subtotal of 10 matches.

Thus, the season has a total of 32 fixtures.

At the end of the season, the champion earns a place in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds, while the next two or three clubs in the final standings in the league table (depending on the winner of the 2014–15 Bulgarian Cup) earn the right to play in 2015/16 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. The last two teams in the table (from 11th to 12th place) are directly relegated to B Group for the next season while two clubs from the lower division are promoted.

Teams

A total of 12 teams are contesting the league, including the best 10 sides from the previous season, plus two promoted clubs from the lower division B Group.

As finishing in the bottom four places of the table at the end of season 2013–14, Chernomorets, Neftochimic, Pirin (Gotse Delchev) and Lyubimets 2007 were relegated to B Group and only two teams were promoted from B Group with the object of decreasing the number of teams from 14 to 12 for the current season.

The relegated teams were replaced by Marek (Dupnitsa), the 2013–14 B Group champions and Haskovo, the 2013–14 B Group runner-up. While Marek returns to the top division after six years, Haskovo reaches again the highest class after 21 years.

Stadia and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team Location Stadium Capacity (seating)
Beroe Stara Zagora Stara Zagora Stadion Beroe 12,128
Botev Plovdiv Plovdiv Stadion Komatevo 4,000
Cherno More Varna Varna Stadion Ticha 8,250
CSKA Sofia Sofia Stadion Balgarska Armia 22,015
Haskovo Haskovo Stadion Haskovo 12,500
Levski Sofia Sofia Stadion Georgi Asparuhov 19,000
Litex Lovech Lovech Stadion Lovech 8,100
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Plovdiv Stadion Lokomotiv 10,000
Lokomotiv Sofia Sofia Lokomotiv Stadium 22,000
Ludogorets Razgrad Ludogorets Arena 6,500
Marek Dupnitsa Dupnitsa Stadion Bonchuk 16,050
Slavia Sofia Sofia Stadion Slavia 15,992

Personnel and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Beroe Stara Zagora Bulgaria Petar Hubchev Bulgaria Ivo Ivanov Joma BEROE
Botev Plovdiv Bulgaria Petar Penchev Bulgaria Ivan Tsvetkov Uhlsport Vivacom
Cherno More Varna Bulgaria Nikola Spasov Bulgaria Kiril Kotev Tommy Armeets
CSKA Sofia Bulgaria Luboslav Penev Bulgaria Valentin Iliev Legea Efbet
Haskovo Bulgaria Stamen Belchev Bulgaria Ivan Skerlev Flair
Levski Sofia Bulgaria Stoycho Stoev Bulgaria Vladimir Gadzhev Joma Efbet
Litex Lovech Bulgaria Krasimir Balakov Bulgaria Strahil Popov adidas Prima, Efbet
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Bulgaria Hristo Kolev Bulgaria Stanislav Malamov Joma ProfiLink
Lokomotiv Sofia Bulgaria Dimitar Vasev Bulgaria Aleksandar Branekov Joma Casa Boyana, Efbet
Ludogorets Razgrad Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev Bulgaria Svetoslav Dyakov Macron eCasino.bg
Marek Dupnitsa Bulgaria Tencho Tenev Bulgaria Milen Lahchev Jumper Actavis
Slavia Sofia Bulgaria Ivan Kolev Bulgaria Georgi Petkov Joma Asset Insurance, Efbet

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Cherno More Georgi Ivanov Resignation 18 May 2014 Pre-season Aleksandar Stankov 2 June 2014
Levski Sofia Elin Topuzakov 18 May 2014 Pepe Murcia 5 June 2014
Marek Dupnitsa Ivaylo Pargov 18 May 2014 Anton Velkov 5 June 2014
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Aleksandar Stankov Mutual consent 19 May 2014 Emil Velev 12 June 2014
Litex Lovech Miodrag Ješić End of contract 19 May 2014 Krasimir Balakov 27 May 2014
Botev Plovdiv Stanimir Stoilov Mutual consent 4 June 2014 Lyuboslav Penev 6 June 2014
Botev Plovdiv Lyuboslav Penev Mutual consent 7 July 2014 Velislav Vutsov 14 July 2014
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Emil Velev Mutual consent 8 July 2014 Nedelcho Matushev 9 July 2014
Ludogorets Razgrad Stoycho Stoev Sacked 31 July 2014 10th Georgi Dermendzhiev 1 August 2014
Levski Sofia Pepe Murcia Sacked 4 August 2014 6th Georgi Ivanov 4 August 2014
Cherno More Aleksandar Stankov Sacked 18 August 2014 12th Nikola Spasov 18 August 2014
Slavia Sofia Milen Radukanov Resigned 31 August 2014 11th Ivan Kolev 1 September 2014
Haskovo Dimcho Nenov Resigned 20 September 2014 12th Emil Velev 6 October 2014
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Nedelcho Matushev Resigned 29 September 2014 11th Hristo Kolev 1 October 2014
Marek Dupnitsa Anton Velkov Resigned 5 October 2014 9th Tencho Tenev 10 October 2014
Botev Plovdiv Velislav Vutsov Sacked 3 December 2014 7th Petar Penchev 4 December 2014
Levski Sofia Georgi Ivanov Resigned 6 December 2014 6th Stoycho Stoev 22 December 2014
Haskovo Emil Velev Resigned 18 March 2015[7] 12th Stamen Belchev 27 March 2015[8]
CSKA Sofia Stoycho Mladenov Resigned 20 March 2015[9] 2nd Galin Ivanov 24 March 2015
CSKA Sofia Galin Ivanov Early end of caretaker spell (majority shareholders' decision) 27 April 2015 4th Luboslav Penev 28 April 2015[10]

First phase

The first 22 Rounds comprise the first phase of the season, also called the Regular season. In the first phase, every team plays each other team twice on a home-away basis till all the teams have played two matches against each other. The table standings at the end of the Regular season determine the group in which each team is going to play in the Play-offs.

League table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
Head-to-head
1 Ludogorets Razgrad (Q) 22 14 5 3 46 14 +32 47 Qualification for Championship group
2 CSKA Sofia (Q) 22 13 5 4 39 15 +24 44
3 Lokomotiv Sofia (Q) 22 12 3 7 29 24 +5 39 LSO 2–0 LIT
LIT 4–2 LSO
4 Litex Lovech (Q) 22 12 3 7 37 24 +13 39
5 Beroe Stara Zagora (Q) 22 11 5 6 34 21 +13 38
6 Botev Plovdiv (Q) 22 11 3 8 32 26 +6 36
7 Levski Sofia (RQ) 22 10 4 8 36 25 +11 34 Qualification for Relegation group
8 Cherno More Varna (RQ) 22 9 4 9 26 24 +2 31
9 Slavia Sofia (RQ) 22 6 5 11 24 30 6 23
10 Lokomotiv Plovdiv (RQ) 22 5 5 12 13 36 23 20
11 Marek Dupnitsa (RQ) 22 3 5 14 8 45 37 14
12 Haskovo (RQ) 22 2 1 19 12 52 40 7

Updated to games played on 17 March 2015.
Source: bulgarian-football.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th season goal difference; 7th season goals scored; 8th "sportsmanship" (R & Y cards); 9th draw
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Results

Each team played against every other team for a total of 22 matches.

Home ╲ Away BSZ BOT CHMCSKHASLEVLITLPLLSOLUDMARSLA
Beroe Stara Zagora 11 11 12 30 21 20 30 00 04 40 11
Botev Plovdiv 31 21 20 20 03 33 20 10 12 30 20
Cherno More Varna 40 21 11 10 10 03 30 01 00 01 20
CSKA Sofia 01 10 31 40 20 20 20 30 11 50 00
Haskovo 10 12 01 24 14 14 12 00 10 01 15
Levski Sofia 01 21 10 03 80 22 11 10 32 40 20
Litex Lovech 21 12 30 01 20 30 10 42 10 30 20
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 03 02 11 03 10 11 20 04 14 10 11
Lokomotiv Sofia 03 31 21 20 21 01 20 20 22 20 10
Ludogorets Razgrad 11 10 20 20 31 10 41 20 51 30 00
Marek Dupnitsa 03 11 13 00 21 11 00 00 01 04 02
Slavia Sofia 02 30 13 22 10 31 02 02 12 03 41

Updated to games played on 17 March 2015.
Source: A PFG
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second phase

After the first 22 Rounds comprising the Regular season, the teams are divided into two groups of six determined by their standings in the table at the end of the Regular season. The second phase is also referred to as the Play-offs. The teams in each group of the Play-offs again play on a home-away basis but only with the teams in their respective group. Hence, the total number of games each team has to play in this phase is 10 (twice with each of the other five teams in the group).

Championship Group

The top six teams at the end of the Regular season play in the Championship group to determine the champion for the season. Additionally, the teams in this group compete for the Bulgarian spots in UEFA's 2015–16 editions of Champions League and Europa League.

At the end of the Play-offs, the team placed first in the group can compete in the qualifying rounds of 2015–16 UEFA Champions League. The second and the third placed teams earn the right to compete in the qualifying rounds of 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. If the winner of the 2014–15 Bulgarian Cup is one of those top three teams, the fourth placed team in the group also earns a right to participate in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League.

Championship Group Table
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
Head-to-head
1 Ludogorets Razgrad (C) 32 18 9 5 63 24+39 63 2015–16 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2 Beroe Stara Zagora 32 15 10 7 46 30+16 55 2015–16 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round BER: 7 pts
LSO: 4 pts
3 Lokomotiv Sofia (R) 32 16 7 9 39 31+8 55 Relegation to 2015–16 V AFG
4 Litex Lovech 32 16 6 10 49 36+13 54 2015–16 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round 1
5 CSKA Sofia (R) 32 14 10 8 45 27+18 52 Relegation to 2015–16 V AFG
6 Botev Plovdiv 32 12 6 14 38 391 42

Source: bulgarian-football.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th season goal difference; 7th season goals scored; 8th "sportsmanship" (R & Y cards); 9th draw
1Lokomotiv Sofia did not receive license for European competitions and Litex Lovech took their place.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Championship Group Results
Home ╲ Away BSZ BOT CSKLITLSOLUD
Beroe Stara Zagora 21 00 31 14 20
Botev Plovdiv 11 32 01 02 13
CSKA Sofia 00 00 31 01 00
Litex Lovech 11 10 20 00 42
Lokomotiv Sofia 01 10 11 00 00
Ludogorets Razgrad 11 00 40 31 41

Source: A PFG
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

    Championship Group Round by Round
    Team 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
    Beroe Stara Zagora D L D D W D W W W D
    Botev Plovdiv D L D D L L L W L L
    CSKA Sofia D L D L L D D L D W
    Litex Lovech D W D L W D W L W L
    Lokomotiv Sofia D W D W W D L L D W
    Ludogorets Razgrad D W D W L W D W L D

    Source: sportal.bg

    Win Draw Loss

    Championship Group Positions by Round
    Team/Fixture
    23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
    Beroe Stara Zagora 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 2 2 2
    Botev Plovdiv 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
    CSKA Sofia 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 5
    Litex Lovech 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 4
    Lokomotiv Sofia 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 4 3
    Ludogorets Razgrad 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
    Champion Qualifies for Europa League

    Relegation Group

    The bottom six teams at the end of the Regular season play in the Relegation group to determine which two teams are relegated to B PFG for next season.

    At the end of the Play-offs the bottom two teams of this group will be directly relegated.

    Relegation Group Table
    Pos
    Team
    Pld
    W
    D
    L
    GF
    GA
    GD
    Pts
    Qualification or relegation
    Head-to-head
    7 Levski Sofia 32 17 5 10 66 33+33 56
    8 Cherno More Varna 32 15 5 12 42 36+6 50 2015–16 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round 2
    9 Slavia Sofia 32 12 7 13 40 38+2 43
    10 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 32 9 5 18 28 5224 32
    11 Marek Dupnitsa (R) 32 5 5 22 14 7157 20 Relegation to 2015–16 B PFG
    12 Haskovo (R) 32 4 3 25 18 7153 15

    Source: bulgarian-football.com, UEFA.com (English)
    Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th season goal difference; 7th season goals scored; 8th "sportsmanship" (R & Y cards); 9th draw
    2Cherno More Varna qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2014–15 Bulgarian Cup.
    (C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

    Relegation Group Results
    Home ╲ Away CHM HAS LEVLPLMARSLA
    Cherno More Varna 20 02 12 10 11
    Haskovo 13 05 20 10 01
    Levski Sofia 52 11 50 60 23
    Lokomotiv Plovdiv 01 40 01 40 12
    Marek Dupnitsa 02 31 13 14 10
    Slavia Sofia 13 00 10 30 40

    Source: A PFG
    1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
    Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

    Relegation Group Round by Round
    Team 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
    Cherno More Varna W L W D W W L W W L
    Haskovo D W L W D L L L L L
    Levski Sofia D W L W W W W L W W
    Lokomotiv Plovdiv L L W L L L W W L W
    Marek Dupnitsa L W L L L L L L W L
    Slavia Sofia W L W D D W W W L W

    Source: sportal.bg

    Win Draw Loss

    Relegation Group Positions by Round
    Team/Fixture
    23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
    Cherno More Varna 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
    Haskovo 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
    Levski Sofia 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
    Lokomotiv Plovdiv 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
    Marek Dupnitsa 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11
    Slavia Sofia 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
    Relegated

    Season statistics

    Top scorers

    Rank Scorer Club Goals[11]
    1 Spain Añete Levski Sofia 14
    2 Bulgaria Martin Kamburov Lokomotiv Plovdiv 13
    3 Colombia Danilo Asprilla Litex Lovech 10
    Romania Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia 10
    Bulgaria Radoslav Vasilev Slavia Sofia 10
    Bulgaria Valeri Domovchiyski Levski Sofia 10
    Brazil Juninho Quixadá Ludogorets Razgrad 10
    Netherlands Virgil Misidjan Ludogorets Razgrad 10
    9 Colombia Wilmar Jordán Litex Lovech 9
    Tunisia Lamjed Chehoudi Lokomotiv Sofia 9

    Updated on 26 May 2015

    Hat-tricks

    Player For Against Result Date
    Bulgaria Hristov, VentsislavVentsislav Hristov Beroe Stara Zagora Marek Dupnitsa 4–0 13 September 2014
    France Manzorro, JérémyJérémy Manzorro Slavia Sofia Levski Sofia 3–1 13 December 2014
    Spain Añete Levski Sofia Lokomotiv Plovdiv 5–0 17 April 2015
    Bulgaria Kamburov, MartinMartin Kamburov Lokomotiv Plovdiv Marek Dupnitsa 4–1 17 May 2015
    United States Johnsen, BjørnBjørn Johnsen Litex Lovech Ludogorets Razgrad 4–2 23 May 2015
    Bulgaria Kraev, BozhidarBozhidar Kraev Levski Sofia Marek Dupnitsa 6–0 26 May 2015

    Updated on 26 May 2015

    Awards

    Weekly awards

    Player of the Round

    Round Player of the Round
    Player Club
    Round 1 Bulgaria Doncho Atanasov FC Haskovo
    Round 2 Bulgaria Anton Karachanakov CSKA Sofia
    Round 3 Brazil Michel Platini Slavia Sofia
    Round 4 Democratic Republic of the Congo Junior Mapuku Beroe Stara Zagora
    Round 5 Bulgaria Vladimir Gadzhev Levski Sofia
    Round 6
    Round 7 Romania Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia
    Round 8 Bulgaria Ventsislav Hristov Beroe Stara Zagora
    Round 9
    Round 10 Spain Miguel Bedoya Levski Sofia
    Round 11 Portugal Toni Silva CSKA Sofia
    Round 12 Bulgaria Martin Kamburov Lokomotiv Plovdiv
    Round 13 Romania Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia
    Round 14 Brazil Elias Beroe Stara Zagora
    Round 15 Bulgaria Anton Karachanakov CSKA Sofia
    Round 16 Bulgaria Anton Karachanakov CSKA Sofia
    Round 17 Bulgaria Radoslav Vasilev Slavia Sofia
    Round 18
    Round 19
    Round 20
    Round 21
    Round 22
    Round 23
    Round 24
    Round 25
    Round 26
    Round 27
    Round 28
    Round 29
    Round 30
    Round 31
    Round 32

    Monthly awards

    Player of the Month

    Month Player of the Month
    Player Club
    July Bulgaria Anton Karachanakov CSKA Sofia
    August
    September Romania Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia
    October Romania Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia
    November
    December
    January
    February
    March
    April Spain Añete Levski Sofia
    May

    Transfers

    References

    1. "Levski Sofia vs. Haskovo - 27 February 2015 - Soccerway". Retrieved 21 May 2015.
    2. "Marek vs. Ludogorets - 31 October 2014 - Soccerway". Retrieved 21 May 2015.
    3. "Levski Sofia vs. Haskovo - 27 February 2015 - Soccerway". Retrieved 21 May 2015.
    4. "Четири за Лудогорец за четвъртата титла" (in Bulgarian). Gong. 15 May 2015.
    5. "Берое спечели сребърните медали, въпреки съдията" (in Bulgarian). gong. 31 May 2015.
    6. "Ботев дари медал на Локо Сф в Коматево" (in Bulgarian). gong. 31 May 2015.
    7. topsport.bg editorial board (18 March 2015). "Хасково с Левент и Бабангида на "Герена", приеха оставката на Емил Велев" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
    8. 7sport.net journalists (27 March 2015). "Стамен Белчев поема "Хасково" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
    9. Valchev, Vesko (20 March 2015). "Стойчо Младенов напусна ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
    10. topsport editors (28 April 2015). "От ЦСКА официално: Любо треньор до края на сезона, последно: днешната тренировка ще води Галин Иванов" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
    11. "Извеждане на голмайсторите в "А" Група". A PFG (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian A Professional Football Group. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
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