2014–15 A Group

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.

A Group

Season	2014–15
Dates	19 July 2014 – 31 May 2015
Champions	Ludogorets Razgrad (4th title)
Relegated	Marek Haskovo CSKA Sofia (administratively) Lokomotiv Sofia (administratively)
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
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

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.

Sofia

Beroe

Cherno More

Haskovo

Ludogorets

Litex

Botev
Lokomotiv

Marek

Location of teams in 2014–15 A Group

CSKA

Levski

Lokomotiv

Slavia

Sofia 2014–15 A Group football clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity (seating)
Beroe Stara Zagora	Stara Zagora	Stadion Beroe	12,128
Botev Plovdiv	Plovdiv	Botev 1912 Football Complex	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	Petar Hubchev	Ivo Ivanov	Joma	BEROE
Botev Plovdiv	Petar Penchev	Ivan Tsvetkov	Uhlsport	Vivacom
Cherno More Varna	Nikola Spasov	Kiril Kotev	Tommy	Armeets
CSKA Sofia	Luboslav Penev	Valentin Iliev	Legea	Efbet
Haskovo	Stamen Belchev	Ivan Skerlev	Flair	—
Levski Sofia	Stoycho Stoev	Vladimir Gadzhev	Joma	Efbet
Litex Lovech	Krasimir Balakov	Strahil Popov	adidas	Prima, Efbet
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	Hristo Kolev	Stanislav Malamov	Joma	ProfiLink
Lokomotiv Sofia	Dimitar Vasev	Aleksandar Branekov	Joma	Casa Boyana, Efbet
Ludogorets Razgrad	Georgi Dermendzhiev	Svetoslav Dyakov	Macron	eCasino.bg
Marek Dupnitsa	Tencho Tenev	Milen Lahchev	Jumper	Actavis
Slavia Sofia	Ivan Kolev	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
1	Ludogorets Razgrad	22	14	5	3	46	14	+32	47	Qualification for championship group
2	CSKA Sofia	22	13	5	4	39	15	+24	44
3	Lokomotiv Sofia	22	12	3	7	29	24	+5	39[lower-alpha 1]
4	Litex Lovech	22	12	3	7	37	24	+13	39[lower-alpha 1]
5	Beroe Stara Zagora	22	11	5	6	34	21	+13	38
6	Botev Plovdiv	22	11	3	8	32	26	+6	36
7	Levski Sofia	22	10	4	8	36	25	+11	34	Qualification for relegation group
8	Cherno More Varna	22	9	4	9	26	24	+2	31
9	Slavia Sofia	22	6	5	11	24	30	−6	23
10	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	22	5	5	12	13	36	−23	20
11	Marek Dupnitsa	22	3	5	14	8	45	−37	14
12	Haskovo	22	2	1	19	12	52	−40	7

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
Notes:

1. Lokomotiv Sofia ahead of Litex Lovech on head-to-head away goals scored; Lokomotiv Sofia–Litex Lovech 2–0, Litex Lovech–Lokomotiv Sofia 4–2.

Results

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

Home \ Away	BSZ	BOT	CHM	CSK	HAS	LEV	LIT	LPL	LSO	LUD	MAR	SLA
Beroe		1–1	1–1	1–2	3–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	0–0	0–4	4–0	1–1
Botev Plovdiv	3–1		2–1	2–0	2–0	0–3	3–3	2–0	1–0	1–2	3–0	2–0
Cherno More	4–0	2–1		1–1	1–0	1–0	0–3	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–0
CSKA Sofia	0–1	1–0	3–1		4–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–0	1–1	5–0	0–0
Haskovo	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–4		1–4	1–4	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–5
Levski Sofia	0–1	2–1	1–0	0–3	8–0		2–2	1–1	1–0	3–2	4–0	2–0
Litex Lovech	2–1	1–2	3–0	0–1	2–0	3–0		1–0	4–2	1–0	3–0	2–0
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	0–3	0–2	1–1	0–3	1–0	1–1	2–0		0–4	1–4	1–0	1–1
Lokomotiv Sofia	0–3	3–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	0–1	2–0	2–0		2–2	2–0	1–0
Ludogorets Razgrad	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	4–1	2–0	5–1		3–0	0–0
Marek	0–3	1–1	1–3	0–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–4		0–2
Slavia Sofia	0–2	3–0	1–3	2–2	1–0	3–1	0–2	0–2	1–2	0–3	4–1

Source: A PFG
Legend: 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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ludogorets Razgrad (C)	32	18	9	5	63	24	+39	63	Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2	Beroe	32	15	10	7	46	30	+16	55[lower-alpha 1]	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3	Lokomotiv Sofia (R)	32	16	7	9	39	31	+8	55[lower-alpha 1]	Relegation to 2015–16 V Group[lower-alpha 2]
4	Litex Lovech	32	16	6	10	49	36	+13	54	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
5	CSKA Sofia (R)	32	14	10	8	45	27	+18	52	Relegation to 2015–16 V Group
6	Botev Plovdiv	32	12	6	14	38	39	−1	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
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Beroe ahead of Lokomotiv Sofia on head-to-head points; Beroe: 7 pts, Lokomotiv Sofia: 4 pts.
2. Lokomotiv Sofia did not receive license for European competitions and Litex Lovech took their place.

Results

Home \ Away	BSZ	BOT	CSK	LIT	LSO	LUD
Beroe		2–1	0–0	3–1	1–4	2–0
Botev Plovdiv	1–1		3–2	0–1	0–2	1–3
CSKA Sofia	0–0	0–0		3–1	0–1	0–0
Litex Lovech	1–1	1–0	2–0		0–0	4–2
Lokomotiv Sofia	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–0		0–0
Ludogorets Razgrad	1–1	0–0	4–0	3–1	4–1

Source: A PFG
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
7	Levski Sofia	32	17	5	10	66	33	+33	56
8	Cherno More	32	15	5	12	42	36	+6	50	Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
9	Slavia Sofia	32	12	7	13	40	38	+2	43
10	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	32	9	5	18	28	52	−24	32
11	Marek (R)	32	5	5	22	14	71	−57	20	Relegation to 2015–16 B Group
12	Haskovo (R)	32	4	3	25	18	71	−53	15

Source: bulgarian-football.com, UEFA.com (in 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
(R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Cherno More Varna qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2014–15 Bulgarian Cup.

Results

Home \ Away	CHM	HAS	LEV	LPL	MAR	SLA
Cherno More		2–0	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–1
Haskovo	1–3		0–5	2–0	1–0	0–1
Levski Sofia	5–2	1–1		5–0	6–0	2–3
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	0–1	4–0	0–1		4–0	1–2
Marek	0–2	3–1	1–3	1–4		1–0
Slavia Sofia	1–3	0–0	1–0	3–0	4–0

Source: A PFG
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers Rank Scorer Club Goals[11] 1 Añete Levski Sofia 14 2 Martin Kamburov Lokomotiv Plovdiv 13 3 Danilo Asprilla Litex Lovech 10 Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia 10 Radoslav Vasilev Slavia Sofia 10 Valeri Domovchiyski Levski Sofia 10 Juninho Quixadá Ludogorets Razgrad 10 Virgil Misidjan Ludogorets Razgrad 10 9 Wilmar Jordán Litex Lovech 9 Lamjed Chehoudi Lokomotiv Sofia 9 Updated on 26 May 2015 Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ventsislav Hristov Beroe Stara Zagora Marek Dupnitsa 4–0 13 September 2014 Jérémy Manzorro Slavia Sofia Levski Sofia 3–1 13 December 2014 Añete Levski Sofia Lokomotiv Plovdiv 5–0 17 April 2015 Martin Kamburov Lokomotiv Plovdiv Marek Dupnitsa 4–1 17 May 2015 Bjørn Johnsen Litex Lovech Ludogorets Razgrad 4–2 23 May 2015 Bozhidar 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 Doncho Atanasov FC Haskovo Round 2 Anton Karachanakov CSKA Sofia Round 3 Michel Platini Slavia Sofia Round 4 Junior Mapuku Beroe Stara Zagora Round 5 Vladimir Gadzhev Levski Sofia Round 6 Round 7 Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia Round 8 Ventsislav Hristov Beroe Stara Zagora Round 9 Round 10 Miguel Bedoya Levski Sofia Round 11 Toni Silva CSKA Sofia Round 12 Martin Kamburov Lokomotiv Plovdiv Round 13 Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia Round 14 Elias Beroe Stara Zagora Round 15 Anton Karachanakov CSKA Sofia Round 16 Anton Karachanakov CSKA Sofia Round 17 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 Anton Karachanakov CSKA Sofia August September Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia October Sergiu Buș CSKA Sofia November December January February March April Añete Levski Sofia May Transfers List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2014 List of Bulgarian football transfers winter 2014–15 References "Levski Sofia vs. Haskovo - 27 February 2015 - Soccerway". Retrieved 21 May 2015. "Marek vs. Ludogorets - 31 October 2014 - Soccerway". Retrieved 21 May 2015. "Levski Sofia vs. Haskovo - 27 February 2015 - Soccerway". Retrieved 21 May 2015. "Четири за Лудогорец за четвъртата титла" (in Bulgarian). Gong. 15 May 2015. "Берое спечели сребърните медали, въпреки съдията" (in Bulgarian). gong. 31 May 2015. "Ботев дари медал на Локо Сф в Коматево" (in Bulgarian). gong. 31 May 2015. 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. 7sport.net journalists (27 March 2015). "Стамен Белчев поема "Хасково" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. Retrieved 18 May 2015. Valchev, Vesko (20 March 2015). "Стойчо Младенов напусна ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. Retrieved 18 May 2015. 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. "Извеждане на голмайсторите в "А" Група". A PFG (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian A Professional Football Group. Archived from the original on 2013-05-30. Retrieved 11 March 2013.