2009–10 A Group

A Group
Season2009–10
Dates7 August 2009 – 16 May 2010
ChampionsLitex Lovech
(3rd title)
RelegatedBotev Plovdiv
Sportist Svoge
Loko Mezdra
Champions LeagueLitex Lovech
Europa LeagueCSKA Sofia
Levski Sofia
Beroe (via domestic cup)
Matches played191
Goals scored462 (2.42 per match)
Top goalscorerFrance Wilfried Niflore
(19 goals)
Biggest home winLevski 5–0 Botev
Litex 5–0 Loko P.
Levski 5–0 Sportist
Biggest away winLoko M. 0–5 Litex
Loko P. 0–5 CSKA
Loko M. 0–5 Ch'morets
Highest scoringMinyor 4–2 Sliven
Ch. More 4–2 Loko S.
Loko P. 3–3 Minyor
Sportist 1–5 Loko S.
Sliven 2–4 CSKA
Loko P. 2–4 Montana
CSKA 5–1 Loko S.
Sportist 2–4 Litex

The 2009–10 A Group was the 86th season of the Bulgarian national top football division, and the 62nd of A Group as the top tier football league in the country. It began on 7 August 2009 with the game between Beroe and Lokomotiv Sofia. The last round took place on 16 May 2010. Levski Sofia were the defending champions, but they were unable to defend it and Litex Lovech won the title, which was their third overall.

Promotion and relegation from 2008–09

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Belasitsa Petrich, Spartak Varna and Vihren Sandanski were directly relegated for finishing in the bottom three places. Belasitsa ended a six-year stint in the Bulgarian top flight, while Spartak Varna were relegated for a record ninth time since the introduction of the A PFG, after three years. Vihren ended their four-year tenure in the A PFG, the club's first ever in the top division.

The relegated teams were replaced by Montana, champions of the West B PFG 2008-2009, and Beroe Stara Zagora, champions of the East B PFG 2008-2009. Montana returned to the A PFG after twelve years, while Beroe returned after a one-year absence. Beroe won promotion for the ninth time in its history, therefore equaling the record previously set by Minyor Pernik.

A further place in the league was decided through a one-legged play-off. Sportist Svoge as runner-up in West B PFG had to face Naftex Burgas, who came second in East B PFG. Sportist Svoge won the game 4–2 after a penalty shootout, following a regular time score of 2–2. This was Sportist's first participation in the Bulgarian top flight.

Team overview

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Club Location Manager Stadium Capacity Team captain
Beroe Stara Zagora Bulgaria Ilian Iliev Beroe 17,800[1] Bulgaria Slavi Zhekov
Botev Plovdiv Italy Enrico Piccioni Hristo Botev (Plovdiv) 21,000[2] Bulgaria Vasil Vasilev
Cherno More Varna Bulgaria Velizar Popov Ticha 8,250 Bulgaria Georgi Iliev
Chernomorets Burgas Bulgaria Krasimir Balakov Lazur 18,037[3] Bulgaria Cvetomir Conkov
CSKA Sofia Bulgaria Pavel Dochev Bulgarian Army 22,015[4] Bulgaria Todor Yanchev
Levski Sofia Bulgaria Georgi Ivanov Georgi Asparuhov 29,200[5] Bulgaria Georgi Petkov
Litex Lovech Bulgaria Angel Chervenkov Gradski Stadion 7,050[6] Bulgaria Ivelin Popov
Lokomotiv Mezdra Mezdra Bulgaria Voyn Voynov Lokomotiv (Mezdra) 5,000 Bulgaria Strati Iliev
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Plovdiv Bulgaria Hristo Bonev Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) 13,800 Bulgaria Georgi Mechedzhiev
Lokomotiv Sofia Sofia Bulgaria Dimitar Vasev Lokomotiv (Sofia) 22,000[7] Bulgaria Georgi Markov
Minyor Pernik Bulgaria Anton Velkov Minyor 12,000[8] Bulgaria Ivaylo Ivanov
Montana Montana Bulgaria Atanas Dzhambazki Ogosta 8,000 Bulgaria Ventsislav Ivanov
Sliven 2000 Sliven Serbia Dragoljub Simonović Hadzhi Dimitar 10,000 Bulgaria Miroslav Mindev
Pirin Blagoevgrad Bulgaria Stefan Grozdanov Hristo Botev (Bgd) 7,500 Bulgaria Georgi Georgiev
Slavia Sofia Bulgaria Velislav Vutsov Ovcha Kupel 18,000[2] Bulgaria Yordan Petkov
Sportist Svoge Bulgaria Stoycho Stoev Chavdar Cvetkov 3,500[9] Bulgaria Todor Kyuchukov

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Litex Lovech (C) 30 22 4 4 59 17 +42 70 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 CSKA Sofia 30 16 10 4 51 25 +26 58 Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round
3 Levski Sofia 30 17 6 7 57 26 +31 57 Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round
4 Lokomotiv Sofia 30 15 7 8 47 33 +14 52
5 Chernomorets Burgas 30 15 6 9 44 29 +15 51
6 Slavia Sofia 30 14 8 8 34 28 +6 50
7 Cherno More 30 13 9 8 40 28 +12 48
8 Minyor Pernik 30 13 6 11 38 26 +12 45
9 Pirin Blagoevgrad 30 11 10 9 34 32 +2 43
10 Beroe 30 10 8 12 30 36 −6 38 Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round[a]
11 Montana 30 9 9 12 30 37 −7 36
12 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 30 9 6 15 36 52 −16 33
13 Sliven 30 9 5 16 29 40 −11 32
14 Lokomotiv Mezdra (R) 30 7 6 17 30 48 −18 27 Relegation to 2010–11 B Group
15 Sportist Svoge (R) 30 5 4 21 23 59 −36 19
16 Botev Plovdiv[b] (R) 30 1 4 25 12 78 −66 1
Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
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 goal difference; 7th goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Beroe won the 2009–10 Bulgarian Cup and qualified for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
  2. ^ Botev Plovdiv were expelled from the league during the winter break because they were unable to meet the criteria required to continue the season, and deducted six points for administrative irregularities. All of their remaining matches have been scratched and will be counted as a 3–0 win for their opponents.[10][11]

Results

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Home \ Away BSZ BOT CHM CHB CSK LEV LIT LME LPL LSO MIN MON OFC PIR SLA SPO
Beroe 3–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–3 3–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 0–3 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–0
Botev Plovdiv 0–3[a] 0–3[a] 0–3[a] 0–1 0–3[a] 0–3[a] 0–3[a] 1–0 0–3[a] 0–3 2–3 0–3[a] 2–2 0–1 1–1
Cherno More 0–0 3–0 2–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 3–2 4–2 1–0 2–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 3–0
Chernomorets Burgas 0–2 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 3–0 2–1 0–2 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 3–0
CSKA Sofia 3–0 3–0[a] 2–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 4–0 3–2 5–1 0–3 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 4–1
Levski Sofia 0–1 5–0 3–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 3–1 2–0 1–2 3–1 3–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 5–0
Litex Lovech 3–0 2–1 4–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 3–0 5–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0
Lokomotiv Mezdra 2–1 2–2 1–2 0–5 4–0[b] 1–1 0–5 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–2 1–1 4–0 0–0 2–1
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–3 3–0[a] 1–0 2–1 0–5 2–2 0–3 0–1 2–1 3–3 2–4 1–2 2–0 0–2 3–0
Lokomotiv Sofia 2–0 2–2 1–2 0–1 2–2 2–0 0–1 2–1 3–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 3–2
Minyor Pernik 3–0 3–0[a] 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–2 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–2 1–1 4–2 0–1 0–1 1–2
Montana 2–1 3–0[a] 1–2 2–0 1–2 0–2 0–0 1–1 2–3 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–3 2–0 1–0
OFC Sliven 1–1 3–0 0–0 0–1 2–4 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–3 1–3 1–0 4–0 1–2 1–0
Pirin Blagoevgrad 2–2 3–0[a] 1–0 1–3 0–0 0–2 4–1 3–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0
Slavia Sofia 3–1 3–0[a] 1–0 3–2 1–3 1–3 1–1 1–0 1–3 0–0 1–0 4–0 2–1 0–0 1–0
Sportist Svoge 1–2 3–0[a] 2–1 0–0 0–2 2–3 2–4 0–4 2–1 1–5 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1
Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Matches awarded after Botev's expulsion during the winter break.
  2. ^ This match was abandoned after 66 minutes, with Lokomotiv Mezdra leading 1–0, due to a pitch invasion by CSKA supporters. The match was awarded a 4–0 win in favour of Lokomotiv Mezdra; CSKA Sofia were fined $10,370 and their stadium was suspended for three games.[12]

Champions

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Litex Lovech
Goalkeepers
01 Serbia Uroš Golubović 19 0(0)
12 Bulgaria Todor Todorov 00 0(0)
30 Bulgaria Evgeni Aleksandrov 00 0(0)
31 Brazil Rodrigo Galatto 12 0(0)
Defenders
02 France Alexandre Barthe 27 0(2)
03 Bulgaria Petar Zanev 19 0(0)
05 Bulgaria Mihail Venkov 10 0(1)
06 Bulgaria Ivaylo Petkov 15 0(1)
14 Bulgaria Tsvetomir Panov 01 0(0)
18 Bulgaria Iliya Milanov 01 0(0)
22 Bulgaria Plamen Nikolov 27 0(1)
25 Bulgaria Radostin Kishishev 20 0(0)
33 Bulgaria Nikolay Bodurov 18 0(2)
Midfielders
07 Bulgaria Hristo Yanev 26 0(6)
08 Brazil Tom 18 0(2)
10 Brazil Sandrinho 25 0(1)
13 Bulgaria Maksim Stoykov 01 0(0)
15 Brazil Doka Madureira 26 0(6)
17 Bulgaria Georgi Milanov 27 0(2)
21 Bulgaria Aleksandar Tsvetkov 01 0(0)
23 Serbia Nebojša Jelenković 24 0(1)
24 Brazil Adriano Miranda* 01 0(0)
27 Bulgaria Momchil Tsvetanov 04 0(1)
28 Brazil Diego Ferraresso 09 0(0)
Forwards
09 Bulgaria Svetoslav Todorov 12 0(1)
19 France Wilfried Niflore 27 (19)
71 Bulgaria Ivelin Popov 18 0(7)
99 Bulgaria Dormushali Saidhodzha* 11 0(1)
Manager
Bulgaria Angel Chervenkov
  • Saidhodzha and Miranda left the club during a season.

Statistics

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Transfers

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Football stadiums of the world - Stadiums in Bulgaria". Archived from the original on 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2010-09-28. Accessed on 9 August 2009 (Bulgarian).
  2. ^ a b "Football stadiums of the world - Stadiums in Bulgaria". Archived from the original on 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2010-09-28. Accessed on 1 August 2009 (Bulgarian).
  3. ^ [1] Accessed on 1 August 2009 (English).
  4. ^ [2] Archived 2009-06-17 at the Wayback Machine Accessed on 1 August 2009 (Bulgarian).
  5. ^ [3] Accessed on 1 August 2009 (Bulgarian).
  6. ^ [4][permanent dead link] Accessed on 7 August 2009 (Bulgarian).
  7. ^ [5][permanent dead link] Accessed on 9 August 2009 (Bulgarian).
  8. ^ The capacity of the stadium was reduced to 8,000 spectators Accessed on 13 August 2009
  9. ^ The capacity of the stadium was expanded to 3,500 spectators Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine Accessed on 7 August 2009 (Bulgarian).
  10. ^ БФС: Ботев не изпълни нито едно условие, сами се досещате накъде отиват нещата Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine (in Bulgarian)
  11. ^ Изхвърлиха официално Ботев Пловдив от "А" група Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine (in Bulgarian)
  12. ^ "CSKA Sofia handed 4-0 loss for pitch invasion". Reuters. 23 March 2010. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
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