Wikipedia

2024–25 First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

The 2024–25 First Professional Football League, also known as efbet League for sponsorship reasons,[1] is the 101st season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, the 77th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid, and also the 9th season of the First Professional Football League, which decides the Bulgarian champion. The season began on 19 July 2024.

First Professional Football League
Season2024–25
Dates19 July 2024 – 31 May 2025
Matches played78
Goals scored169 (2.17 per match)
Top goalscorerAhmed Ahmedov (7 goals)
Best goalkeeperPlamen Iliev
(6 clean sheets)
Biggest home winLudogorets Razgrad 5–1 Arda
(3 August 2024)
Levski Sofia 4–0 Botev Vratsa
(27 July 2024)
Biggest away winLokomotiv Sofia 1–6 Levski Sofia
(20 July 2024)
Highest scoringLokomotiv Sofia 1–6 Levski Sofia
(20 July 2024)
Longest winning run4 games
Levski Sofia
Ludogorets Razgrad
Longest unbeaten run9 games
Ludogorets Razgrad
Longest winless run6 games
Hebar
Septemvri Sofia
Slavia Sofia
Longest losing run6 games
Septemvri Sofia
All statistics correct as of 18:54, 30 September 2024 (UTC).

Ludogorets Razgrad are the 13-time defending champions.

Teams

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As in the last season, 16 teams will compete in the league this year. Two teams were promoted from the 2023–24 Second League, and another place is for the winner of the promotion/relegation playoff.

The first team to earn promotion from the Second League was Spartak Varna, who mathematically secured a top two finish after Marek lost to Sportist Svoge on 3 May.[2] Spartak return to the top level after 1-year absence.

The second team to earn promotion from the Second League was Septemvri Sofia, who mathematically secured a top two finish after winning against Chernomorets Balchik on the last matchday of the season.[3] Septemvri return to the top level also after a 1-year absence.

Additionally, Botev Vratsa managed to defeat Marek with a score of 4–2 after penalties in the promotion/relegation playoff, thus remaining in the First League.[4]

Stadia and locations

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Arda Beroe Botev Plovdiv Botev Vratsa
Arena Arda Beroe Hristo Botev Hristo Botev
Capacity: 11,114 Capacity: 12,128 Capacity: 18,777 Capacity: 25,000
       
Cherno More CSKA 1948 CSKA Sofia Hebar
Ticha Bistritsa Vasil Levski National Stadium Georgi Benkovski
Capacity: 6,250 Capacity: 2,500 Capacity: 22,995 Capacity: 13,128
       
Krumovgrad
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Location of teams in 2024–25 First League
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Sofia 2024–25 First League football clubs
 Levski Sofia
Nikola Shterev - Starika Sports Complex Georgi Asparuhov
Capacity: 3,500 Capacity: 18,000
   
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Lokomotiv Sofia
Lokomotiv Lokomotiv
Capacity: 8,610 Capacity: 22,000
   
Ludogorets Razgrad Septemvri Sofia Slavia Sofia Spartak Varna
Huvepharma Arena Vasil Levski National Stadium Aleksandar Shalamanov Spartak
Capacity: 10,422 Capacity: 22,995 Capacity: 25,556 Capacity: 10,000
       

Personnel and kits

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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 Additional
Arda   Aleksandar Tunchev   Anatoli Gospodinov Uhlsport efbet IK Nataliya Ltd.
Beroe   Josu Uribe   Juan Pablo Salomoni Nike 8888.bg —
Botev Plovdiv   Dušan Kerkez   Ivelin Popov Macron[5] WinBet Bitcoin
Botev Vratsa   Hristo Yanev   Brayan Perea Erima WinBet Vratsa Municipality, Inex, Predsednik Ltd.
Cherno More   Ilian Iliev   Daniel Dimov Macron Armeets —
CSKA 1948   Valentin Iliev   Radoslav Kirilov Puma efbet Bachkovo
CSKA Sofia   Aleksandar Tomash   Ivan Turitsov Macron[6] WinBet —
Hebar   Yordan Minev (interim)   Petar Debarliev Erima efbet —
Krumovgrad   Atanas Ribarski   Bozhidar Katsarov Uhlsport Compass Cargo Airlines Bethub
Levski Sofia   Stanislav Genchev   Wenderson Tsunami Adidas[7] PalmsBet CT Interactive
Lokomotiv Plovdiv   Lyuboslav Penev   Dimitar Iliev Joma[8] WinBet General Broker Club
Lokomotiv Sofia   Anton Velkov   Valentin Nikolov Joma 8888.bg VIA 2000
Ludogorets Razgrad   Igor Jovićević   Anton Nedyalkov Jako efbet Vivacom, Huvepharma, Navibulgar
Septemvri Sofia   Nikolay Mitov   Dimitar Sheytanov Uhlsport 8888.bg
Slavia Sofia   Zlatomir Zagorčić   Georgi Petkov Zeus bet365 Asset Insurance, SportRespect
Spartak Varna   Ivan Tsvetanov (interim)   Viktor Mitev Nike efbet Intercom Group, Mussala Insurance Broker, 100 Tona

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

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Ludogorets Razgrad   Georgi Dermendzhiev Resigned 15 August 2024[9] 8th   Zahari Sirakov (interim) 15 August 2024
Spartak Varna   Aleksandar Tomash Mutual agreement 28 August 2024[10] 3rd   Ivan Tsvetanov (interim) 28 August 2024
CSKA Sofia   Tomislav Stipić Sacked 28 August 2024[11] 13th   Aleksandar Tomash 28 August 2024[12]
Botev Vratsa   Todor Yanchev 1 September 2024[13] 13th   Hristo Yanev 6 September 2024[14]
Spartak Varna   Ivan Tsvetanov End of interim spell 5 September 2024 3rd   Kyriakos Georgiou 5 September 2024[15]
Ludogorets   Zahari Sirakov 26 September 2024 1st   Igor Jovićević 26 September 2024[16]
Spartak Varna   Kyriakos Georgiou Resigned 28 September 2024[17] 5th   Ivan Tsvetanov (interim) 28 September 2024
Lokomotiv Sofia   Ivan Kolev Mutual agreement 30 September 2024[18] 12th   Anton Velkov 30 September 2024[19]
Beroe   José Acciari 30 September 2024[20] 8th   Josu Uribe 3 October 2024[21]
Hebar   Veselin Velikov 1 October 2024[22] 16th   Yordan Minev (interim) 1 October 2024

Regular season

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Ludogorets Razgrad 9 8 1 0 16 1 +15 25[a] Qualification for the Championship group
2 Levski Sofia 10 8 1 1 23 5 +18 25[a]
3 Cherno More 10 5 4 1 13 5 +8 19
4 Botev Plovdiv 9 6 1 2 10 5 +5 19
5 Spartak Varna 10 5 3 2 12 8 +4 18 Qualification for the Conference League group
6 Arda 10 4 2 4 10 13 −3 14
7 CSKA 1948 9 3 4 2 12 8 +4 13
8 Beroe 10 4 1 5 6 9 −3 13
9 Krumovgrad 10 4 0 6 8 12 −4 12[b] Qualification for the Relegation group
10 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 10 3 3 4 13 16 −3 12[b]
11 CSKA Sofia 9 3 1 5 8 9 −1 10
12 Lokomotiv Sofia 10 2 4 4 5 14 −9 10
13 Slavia Sofia 10 2 2 6 8 12 −4 8
14 Botev Vratsa 10 2 1 7 7 20 −13 7[c]
15 Septemvri Sofia 10 2 1 7 8 16 −8 7[c]
16 Hebar 10 1 3 6 10 16 −6 6
Updated to match(es) played on 30 September 2024. Source: soccerway, Bulgarian Football
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[23]
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Ludogorets Razgrad 3, Levski Sofia 0.
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Krumovgrad 3, Lokomotiv Plovdiv 0.
  3. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Botev Vratsa 3, Septemvri Sofia 0.

Results

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Home \ Away ARD BER BPD BVR CHM CSK CSS HEB KRU LEV LPD LSO LUD SEP SLA SPV
Arda — 4 Oct 1–0 8 Nov 2–1 2–1 1–0 25 Oct
Beroe — 0–1 9 Nov 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 18 Oct
Botev Plovdiv — 25 Oct 5 Oct 2–2 8 Nov ppnd 19 Oct 0–1
Botev Vratsa 1–2 1–3 — 0–3 18 Oct 0–2 2–0 1 Nov 1–1
Cherno More 1–1 2–1 — 0–0 0–0 20 Oct 3–0 3 Nov 2–0
CSKA 1948 21 Oct 3 Nov 0–1 — 7 Nov 2–4 2–0 2–2
CSKA Sofia 1–0 0–1 24 Oct — 3–1 10 Nov a 5 Oct 0–1
Hebar 3–1 0–1 6 Oct 10 Nov — 26 Oct 1–2 1–1 0–2
Krumovgrad 0–1 0–1 3–0 4 Oct — 0–3 2–0 1–0 2 Nov
Levski Sofia 2–1 25 Oct 4–0 19 Oct 1–0 3–0 — 9 Nov a
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–0 a 1–2 0–2 2 Nov 3–3 0–2 0–2 — 1–1
Lokomotiv Sofia 2 Nov 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–3 0–0 19 Oct 1–6 a — a
Ludogorets Razgrad 5–1 0–0 28 Oct 1–0 3 Nov 1–0 6 Oct 2–0 —
Septemvri Sofia 0–1 4 Nov 1–1 2–3 0–1 20 Oct — 3–2 0–1
Slavia Sofia 1–1 4 Oct 0–1 9 Nov 24 Oct 0–1 — 3–1
Spartak Varna 1–0 0–2 3–0 0–0 23 Oct 6 Oct 10 Nov —
Updated to match(es) played on 30 September 2024. Source: Bulgarian Football
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.

Season statistics

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Top scorers

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As of 30 September 2024[24]
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Ahmed Ahmedov Spartak Varna 7
2   Aleksandar Kolev Levski Sofia 5
  Julien Lamy Lokomotiv Plovdiv
  Nabil Makni Hebar
  Mustapha Sangaré Levski Sofia
6   Rwan Cruz Ludogorets Razgrad 4
  Santiago Godoy Beroe
  Stanislav Ivanov Arda
  Matheus Souza Krumovgrad
10 ten players 3

Clean sheets

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As of 30 September 2024[24]
Rank Goalkeeper Club Clean
sheets
1   Plamen Iliev Cherno More 6
2   Hans Christian Bernat Botev Plovdiv 5
  Sergio Padt Ludogorets Razgrad
  Martin Velichkov Spartak Varna
5   Plamen Andreev Levski Sofia 4
  Yanko Georgiev Krumovgrad
  Aleksandar Lyubenov Lokomotiv Sofia
  Petar Marinov CSKA 1948
  Arthur Motta Beroe
10   Gustavo Busatto CSKA Sofia 3

References

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  1. ^ "Обявиха официално новото име и лого на Първа лига" [Officially announced the new name and logo of First League.]. Sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  2. ^ "Спартак Варна се завърна в Първа лига" (in Bulgarian). bntnews.bg. 3 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Септември София се завърна в Първа лига, Марек ще играе бараж" (in Bulgarian). bntnews.bg. 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Страхотна драма във Враца! Ботев пречупи борбен Марек и остава в efbet Лига" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 30 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Започват предварителните поръчки на екипа за новия сезон" (in Bulgarian). botevplovdiv.bg. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Не просто екип, а кауза" (in Bulgarian). cska.bg. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Левски представи новия екип, реплика е на шампионския от 90-те години на миналия век". 24 May 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. ^ "ТИТУЛЯРНИЯТ ЕКИП НА ЛОКОМОТИВ ЗА СЕЗОН 2024/25" (in Bulgarian). lokomotivpd.com. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Лудогорец прие оставката на Георги Дерменджиев - ето кой ще води тима срещу Левски" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Босът на Спартак (Варна): Сагата с Томаш приключи" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  11. ^ "ЦСКА ще се раздели официално днес със Стипич" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Александър Томаш се завърна в ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). cska.bg. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Ботев (Враца) освободи Тодор Янчев" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Христо Янев отново пое Ботев Враца" (in Bulgarian). dsport.bg. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Кирякос Георгиу е новият старши треньор на Спартак (Варна)" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 4 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Лудогорец официално има нов треньор" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Трите Хикса ще води Спартак (Вн) в "Надежда"" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Официално: Иван Колев вече не е треньор на Локомотив (София)" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Официално: Антон Велков застава начело на Локомотив (София)" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Падна още една треньорска глава на отбор от елита! Берое се раздели с Ачиари" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Официално: Берое има нов треньор" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  22. ^ "Падна още една треньорска глава в efbet Лига" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Наредба за първенствата и турнирите по футбол в системата на БФС за сезон 2023/2024 година" (PDF) (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Football Union. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  24. ^ a b "Първа професионална лига 2024/25". bulgarian-football.com (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 13 July 2024.
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