2000–01 A Group

The 2000–01 A Group was the 53rd season of the A Football Group, the top Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948.

A Group
Season2000–01
ChampionsLevski Sofia
(22nd title)
RelegatedBotev Plovdiv, Minyor
Champions LeagueLevski
UEFA CupCSKA
Matches played182
Goals scored552 (3.03 per match)
Top goalscorerGeorgi Ivanov
(21 goals)

The league was contested by the top 12 teams from the 1999–2000 season as well as Cherno More Varna and Hebar Pazardzhik, who joined as the promoted clubs from the 1999–2000 B Group.

Defending champions Levski Sofia won their 22nd Bulgarian league title overall. Botev Plovdiv and Minyor Pernik were relegated at the end of the season by finishing in the last two places.

Teams

Fourteen teams competed in the league – the top twelve teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the B Group. The promoted teams were Cherno More Varna (returning to the top flight after a six-year absence) and Hebar Pazardzhik (returning after an eight-year absence). They replaced Dobrudzha Dobrich, Belasitsa Petrich, Pirin Blagoevgrad and Shumen.

Stadiums and Locations
Location of teams in 2000–01 A Group
Sofia 2000–01 A Group football clubs
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe 22,500
Botev Plovdiv Hristo Botev 22,000
Cherno More Varna Ticha 8,250
Chernomorets Burgas Chernomorets 22,000
CSKA Sofia Balgarska Armia 22,015
Hebar Pazardzhik Georgi Benkovski 13,128
Levski Sofia Georgi Asparuhov 29,200
Lovech Lovech Gradski 7,050
Lokomotiv Sofia Lokomotiv 22,000
Minyor Pernik Minyor 20,000
Neftochimic Burgas Lazur 18,037
Slavia Sofia Slavia 32,000
Spartak Varna Spartak 7,500
Velbazhd Kyustendil Osogovo 13,000

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Beroe Tsvetomir Parvanov Erima[1] AKSA[2]
Botev Plovdiv Georgi Lazarov Vitosha AD
Cherno More Bozhil Kolev Ventsislav Marinov Asics VAI Holding
Chernomorets Nikolay Rusev Angel Stoykov
CSKA Sofia Enrico Catuzzi Lotto
Hebar Voyn Voynov
Levski Sofia Ljupko Petrović Stanimir Stoilov Diadora Mobiltel
Lokomotiv Sofia Angel Kolev Adidas Delta-G
Lovech Ferario Spasov Vitomir Vutov Asics Litex Commerce
Minyor Ventsislav Arsov Nike
Neftochimic Dimitar Stoychev Veliyan Parushev Puma Petrol AD
Slavia Sofia Kiril Kachamanov Veselin Vachev Adidas Sofiyski Imoti
Spartak Varna Stefan Grozdanov
Velbazhd Dimitar Dimitrov Slavcho Pavlov Nike VIS-2

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Botev Plovdiv Dinko Dermendzhiev Mutual consent 1 June 2000 Pre-season Marin Bakalov 26 June 2000
Lovech Čedomir Đoinčević Sacked 10 June 2000 Pre-season Mihai Stoichiță 1 July 2000
Levski Sofia Dimitar Dimitrov Sacked 15 June 2000[3] Pre-season Vladimir Fedotov 7 July 2000[4]
CSKA Sofia Aleksandar Stankov End of caretaker tenure 23 June 2000 Pre-season Enrico Catuzzi 24 June 2000[5]
Beroe Ventsislav Kepov Mutual consent June 2000 Pre-season Nikola Ivanov June 2000
Slavia Miroslav Mironov Mutual consent June 2000 Pre-season Žarko Olarević June 2000
Cherno More Radoslav Zdravkov Mutual consent June 2000 Pre-season Bozhil Kolev June 2000
Velbazhd Dimitar Sokolov Mutual consent 26 June 2000 Pre-season Dimitar Dimitrov 26 June 2000[6]
Neftochimic Dimitar Stoychev Mutual consent 30 June 2000 Pre-season Salvatore Polverino 1 July 2000[7]
Neftochimic Salvatore Polverino Sacked 6 August 2000 13th Dimitar Stoychev 6 August 2000
Beroe Nikola Ivanov Sacked 14 August 2000 12th Petko Petkov 14 August 2000
Lokomotiv Sofia Pavel Panov Sacked 29 August 2000 8th Radoslav Zdravkov 29 August 2000[8]
Levski Sofia Vladimir Fedotov Sacked 30 August 2000[9] 2nd Nasko Sirakov (caretaker) 30 August 2000
Levski Sofia Nasko Sirakov End of caretaker tenure 2 October 2000 1st Ljupko Petrović 2 October 2000
Lovech Mihai Stoichiță Sacked 21 October 2000 6th Ferario Spasov 21 October 2000[10]
Slavia Sofia Žarko Olarević Mutual consent 27 November 2000 10th Kiril Kachamanov 27 November 2000[11]
CSKA Sofia Enrico Catuzzi Mutual consent 19 December 2000 2nd Aleksandar Stankov 20 December 2000
CSKA Sofia Aleksandar Stankov Mutual consent 3 March 2001 2nd Enrico Catuzzi 4 March 2001
Beroe Petko Petkov Sacked 20 March 2001 ? Tsvetomir Parvanov 20 March 2001
Lokomotiv Sofia Radoslav Zdravkov Sacked 29 April 2001 ? Angel Kolev 29 April 2001

League standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Levski Sofia (C) 26 22 3 1 63 13 +50 69 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2 CSKA Sofia 26 19 5 2 65 16 +49 62 Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 Velbazhd Kyustendil 26 18 3 5 48 29 +19 57
4 Lovech 26 17 4 5 70 23 +47 55 Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
5 Neftochimic Burgas 26 12 6 8 47 34 +13 42
6 Slavia Sofia 26 10 5 11 35 35 0 35
7 Spartak Varna 26 10 4 12 38 40 −2 34 Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
8 Lokomotiv Sofia 26 9 6 11 37 37 0 33
9 Hebar Pazardzhik 26 7 5 14 38 55 −17 26
10 Cherno More 26 7 5 14 20 49 −29 26
11 Chernomorets Burgas 26 6 4 16 22 48 −26 22
12 Beroe (O) 26 6 4 16 21 47 −26 22 Qualification for relegation play-off
13 Botev Plovdiv (R) 26 6 2 18 28 55 −27 20 Relegation to 2001–02 B Group
14 Minyor Pernik (R) 26 3 4 19 19 71 −52 13
Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian) and rsssf.com
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 season goal difference; 7th season goals scored; 8th "sportsmanship" (R & Y cards); 9th draw
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Lovech won the 2000–01 Bulgarian Cup and qualified for the 2001–02 UEFA Cup qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

Results
Home \ Away BSZ BOT CHB CHM CSK HEB LEV LSO LOV MIN NEF SLA SPV VEL
Beroe 3–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–2 1–2
Botev Plovdiv 1–0 2–1 1–0 0–1 3–1 1–4 0–1 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 2–3 1–4
Chernomorets Burgas 2–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 3–0 1–1 1–3 1–0 1–2
Cherno More 1–2 3–2 3–0 1–4 2–1 0–3 2–2 3–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–3
CSKA Sofia 5–0 3–0 4–0 1–0 9–2 1–1 3–0 0–0 3–0 4–0 1–0 2–0 2–0
Hebar Pazardzhik 3–0 3–0 5–1 2–0 2–4 0–1 2–2 1–4 3–0 2–2 3–0 2–1 1–3
Levski Sofia 3–0 3–0 4–0 6–0 2–1 4–1 1–0 2–1 4–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–0
Lokomotiv Sofia 3–2 3–2 0–1 3–0 1–4 3–1 0–2 2–2 6–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 0–0
Lovech 4–0 6–0 3–0 5–0 4–1 2–0 3–4 2–0 4–1 2–0 6–1 4–0 5–0
Minyor Pernik 2–0 4–3 2–0 1–1 1–4 1–1 0–4[lower-alpha 1] 0–1 1–4 1–4 0–3 1–2 0–0
Neftochimic Burgas 4–1 2–1 3–1 4–0 0–3[lower-alpha 2] 5–0 0–1 1–0 3–0 3–0 2–2 2–5 5–0
Slavia Sofia 1–1 1–0 1–2 3–0 0–2 2–0 0–0 3–1 0–0 7–1 0–0 3–2 0–2
Spartak Varna 4–1 1–0 4–3 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 4–0 1–2 2–0 0–3
Velbazhd Kyustendil 2–0 4–1 4–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 3–2 2–1 0–1 2–1
Source: todor66.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. Match awarded after was abandoned at 0-1 in 65th minute due to home fans throwing stones following a second sending off.
  2. Match awarded (originally finished 1–3).

Champions
Levski Sofia
Goalkeepers
01 Dimitar Ivankov250(5)
12 Georgi Sheytanov010(0)
30 Vihren Uzunov010(0)
Defenders
02 Martin Stankov180(0)
03 Stanimir Stoilov150(2)
05 Georgi Markov220(0)
06 Zahari Sirakov170(2)
11 Elin Topuzakov220(3)
14 Miroslav Savić080(0)
15 Aleksey Dionisiev070(0)
22 Ilian Stoyanov200(1)
23 Dalibor Dragić160(2)
Predrag Pažin*060(0)
Oleksandr Koval*030(0)
Midfielders
04 Biser Ivanov220(0)
10 Asen Nikolov070(0)
16 Chavdar Atanasov150(2)
17 Konstantin Golovskoy040(0)
19 Svetoslav Barkanichkov040(0)
20 Neško Milovanović050(0)
21 Dimitar Telkiyski150(5)
25 Yordan Terziev090(0)
26 Viktorio Pavlov010(0)
28 Vladislav Radimov030(1)
Aleksandar Aleksandrov*070(1)
Eduard Tsykhmeystruk*120(1)
Konstantin Kaynov*020(0)
Forwards
07 Rogério Gaúcho080(0)
08 Georgi Bachev110(2)
09 Georgi Ivanov24(21)
18 Krum Bibishkov020(1)
24 Miodrag Pantelić120(1)
29 Dimitar Makriev010(0)
99 Petar Mihtarski110(4)
Georgi Georgiev*040(3)
Manager
Ljupko Petrović
  • Pažin, Koval, Aleksandrov, Tsykhmeystruk, Kaynov and Georgiev left the club during a season.

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Georgi Ivanov Levski Sofia 22
2 Hristo Yovov Lovech 17
3 Stefan Yurukov Lovech 14
4 Vladimir Manchev CSKA Sofia 13
Valentin Stanchev Spartak Varna
Zoran Janković Lovech
7 Hristo Yanev CSKA Sofia 12
8 Martin Kushev Slavia Sofia 11
Boyko Velichkov Velbazhd Kyustendil
10 Ivan Tonchev Beroe Stara Zagora 9

Relegation Play-Off
Beroe Stara Zagora1 - 0Pirin Blagoevgrad
Zhelev  73'
Attendance: 2,000

References
  1. "„Берое в елита": 2000-2001 г. – Бараж" (in Bulgarian). beroe.bg.
  2. "Турски спонсор пое "Берое"" (in Bulgarian). capital.bg. 15 September 2000.
  3. "Димитър Димитров – Херо напуска Левски" (in Bulgarian). news.bg. 15 June 2000.
  4. "Циркът на Герена е с традиции" (in Bulgarian). bgfootball.com. 12 April 2012.
  5. "Енрико Катуци подписва с ЦСКА за 1 година" (in Bulgarian). segabg.com. 23 June 2000.
  6. "Димитър Димитров поема Велбъжд в понеделник" (in Bulgarian). segabg.com. 22 June 2000.
  7. "Българо-италианската връзка в Нефтохимик не сработи" (in Bulgarian). capital.bg. 21 July 2000.
  8. "Ради Здравков е новия треньор на Локомотив (Сф)" (in Bulgarian). news.bg. 29 August 2000.
  9. "Уволниха протежето на Чорни от Левски" (in Bulgarian). segabg.com. 31 August 2000.
  10. "Цената на треньорските авантюри на Гриша Ганчев" (in Bulgarian). capital.bg. 20 October 2000.
  11. "Славия избра най-лесния вариант за нов старши треньор" (in Bulgarian). capital.bg. 24 November 2000.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.