2012–13 A Group

The 2012–13 A Group was the 89th season of the Bulgarian national top football division, and the 65th of A Group as the top tier football league in the country. The season began on 11 August 2012[1] and ended with the last games on 25 May 2013. Ludogorets Razgrad won the A Group title for a second consecutive season, after Levski were leading prior to the last round match, but made a draw with Slavia.[2][3][4][5]

A Group

Season	2012–13
Dates	11 August 2012 – 25 May 2013
Champions	Ludogorets Razgrad (2nd title)
Relegated	Botev Vratsa Minyor Pernik Etar 1924 Montana
Champions League	Ludogorets Razgrad
Europa League	Levski Sofia Botev Beroe
Matches played	240
Goals scored	600 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorer	Basile de Carvalho (19 goals)
Biggest home win	Levski 7–1 Etar 1924
Biggest away win	Pirin 0–5 CSKA Sofia
Highest scoring	Levski 7–1 Etar 1924
← 2011–12 2013–14 →

Teams

Vidima-Rakovski, Kaliakra and Svetkavitsa were relegated after finishing in the bottom three places of the table at the end of season 2011/12.[6][7][8] Vidima and Kaliakra return to the second tier after two-year spells in the elite, while Svetkavitsa return after just one season in the top tier.

The relegated teams were replaced by Pirin (Gotse Delchev), champions of West B Group, Etar 1924 (Veliko Tarnovo), champions of East B Group and promotion play-off winners Botev (Plovdiv). Botev returned to A Group after three years of absence, while Pirin made their debut on the highest level of Bulgarian football. For Etar 1924 this is the first season in A Group since 1997–98.

Stadia and locations

As in the previous year, the league comprised the best thirteen teams of season 2011–12, the champions of the two B Groups and the winners of the promotion play-offs.

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.[9]

Sofia

Botev

Beroe

Cherno More

Etar 1924

Ludogorets

Chernomorets

Litex

Botev
Lokomotiv

Minyor

Montana

Pirin

Location of teams in 2012–13 A Group

CSKA

Levski

Lokomotiv

Slavia

Sofia 2012–13 A Group football clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Beroe	Stara Zagora	Beroe	12,300
Botev	Plovdiv	Hristo Botev	18,000
Botev	Vratsa	Hristo Botev	32,000
Cherno More	Varna	Ticha	8,250
Chernomorets	Burgas	Lazur	18,037
CSKA	Sofia	Balgarska Armiya	22,015
Etar 1924	Veliko Tarnovo	Ivaylo	18,000
Levski	Sofia	Georgi Asparuhov	19,200
Litex	Lovech	Lovech	8,100
Lokomotiv	Plovdiv	Lokomotiv	10,000
Lokomotiv	Sofia	Lokomotiv	22,000
Ludogorets	Razgrad	Ludogorets Arena	6,000
Minyor	Pernik	Minyor	8,000
Montana	Montana	Ogosta	8,000
Pirin	Gotse Delchev	Gradski	5,000
Slavia	Sofia	Ovcha Kupel	15,992

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 sponsor
Beroe Stara Zagora	Petar Hubchev	Doncho Atanasov	Uhlsport	Bulsatcom
Botev Plovdiv	Stanimir Stoilov	Asen Karaslavov	adidas	KTB AD
Botev Vratsa	Antoni Zdravkov	Iliya Iliev	Zeus	—
Cherno More Varna	Georgi Ivanov	Georgi Iliev	Misho	Armeets
Chernomorets Burgas	Dimitar Dimitrov	Trayan Dyankov	Legea	—
CSKA Sofia	Milen Radukanov	Ivan Bandalovski	Legea	GLOBUL
Etar	Serdar Dayat	Dormushali Saidhodzha	Jumper	CBA
Levski Sofia	Nikolay Mitov	Stanislav Angelov	Puma	VTB Bank, M-tel
Litex Lovech	Hristo Stoichkov	Nebojša Jelenković	adidas	b-connect
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	Stefan Genov	Zdravko Lazarov	Uhlsport	—
Lokomotiv Sofia	Emil Velev	Kristian Dobrev	Joma	MALIZIA, Casa Boyana
Ludogorets Razgrad	Ivaylo Petev	Emil Gargorov	adidas	Navibulgar
Minyor Pernik	Nikolay Todorov	Ivaylo Tsvetkov	Jumper	Municipal Insurance Company
Montana	Stoycho Stoev	Georgi Mechedzhiev	Jako	Ogosta Icecream
Pirin	Tencho Tenev	Petar Lazarov	Tinger	—
Slavia Sofia	Velislav Vutsov	Bogomil Dyakov	Joma	—

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ludogorets Razgrad (C)	30	22	6	2	58	13	+45	72	Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2	Levski Sofia	30	22	5	3	59	20	+39	71	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3	CSKA Sofia	30	19	6	5	54	20	+34	63	Excluded from European competitions[lower-alpha 1]
4	Botev Plovdiv	30	18	6	6	51	21	+30	60	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
5	Litex Lovech	30	15	5	10	56	24	+32	50
6	Chernomorets Burgas	30	14	5	11	32	28	+4	47
7	Beroe	30	13	6	11	36	38	−2	45	Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
8	Slavia Sofia	30	12	6	12	39	35	+4	42
9	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	30	10	9	11	37	34	+3	39
10	Cherno More	30	9	8	13	33	39	−6	35
11	Pirin Gotse Delchev	30	10	4	16	27	57	−30	34
12	Lokomotiv Sofia	30	7	10	13	27	38	−11	31[lower-alpha 3]
13	Botev Vratsa (R)	30	8	7	15	23	51	−28	31[lower-alpha 3]	Relegation to 2013–14 B Group
14	Minyor Pernik (R)	30	5	5	20	20	49	−29	20
15	Montana (R)	30	4	4	22	27	57	−30	16
16	Etar (R)	30	4	4	22	20	75	−55	16

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) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. PFC CSKA Sofia were excluded from European competitions due to debts.
2. Beroe Stara Zagora qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2012–13 Bulgarian Cup.
3. Lokomotiv Sofia ahead of Botev Vratsa on head-to-head record; Lokomotiv Sofia–Botev Vratsa 3–0, Botev Vratsa–Lokomotiv Sofia 0–0.

Results

Home \ Away	BSZ	BOT	BVR	CHM	CHB	CSK	ETA	LEV	LIT	LPL	LSO	LUD	MIN	MON	PGD	SLA
Beroe		2–1	4–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–2	2–3	2–1
Botev Plovdiv	1–2		5–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	3–1	5–0	3–0
Botev Vratsa	0–0	0–0		1–0	0–2	3–4	2–1	1–3	0–4	1–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	3–1	1–2	1–0
Cherno More	2–1	0–0	1–1		1–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	0–3	2–0	2–1	5–1	0–0
Chernomorets Burgas	0–1	1–2	2–1	3–3		1–1	2–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–0
CSKA Sofia	2–0	1–0	3–0	3–2	2–0		3–1	1–0	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	2–1
Etar	0–2	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–3	0–4		0–3	0–4	1–1	2–2	1–5	0–3	2–1	0–1	1–1
Levski Sofia	2–0	3–1	2–0	4–0	1–0	2–1	7–1		2–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	2–0	1–1
Litex Lovech	1–2	0–1	5–1	4–1	1–0	1–0	6–1	1–2		2–2	1–2	0–2	0–0	2–0	5–0	5–0
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	1–2	2–2	0–1	1–0	2–0	0–2	3–0	0–1	1–1		2–0	2–5	5–1	4–0	1–0	1–0
Lokomotiv Sofia	2–2	1–2	3–0	0–0	0–3	2–1	3–0	1–1	0–2	1–1		0–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–0
Ludogorets Razgrad	3–1	2–0	4–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	4–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	2–1		3–0	3–0	1–1	2–1
Minyor Pernik	3–0	0–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–4	1–0	0–4	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–2		2–1	2–0	2–4
Montana	1–3	0–2	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–3	2–3	0–2	1–3	1–2	2–3	0–3	2–0		3–0	0–1
Pirin Gotse Delchev	0–0	0–1	2–1	3–2	0–1	0–5	2–2	1–1	0–2	2–1	2–0	0–2	2–1	4–2		0–3
Slavia Sofia	6–1	2–2	1–2	1–0	3–0	0–2	3–0	1–3	2–1	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–0

Source: A PFG
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Champions

Ludogorets Razgrad

Goalkeepers
01	Uroš Golubović	06	0(0)
21	Vladislav Stoyanov	14	0(0)
91	Ivan Čvorović	10	0(0)

Defenders
04	Tero Mäntylä	05	0(0)
05	Alexandre Barthe	14	0(3)
20	Guilherme Choco	06	0(0)
25	Yordan Minev	24	0(0)
27	Cosmin Moți	21	0(1)
33	Ľubomír Guldan	22	0(2)
77	Vitinha	04	0(0)
80	Júnior Caiçara	28	0(0)

Midfielders
06	Georgi Kostadinov	06	0(0)
07	Mihail Aleksandrov	15	0(5)
08	Stanislav Genchev	28	0(3)
10	Sebastián Hernández	09	0(0)
14	Mitchell Burgzorg	12	0(2)
15	Nemanja Milisavljević	06	0(0)
18	Svetoslav Dyakov	28	0(3)
19	Dimo Bakalov	15	0(4)
22	Miroslav Ivanov	26	0(4)
84	Marcelinho	25	0(6)
99	Franck Guela*	13	0(1)

Forwards
09	Roman Bezjak	14	0(5)
11	Juninho Quixadá	17	0(3)
23	Emil Gargorov	22	0(6)
73	Ivan Stoyanov	28	0(9)

Manager
	Ivaylo Petev

• Guela left the club during a season.

Season statistics

Top scorers Rank Scorer Club Goals[10] 1 Basile de Carvalho Levski Sofia 19 2 Ivan Tsvetkov Botev Plovdiv 17 3 Georgi Milanov Litex Lovech 16 4 Georgi Andonov Beroe Stara Zagora 12 5 Ismail Isa Litex Lovech 11 6 Todor Nedelev Botev Plovdiv 9 Ivan Stoyanov Ludogorets Razgrad 9 Armando Vajushi Litex Lovech 9 9 Rangel Abushev Lokomotiv Plovdiv 8 Ventsislav Hristov Beroe Stara Zagora / Chernomorets Burgas 8 Michel Platini CSKA Sofia 8 Awards Weekly awards Player of the Round Round Player of the Round Player Club Round 1[11] Ivan Tsvetkov Botev Plovdiv Round 2[12] Simeon Raykov Levski Sofia Round 3 Marcelinho Ludogorets Razgrad Round 4[13] Basile de Carvalho Levski Sofia Round 5[14] Anicet Andrianantenaina CSKA Sofia Round 6[15] Marcelinho Ludogorets Razgrad Round 7[16] Emil Gargorov Ludogorets Razgrad Round 8[17] Todor Nedelev Botev Plovdiv Round 9[18] Serge Nyuiadzi CSKA Sofia Round 10[19] Georgi Milanov Litex Lovech Round 11[20] Ismail Isa Litex Lovech Round 12 Ivan Tsvetkov Botev Plovdiv Round 13[21] Stanislav Genchev Ludogorets Razgrad Round 14[22] Basile de Carvalho Levski Sofia Round 15[23] João Silva Levski Sofia Round 16[24] Armando Vajushi Litex Lovech Round 17[25] Serginho CSKA Sofia Round 18[26] Georgi Milanov Litex Lovech Round 19[27] Georgi Bozhilov Cherno More Round 20[28] Michel Platini Mesquita Cska Sofia Round 21[29] Georgi Milanov Litex Lovech Round 22[30] Zdravko Lazarov Slavia Sofia Round 23[31] Garry Rodrigues Levski Sofia Round 24[32] João Silva Levski Sofia Round 25[33] Marcinho CSKA Sofia Round 26[34] Yordan Gospodinov Lokomotiv Plovdiv Round 27[35] Ivan Tsvetkov Botev Plovdiv Round 28[36] Stanislav Angelov Levski Sofia Round 29[37] Iliya Iliev Botev Vratsa Transfers List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2012 List of Bulgarian football transfers winter 2012–13 References The new season begins Ludogorets Razgrad completed a remarkable league-and-cup double by being crowned champions of Bulgaria "Ludogorets wins the championship". Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2012-11-07. Ludogorets Razgrad - the new champion of Bulgaria Ludogorets wins A PFG Vidima was relegated from A PFG, after losing against Levski Sofia Litex send Kaliakra into B PFG after –-0 win Svetkavica is relegated from A PFG "News, standings, rounds, seasons, teams, grounds, cities, matches at a-pfg.com". Archived from the original on 2012-12-11. Retrieved 2012-11-07. "Извеждане на голмайсторите в "А" Група". A PFG (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian A Professional Football Group. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013. Ivan Tsvetkov named for Bulgarian Player of the First Round (in Bulgarian) Simeon Raykov is the top player of the Second Round (in Bulgarian) Basile de Carvalho wins the award ahead of Anton Karachanakov and Stanko Yovchev (in Bulgarian) Anicet wins the award after scoring twice against Botev Vratsa "Marcelinho wins the award after scoring against CSKA". Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2012-09-25. Emil Gargorov is picked for the best player of the round (in Bulgarian) Stars of Botev (Plovdiv) blew the competition in 'A' group away (in Bulgarian) The hero of the derby scoops Player of the round award (in Bulgarian) Georgi Milanov became player of the tenth round (in Bulgarian) Ismail Isa - number one player of the eleventh round (in Bulgarian) Stanislav Genchev number one of the round (in Bulgarian) Basile de Carvalho named Footballer of the round Joao Silva with first individual trophy at Levski Armando Vajushi named as footballer of the 16th round "Serginho named as footballer of the 17th round". Archived from the original on 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-03-15. "Georgi Milanov became player of the 18th round (in Bulgarian)". Archived from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved 2013-04-09. Joro Bozhilov became player of the 19 round (in Bulgarian) Michel Platini became player of the 20 round (in Bulgarian) "Milanov won the again (in Bulgarian)". Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2013-04-14. Elektrichkata player of the 22nd round (in Bulgarian) Convincing Garry Rodrigues (in Bulgarian) Convincing Garry Rodrigues (in Bulgarian) Marcinho player of the round (in Bulgarian) Yordan Gospodinov number 1 of the round (in Bulgarian) Ivan Tsvetkov best player of the round (in Bulgarian) Stanislav Angelov: Luck is part of life (in Bulgarian) "Iliya Iliev number 1 of the 29th round (in Bulgarian)". Archived from the original on 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2013-05-23.