2018–19_First_Professional_Football_League_(Bulgaria)

2018–19 First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

2018–19 First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

95th season of top-tier football league in Bulgaria


The 2018–19 First Professional Football League was the 95th season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, the 71st since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid and also the 3rd season of the First Professional Football League, which decides the Bulgarian champion. The season began on 20 July 2018 and finished on 30 May 2019. Ludogorets Razgrad became champions for the 8th consecutive time, on the final matchday of the season, with a 4–1 home win over Cherno More Varna.[9]

Quick Facts Season, Dates ...

Teams

Fourteen teams are competing in the league – the top thirteen teams from the previous season, and one team promoted from the Second League.[10]

Botev Vratsa were promoted as champions of the 2017–18 Second League.[11] The promoted club replaced Pirin Blagoevgrad, who were relegated after elimination in the relegation play-offs by Vitosha Bistritsa. Botev Vratsa return to the top tier after a 5-year absence, while Pirin Blagoevgrad ended a 3-year stay in the top flight.[12]

Stadia and locations

Sofia 2018–19 First League football clubs

Personnel and sponsorship

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

More information Team, Manager ...

Note: Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising. However, only one sponsorship is permitted per jersey for official tournaments organised by UEFA in addition to that of the kit manufacturer (exceptions are made for non-profit organisations). Clubs in the domestic league can have more than one sponsorship per jersey which can feature on the front of the shirt, incorporated with the main sponsor or in place of it; or on the back, either below the squad number or on the collar area. Shorts also have space available for advertisement.

Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...

1.^ No license for First League.

Regular season

League table

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: 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.[43]

Results

More information Home \ Away, BER ...
Source: bulgarian-football.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

More information Team ╲ Round, Ludogorets Razgrad ...

Results by round

More information Team ╲ Round, Beroe ...
Source: bulgarian-football.com
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Championship round

Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: 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.[44]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Positions by round

Below the positions per round are shown. As teams did not all start with an equal number of points, the initial pre-playoffs positions are also given.

More information Team ╲ Round, Initial ...

Relegation round

Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.

Group A

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: 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.[48]
(D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. On 7 May 2019, Vereya were disqualified from the league for match fixing. All results from played matches involving Vereya were retained with the Bulgarian Football Union awarding Septemvri Sofia two wins by 3–0 from their scheduled relegation play-off matches with Vereya and the loser from the relegation play-off match between Dunav Ruse and Vitosha Bistritsa will now face directly the second-placed team from Second League.[45][46][47]

Group B

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: 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.[49]
(R) Relegated
Notes:

European play-offs

Bracket

Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
                
Quarter-final 1
Etar213
Semi-final
Lokomotiv Plovdiv00 0
Etar022
Quarter-final 2
Slavia Sofia10 1
Slavia Sofia011
Final
Botev Vratsa00 0
Levski Sofia1
Etar0

European play-off quarter-finals

More information Botev Vratsa, 0–0 ...
Attendance: 600
Referee: Valentin Zhelezov (Burgas)
More information Slavia Sofia, 1−0 (a.e.t.) ...
Attendance: 370
Referee: Dragomir Draganov (Varna)

More information Lokomotiv Plovdiv, 0–2 ...
Attendance: 380
Referee: Stefan Apostolov (Simitli)
More information Etar, 1−0 ...
Attendance: 370
Referee: Vladimir Valkov (Plovdiv)

European play-off semi-finals

More information Slavia Sofia, 1−0 ...
Attendance: 370
Referee: Georgi Ivanov (Sofia)
More information Etar, 2−0 ...
Attendance: 1,700
Referee: Nikola Popov (Sofia)

European play-off final

More information Levski Sofia, 1−0 ...
Attendance: 7,300
Referee: Volen Chinkov (Sofia)

Relegation play-offs

Bracket

First roundSecond roundThird round
                      
Match 1
Vitosha Bistritsa000
Match 3
Dunav Ruse01 1
Dunav Ruse033
Match 2
Septemvri Sofia12 3
Septemvri Sofia336
Match 5
Vereya00 0
Septemvri Sofia0
Arda1
Match 4
Vitosha Bistritsa336
Vereya00 0
Match 6
Vitosha Bistritsa3
Montana0

Winners of matches 3, 5 and 6 will play in the top division next season

First round

More information Dunav Ruse, 0–0 ...
Attendance: 1,200
Referee: Dragomir Draganov (Varna)
More information Vitosha Bistritsa, 0−1 ...
Attendance: 340
Referee: Nedelcho Gadzhalov (Plovdiv)

More information Vereya, 0–3 (Awarded) ...
More information Septemvri Sofia, 3–0 (Awarded) ...

Second round

More information Dunav Ruse, 0−1 ...
Attendance: 1,800
Referee: Vladimir Valkov (Plovdiv)
More information Septemvri Sofia, 2−3 ...
Attendance: 330
Referee: Nikolay Yordanov (Sofia)

More information Vereya, 0–3 (Awarded) ...
More information Vitosha Bistritsa, 3–0 (Awarded) ...

Vereya are relegated to the Second League.

Third round

More information Septemvri Sofia, 0–1 (a.e.t.) ...
Attendance: 3,700

Septemvri Sofia are relegated to the Second League.

More information Vitosha Bistritsa, 3−0 ...
Attendance: 520
Referee: Nikolay Yordanov (Sofia)

Season statistics

More information Round, Goal of the week ...

Top scorers

As of 24 May 2019[50]
  1. Includes 7 goals for Botev Vratsa

Hat-tricks

More information Player, For ...

Clean sheets

As of match(es) played on 24 May 2019[60]
  1. Includes 4 clean sheets for Cherno More

Transfers


References

  1. "След сигнал на УЕФА: БФС изхвърли клуб от Първа лига" [After a signal by UEFA: BFU expels a club from the First League] (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 2019-05-08.
  2. "Кърджали ликува! Арда е в елита за първи път в историята си, сълзите са за Септември (видео+снимки)" [Kardzhali rejoices! Arda joins the elite for the first time ever, tears for Septemvri (video+photos)] (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 2019-05-29.
  3. "Levski Sofia vs. Vereya 7–0". soccerway.com. 26 October 2018.
  4. "Cherno More vs. Septemvri Sofia 1–5". soccerway.com. 4 August 2018.
  5. "Slavia Sofia vs. Dunav 3–5". soccerway.com. 12 April 2019.
  6. "Bulgaria - 1st league - streaks and sequences". soccerstats.com. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  7. "CSKA Sofia vs. Levski Sofia 0–1". soccerway.com. 29 September 2018.
  8. "Septemvri Sofia vs. Dunav 2010 2–1". soccerway.com. 9 December 2018.
  9. "WINBET e новият спонсор на ПФК "Ботев"" (in Bulgarian). botevplovdiv.bg. 3 August 2018.
  10. "Екипите на Локомотив за сезон 2018/2019" (in Bulgarian). lokomotivpd.com. 12 July 2018.
  11. "Ludogorets has a new head manager" (in Bulgarian). ludogorets.com. 6 June 2018.
  12. "Промени в треньорския щаб на клуба" (in Bulgarian). levski.bg. 25 July 2018. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  13. "Верея се раздели с Иван Колев, сърбинът Небойша Лекич пое отбора" (in Bulgarian). fcvereya.bg. 14 August 2018. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  14. "ФК "Дунав" се раздели с Малин Орачев" (in Bulgarian). fcdunav.eu. 17 September 2018.
  15. "Севидов: Ще се борим за мястото си в Първа лига" [Sevidov: "We will fight for our place in First League"] (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 18 January 2019.
  16. "Славиша Стоянович вече не е треньор на Левски" [Slaviša Stojanovič is no longer coach of Levski.]. sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  17. "Официално: Любо Пенев е новият треньор на ЦСКА-София - обявиха причината за смяната на Ел Маестро (видео)" [Official: Lyubo Penev is the new coach of CSKA-Sofia - announced the reason for the replacement of El Maestro.]. sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
  18. "Босът на тим от Първа лига: Разделихме се с 12 чужденци, Иван Вутов е новият треньор" [The boss of a First League team: "We've parted ways with 12 foreigners, Ivan Vutov is the new coach"]. sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  19. "Левски се раздели официално с Дерменджиев и обяви причината" [Levski officially parted ways with Dermendzhiev and announced the reason.]. sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 29 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  20. "Любо Пенев заяви, че напуска огорчен ЦСКА-София и нападна ръководството на клуба (декларацията на треньора)" [Lyubo Penev announces that he leaves CSKA-Sofia bitter and attacks the team's management (declaration of the coach).]. sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  21. "A PFG - Regular season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  22. "След сигнал на УЕФА: БФС изхвърли клуб от Първа лига" [After signal by UEFA: BFU expelled a team from First League] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  23. "Верея изваден от Първа лига заради пет мача, три от тях са известни" [Vereya expelled from First League because of five matches, three are known] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  24. "Ще получи ли Лудогорец две точки предимство след изваждането на Верея от Първа лига?" [Will Ludogorets receive two points advantage after the expulsion of Vereya from First League?] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. 7 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  25. "Първа лига 2018/19" [First League 2018/19] (in Bulgarian). bulgarian-football.com. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  26. "CHERNO MORE VS. SEPTEMVRI SOFIA 1 - 5". soccerway.com. 4 August 2018.
  27. "BOTEV VRATSA VS. LUDOGORETS 1 - 4". soccerway.com. 7 October 2018.
  28. "ETAR VS. LUDOGORETS 1 - 4". soccerway.com. 4 November 2018.
  29. "BEROE VS. VEREYA 6 - 0". soccerway.com. 25 November 2018.
  30. "BOTEV VS. VITOSHA 3 - 0". soccerway.com. 10 December 2018.
  31. "CSKA SOFIA VS. SEPTEMVRI SOFIA 5 - 1". soccerway.com. 2 March 2019.
  32. "VEREYA VS. ETAR 0 - 3". soccerway.com. 21 April 2019.
  33. "VITOSHA BISTRITSA VS. BOTEV VRATSA 2 - 5". soccerway.com. 22 April 2019.
  34. "LUDOGORETS VS. CHERNO MORE 4 - 1". soccerway.com. 24 May 2019.
  35. "Първа лига 2018/19" [First League 2018/19] (in Bulgarian). bulgarian-football.com. Retrieved 23 July 2018.

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