The 2015–16 A Group was the 92nd season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, and 68th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid. The season has started on 17 July 2015 and is expected to end in May 2016. The league is contested by ten teams. Ludogorets Razgrad were the defending champions, and successfully defended the title after Levski Sofia's home loss against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the 29th round. The title is Ludogorets' fifth consecutive and overall.

Competition format The league is contested by ten teams and will be played in a quadruple round robin format, with each team playing every other team four times over 36 rounds.

Teams A total of 12 teams were set to contest the league, including the best 10 sides from the previous season, plus two promoted clubs from the lower division B Group.

On 22 June 2015, the BFU announced the final list of participants for the 2015–16 season. CSKA Sofia and Lokomotiv Sofia were both denied a professional license for the following season due to outstanding debts and would have to compete in the V AFG or fold. The group was kept at 10 teams. Marek Dupnitsa and Haskovo, who finished in the bottom two places of the table at the end of previous season, also failed to receive professional license, and were relegated to V Group.

The relegated teams were replaced by Montana, the 2014–15 B Group champions and Pirin Blagoevgrad, the 2014–15 B Group runner-up. While Montana returns to the top division after two years, Pirin reaches again the highest class after 4 years.

Stadia and locations Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team Location Stadium Capacity (seating)Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe 12,128 Botev Plovdiv Botev 1912 Football Complex 4,000 Cherno More Varna Ticha 8,250Levski Sofia Georgi Asparuhov 25,000Litex Lovech Gradski 8,100Lokomotiv Plovdiv Lokomotiv 10,000 Ludogorets Razgrad Ludogorets Arena 7,500Montana Montana Ogosta 6,000Pirin Blagoevgrad Hristo Botev 7,000Slavia Sofia Slavia 25,556

Personnel and sponsoring 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 sponsorBeroe Plamen Lipenski (caretaker) Ivo Ivanov Uhlsport BEROE, RefanBotev Plovdiv Nikolay Kostov Yordan Hristov Uhlsport efbetCherno More Nikola Spasov Mihail Venkov Uhlsport ArmeetsLevski Sofia Ljupko Petrović Veselin Minev Joma Vivacom, efbet, StrabagLitex Lovech Lyuboslav Penev Anton Nedyalkov adidas PrimaLokomotiv Plovdiv Ilian Iliev Martin Kamburov Uhlsport efbetLudogorets Razgrad Georgi Dermendzhiev Svetoslav Dyakov Macron eCasino.bg, VivacomMontana Emil Velev Hristo Ivanov Jako Montana MunicipalityPirin Blagoevgrad Naci Şensoy Yuliyan Popev Joma LafkaSlavia Sofia Aleksandr Tarkhanov Georgi Petkov Joma Asset Insurance, efbet

Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Pirin Blagoevgrad Ivo Trenchev End of caretaker tenure 31 May 2015 Pre-season Nedelcho Matushev 6 June 2015 Ludogorets Razgrad Georgi Dermendzhiev Resigned 31 May 2015 Bruno Ribeiro 17 June 2015 Litex Lovech Krasimir Balakov 11 July 2015 Ljupko Petrović (interim) 12 July 2015 Botev Plovdiv Petar Penchev Sacked 25 July 2015 9th Ermin Šiljak 27 July 2015 Litex Lovech Ljupko Petrović (interim) Resigned 5 August 2015 1st Laurențiu Reghecampf 5 August 2015 Ludogorets Razgrad Bruno Ribeiro Sacked 2 September 2015 1st Eduard Eranosyan 2 September 2015 Pirin Blagoevgrad Nedelcho Matushev Resigned 26 September 2015 10th Naci Şensoy 14 October 2015 Ludogorets Razgrad Eduard Eranosyan 6 November 2015 3rd Georgi Dermendzhiev 6 November 2015 Montana Ferario Spasov 8 November 2015 9th Emil Velev 11 November 2015 Botev Plovdiv Ermin Šiljak 9 November 2015 8th Nikolay Kostov 11 November 2015 Slavia Sofia Ivan Kolev 30 November 2015 6th Vladimir Ivanov (caretaker) 30 November 2015 Litex Lovech Laurențiu Reghecampf Signed by Steaua București 3 December 2015 3rd Ljupko Petrović (interim) 3 December 2015 Slavia Sofia Vladimir Ivanov End of caretaker tenure 18 December 2015 5th Aleksandr Tarkhanov 18 December 2015 Litex Lovech Ljupko Petrović (interim) End of contract 23 December 2015 10th Lyuboslav Penev 22 January 2016 Lokomotiv Plovdiv Hristo Kolev Mutual agreement 26 February 2016 7th Ilian Iliev 26 February 2016 Beroe Petar Hubchev Sacked 7 April 2016 4th Plamen Lipenski (caretaker) 8 April 2016 Levski Sofia Stoycho Stoev Mutual agreement 13 May 2016 2nd Ljupko Petrović 17 May 2016

League table

Results

Relegation playoff

Positions by round

Season statistics

Round Goal of the week Club1 Danilo Aspirilla vs Ludogorets Litex2 Sténio vs Ludogorets Cherno More3 Georgi Bozhilov vs Pirin Blagievgrad Beroe4 Aleksandar Kolev vs Pirin Blagievgrad Botev Plovdiv5 Atanas Zehirov vs Cherno More Beroe6 Aleksandar Vasilev vs Pirin Blagievgrad Ludogorets7 Bozhidar Vasev vs Cherno More Botev Plovdiv8 Arsénio Nunes vs Botev Plovdiv Litex9 Ivan Minchev vs Slavia Montana10 Georgi Kostadinov vs Botev Plovdiv Levski Sofia11 Roman Procházka vs Litex Levski Sofia12 Claudiu Keșerü vs Levski Sofia Ludogorets13 Atanas Zehirov vs Slavia Beroe14 Nemanja Milisavljević vs Cherno More Beroe15 Atanas Zehirov vs Botev Plovdiv Beroe16 Igor Djoman vs Litex Beroe17 Roman Procházka vs Slavia Levski Sofia18 Spas Delev vs Levski Sofia Beroe19 Strahil Popov vs Ludogorets Litex20 Georgi Dinkov vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv Beroe21 Nemanja Milisavljević vs Pirin Blagoevgrad Beroe22 Miguel Bedoya vs Cherno More Levski Sofia23 Serder Serderov vs Botev Plovdiv Slavia24 Georgi Andonov vs Botev Plovdiv Beroe25 Ventsislav Hristov vs Pirin Blagoevgrad Levski Sofia26 Marcelinho vs Beroe Ludogorets27 Martin Kamburov vs Pirin Blagoevgrad Lokomotiv Plovdiv28 Roman Procházka vs Botev Plovdiv Levski Sofia29 Nemanja Milisavljević vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv Beroe30 Stefan Velev vs Botev Plovdiv Lokomotiv Plovdiv31 Ventsislav Hristov vs Cherno More Levski Sofia32 Emil Gargorov vs Ludogorets Lokomotiv Plovdiv33 Ventsislav Hristov vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv Levski Sofia34 Georgi Iliev vs Botev Plovdiv Cherno More35 Martin Kamburov vs Cherno More Lokomotiv Plovdiv36 Veselin Marchev vs Pirin Blagoevgrad Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Martin KamburovLokomotiv Plovdiv182 Claudiu KeșerüLudogorets Razgrad153 Mathias CoureurCherno More114 Martin ToshevPirin Blagoevgrad105 WandersonLudogorets Razgrad96 Ventsislav HristovLevski Sofia87 MarcelinhoLudogorets Razgrad7 Ivaylo DimitrovSlavia Sofia Lachezar BaltanovBotev Plovdiv Jonathan CafuLudogorets Razgrad Borislav Baldzhiyski1Slavia Sofia12 Anton KarachanakovSlavia Sofia6 Roman ProcházkaLevski Sofia Ivan MinchevMontana Ismail IsaBeroe Stara Zagora Miguel BedoyaLevski Sofia

Note 1 Including 2 goals for Montana.

Updated on 28 May 2016

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Montana Botev Plovdiv 6–0 Lokomotiv Plovdiv Pirin Blagoevgrad 4–2 Levski Sofia Cherno More 5–1 Updated on 28 April 2016

Clean sheets Levski Sofia – 13 Ludogorets – 12 Slavia Sofia – 12 Beroe – 11

Transfers List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2015 List of Bulgarian football transfers winter 2015–16

Attendances

# Club Average Highest 1 Levski 3,558 12,500 2 Ludogorets 3,000 7,000 3 Beroe 2,491 5,200 4 Pirin 2,438 4,100 5 Botev 2,194 3,500 6 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1,959 6,700 7 Cherno More 1,619 4,300 8 Montana 1,491 3,600 9 Lovech 1,334 5,800 10 Slavia Sofia 595 3,600

Source:

References