The 2019–20 First Professional Football League, also known as Efbet League for sponsorship reasons, was the 96th season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, the 72nd since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid, and also the 4th season of the First Professional Football League, which decides the Bulgarian champion. Ludogorets Razgrad were the defending champions after winning their 8th consecutive title in the previous season. On 21 June 2020 the team from Razgrad clinched its 9th championship with four games to spare after a 2:1 win home win over Beroe. The season began in July 2019 and was scheduled to end in May 2020, but was completed in July 2020.

Impact of the coronavirus pandemic Suspension of championship and measures pertaining to fan attendance after resumption After the possibility of playing matches without spectators was initially envisioned, on 13 March 2020, the Bulgarian Football Union decided to suspend all fixtures until 13 April in accordance with the measures taken to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. On 3 April 2020, the state of national emergency was extended until 13 May 2020 and on 11 April the Minister of Youth and Sports Krasen Kralev confirmed that no mass participation sports events and full training sessions will be held until that date. On 14 May, it was announced that footballers would be given the opportunity to train together over the course of the next three weeks, subject to the observance of strict rules and a gradual increase in the number of participants. The competitive matches resumed on 5 June (with the post-regular season phase – the championship and relegation rounds – shortened in half). The expectations in mid May were that no fans would be allowed, but on 2 June a decree by Minister of Health Kiril Ananiev permitted the presence of spectators, subject to the restriction that no more than 30% of the stadium capacity is occupied and social distancing in terms of seating is adhered to. On 12 June, it was decided that since 15 June the stadiums could be filled up to 50% capacity. On 23 June, a requirement of no more than 1000 spectators per section of the stands was imposed. The match between Vitosha and Tsarsko Selo was postponed from 26 June to 27 June after it was reported that four Vitosha players and a physiotherapist had tested positive for COVID-19, but their PCR tests eventually produced negative results. Due to a number of fans and Lokomotiv Plovdiv players who had tested positive in the aftermath of the Bulgarian Cup final, the 9 July match between Lokomotiv Plovdiv and CSKA Sofia (the same teams that contested the final) was held behind closed doors. After a continuous rise in the number of infections in the period between mid June and early July, in a decree valid from 10 July, spectators were once again forbidden to attend football matches.

Footballers with positive tests for COVID-19 In May 2020, prior to the restart of the matches, Emil Viyachki and Krasimir Stanoev tested positive for the coronavirus. Tomi Juric (in June 2020) and Martin Kavdanski's results (in July 2020) also turned out to be positive. In Kavdanski case, his initial result had come back negative due to a laboratory mix-up, as a result of which he played in the match against Cherno More on 2 July. On 6 July, it was announced that three additional Tsarsko Selo footballers as well as sixteen footballers and staff members from Cherno More had been identified as having the virus. Between 8 July and 10 July, it was officially confirmed that nine Lokomotiv Plovdiv players and two non-playing personnel members had been infected. Positive tests were also reported for two Dunav Ruse footballers and one from Botev Plovdiv. Infected footballers were subject to a 14-day quarantine, with the majority of them reportedly either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization.

Teams Fourteen teams are competing in the league – the top twelve teams from the previous season, and two teams promoted from the Second League.

Tsarsko Selo Sofia were promoted as champions of the 2018–19 Second League. This will be their debut in the Bulgarian top tier. Tsarsko Selo replaces Vereya, who were disqualified for match-fixing, ending their 3-year stay in the Bulgarian top tier.

The second team to be promoted was Arda, who earned promotion after winning their play-off match against Septemvri Sofia. Arda's win meant that the team will make their first appearance in the Bulgarian top tier, while Septemvri ended their two-year stay in the First League.

Stadiums and locations Arda Beroe Botev Plovdiv Botev Vratsa Arena Arda Stadion Beroe Futbolen kompleks Botev 1912 Stadion Hristo Botev Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 12,128 Capacity: 4,000 Capacity: 12,000 Cherno More CSKA Stadion Ticha Stadion Balgarska Armia Capacity: 8,250 Capacity: 22,995 Dunav Ruse Etar Gradski stadion Stadion Ivaylo Capacity: 12,400 Capacity: 15,000 Levski Lokomotiv Stadion Georgi Asparuhov Stadion Lokomotiv Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 13,220 Ludogorets Slavia Tsarsko Selo Vitosha Huvepharma Arena Stadion Slavia Arena Tsarsko Selo Stadion Bistritsa Capacity: 10,422 Capacity: 25,556 Capacity: 1,550 Capacity: 2,500

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 AdditionalArda Nikolay Kirov Plamen Krumov Nike Efbet —Beroe Dimitar Dimitrov Martin Kamburov Uhlsport — Refan, Ajax GroupBotev Plovdiv Ferario Spasov Lachezar Baltanov Uhlsport WinBet —Botev Vratsa Antoni Zdravkov Valeri Domovchiyski Errea WinBet —CSKA Sofia Stamen Belchev Petar Zanev Adidas A1 Bulgaria WinBet, BaristoCherno More Ilian Iliev Daniel Dimov Uhlsport Armeets —Dunav Ruse Lyudmil Kirov Diyan Dimov Joma WinBet —Etar Petko Petkov Hristo Ivanov Joma WinBet —Levski Sofia Georgi Todorov Zhivko Milanov Nike 7777.bg —Lokomotiv Plovdiv Bruno Akrapović Dimitar Iliev Uhlsport Efbet General BrokerLudogorets Pavel Vrba Svetoslav Dyakov Nike Efbet VivacomSlavia Sofia Zlatomir Zagorčić Georgi Petkov Joma bet365 Asset InsuranceTsarsko Selo Luboslav Penev Reyan Daskalov Nike WinBet —Vitosha Bistritsa Asen Bukarev Chetin Sadula Jumper Efbet Athletic Fitness 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 TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Levski Sofia Georgi Todorov End of caretaker tenure 29 May 2019 Pre-season Petar Hubchev 29 May 2019 Etar Krasimir Balakov Signed by Bulgaria 29 May 2019 Rosen Kirilov 9 June 2019 Botev Plovdiv Nikolay Kirov Sacked 29 May 2019 Željko Petrović 9 June 2019 Vitosha Bistritsa Rosen Kirilov Mutual consent 3 June 2019 Engibar Engibarov 6 June 2019 Ludogorets Stoycho Stoev Sacked 25 August 2019 2nd Stanislav Genchev 25 August 2019 CSKA Sofia Ljupko Petrović Mutual consent 2 October 2019 4th Miloš Kruščić 2 October 2019 Botev Plovdiv Željko Petrović Sacked 16 October 2019 13th Ferario Spasov 16 October 2019 Beroe Aleksandar Tomash Mutual consent 22 October 2019 8th Dimitar Dimitrov 23 October 2019 Botev Vratsa Sasho Angelov 5 November 2019 12th Antoni Zdravkov 11 November 2019 Etar Rosen Kirilov 2 December 2019 10th Petko Petkov 10 December 2019 Vitosha Bistritsa Engibar Engibarov 17 December 2019 14th Asen Bukarev 27 December 2019 Ludogorets Stanislav Genchev End of caretaker tenure 1 January 2020 1st Pavel Vrba 1 January 2020 Tsarsko Selo Nikola Spasov Mutual consent 1 April 2020 11th Luboslav Penev 30 April 2020 Arda Kardzhali Stamen Belchev 14 April 2020 9th Nikolay Kirov 21 April 2020 Levski Sofia Petar Hubchev 11 June 2020 4th Georgi Todorov 11 June 2020 CSKA Sofia Miloš Kruščić 2 July 2020 3rd Stamen Belchev 2 July 2020

Regular season League table

Results

Positions by round

Results by round

Championship round Championship round table Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.

Positions by round Below the positions per round are shown. As teams did not all start with an equal number of points, the initial pre-playoffs positions are also given.

Relegation round Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.

Group A

Group B

European play-offs Bracket

European play-off quarter-finals

European play-off semi-final

European play-off final

Relegation play-offs Relegation group

Relegation finals

Dunav Ruse are relegated to the Third League.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals1 Martin KamburovBeroe182 Ismail IsaCherno More13 Ali SoweCSKA Sofia4 Dimitar IlievLokomotiv Plovdiv12 Claudiu KeșerüLudogorets6 Nigel RoberthaLevski Sofia117 EvandroCSKA Sofia10 Radoslav VasilevArda9 Todor NedelevBotev Plovdiv9 Stanislav IvanovLevski Sofia Rodney AntwiTsarsko Selo

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Todor Nedelev Botev Plovdiv Dunav Ruse 3–1 21 July 2019

Clean sheets

RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Gustavo BusattoCSKA Sofia172 Milan MijatovićLevski Sofia133 Martin LukovLokomotiv Plovdiv114 Plamen IlievLudogorets9 Dušan PernišBeroe6 Georgi GeorgievLevski Sofia8 Krasimir KostovBotev Vratsa Blagoy MakendzhievDunav Miodrag MitrovicCherno More

Transfers List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2019 List of Bulgarian football transfers winter 2019–20

Attendances

Notes

References