2008–09 A Group

The 2008–09 A Group was the 85th season of the Bulgarian national top football division, and the 61st of A Group as the top tier football league in the country. It began on 9 August 2008 and ended on 13 June 2009. CSKA Sofia were the defending champions, but they were unable to retain it and Levski Sofia won the title, which was their 26th overall.

A Group
Season2008–09
Dates9 August 2008 – 13 June 2009
ChampionsLevski Sofia
(26th title)
RelegatedVihren
Spartak
Belasitsa
Champions LeagueLevski
Europa LeagueCSKA
Cherno More
Litex (via domestic cup)
Matches played240
Goals scored619 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorerMartin Kamburov
(17 goals)
Biggest home winCherno More 6–0 Belasitsa
Levski 6–0 Botev
Biggest away winBelasitsa 1–7 Levski
Highest scoringVihren 3–5 Chernomorets
Belasitsa 1–7 Levski

Promotion and relegation

Three teams were promoted from the 2007–08 B Group. These include the champions of the East and West B Groups, as well as the promotion playoff winner, decided through a one match between the runners-up of the two B Groups. The promoted teams were Lokomotiv Mezdra, Sliven, and Minyor Pernik. Lokomotiv Mezdra made their debut in the top tier of Bulgarian football, Sliven return after a fifteen-year absence, while Minyor Pernik return to the top tier after a seven-year absence.

Teams promoted from B PFG after the 2007–08 season

Teams relegated to B PFG after the 2007–08 season

Team overview
Location of teams in 2008–09 A Group
Sofia 2008–09 A Group football clubs
Club Location Manager Venue Capacity
Belasitsa Petrich Bulgaria Miroslav Mitev Tsar Samuil Stadium 9,500
BotevPlovdiv Bulgaria Kostadin Angelov Hristo Botev Stadium, Plovdiv 22,000
Cherno MoreVarna Bulgaria Nikola Spasov Ticha Stadium 8,250
ChernomoretsBurgas Bulgaria Dimitar Dimitrov Naftex Stadium 18,037
CSKASofia Bulgaria Luboslav Penev Balgarska Armiya Stadium 22,015
LevskiSofia Bulgaria Emil Velev Georgi Asparuhov Stadium 29,800
LitexLovech Bulgaria Stanimir Stoilov Lovech Stadium 7,000
Lokomotiv MezdraMezdra Bulgaria Georgi Bachev Lokomotiv Stadium, Mezdra 5,000
Lokomotiv PlovdivPlovdiv Bulgaria Ayan Sadakov Lokomotiv Stadium, Plovdiv 13,800
Lokomotiv SofiaSofia Serbia Dragomir Okuka Lokomotiv Stadium, Sofia 22,000
MinyorPernik Bulgaria Dimitar Aleksiev Minyor Stadium 16,500
OFC SlivenSliven Bulgaria Georgi Dermendzhiev Hadzhi Dimitar Stadium 10,000
PirinBlagoevgrad Bulgaria Petar Tsvetkov Hristo Botev Stadium, Blagoevgrad 7,500
SlaviaSofia North Macedonia Stevica Kuzmanovski Ovcha Kupel Stadium 18,000
SpartakVarna Serbia Dragoljub Simonović Spartak Stadium 8,000
VihrenSandanski Bulgaria Filip Filipov Sandanski Stadium 6,000

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Levski Sofia (C) 30 21 6 3 57 18 +39 69 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 CSKA Sofia 30 21 5 4 54 22 +32 68 Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round
3 Cherno More 30 18 6 6 48 19 +29 60 Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round
4 Litex Lovech 30 17 7 6 53 26 +27 58 Qualification for Europa League play-off round[lower-alpha 1]
5 Lokomotiv Sofia 30 16 6 8 52 29 +23 54
6 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 30 12 7 11 40 43 −3 43[lower-alpha 2]
7 Chernomorets Burgas 30 11 10 9 41 37 +4 43[lower-alpha 2]
8 Lokomotiv Mezdra 30 10 7 13 39 41 −2 37[lower-alpha 3]
9 Slavia Sofia 30 11 4 15 41 38 +3 37[lower-alpha 3]
10 Pirin Blagoevgrad 30 10 5 15 35 50 −15 35[lower-alpha 4]
11 Minyor Pernik 30 9 8 13 24 39 −15 35[lower-alpha 4]
12 Sliven 30 8 8 14 32 40 −8 32
13 Botev Plovdiv 30 8 6 16 31 50 −19 30
14 Vihren (R) 30 8 2 20 29 50 −21 26 Relegation to 2009–10 B Group
15 Spartak Varna (R) 30 5 10 15 19 46 −27 25
16 Belasitsa Petrich (R) 30 4 5 21 24 71 −47 17
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. Litex Lovech won the 2008–09 Bulgarian Cup and qualified for the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League.
  2. Lokomotiv Plovdiv ahead of Chernomorets Burgas on head-to-head record; Chernomorets Burgas–Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–3, Lokomotiv Plovdiv–Chernomorets Burgas 1–1.
  3. Lokomotiv Mezdra ahead of Slavia Sofia on head-to-head record; Slavia Sofia–Lokomotiv Mezdra 0–0, Lokomotiv Mezdra–Slavia Sofia 1–0.
  4. Montana ahead of Slavia Sofia on head-to-head record; Minyor Pernik–Pirin Blagoevgrad 0–0, Pirin Blagoevgrad–Minyor Pernik 1–0.

Results
Home \ Away BEL BOT CHM CHB CSK LEV LIT LME LPL LSO MIN OFC PIR SLA SPV VIH
Belasitsa Petrich 0–2 2–0 0–1 0–3 1–7 1–1 1–3 1–2 2–4 0–0 2–1 1–4 2–5 0–0 1–2
Botev Plovdiv 5–0 2–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 3–1 2–2 0–4 1–2 1–3 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–1
Cherno More 6–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 4–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 5–0 2–0
Chernomorets Burgas 2–0 2–1 0–0 0–1 2–2 3–1 2–2 1–3 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 1–3
CSKA Sofia 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–2 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 4–1 2–1 3–0 2–0
Levski Sofia 2–0 6–0 3–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 3–1 1–0 0–3 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 5–0 3–2
Litex Lovech 4–1 5–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 1–2 2–1 3–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 0–1 2–1 2–0
Lokomotiv Mezdra 3–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 2–2 0–1 2–4 1–1 4–0 3–1 2–0 4–0 1–0 1–1 0–1
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–1 1–3 2–3 1–3 0–2 3–2 1–0 2–1 3–2 2–1 2–1 0–1
Lokomotiv Sofia 3–1 2–0 3–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–2 5–1 3–2 1–0 0–1 2–2 2–0
Minyor Pernik 0–3 1–0 2–2 1–0 0–1 0–2 0–0 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–2 0–0 1–0 3–1 3–2
OFC Sliven 0–2 3–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 0–0 2–2 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 2–0
Pirin Blagoevgrad 2–0 0–3 1–2 2–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 0–4 1–0 3–1 3–2 0–0 2–1
Slavia Sofia 3–0 4–0 0–2 2–0 1–2 0–1 0–3 0–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 3–1 2–3 1–2 2–0
Spartak Varna 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–3 0–2 0–1 0–4 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 1–2 1–1
Vihren 4–1 0–0 0–2 3–5 1–4 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–0 0–1 0–2 1–3 1–2 2–0
Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Champions
Levski Sofia
Goalkeepers
01Bulgaria Georgi Petkov170(0)
12Bulgaria Bozhidar Mitrev070(0)
29Slovakia Daniel Kiss030(0)
31Bulgaria Tsvetan Dimitrov030(0)
Defenders
02Bulgaria Viktor Genev140(0)
03Bulgaria Zhivko Milanov230(2)
05Morocco Youssef Rabeh220(0)
14Bulgaria Veselin Minev180(0)
15Morocco Chakib Benzoukane030(0)
20Czech Republic David Bystroň190(2)
25Bulgaria Lúcio Wagner160(0)
26Bulgaria Martin Dimov010(0)
33Bulgaria Stefan Stanchev010(0)
34Bulgaria Dimitar Dimitrov010(0)
37Bulgaria Simeon Ivanov010(0)
55Bulgaria Yordan Miliev040(0)
Midfielders
04Bulgaria Georgi Chakarov020(0)
06Morocco Rachid Tiberkanine140(3)
08Bulgaria Georgi Sarmov210(2)
16Bulgaria Mariyan Ognyanov010(0)
17Bulgaria Georgi Nedyalkov010(1)
18Bulgaria Miroslav Ivanov200(0)
20Brazil Joãozinho190(4)
21Brazil Zé Soares250(3)
22North Macedonia Darko Tasevski230(6)
24Bulgaria Nikolay Dimitrov170(1)
30Bulgaria Lachezar Baltanov150(0)
45Bulgaria Vladimir Gadzhev230(1)
70Portugal Filipe da Costa080(0)
Bulgaria Boyan Iliev*020(0)
Forwards
07Brazil Jean Carlos*040(1)
09Bulgaria Georgi Ivanov23(12)
10Bulgaria Hristo Yovov110(4)
11Bulgaria Georgi Hristov25(11)
19Bulgaria Ivan Tsachev090(4)
27Bulgaria Enyo Krastovchev030(0)
32Bulgaria Boyan Tabakov010(0)
Manager
Bulgaria Emil Velev
  • Iliev and Jean Carlos left the club during a season.

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Bulgaria Martin Kamburov Lokomotiv Sofia 17
2 Bulgaria Dormushali Saidhodzha CSKA Sofia1 14
3 Bulgaria Georgi Ivanov Levski Sofia 12
4 Bulgaria Yordan Yurukov Cherno More Varna 11
Bulgaria Georgi Hristov Levski Sofia
6 North Macedonia Zoran Baldovaliev Lokomotiv Sofia 10
Serbia Pavle Delibašić Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Brazil Michel Platini Chernomorets Burgas
9 Bulgaria Krum Bibishkov Litex Lovech 9
Argentina Adrián Fernández Chernomorets Burgas2
Bulgaria Miroslav Manolov Cherno More Varna
Serbia Saša Simonović Lokomotiv Mezdra
Bulgaria Ivan Stoyanov Sliven
Bulgaria Yordan Todorov CSKA Sofia

1. Saidhodzha scored 7 goals for Botev Plovdiv and 7 for CSKA Sofia (he was transferred during the winter break)
2. Fernández scored 4 goals for Cherno More Varna and 5 for Chernomorets Burgas (he was transferred during the winter break)

Annual awards

Team of the season

The team have been voted by selected media representatives (Note: First team members are denoted in bold).[1]

Petkov
I. Ivanov
Manolev
Minev
Rabeh
Yanchev
Alex
Joãozinho
Tonev
Kamburov
G. Ivanov
A PFG Team of the season, first squad
Position Name Club
Goalkeepers Kiril Akalski Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Georgi Petkov Levski
Defenders Tanko Dyakov Cherno More
Ivan Ivanov CSKA
Stanislav Manolev Litex
Zhivko Milanov Levski
Veselin Minev Levski
Youssef Rabeh Levski
Midfielders Alex Cherno More
Joãozinho Levski
Dani Kiki Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Aleksandar Tonev CSKA
Todor Yanchev CSKA
Kosta Yanev Sliven
Forwards Spas Delev Pirin
Georgi Ivanov Levski
Martin Kamburov Lokomotiv Sofia
Ivelin Popov Litex
Head coach Emil Velev Levski

See also

References
  1. "Вижте идеалния отбор на сезона в "А" група - петима от Левски срещу трима от ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 14 June 2009. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
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