2023–24 First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

The 2023–24 First Professional Football League, also known as efbet League for sponsorship reasons,[1] is the 100th season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, the 76th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid, and also the 8th season of the First Professional Football League, which decides the Bulgarian champion. The season began on 14 July 2023.

First Professional Football League
Season2023–24
Dates14 July 2023 – May 2024
Matches played114
Goals scored280 (2.46 per match)
Top goalscorerfive players (7 goals)
Best goalkeeperGustavo Busatto
(8 clean sheets)
Biggest home winLevski Sofia 6–0 Lokomotiv Sofia
(30 July 2023)
Botev Plovdiv 6–0 Lokomotiv Sofia
(26 October 2023)
Biggest away winBotev Vratsa 0–5 Ludogorets
(5 August 2023)
Highest scoringBotev Vratsa 3–5 Botev Plovdiv
(21 October 2023)
Longest winning run9 games
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Longest unbeaten run11 games
Cherno More
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Longest winless run8 games
Pirin Blagoevgrad
Longest losing run7 games
Slavia Sofia
2024–25 →
All statistics correct as of 05:53, 28 October 2023 (UTC).

Ludogorets Razgrad are the 12-time defending champions.

Teams

As in the last season, 16 teams will compete in the league this year. Two teams were promoted from the 2022–23 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 Etar, who mathematically secured a top three finish after Sportist Svoge lost to Yantra on May 25.[2] Etar return to the top level after a 2-year absence.

The second team to earn promotion from the Second League was Krumovgrad, who mathematically secured a top three finish after winning against Botev Plovdiv II on May 27. This is going to be Krumovgrad's maiden participation in the Bulgarian top flight.[3]

Additionally, Beroe managed to defeat Sportist Svoge with a score of 1–0 in the promotion/relegation playoff, thus maintaining its place in the First League.[4]

Stadia and locations
Arda Beroe Botev Plovdiv Botev Vratsa
Arena Arda Beroe Hristo Botev Hristo Botev
Capacity: 11,114 Capacity: 12,128 Capacity: 18,777 Capacity: 6,417
Cherno More CSKA 1948 CSKA Sofia Etar
Ticha Bistritsa Balgarska Armia Ivaylo
Capacity: 6,250 Capacity: 2,500 Capacity: 22,995 Capacity: 18,000
Hebar
Location of teams in 2023–24 First League
Sofia 2023–24 First League football clubs
 Krumovgrad
Georgi Benkovski Krumovgrad
Capacity: 13,128 Capacity: 1,500
Levski Sofia Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Vivacom Arena - Georgi Asparuhov Lokomotiv
Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 8,610
Lokomotiv Sofia Ludogorets Razgrad Pirin Blagoevgrad Slavia Sofia
Lokomotiv Huvepharma Arena Hristo Botev Aleksandar Shalamanov
Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 10,422 Capacity: 7,500 Capacity: 25,556

Personnel and kits

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 Bulgaria Aleksandar Tunchev Bulgaria Ivan Kokonov Uhlsport efbet IK Nataliya Ltd.
Beroe Argentina José Acciari Bulgaria Bozhidar Penchev Dryworld[5] efbet —
Botev Plovdiv Bosnia and Herzegovina Dušan Kerkez Bulgaria Lachezar Baltanov Macron[6] WinBet —
Botev Vratsa Bulgaria Hristo Yanev Bulgaria Krasimir Kostov Nike WinBet Vratsa Municipality, SportRespect, Inex, Predsednik Ltd.
Cherno More Bulgaria Ilian Iliev Bulgaria Daniel Dimov Uhlsport[7] Armeets Planex Ltd.
CSKA 1948 Bulgaria Nikolay Panayotov Bulgaria Daniel Naumov Puma[8] efbet Bachkovo
CSKA Sofia England Nestor El Maestro Netherlands Jurgen Mattheij Macron[9] WinBet Haval
Etar Bulgaria Svetoslav Petrov Bulgaria Krum Stoyanov Nike[10] WinBet —
Hebar Bulgaria Lyuboslav Penev Bulgaria Petar Debarliev Jako efbet Pazardzhik Municipality
Krumovgrad Sweden Nemanja Miljanović Bulgaria Bozhidar Katsarov Uhlsport[11] Compass Cargo Airlines PIMK
Levski Sofia Bulgaria Nikolay Kostov Bulgaria Andrian Kraev Adidas[12] PalmsBet —
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Bulgaria Aleksandar Tomash Bulgaria Dimitar Iliev Joma[13] WinBet Money+, Fuel Card Distribution
Lokomotiv Sofia Serbia Danilo Dončić Bulgaria Krasimir Miloshev Joma Betano Casa Boyana, Malizia, Intesa, VIA 2000, Club 33
Ludogorets Razgrad Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev Bulgaria Anton Nedyalkov Nike efbet Vivacom, Huvepharma
Pirin Blagoevgrad Bulgaria Ivo Trenchev Bulgaria Aleksandar Dyulgerov Uhlsport 8888.bg —
Slavia Sofia Bulgaria Zlatomir Zagorčić Bulgaria Georgi Petkov Zeus bet365 Asset Insurance, SportRespect

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
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Levski Sofia Bulgaria Elin Topuzakov End of interim period 12 June 2023 Pre-season Bulgaria Nikolay Kostov 13 June 2023[14]
Beroe Bulgaria Veselin Penev 14 June 2023 Argentina Gustavo Aragolaza 15 June 2023[15]
Pirin Blagoevgrad Bulgaria Hristo Yanev End of contract 17 June 2023[16] Bulgaria Radoslav Mitrevski 17 June 2023[16]
Slavia Sofia Bulgaria Angel Slavkov End of interim period 22 June 2023 Spain José Mari Bakero 23 June 2023[17]
CSKA Sofia Serbia Saša Ilić Sacked 29 July 2023[18] 5th England Nestor El Maestro 29 July 2023[19]
CSKA 1948 Bulgaria Atanas Ribarski Resigned 15 August 2023[20] 7th Bulgaria Nikolay Panayotov 15 August 2023[21]
Botev Plovdiv Bulgaria Stanislav Genchev Mutual agreement 22 August 2023[22] 14th Portugal Rafael Ferreira (interim) 22 August 2023[23]
Pirin Blagoevgrad Bulgaria Radoslav Mitrevski Sacked 27 August 2023[24] 15th Bulgaria Ivo Trenchev 31 August 2023[25]
Botev Plovdiv Portugal Rafael Ferreira End of interim period 4 September 2023 11th Bosnia and Herzegovina Dušan Kerkez 4 September 2023[26]
Lokomotiv Sofia Bulgaria Stoycho Stoev Resigned 4 September 2023[27] 12th Serbia Danilo Dončić 4 September 2023[28]
Botev Vratsa Brazil Daniel Morales 18 September 2023[29] 13th Bulgaria Hristo Yanev 19 September 2023[30]
Beroe Argentina Gustavo Aragolaza Sacked 18 September 2023[31] 6th Argentina José Acciari 20 September 2023[32]
Slavia Sofia Spain José Mari Bakero 19 September 2023[33] 14th Bulgaria Ivan Kolev 20 September 2023[34]
Etar Bulgaria Emanuel Lukanov 30 September 2023[35] 16th Bulgaria Marin Stefanov (interim) 30 September 2023[36]
Bulgaria Marin Stefanov End of interim period 2 October 2023 16th Bulgaria Svetoslav Petrov 2 October 2023[37]
Slavia Sofia Bulgaria Ivan Kolev Mutual agreement 23 October 2023 15th Bulgaria Zlatomir Zagorčić 23 October 2023[38]
Ludogorets Bulgaria Ivaylo Petev Sacked 23 October 2023[39] 5th Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev 24 October 2023[40]

Regular season

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Cherno More 15 9 5 1 25 12 +13 32 Championship group
2 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 15 9 4 2 29 15 +14 31
3 CSKA Sofia 14 8 5 1 19 8 +11 29
4 Levski Sofia 14 8 2 4 23 11 +12 26
5 Ludogorets Razgrad 12 7 3 2 30 8 +22 24
6 Arda 13 7 3 3 21 8 +13 24
7 CSKA 1948 13 6 5 2 14 8 +6 23 Conference League group
8 Beroe 15 6 2 7 15 22 −7 20
9 Hebar 14 5 4 5 16 15 +1 19
10 Krumovgrad 15 5 3 7 13 20 −7 18
11 Botev Plovdiv 15 5 3 7 26 21 +5 18 Relegation group
12 Lokomotiv Sofia 15 4 2 9 10 29 −19 14
13 Pirin Blagoevgrad 15 3 2 10 9 23 −14 11
14 Slavia Sofia 14 3 2 9 9 24 −15 11
15 Botev Vratsa 15 3 1 11 10 29 −19 10
16 Etar 14 2 2 10 11 27 −16 8
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. 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.[41]

Results
Home \ Away ARD BER BPD BVR CHM CSK CSS ETA HEB KRU LEV LPD LSO LUD PIR SLA
Arda — 11 Nov 4–0 3–3 3–0 3–1 1 Nov 1–0 0–0
Beroe 1–0 — 0–0 0–3 2–0 2–1 0–1 3 Nov 3–0
Botev Plovdiv 0–2 4–1 — 1–2 1–2 1–3 3 Nov 6–0 3–1
Botev Vratsa 1–0 3–5 — 0–1 1–2 0–2 6 Nov 0–5 2–0
Cherno More 7 Nov 2–0 1–0 — 2–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 2–1
CSKA 1948 1–0 1–1 — 1–0 1–1 7 Nov 26 Oct 3–0
CSKA Sofia 0–0 1–1 2–0 — 6 Nov 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–1
Etar 2–2 1–2 2–1 1 Nov — 2–5 0–1 12 Nov 0–2 0–1
Hebar 1–0 1–0 1–1 11 Nov 0–0 — 0–0 3–4 1–2 1–0
Krumovgrad 1–3 1–0 1–3 1–0 12 Nov 0–0 — 2–2 2–0 3–1
Levski Sofia 12 Nov 1–0 1–0 1–2 a 1–0 1–0 — 6–0 0–1 2–0 a
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–0 1–2 1–1 4–0 0–2 4–0 2–1 — 10 Nov 2–0
Lokomotiv Sofia 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–3 0–1 2–4 — 1–3 2–0 a
Ludogorets Razgrad 5–0 2–2 3–0 5–0 29 Oct 5 Nov 1–1 — 4–0
Pirin Blagoevgrad 0–2 1–2 0–0 0–1 11 Nov 1–2 1–0 0–1 — 1–1
Slavia Sofia 1–0 10 Nov 1–5 0–2 6 Nov 2–0 0–2 1–2 2 Nov —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. 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.

Results by round
Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
ArdaDLWWLWWWWWLDD
BeroeWWLWDWLLLLDLLWW
Botev PlovdivDLDLLLWWDLLWLWW
Botev VratsaLWLLLLWLLWDLLLL
Cherno MoreDWWWWWDWWDWDDLW
CSKA 1948WWDLWWLDDWWDD
CSKA SofiaDWDLWDWWWWWDWD
EtarLLLDLLWLLLLLDW
HebarDLWDWWLLLLDDWW
KrumovgradWLLLWWWLDLLDWDL
Levski SofiaLWWLWWWDWWLDWL
Lokomotiv PlovdivDWWWWWWWWWDLDLD
Lokomotiv SofiaWLLWLLLLWLLDWDL
Ludogorets RazgradLWWWLWDWDWWD
Pirin BlagoevgradLLDLLLLLWWWDLLL
Slavia SofiaWLDLLLLLLLDWLW
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: Bulgarian Football
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Season statistics

Top scorers
As of 27 October 2023[42]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 France Antoine Baroan Botev Plovdiv 7
Bulgaria Atanas Iliev Cherno More
Haiti Duckens Nazon CSKA Sofia
Bulgaria Georgi Nikolov Hebar
Brazil Giovanny Lokomotiv Plovdiv
6 Bulgaria Ivelin Popov Botev Plovdiv 6
Bulgaria Preslav Borukov Arda
8 Spain Jawad El Jemili Levski Sofia 5
Brazil Rwan Cruz Ludogorets Razgrad
Cameroon Vinni Triboulet Beroe
11 Bulgaria Aleksandar Kolev Krumovgrad 4
Ghana Bernard Tekpetey Ludogorets Razgrad
Brazil Ewandro Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Norway Jonathan Lindseth CSKA Sofia
Bulgaria Ivaylo Chochev CSKA 1948
Croatia Martin Sekulić Botev Plovdiv
Brazil Matheus Machado Cherno More
Brazil Ricardinho Levski Sofia

Most assists
As of 27 October 2023[42]
Rank Player Club Assists
1 Brazil Giovanny Lokomotiv Plovdiv 7
2 Central African Republic Amos Youga CSKA Sofia 6
France Mazire Soula Cherno More
4 Mali Aboubacar Toungara Arda 4
France Antoine Baroan Botev Plovdiv
Brazil Caio Vidal Ludogorets Razgrad
Slovakia Róbert Mazáň Hebar
Brazil Welton Felipe Levski Sofia

Clean sheets
As of 27 October 2023[42]
Rank Goalkeeper Club Clean
sheets
1 Brazil Gustavo Busatto CSKA Sofia 8
2 Bulgaria Anatoli Gospodinov Arda 7
3 Bulgaria Daniel Naumov CSKA 1948 6
Croatia Dinko Horkaš Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Bulgaria Ivan Dyulgerov Cherno More
7 Estonia Matvei Igonen Hebar 5
Bulgaria Plamen Andreev Levski Sofia
Croatia Simon Sluga Ludogorets
Bulgaria Yanko Georgiev Krumovgrad
11 Bulgaria Aleksandar Lyubenov Lokomotiv Sofia 4
12 Argentina Rodrigo Accinelli Beroe 3
Ukraine Maksym Kovalyov Pirin Blagoevgrad
Bulgaria Nikolay Krastev Slavia Sofia

Hat-tricks
As of 30 September 2023
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Bulgaria Georgi NikolovHebarLokomotiv Plovdiv3–4 (H)[43]25 August 2023
France Antoine BaroanBotev PlovdivBeroe4–1 (H)[44]30 September 2023

References
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