Bulgarian football league system
Encyclopedia
The Bulgarian football league system or the Bulgarian football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Bulgaria
. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, and allows even the smallest club to dream of rising to the very top of the system.
In 1948 A Republican Football Group was founded, a new national top division. The second level of the football league system - the B Republican Football Group was founded two years later. The lower levels of the pyramid - V Republican Football Group and below - were structured in 1959.
This system (with minor changes during the years) existed until year 2000. Then experimentally a new Bulgarian Premier Football League was founded replacing A Football Group. B Football Group was replaced by the new Bulgarian First Football League . But these changes lasted for just three years - in 2003 the old A and B Football Groups were restored at the top of the football pyramid.
Football in Bulgaria
Football is the most popular sport in Bulgaria. It was introduced in 1893–1894 by Swiss gymnastics teachers invited to the country...
. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, and allows even the smallest club to dream of rising to the very top of the system.
History
The first organised national tournament was founded in 1924. It was called the National championship . The teams taking part in the tournament were separated in different regional divisions and the winners of each division then played for the Championship title via play-offs.In 1948 A Republican Football Group was founded, a new national top division. The second level of the football league system - the B Republican Football Group was founded two years later. The lower levels of the pyramid - V Republican Football Group and below - were structured in 1959.
This system (with minor changes during the years) existed until year 2000. Then experimentally a new Bulgarian Premier Football League was founded replacing A Football Group. B Football Group was replaced by the new Bulgarian First Football League . But these changes lasted for just three years - in 2003 the old A and B Football Groups were restored at the top of the football pyramid.
The system
Currently the Bulgarian football league system consists of 56 different divisions forming 5 levels of the pyramid.:Level | Group(s) | ||||||
1 | A PFG Bulgarian A Professional Football Group The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group commonly known as A PFG is the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The league is sponsored by Victoria FATA Insurance and therefore is officially known as Victoria A Football Group since 2011... 16 teams | ||||||
2 | West B PFG Bulgarian B Professional Football Group The Bulgarian B Professional Football Group or simply B PFG is the second level of the Bulgarian football league system, below the A PFG and above the Bulgarian V AFG. The B PFG is formed by two groups, running in parallel , where in each group are participating 10 teams... 14 teams | East B PFG Bulgarian B Professional Football Group The Bulgarian B Professional Football Group or simply B PFG is the second level of the Bulgarian football league system, below the A PFG and above the Bulgarian V AFG. The B PFG is formed by two groups, running in parallel , where in each group are participating 10 teams... 14 teams | |||||
3 | North-West V AFG Bulgarian North-West V AFG Bulgarian V AFG is the third division of the Bulgarian football. While first and second are professional third division is on an amateur level. It is divided into:*Bulgarian North-West V AFG*Bulgarian North-East V AFG*Bulgarian South-West V AFG... 16 teams | South-West V AFG Bulgarian South-West V AFG Bulgarian V AFG is the third division of the Bulgarian football. While first and second are professional, third division is on an amateur level... 20 teams | North-East V AFG Bulgarian North-East V AFG Bulgarian V AFG is the third division of the Bulgarian football. While first and second are professional third division is on an amateur level. It is divided into:*Bulgarian North-West V AFG*Bulgarian North-East V AFG*Bulgarian South-West V AFG... 18 teams | South-East V AFG Bulgarian South-East V AFG Bulgarian V AFG is the third division of the Bulgarian football. While first and second are professional third division is on an amateur level. It is divided into:*Bulgarian North-West V AFG*Bulgarian North-East V AFG*Bulgarian South-West V AFG... 18 teams | |||
4 | Regional Football Groups (Oblast Oblast Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"... Football Groups - OFG) 39 in total (all divisions run in parallel):
| ||||||
5 | B Regional Football Groups (B Oblast Oblast Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"... Football Groups - OFG) 10 in total (all divisions run in parallel):
|
All-time table 1924-2011 (A PFG)
Pos. | Team | S | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | 1º | 2º | 3º |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Levski Sofia | 73 | 1737 | 1020 | 412 | 305 | 3416 | 1605 | 2452 | 26 | 28 | 7 |
2 | CSKA Sofia | 63 | 1682 | 1017 | 377 | 288 | 3577 | 1565 | 2411 | 31 | 20 | 4 |
3 | Slavia Sofia | 72 | 1732 | 778 | 416 | 538 | 2737 | 2011 | 1972 | 7 | 10 | 13 |
4 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 62 | 1604 | 666 | 409 | 529 | 2323 | 1946 | 1738 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
5 | Botev Plovdiv | 64 | 1531 | 604 | 360 | 567 | 2287 | 2110 | 1568 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
6 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 59 | 1398 | 537 | 333 | 527 | 1918 | 1925 | 1407 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
7 | Cherno More Varna | 60 | 1294 | 444 | 338 | 512 | 1583 | 1724 | 1226 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
8 | Beroe Stara Zagora | 43 | 1148 | 373 | 262 | 513 | 1428 | 1789 | 1008 | 1 | – | 1 |
9 | Spartak Varna | 49 | 1143 | 375 | 252 | 516 | 1384 | 1738 | 1002 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
10 | Spartak Pleven | 51 | 1053 | 323 | 255 | 475 | 1211 | 1650 | 901 | – | – | 1 |
11 | Minyor Pernik | 36 | 910 | 287 | 211 | 412 | 1028 | 1402 | 785 | – | – | – |
12 | Chernomorets Burgas Chernomorets Burgas Chernomorets Burgas may refer to:* PFC Chernomorets Burgas* PFC Chernomorets Burgas Sofia... |
43 | 924 | 287 | 198 | 439 | 1131 | 1563 | 772 | – | – | – |
13 | Botev Vratsa | 38 | 822 | 281 | 173 | 368 | 1050 | 1267 | 735 | – | – | 1 |
14 | Etar Veliko Tarnovo | 27 | 730 | 265 | 161 | 304 | 959 | 1060 | 691 | 1 | – | – |
15 | Dunav Ruse | 42 | 784 | 250 | 190 | 344 | 862 | 1193 | 690 | – | 1 | – |
16 | Marek Dupnitsa | 37 | 768 | 240 | 164 | 364 | 896 | 1239 | 644 | – | – | 1 |
17 | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 24 | 690 | 220 | 167 | 303 | 744 | 940 | 607 | – | – | – |
18 | OFC Sliven 2000 OFC Sliven 2000 OFC Sliven 2000 is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Sliven, currently playing in the East B PFG, the second division of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground is the Hadzhi Dimitar Stadium in Sliven with a capacity of 15,000... |
23 | 661 | 225 | 144 | 292 | 823 | 980 | 594 | – | – | – |
19 | Spartak Sofia Spartak Sofia Spartak Sofia was a Bulgarian football club founded in 1947. It existed independently until 1969, when it was merged with Levski Sofia. After 1990 the club's independence has been restored. The team plays in "Bulgarian V Amateur football group". In 2005 the name is changed to "Levski-Spartak" when... |
21 | 443 | 161 | 142 | 140 | 566 | 514 | 464 | – | 2 | 1 |
20 | Akademic Sofia | 17 | 485 | 158 | 131 | 186 | 573 | 625 | 447 | – | – | 2 |
21 | Spartak Plovdiv | 18 | 445 | 160 | 121 | 164 | 568 | 592 | 441 | 1 | 1 | – |
22 | Litex Lovech | 12 | 326 | 185 | 65 | 76 | 594 | 319 | 435 | 3 | 1 | – |
23 | Naftex Burgas | 12 | 356 | 154 | 72 | 130 | 534 | 420 | 380 | – | 1 | – |
24 | Dobrudzha Dobrich | 17 | 419 | 128 | 82 | 209 | 457 | 695 | 338 | – | – | – |
External links
- bulgarian-football.com - information, results, fixtures and tables from all levels of Bulgarian club football
- Bulgarian Football Union Information System - includes information, results, fixtures and tables from the lower levels of Bulgarian club football (levels 3-5)