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 two years of absence, Pirin made their debut on the highest level of Bulgarian football, while Etar 1924 made its debut in the top level, although it’s unofficial predecessor, Etar Veliko Tarnovo played in the top level 14 years ago, season 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[a]
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[b]
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[c]
13	Botev Vratsa (R)	30	8	7	15	23	51	−28	31[c]	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) Champions; (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 (in Bulgarian)
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