2015–16 A Group

A Group
Season 2015–16
Champions Ludogorets Razgrad (5th title)
Relegated Litex Lovech (Expelled)
Champions League Ludogorets Razgrad
Europa League Levski Sofia
Beroe Stara Zagora
Slavia Sofia
Matches played 144
Goals scored 317 (2.2 per match)
Top goalscorer Martin Kamburov (18)
Biggest home win Montana 6–0 Botev Plovdiv
Biggest away win Slavia Sofia 0–5 Ludogorets Razgrad
Highest scoring Beroe Stara Zagora 5–2 Lokomotiv Plovdiv

All statistics correct as of 28 May 2016.

The 2015–16 A Group is the 92nd season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, and 68th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid. The season has started on 17 July 2015 and is expected to end in May 2016. The league is contested by ten teams. Ludogorets Razgrad were the defending champions, and successfully defended the title after Levski Sofia's home loss against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the 29th round.[1] The title is Ludogorets' fifth consecutive and overall.

Competition format

The league is contested by ten teams and will be played in a quadruple round robin format, with each team playing every other team four times over 36 rounds.[2]

Teams

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

On 22 June 2015, the BFU announced the final list of participants for the 2015–16 season. CSKA Sofia and Lokomotiv Sofia were both denied a professional license for the following season due to outstanding debts and would have to compete in the V AFG or fold. The group was kept at 10 teams. Marek Dupnitsa and Haskovo, who finished in the bottom two places of the table at the end of previous season, also failed to receive professional license, and were relegated to V Group.[3]

The relegated teams were replaced by Montana, the 2014–15 B Group champions and Pirin Blagoevgrad, the 2014–15 B Group runner-up. While Montana returns to the top division after two years, Pirin reaches again the highest class after 4 years.

Stadia and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team Location Stadium Capacity (seating)
Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe Stadium 12,128
Botev Plovdiv Stadion Komatevo 4,000
Cherno More Varna Ticha Stadium 8,250
Levski Sofia Georgi Asparuhov Stadium 25,000
Litex Lovech Lovech Stadium 8,100
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Lokomotiv Stadium 10,000
Ludogorets Razgrad Ludogorets Arena 7,500
Montana Montana Ogosta Stadium 6,000
Pirin Blagoevgrad Hristo Botev Stadium 7,000
Slavia Sofia Ovcha Kupel Stadium 25,556

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 Plamen Lipenski (caretaker) Bulgaria Ivo Ivanov Uhlsport BEROE, Refan
Botev Plovdiv Bulgaria Nikolay Kostov Bulgaria Yordan Hristov Uhlsport Efbet
Cherno More Varna Bulgaria Nikola Spasov Bulgaria Mihail Venkov Uhlsport Armeets
Levski Sofia Serbia Ljupko Petrović Bulgaria Veselin Minev Joma Vivacom, Efbet, Strabag
Litex Lovech Bulgaria Lyuboslav Penev Bulgaria Anton Nedyalkov adidas Prima
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Bulgaria Ilian Iliev Bulgaria Martin Kamburov Uhlsport Efbet
Ludogorets Razgrad Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev Bulgaria Svetoslav Dyakov Macron eCasino.bg , Vivacom
Montana Bulgaria Emil Velev Bulgaria Hristo Ivanov Jako Obshtina Montana
Pirin Kosovo Naci Şensoy Bulgaria Yulian Popev Joma Lafka
Slavia Sofia Russia Aleksandr Tarkhanov 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
Pirin Blagoevgrad Bulgaria Ivo Trenchev End of caretaker tenure 31 May 2015 Pre-season Bulgaria Nedelcho Matushev 6 June 2015[4]
Ludogorets Razgrad Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev Resigned 31 May 2015 Portugal Bruno Ribeiro 17 June 2015[5]
Litex Lovech Bulgaria Krasimir Balakov 11 July 2015 Serbia Ljupko Petrović (interim) 12 July 2015
Botev Plovdiv Bulgaria Petar Penchev Sacked 25 July 2015 9th Slovenia Ermin Šiljak 27 July 2015
Litex Lovech Serbia Ljupko Petrović (interim) Resigned 5 August 2015 1st Romania Laurențiu Reghecampf 5 August 2015
Ludogorets Razgrad Portugal Bruno Ribeiro Sacked 2 September 2015[6] 1st Bulgaria Eduard Eranosyan 2 September 2015
Pirin Blagoevgrad Bulgaria Nedelcho Matushev Resigned 26 September 2015 10th Kosovo Naci Şensoy 14 October 2015
Ludogorets Razgrad Bulgaria Eduard Eranosyan 6 November 2015 3rd Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev 6 November 2015
Montana Bulgaria Ferario Spasov 8 November 2015 9th Bulgaria Emil Velev 11 November 2015
Botev Plovdiv Slovenia Ermin Šiljak 9 November 2015 8th Bulgaria Nikolay Kostov 11 November 2015
Slavia Sofia Bulgaria Ivan Kolev 30 November 2015 6th Bulgaria Vladimir Ivanov (caretaker) 30 November 2015
Litex Lovech Romania Laurențiu Reghecampf Signed by Romania Steaua București 3 December 2015 3rd Serbia Ljupko Petrović (interim) 3 December 2015
Slavia Sofia Bulgaria Vladimir Ivanov End of caretaker tenure 18 December 2015 5th Russia Aleksandr Tarkhanov 18 December 2015
Litex Lovech Serbia Ljupko Petrović (interim) End of contract 23 December 2015 10th Bulgaria Lyuboslav Penev 22 January 2016
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Bulgaria Hristo Kolev Mutual agreement 26 February 2016 7th Bulgaria Ilian Iliev 26 February 2016[7]
Beroe Stara Zagora Bulgaria Petar Hubchev Sacked 7 April 2016[8] 4th Bulgaria Plamen Lipenski (caretaker) 8 April 2016
Levski Sofia Bulgaria Stoycho Stoev Mutual agreement 13 May 2016 2nd Serbia Ljupko Petrović 17 May 2016

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Ludogorets Razgrad (C) 32 21 7 4 55 21 +34 70 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Levski Sofia 32 16 8 8 36 18 +18 56 Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
3 Beroe Stara Zagora 32 14 11 7 37 27 +10 53 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
4 Slavia Sofia 32 14 7 11 36 29 +7 49[lower-alpha 1]
5 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 32 15 4 13 40 45 5 49[lower-alpha 1]
6 Cherno More Varna 32 10 8 14 36 45 9 38
7 Botev Plovdiv 32 8 9 15 27 44 17 33
8 Pirin Blagoevgrad 32 5 11 16 27 45 18 26
9 Montana (O) 32 4 9 19 23 43 20 21 Qualification to Relegation playoff
10 Litex Lovech (D, R) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Expelled and relegated to Second League[lower-alpha 2]
Source: Bulgarian Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Fairplay ranking; 9) Draw.[13]
(C) Champion; (D) Disqualified; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Slavia Sofia ahead of Lokomotiv Plovdiv on head-to-head record; Slavia Sofia–Lokomotiv Plovdiv 3–0, Lokomotiv Plovdiv–Slavia Sofia 2–0, Slavia Sofia–Lokomotiv Plovdiv 3–0, Lokomotiv Plovdiv–Slavia Sofia 3–1.
  2. On 16 December 2015, Litex Lovech were expelled from the league after their players left the field in protest over referee decisions in a match against Levski Sofia on 12 December 2015.[9][10] On 20 January 2016 it was announced that Litex Lovech would be relegated to B Group[11] All results from played matches involving Litex Lovech were annulled on 22 January 2016.[12]

Results

Matches 1−18
Home ╲ Away BSZ BOT CHMLEVLITLPLLUDMONPIRSLA
Beroe Stara Zagora 00 11 10 20 00 00 10 12
Botev Plovdiv 13 21 11 11 01 10 10 01
Cherno More Varna 03 12 01 21 23 10 10 10
Levski Sofia 20 10 10 10 11 20 00 20
Litex Lovech
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 12 21 13 10 20 10 21 20
Ludogorets Razgrad 50 21 11 20 10 20 00 11
Montana 10 60 04 02 20 11 11 12
Pirin Blagoevgrad 01 01 11 10 30 03 00 03
Slavia Sofia 00 20 01 01 30 01 10 00

Updated to games played on 3 December 2015.
Source: bulgarian-football.com
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19−36
Home ╲ Away BSZ BOT CHMLEVLITLPLLUDMONPIRSLA
Beroe Stara Zagora 11 00 21 52 02 21 31 11
Botev Plovdiv 01 31 00 10 21 22 22 01
Cherno More Varna 10 30 02 11 02 11 11 32
Levski Sofia 10 30 51 23 00 00 31 01
Litex Lovech
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 11 21 21 11 21 20 42 31
Ludogorets Razgrad 02 10 21 21 20 21 41 31
Montana 13 11 32 01 01 01 01 03
Pirin Blagoevgrad 11 22 40 01 12 13 00 03
Slavia Sofia 00 10 00 00 30 05 31 12

Updated to games played on 28 May 2016.
Source: bulgarian-football.com
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation playoff

4 June 2016
19:00 EEST
Montana 2–1 Pomorie
S. Georgiev  54'
Iliev  86'
Report Bozhinov  73' (pen.)
Trace Arena, Stara Zagora
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Nikola Popov (Sofia)

Positions by Round

Team ╲ Round 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536
Beroe Stara Zagora 7 4 2 2 4 4 2 3 5 6 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 2 3 4 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Botev Plovdiv 3 9 8 7 8 7 6 8 8 9 8 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 7 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Cherno More Varna 4 7 6 8 7 6 7 6 6 5 6 5 6 6 6 6 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Levski Sofia 5 6 7 6 5 5 5 4 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Litex Lovech 2 3 1 1 1 2 4 1 1 1 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 4 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Ludogorets Razgrad 9 5 4 4 3 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 4 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Montana 8 2 5 5 6 8 8 7 7 7 7 8 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Pirin Blagoevgrad 6 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Slavia Sofia 1 1 3 3 2 3 3 5 4 4 5 6 5 5 5 5 6 6 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Last updated: 28 May 2016
Source:

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Bulgaria Martin Kamburov Lokomotiv Plovdiv 18
2 Romania Claudiu Keșerü Ludogorets Razgrad 15
3 Martinique Mathias Coureur Cherno More 11
4 Bulgaria Martin Toshev Pirin Blagoevgrad 10
5 Brazil Wanderson Ludogorets Razgrad 9
6 Bulgaria Ventsislav Hristov Levski Sofia 8
7 Bulgaria Marcelinho Ludogorets Razgrad 7
Bulgaria Ivaylo Dimitrov Slavia Sofia
Bulgaria Lachezar Baltanov Botev Plovdiv
Brazil Jonathan Cafu Ludogorets Razgrad
Bulgaria Borislav Baldzhiyski1 Slavia Sofia
12 Bulgaria Anton Karachanakov Slavia Sofia 6
Slovakia Roman Procházka Levski Sofia
Bulgaria Ivan Minchev Montana
Bulgaria Ismail Isa Beroe Stara Zagora
Spain Miguel Bedoya Levski Sofia
Note

1 Including 2 goals for Montana.

Updated on 28 May 2016

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Bulgaria Minchev, IvanIvan Minchev Montana Botev Plovdiv 6–0 25 July 2015
Bulgaria Kamburov, MartinMartin Kamburov Lokomotiv Plovdiv Pirin Blagoevgrad 4–2 1 April 2016
Bulgaria Hristov, VentsislavVentsislav Hristov Levski Sofia Cherno More 5–1 28 April 2016

Updated on 28 April 2016

Clean sheets

Transfers

References

  1. "Левски сгафи на "Герена" и връчи титлата на Лудогорец" (in Bulgarian). gong. 10 May 2016.
  2. ""А" група стартира на 18 юли" (in Bulgarian). bfunion.bg. 22 June 2015.
  3. "Очакваме жребий без ЦСКА и Локомотив Сф" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 30 June 2015.
  4. "Неделчо Матушев поема Пирин" (in Bulgarian). pirinfc.com. 6 June 2015.
  5. "Bruno Ribeiro is the new head coach of PFC Ludogorets". ludogorets.com. 17 June 2015.
  6. "Лудогорец пусна Рибейро по пързалката с дисциплинарно уволнение" (in Bulgarian). gong. 2 September 2015.
  7. "Илиан Илиев е новият старши треньор на Локомотив" (in Bulgarian). PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv. 26 February 2016.
  8. ""Берое" се раздели с Хубчев, нов Съвет на директорите" (in Bulgarian). PFC Beroe Stara Zagora. 7 April 2016.
  9. "Decision DK 12/16/2015" (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Football Union. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  10. "Litex Lovech expelled from Bulgarian league over protest". BBC Sport. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  11. "Михайлов обяви бъдещето на Литекс и заяви, че има идея ЦСКА да играе в "А" група (видео)" [Mikhailov said the future of Litex and said he has an idea CSKA to play in group "A" (video)] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  12. "Анулираха резултатите на Литекс" [Cancellation results Litex] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.[ ]
  13. "A PFG 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
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