108-409: PFG may refer to: A PFG - Bulgaria's top-level football league ("A" Professional Football Group); B PFG is the second-level league Performance Fishing Gear, a Columbia Sportswear product line Performance Food Group , an American Fortune 100 company and food distributor Peterson Field Guide - a book series Petroleum Facilities Guard -
216-421: A 0–0 draw against Cherno More Varna , Radukanov was unexpectedly fired by chairman Dimitar Borisov. Dimitar Penev was appointed as a temporary manager with Adalbert Zafirov as his assistant. In the spring, Stoycho Mladenov was again hired as head coach, and he led the club to a second-place league finish, a single point behind champions Ludogorets Razgrad after losing on the final day of the season. CSKA began
324-551: A Libyan oil company and militia Principal Financial Group - a publicly traded corporation based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA Provident Financial Group - a British sub-prime lender, also described as a "doorstep lender", based in Bradford, England Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title PFG . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
432-500: A betting company of the same name. The following data indicates Bulgarian coefficient rankings between European football leagues. UEFA League Ranking as of the end of 2022-23 season: UEFA 5-year Club Ranking as of 29 May 2021: The following is a table of all current Parva Liga head coaches and managers, and the time they've spent working with their respective clubs. Bold indicates all-time highest. PFC CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( Bulgarian : ЦСКА София )
540-408: A bigger role in the team. There were problems with player-indexing due to some unpaid obligations to Neftochimik . In the domestic championship, CSKA had only 16 players registered for the 1999–2000 season and some un-indexed players took part in official UEFA games. Consequently, at the shareholders meeting at the end of 1999, the club ownership was transferred to businessman Vasil Bozhkov . After
648-481: A contract. Most of the key players left CSKA while speculations about the club's bankruptcy circled in the media. After the serious financial problems led to CSKA's withdrawal from the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League , igniting multiple fan protests, the club was ultimately declared for sale. On 10 July 2013, it was officially purchased by the Red Champions Group, a union of businessmen and club legends. The leader of
756-515: A goal, prompting the resignation of head coach Stoycho Mladenov. Former team captain and youth team's coach Galin Ivanov was appointed as the new head coach, but after five more goalless matches, he was replaced by European football legend Lyuboslav Penev, a move widely praised by fans. On 2 April, CSKA club president Aleksandar Tomov transferred his controlling block of shares to Milko Georgiev and Borislav Lazarov, with club supporters intending to find
864-402: A home-away basis at a total of 30 games per team and played in 30 fixtures. Eight matches are played in every fixture at a total of 240 games played during the first phase. In the second phase, the top six teams form a European qualifying table, while between the 7th and 10th places will battle European Conference League play-off and bottom six teams participate in a relegation group. The winner of
972-615: A last-minute goal by Nako Chakmakov gave the club its first ever title. In 1950, the word " Narodna " ("Peoples" in English) was added to the name of the Central House of the Troops, changing it to Central House of the People's Troops ("Centralen Dom na Narodnata Voiska" in English), or C.D.N.V., effectively changing the club's name. The following two years, C.D.N.V. won two consecutive titles. In 1951,
1080-596: A league format since 1948 , when the A Group was established. The champions of the First League have the right to participate in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League based on the league's European coefficient . Additionally, two UEFA Europa Conference League spots are allocated to the second team in the final standings and the winner of the European playoffs. A further fourth spot may also be granted to
1188-527: A new owner and major sponsors capable of paying off the club's numerous debts. On 24 April, it was officially announced the club's new controlling owner would be the corporation Finance Marketing Company Ltd. CSKA finished the season in fifth position, but due to the unfunded debts, the BFU refused to issue the club a license for A Group for the upcoming season, instead sending the club to the South-Western V group ,
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#17330845849521296-477: A patron of Shipka Sofia , a unifying agreement was signed, merging AS-23 , Shipka , and Spartak (Poduene) to form Chavdar Sofia. Gen. Vladimir Stoychev from AS-23, who at the time was fighting on the front in World War II, was appointed (by telegram ) as the new club's chairman. Lawyer Ivan Bashev , a future Bulgarian foreign minister, was appointed club secretary and the person in charge of football. With
1404-415: A preliminary contract with a local investor to sell the club. The deal was finalized on 6 March 2009, and the ownership of the club was transferred to Titan Sport EAD, a subsidiary of Bulgarian waste management company Titan AS. Meanwhile, coach Dimitar Penev was replaced by his nephew, Lyuboslav Penev , who set aggressive goals for the club. After having led the league for most of the season, CSKA finished
1512-490: A simple goalkeeper mistake at the end of the match allowed Fulham to score, ending the game in a 1–1 draw. Despite the strong start, CSKA did not manage to earn any more points in the group stage and exited the competition after finishing fourth in its group. In November 2009, coach Luboslav Penev threatened to resign following a squabble with the club's management after they had reversed his decision to reprimand several players for disciplinary reasons, but decided to carry on with
1620-460: A total number of 32 games. Depending on their final position in Group A and Group B, two sections will be formed, one for a play-off spot in next season's European competitions and one to avoid relegation. The first two teams from each group continue in the semi-finals, and the last two teams of each group continue to the semi-finals for a relegation match. After this phase, one team is directly relegated to
1728-407: A total of 3 million dollars the year before, left the club on the grounds they had not received two monthly salaries. FIFA decided they had the right to leave and that CSKA had to pay them and release the players to their former club, Vasco da Gama . Alexander Stankov was temporarily appointed as head coach until the winter break, when Ferario Spasov officially took over. At the end of 2004, Spasov
1836-654: Is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League . CSKA is an abbreviation for Central Sports Club of the Army ( Bulgarian : Централен спортен клуб на армията ), named after the Bulgarian Army . CSKA is the most successful football club of Bulgaria according to the Europe's Club of
1944-460: Is an overall record of all match results, points and goals for each team that has participated in the league since its inception in 1948. It also shows every team's number of top three finishes, their best classification, debut season and current spell in Parva Liga, or the season they were last part of the championship. The table is accurate as of the end of the 2022–23 season. In order to put
2052-473: Is contested between the two most successful and most popular football clubs in Bulgaria, CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia . The Plovdiv derby is contested between Botev and Lokomotiv . For the start of the new 2012–13 season, the football clubs rejected requests from four TV stations due to the low payments being offered – Bulgarian National Television , Nova Television , TV7 and TV+ . Finally after
2160-592: The 1973–74 European Cup . They then faced German champions Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals. After losing 1–4 in the first leg in Munich , CSKA bowed out of the competition following a 2–1 win at home. Between 1975 and 1979, the club won two more domestic titles. The 1980–81 season was again a memorable one for CSKA Sofia, winning the Bulgarian title once more and twice beating European champion Nottingham Forest , both times with 1–0 scorelines, before being stopped by
2268-637: The 1992–93 UEFA Champions League by Austria Wien after losing 1–3 in Vienna and winning 3–2 in Sofia. In the meantime, Valentin Mihov was appointed president of the Bulgarian Football Union and Petar Kalpakchiev was chosen as his replacement. However, Kalpakchiev wrangled with the club's administration over their decisions to replace several coaches, one of which was Gjoko Hadžievski , considered to be leading
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#17330845849522376-447: The 1994–95 UEFA Cup , but the result was annulled by UEFA because of the delayed player-indexing of forward Petar Mihtarski , and Juventus were awarded a 3–0 victory by default. In the second leg in Turin , CSKA succumbed to a 5–1 defeat. In the summer of 1995, CSKA made a strong selection and eventually the club included half of the youth national football team of Bulgaria. Plamen Markov
2484-521: The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League because of unpaid obligations. The BFU then speculated this could also result in CSKA not being able to take part in the domestic championship, effectively turning it into an amateur club. Attempts to arrange a settlement with UEFA proved unsuccessful and CSKA lost its right to compete in the Champions League in favor of runners-up Levski Sofia. The person widely blamed for
2592-425: The 2022–23 season . The three phases were kept identical though, with the exception being that six teams would compete in the relegation group instead of four. For the 2024–25 season, the format was modified yet again. After the regular season concludes, the league would split into a top four group to determine the champion and European competition places, a second group for teams ranked fifth through eight to determine
2700-483: The Army Men played attractive matches under his leadership, Catuzzi resigned during the winter break, citing family problems. Aleksandar Stankov was appointed as coach again, but was replaced by Catuzzi again after two losses from Litex for the cup and the championship. The Reds finished second, seven points behind Levski. To start the 2001–02 season , CSKA's head coach was Asparuh Nikodimov , who would be fired during
2808-572: The Bulgarian Stock Exchange . Before the start of the new season, a few key players were no longer part of the club. Goalkeeper Raïs M'Bolhi was transferred to Major League Soccer (MLS) side Philadelphia Union after an impressive performance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup ; young talent Ivaylo Chochev joined Palermo ; club legends Martin Petrov and Todor Yanchev retired; and the team's leading scorer, Emil Gargorov , left due to conflict with
2916-572: The Second League and the remaining two teams will compete in two relegation matches against the second and the third ranked clubs from the Second League. In case of a tie on points between two or more clubs, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Bold indicates clubs which play in the 2024–25 First League . [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Notes : The all-time Parva Liga table
3024-564: The UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. The team that ranks second is awarded with a place in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. The third team in the final standings would participate in a play-off match against a representative team from the bottom eight. Depending on the winner of the Bulgarian Cup final, a possible fourth team from the first six may compete in a play-off match for an UEFA Europa League spot instead of
3132-568: The efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league, being the top tier of Bulgarian football league system . Contested by 16 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Second Professional Football League . The Bulgarian football championship was inaugurated in 1924 as the Bulgarian State Football Championship and has been played in
3240-566: The BFU and was allowed to compete in A Group. Despite all the difficulties, and to the surprise of the whole football community, Penev's young squad claimed the Bulgarian Supercup in August 2008, overcoming Litex 1–0. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season , the club managed to strengthen their ranks by signing Bulgarian internationals Zdravko Lazarov and Vladimir Manchev . On 24 December 2008, club owner Pramod Mittal announced he had signed
3348-613: The Century ranking of the International Federation of Football History & Statistics ( IFFHS ). Officially established on 5 May 1948, CSKA's roots date back to an army officers' club founded in 1923. The club has won a record 31 Bulgarian titles and 21 Bulgarian Cups . Internationally, CSKA are the only Bulgarian club to have reached the semi-finals of the European Cup , which they have done twice, and they have also reached
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3456-612: The Nova Broadcasting Group channels Diema, Diema Sport and Diema Sport 2 , part of the Diema Extra paid pack, as their contract with the league was additionally extended. Until 2011 the official sponsor of the championship was TBI Credit and the league was officially known as TBI A Football Group . In 2011–12 , A Group had a new sponsor, the Victoria FATA Insurance, and therefore the league name in that season
3564-492: The Reds , who won nine consecutive titles (an unprecedented achievement in Bulgarian football at the time and a record the club held for 60 years) and, in 1956, took part in the second installment of the newly created European Cup competition, reaching the quarter-finals. In 1962, CDNA was merged with DSO Cherveno Zname to form CSKA Cherveno Zname ("CSKA Red Flag"). The Central House of the People's Troops ceased its affiliation with
3672-424: The Second League. Starting from the 2022–23 season, a new league format was approved by the Bulgarian Football Union , in an attempt to improve each participating club's competitiveness, match attendance and performance in the league. It involves 16 teams playing in two phases, a regular season and playoffs. The first phase includes each club competing against every other team twice in a double round-robin system, on
3780-529: The assets of the clubs. The table below does not reflect the tables provided by official sources, including the Bulgarian Football Union. In general, the table presented below considers clubs bearing similar names and from the same city to be the same entity, and not separate clubs, whereas the Bulgarian Football Union considers the foundation of a new club to be a separate entity and records are kept separately. The Eternal Derby of Bulgarian football
3888-458: The autumn of 1948 . The ten teams participating in the league were Levski , Septemvri , Lokomotiv , Slavia and Spartak from the capital city Sofia , and Botev Varna , Botev Burgas , Slavia Plovdiv , Marek Stanke Dimitrov , Benkovski in a spring-autumn cycle like in the Soviet Union . In the autumn of 1949, qualification tournaments were played to determine the teams that would play in
3996-483: The beginning of the spring half of 2006–07 , CSKA found themselves six points behind Levski. As a result, Plamen Markov was replaced by Stoycho Mladenov. CSKA finished second. During the beginning of the 2007–08 season, CSKA purchased players for more than €2 million. The team was unluckily eliminated from the UEFA Cup in the first round by French side Toulouse after a 96th-minute goal from André-Pierre Gignac in
4104-445: The championship in second place, one point behind arch-rivals Levski. In 2009, CSKA earned a place in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League 's group stage after defeating Dynamo Moscow in the qualifying round and drew Roma , Basel and Fulham in the group stage . The first match was against Fulham in Sofia, where CSKA took the lead thanks to a beautiful goal by newly signed from Chernomoretz Burgas Brazilian Michel Platini . However,
4212-480: The club clinched their first double. In 1953 , the club was again renamed by the authorities, this time to Otbor na Sofiyskiya Garnizon ("Team of the Sofia Garrison"), and most of the key players were illegally transferred out. The title was lost. The following year, the club was renamed CDNA ( Central House of the People's Army ), and the years between 1954 and 1962 marked one of the most successful periods for
4320-469: The club in the right direction, and eventually he was fired. The owner of the Multigroup conglomerate, Iliya Pavlov , took over as president, but ultimately his sponsorship proved insufficient to overcome the club's ineffective management. Five coaches were changed in just one season, with Tsvetan Yonchev being coach for just one day. In Europe, CSKA nevertheless defeated Juventus 3–2 in the first round of
4428-489: The club shortened the difference to only two points before the decisive match for the title at Georgi Asparuhov Stadium . CSKA dominated Levski for most of the match, as Dimitar Berbatov made several serious misses, but a last-minute goal from Georgi Ivanov secured the title for Levski. In the summer of 2000, the Italian Enrico Catuzzi was retained as head coach, who managed to revive the team. However, even though
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4536-533: The club, which was taken over by the Ministry of People's Defense. CSKA finished third after Spartak Plovdiv and Botev Plovdiv in the 1962–63 season . The following season , CSKA had its worst performance in the Bulgarian championship to date, finishing 11th in the final table, only three points from relegation. This led to the sacking of legendary coach Krum Milev after 16 years at the helm. CSKA did not recapture
4644-415: The clubs under the name "Septemvri pri CDV" (Septemvri at CDV). The contract was signed on 5 May 1948, which is officially considered the club's date of foundation. The club's played its first official match on 19 May 1948 against Slavia Sofia at Yunak Stadium, a 1–1 draw. Septemvri pri CDV eliminated Aprilov ( Gabrovo ) and Spartak Varna en route to the final, where it faced Levski Sofia , losing 1–2 in
4752-401: The clubs. The new league name also came with a new format change, the fourth such in the last four seasons. A total of 14 teams would compete, and the season would consist of two phases, a regular season phase, where each team plays each other team twice, followed by a playoff phase, where the top six teams from the regular season compete for the title as well as European competition spots, while
4860-512: The committee's decision was reversed and the players were reinstated. As Sredets, the club finished in fourth place in the 1985–86 season . In 1987, the club was renamed CFKA Sredets ("Central Football Club of the Army Sredets"), and the following three years were marked by a formidable performance, even as Septemvri Sofia ended their 20-year partnership with CFKA in 1988 and became an independent club again. Coached by Dimitar Penev , CFKA won
4968-603: The competition has been dominated by Sofia -based teams. Together they have won a total number of 70 titles. The first football championship in Bulgaria was held in 1924 as a knockout tournament . It was organised by the Bulgarian National Sports Federation (BNSF). The six inaugural teams were Vladislav Varna , Orel Vratsa , Levski Sofia , Krakra Pernik , Pobeda Plovdiv and Chernomorets Burgas , each having won and representing its regional sports federation, called sportna federatsiya . The championship
5076-403: The crisis was club president Aleksandar Tomov, who resigned shortly after and was arrested and charged with embezzling millions of levs from CSKA and Kremikovtzi AD . The problems with the license exposed the club's weak financial situation and led to chaos and panic, prompting many of the key players to flee, including head coach Stoycho Mladenov himself, who left saying he was not happy with
5184-428: The decade modestly, claiming second place domestically and reaching the round of 16 in 1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup , where they fell to English side Chelsea 0–2 on aggregate. However, from 1971 to 1973, CSKA won three consecutive titles and delivered one of the biggest surprises in European football when it eliminated reigning European champion Ajax – considered the finest team of all time – 2–1 on aggregate in
5292-622: The derby with Levski to play for a club in Saudi Arabia . After the end of the season, Ivanov also left the club. CSKA finished in third place. In the summer of 1998, Dimitar Penev took the lead as head coach for the second time. CSKA reached the second round of the UEFA Cup and won the Bulgarian Cup, but disappointed in the domestic league, finishing in fifth place in 1999 . That season, the young talents of Martin Petrov , Stilian Petrov , Dimitar Berbatov and Vladimir Manchev started to play
5400-449: The fire sale of so many important players. The future of CSKA looked grim, its status as a professional club hanging in the balance. In the midst of the crisis, Dimitar Penev was given the head coach's job for the third time and burdened with the task of saving the club. With almost all senior players gone, Penev had no choice but to rely on members of the CSKA youth squad. Ultimately, CSKA managed to fulfill all licensing requirements set by
5508-409: The first leg. The decisive second match occurred on 9 September 1948. Septemvri pri CDV's lineup consisted of: Stefan Gerenski, Borislav Futekov, Manol Manolov , Dimitar Cvetkov, Nikola Aleksiev, Nako Chakmakov (captain), Dimitar Milanov , Stoyne Minev, Stefan Bozhkov , Nikola Bozhilov and Kiril Bogdanov. The score was 3–3 on aggregate, as Septemvri pri CDV led 2–1 near the end of regulation time, when
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#17330845849525616-409: The first set of fixtures, the satellite broadcaster Bulsatcom with its channel TV+ bought the rights, along with BNT . Before the start of the spring half-season the rights were bought by TV7 and News7 , who had rights for the first, third and fourth pick, and BNT 1 along with the international channel BNT World broadcasting the second pick of a match. The next seasons will also be broadcast on
5724-434: The first two fixtures in the spring of 2000, which the club lost, Dimitar Penev was relieved as coach and in his place was appointed Georgi Dimitrov – Jacky , who was later replaced by Spas Dzhevizov . After a 1–1 draw with Pirin at Bulgarian Army Stadium , Dzhevizov handed in his resignation and Aleksandar Stankov took his place. Even though at times CSKA had fallen as far as nine points behind league leaders Levski,
5832-686: The fourth placed team in the final league ranking, given that the Bulgarian Cup holder has finished among the top three teams at the end of the season. A total of 75 clubs have competed in the Bulgarian top-tier since its establishment, with FC Krumovgrad being the newest member of the top tier, after promotion in 2023. Since 1948 , eleven different teams have been crowned champions of Bulgaria. The three most successful clubs are CSKA Sofia with 31 titles, Levski Sofia with 26 titles and Ludogorets Razgrad with 13 titles. The current champions Ludogorets Razgrad won their twelfth consecutive title in their twelfth First League season in 2022–23 . Historically,
5940-581: The future European champions Liverpool with a 6–1 defeat on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the European Cup. The next season, CSKA reached their second-straight European Cup semi-final, eliminating Spanish champions Real Sociedad , Glentoran and Liverpool after losing 0–1 in England and winning 2–0 at home with two goals by Stoycho Mladenov . In the semi-final, the Reds again faced Bayern Munich. The first leg
6048-520: The group was Aleksandar Tomov, former club president widely blamed for CSKA's financial crisis in 2008. Stoycho Mladenov was hired back as manager by the new owners. The club made several major signings for the new season, bringing in former team captains Valentin Iliev , Emil Gargorov and Todor Yanchev . Algeria 's national goalkeeper Rais M'Bolhi and ex- Premier League stars Mamady Sidibé and Martin Petrov were also brought on board. On 19 October 2013,
6156-475: The help of Mihail Mihaylov again, in February 1948, Chavdar became the departmental club of the Central House of the Troops ("Centralnia Dom na Voiskata") and took on the name of CDV. Looking for ways to stop the club's decline, CDV's administrators sought to merge it with another club. In May 1948, an agreement was reached between CDV and Septemvri Sofia (which had already earned a place in the play-offs) for uniting
6264-539: The job. Their disagreements eventually boiled over in January 2010 and the board relieved Penev of the position. Reports in the press pointed to former CSKA coach Miodrag Ješić as a possible replacement, but even though Ješić expressed a desire to come back to CSKA, his current contract with Libyan club Alittihad Tripoli ruled him out. On 17 January, the club retained Romanian specialist Ioan Andone as coach. Andone brought two Romanian players with him and set out to overhaul
6372-469: The last two teams were directly relegated to the lower division and the team that finished 12th had the chance to compete in the promotion/relegation play-off for the remaining place in the league. Levski Sofia became champions in the first season of the Premier League. In the 2001/02 season there was experimentation with the regulations. The championship was divided into two phases. In the first phase
6480-415: The league was again going to be played in the autumn-spring format . Despite the fact that the teams had played just 1 match, CDNA was crowned as the champion of Bulgaria. The frequent changes in the number of teams in A Group continued in the 1960s. In the first two seasons after the reforms in 1958, the number of teams in the league was 12, in the period 1960–1962 – 14, until season 1967/68 , when
6588-694: The league's name has been A Football Group . In 2007–08 , CSKA became champions of A Group for a record-breaking 31st time without a loss out of 30 matches. But in the summer, UEFA didn't give a licence for the club to play in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds and Levski Sofia entered to play in the tournament instead of CSKA. In the following season Levski Sofia won their last A Group title, finishing one point ahead of CSKA. Later on, two consecutive seasons Litex Lovech won another two titles like in 1997–98 and 1998–99 . In 2011–12 , after winning promotion from B Group , Ludogorets Razgrad became
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#17330845849526696-618: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PFG&oldid=1167567515 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bulgarian A Professional Football Group The First Professional Football League ( Bulgarian : Първа професионална футболна лига , romanized : Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga ), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as
6804-483: The managing board. CSKA were surprisingly eliminated by the Moldovan side Zimbru Chișinău in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League 's second qualifying round , but performed well in the domestic league during the first half of the season, beating rivals Levski twice more and being on the top of the table ahead of Ludogorets before the winter break. However, after the season resumed, CSKA lost three-straight matches without scoring
6912-625: The match 2–1, even though they had missed a penalty when the score was 2–0. By decree of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party , both teams were disbanded and re-founded under new management. CSKA was renamed Sredets while Levski was renamed Vitosha . Several players were banned from participating in official matches for varying periods of time, including Hristo Stoichkov and Kostadin Yanchev from CSKA. One year later,
7020-689: The middle of the autumn half of the season, CSKA achieved some significant wins, defeating Levski 1–0 in the Eternal Derby and eliminating Ludogorets Razgrad in the round of 32 of the Bulgarian Cup. In late December 2012, head coach Stoycho Mladenov was abruptly fired by the club owners for "disciplinary" reasons, and Miodrag Ješić was appointed in his place. During the winter transfer window, CSKA made several signings, such as Bulgarian internationals Martin Kamburov and Spas Delev , in addition to South-American players Marcinho and Ignacio Varela . After managing
7128-415: The name of CSKA Septemvriysko Zname ("CSKA September Flag"). The club clinched the title in 1969 with the help of recent acquisition Petar Zhekov , who would go on to become the top Bulgarian goalscorer of all time, a record Zhekov held for 52 years until he was surpassed by Martin Kamburov in 2021. The 1970s are widely considered the period when CSKA made its name on the European stage. The club began
7236-505: The next 1950 season. In the next two seasons the number of teams in the league was increased to 12, and for the 1953 season there were 15 teams (the 16th team was the Bulgaria national team ). In seasons 1954 and 1955 there were 14 teams in the league, and in seasons 1956 and 1957 there were 10. In 1958 , the championship was again stopped after the spring half-season, as had happened in 1948 . New re-organizations were accepted and
7344-529: The patronage of the Ministry of War , which provided the equipment. In 1931, AS-23 won their first Bulgarian championship and The Tsar's Cup, followed by another Tsar's Cup in 1941. The club's stadium (completed in 1938) was named Athletic Park and was situated where the Bulgarian Army Stadium now resides. On 9 November 1944, with the support of Mihail Mihaylov, an accountant at the Ministry of War and
7452-426: The players anyway. At the end of the season, the Army Men secured the title well in advance, finishing 16 points ahead of second-placed Levski and without losing a single match. On 5 May 2008, the club marked its 60th birthday with big celebrations organized by the management. An alley of fame was built, comprising the names of the most successful current and former players of CSKA. On 24 May 2008, an exhibition match
7560-403: The reborn CSKA crushed city rivals Levski 3–0 and were given the nickname The Phoenixes . By the end of the season, CSKA smashed Levski three more times and finished in second place, behind Ludogorets Razgrad. On 21 March 2014, as part of the plan to reduce debt and make the club's finances more transparent, CSKA became the first club from Eastern Europe to be publicly traded by listing itself on
7668-411: The regular season standings. The teams that enter Group A are the 7th, 10th, 11th and the 14th, and the teams that participate in Group B are the 8th, 9th, 12th and the 13th. Every participant plays twice against the other three teams in their group on a home-away basis. The teams from the bottom eight also compete with the results from the regular season. After the group stages, every team will have played
7776-412: The remaining eight teams would compete for avoiding relegation to the Second League. This format was used from 2016 up until 2021. In 2021, the BFU decided to once more change the format of the league. This time, the league would still consist of a regular season stage where teams compete against each other twice, but then the league would split into three phases. The top six clubs would again compete for
7884-510: The season by being surprisingly eliminated from international football by Slovenian side Mura 05 . While the first leg in Slovenia ended in a 0–0 draw, a 1–1 tie at home eliminated the Reds from the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round. The start of the domestic championship was unimpressive as well –- a 0–1 loss to Litex, in which the club had no right to use its new signings due to administrative restrictions. However, in
7992-413: The second leg 1–0 away at Anfield . In the UEFA Cup , the Reds eliminated Bayer Leverkusen (with Dimitar Berbatov in the team) with two 1–0 wins and reached the group stage, where they finished fifth with three points from four matches and were eliminated. During the winter break of the 2005–06 season , the club was in first place, seven points ahead of Levski. However, during the spring, CSKA lost
8100-451: The second leg. CSKA was also eliminated from the Bulgarian Cup in the Round of 16 by Lokomotiv Plovdiv. The match was engulfed in a scandal because of three CSKA players who at the time were on loan at Lokomotiv ( Stoyko Sakaliev , Aleksandar Branekov and Ivan Ivanov ). The players had clauses in their contracts restricting them from playing matches against CSKA, but Lokomotiv's management used
8208-399: The second team after Litex to win the A Group in their first season. The Bulgarian Football Union made some changes in the format of A Group prior to season 2013–14 with the reduction of the number of the teams participating in the top league from 16 to 14 and the reintroduction of the two phase league with a regular season and a playoff/play out phase. For the 2014–15 season , the league
8316-484: The semi-final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once. CSKA's home colors are red and white and its home ground is the Bulgarian Army Stadium . The club's biggest rivals are Levski Sofia and matches between the two sides are known as " The Eternal Derby of Bulgaria". In November 1923, football clubs Athletic Sofia and Slava Sofia merged to form AS-23 , short for Officers' Sports Club Athletic Slava 1923 , under
8424-449: The seven-point advantage and ultimately finished second, three points behind Levski. Club president Vasil Bozhkov blamed head coach Miodrag Ješić for the failure to capture the title and fired him, while some supporters blamed Bozhkov instead. Former CSKA head coach Plamen Markov was appointed in Ješić's place. Bozhkov then announced that he would restrict the finances of the club and that during
8532-444: The talent of Hristo Stoichkov and decided to bring him to Barcelona the following year, effectively launching Stoichkov's international career. The decade, immediately following the fall of communism , brought turbulent changes to Bulgarian football, and the club was not spared. The CSKA name was restored starting with the 1989–90 season and they won the title again. In March 1991, former footballer and administrator Valentin Mihov
8640-430: The team for only two matches in the spring, Ješić was sacked and replaced by fan favourite Milen Radukanov, with whom the club managed to finish the season with the bronze medals. In June 2013, former FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Hristo Stoichkov was released from Litex Lovech to replace Radukanov on the bench, but the poor financial condition of the club forced him to leave shortly after his arrival without even having signed
8748-401: The team that would compete in the playoffs for UEFA Conference League (team that finished fourth in the top group would play against the fifth-placed team), as well as a bottom eight group consisting of teams competing to avoid relegation, with the last two teams being directly relegated, while the 14th and 15th placed teams would compete in a playoff against the third and fourth placed teams from
8856-403: The team. However, over the next six matches, CSKA won only two matches, drew arch-rivals Levski 0–0 and lost second place to Lokomotiv Sofia . On 30 March, after two months on the job, Andone resigned, citing family reasons. Former CSKA defender Adalbert Zafirov was put in his place. At the same time, the club turned to Dimitar Penev again, naming him supervisor of the coaching staff. Despite
8964-433: The teams on equal terms, 3 points are awarded for a win and 1 for a tie, although the regulation of the various championships was different. The points are calculated according to the results achieved on the field. Administrative withdrawal of points is not taken into account. Canceled matches, as well as playoffs for promotion/remaining or participation in European tournaments, are not taken into account and are not included in
9072-404: The teams played a regular season, each team playing twice against all the others, once home and once away. The second phase was a play-off phase. In the following season, 2002/03 , the championship returned to the regulations of 2000/01 – 14 teams playing in a home and away format. For the first time in 6 years , CSKA Sofia became champions. The Bulgarian A Professional Football Group
9180-766: The teams were 16. There were new reforms at the end of the 1960s. There were many mergers between Bulgarian clubs. The most-famous are between CSKA Red Flag and Septemvri Sofia in CSKA September Flag, the capital teams Levski and Spartak in Levski-Spartak, Lokomotiv and Slavia in Slavia, the Plovdiv teams Botev , Spartak and Academic in Trakiya. Mergers happened between other Bulgarian clubs too. These mergers between clubs and reforms in A Group were made at
9288-427: The third ranked team. Note: If the Bulgarian Cup winner has secured its qualification for the European tournaments for the next season through results from Parva Liga, then the place in the UEFA Europa League play-off is awarded to the fourth ranked team in the final standings. The teams in the bottom eight are split in two sub-groups of four teams, Group A and Group B, depending on their final position after
9396-530: The title and European spots, while teams ranked 7-10 at the end of the regular season would play in the Europa Conference Group, with the 7th placed team competing against the 4th placed team from the Championship group for a UEFA Europa Conference League spot. The bottom four teams would compete to avoid relegation. This format lasted only one season, however, as the league was expanded to 16 teams for
9504-421: The title for the first time since 1997. However, Mladenov was fired the following season after losing to Galatasaray in the qualifying rounds of the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and after giving a less than impressive performance in the first round of the UEFA Cup , where the club lost on penalty kicks to Torpedo Moscow . Immediately after, two of the new arrivals, Léo Lima and Rodrigo Sousa , purchased for
9612-515: The title in 1987 and 1989 and reached the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals against Barcelona in 1989. In reaching this stage in the tournament, CFKA had eliminated Roda JC after penalty kicks following a 2–1 win at home and a 1–2 loss away. Barcelona, coached by former Dutch international Johan Cruyff , won both matches (4–2 in Barcelona and 2–1 in Sofia) and CFKA were eliminated, but Cruyff did notice
9720-511: The title until 1966 . However, during the 1966–67 season , CSKA recorded its first major international achievement, reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup for the first time, where they faced Italian giants Inter . After two hard-fought 1–1 draws, a third decisive match was played, which CSKA lost 0–1. The next two seasons were unmemorable for the Army Men , finishing in fifth and second place respectively. In 1968, CSKA underwent another merger, joining with Septemvri Sofia and taking on
9828-509: The title until the 1984–85 season , where they finished second behind arch-rivals Levski, but still managed to reach the Bulgarian Cup final. On 18 June 1985, the final for the Bulgarian Cup was held at the Vasil Levski National Stadium between CSKA and Levski Sofia. The match was marked by many questionable referee decisions and saw several brutal fights, including an assault on a referee by some of Levski's players. CSKA won
9936-454: The top group is declared as Champions of Bulgaria and is awarded with the title. The six top teams compete against each other on a home-away basis. Three matches are played in every fixture of the top six, with the results and points after the regular season also included. At the end of the stage, every team will have played a total of 36 games. The winner of the group is declared as Champions of Bulgaria and automatically secures participation in
10044-400: The tumultuous second half of the season, CSKA managed to finish at second place in the table, behind champions Litex, and prepared to enter the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League . In the summer of 2010, the club hired Pavel Dochev as head coach, but after a string of unsatisfactory results, including a 0–1 loss to Levski Sofia and a 1–2 loss to Chernomorets Burgas, he
10152-411: The upcoming season CSKA will not be aiming at the title. In December 2006, Bozhkov sold the club to Indian steel tycoon and owner of Kremikovtzi AD , Pramod Mittal , brother of ArcelorMittal 's Lakshmi Mittal . Former Bulgarian politician Aleksandar Tomov became president of the club and assured the supporters that CSKA would, in fact, be aiming at both the championship and the cup. After two draws in
10260-402: The winter break of the 1968/69 season. After the winter reforms in 1968 until 2000, A Group remained with 16 teams, except in seasons 1971/72 and 1972/73 , when 18 teams competed in the league. The Bulgarian Football Union decided to make reforms. The Premier Professional Football League, created in the autumn of 2000, had 14 teams participating in it. At the end of the 2000/01 season,
10368-432: The winter break, as CSKA was situated two points behind Levski. He was replaced by another Italian, Luigi Simoni . Simoni failed to make CSKA champions as the club finished third and lost the Bulgarian Cup final to Levski. Simoni left at the end of the season. In the summer of 2002, former CSKA striker Stoycho Mladenov was appointed as head coach. With him, the team set a record of 13 consecutive wins in 13 matches and won
10476-500: Was abandoned, because of a dispute between Vladislav and Levski over the replay of the final game. In the following 1925 season, SK Vladislav became the first champion of Bulgaria. The championship was reorganised for three seasons, from season 1937–38 to 1939–40, ten teams participated in a round-robin tournament , called the National Football Division . The inaugural season of the A Republican Football Group began in
10584-498: Was appointed head coach, but after a disappointing first half of the season, he was replaced by Georgi Vasilev , who had previously won three Bulgarian titles (one with Etar Veliko Tarnovo and two with Levski Sofia). Vasilev managed to win a double with CSKA for the 1996–97 season , entering the second qualifying round of the Champions League against Steaua București . After a dramatic 3–3 in Bucharest , CSKA fell 0–2 at home. Vasilev
10692-402: Was chosen as president of CSKA. The club bought some of the most talented Bulgarian players, including Yordan Letchkov , Ivaylo Andonov and Stoycho Stoilov , among others. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense concluded their affiliation with the club. Despite the uncertainty and the numerous problems that followed, CSKA won the title again in 1992. They were later eliminated in the first round of
10800-451: Was created in 2003. The group was formed by 16 teams, each playing twice against all the others, once home and once away. In the first season of the newly created A Group, the 2003–04 season, for the first time in history, Lokomotiv Plovdiv became champions, finishing with 75 points. In 2004–05 , CSKA Sofia won A Group for the 30th time. For the next two seasons, Levski Sofia were champions under manager Stanimir Stoilov . From 2005–06
10908-485: Was fired. His place was taken by the relatively unknown Macedonian manager Gjore Jovanovski , who kept his job for just three months before being replaced by his assistant Milen Radukanov . Under Radukanov, CSKA won the 2011 Bulgarian Cup and the Bulgarian SuperCup , beating league champions Litex Lovech 3–1. CSKA started 2011–12 with eight-straight league victories, but after a 1–2 defeat against Slavia Sofia and
11016-426: Was held in Sofia and started with a full dominance over Bayern, as by the 16th minute, CSKA were leading 3–0 in front of 85,000 jubilant spectators who saw the European final in their dreams. But the final score was 4–3 for CSKA. In Munich, the club suffered a 4–0 defeat, ending what is still the deepest run by a Bulgarian side in the European Cup or UEFA Champions League. In the domestic league, CSKA did not let go of
11124-415: Was once more decreased, this time to 12 teams, keeping the two phase format. This season was memorable since two of the most popular and successful clubs, CSKA Sofia and Lokomotiv Sofia, were both excluded from the league, despite finishing in the top 5 places. Both teams had accumulated debts and did not have the financial resources to pay them, so the BFU decided to take away their professional licenses. This
11232-423: Was played between the current squad and a mixed team of Bulgarian and foreign football stars. The mixed team was coached by former German international Lothar Matthäus , who was a special guest for the anniversary celebrations. The match ended 6–6. In June 2008, only days after CSKA won its 31st title, UEFA notified the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) that the club would not receive a license for participating in
11340-429: Was rebranded to Victoria A Football Championship . In early 2013, for a short period of time the naming rights of A Group were bought from the news television network News7 , eventually renaming the competition's name to NEWS7 Football Championship . On 11 July 2019, the Bulgarian Football Union announced that the football division's name had been changed to efbet League , following a two-year sponsorship deal with
11448-401: Was replaced by Serbian coach Miodrag Ješić , despite the club's first place in the league. With Ješić at the helm, CSKA won their record 30th domestic title in 2005. For the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League , after eliminating Tirana in the second qualifying round, CSKA were paired against reigning European champions Liverpool. The club lost 1–3 in the first match in Sofia, but surprisingly won
11556-536: Was the first time in the history of the A Group that CSKA was relegated. For the 2015–16 season , the BFU decided to further decrease the number of teams competing, this time to just 10, with a quadruple round robin format introduced, a format used in the Croatian First Football League and Albanian Kategoria Superiore . On 7 June 2016 the league's name was changed to First Professional Football League , following approval of new licensing criteria for
11664-406: Was unexpectedly released from the club at the beginning of the second half of the 1997–98 season after a 3–0 win over Spartak Pleven . Coach Petar Zehtinski took his place. That year, the club saw the return of Hristo Stoichkov, Emil Kostadinov and Trifon Ivanov , but the three of them challenged each other for the captain's band. Stoichkov played in only four matches and left CSKA right before
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