2017–18 Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

The 2017–18 Second League was the 62nd season of the Second League, the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system, and the 2nd season under this name and current league structure. The fixture list was released on 22 June 2017.^[5]

Second Professional Football League

Season	2017–18
Dates	22 July 2017–19 May 2018
Champions	Botev Vratsa
Promoted	Botev Vratsa
Relegated	Neftochimic Sozopol Maritsa Plovdiv Oborishte
Matches played	240
Goals scored	592 (2.47 per match)
Top goalscorer	Svetoslav Dikov (25)
Biggest home win	Botev Vratsa 5–0 Ludogorets Razgrad II (28 April 2018)[1]
Biggest away win	Sozopol 0–5 Montana (20 October 2017)[2]
Highest scoring	Strumska Slava 3–6 Maritsa Plovdiv (12 August 2017)[3]
Longest winning run	7 games by Tsarsko Selo[4]
Longest unbeaten run	11 games by Tsarsko Selo[4]
Longest winless run	19 games by Neftochimic[4]
Longest losing run	12 games by Neftochimic[4]
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 19 May 2018.

Teams

The following teams have changed division since the 2016–17 season.

To Second League Promoted from Third League Chernomorets Balchik Maritsa Plovdiva Litex Strumska Slava Relegated from First League Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa Montana Neftochimic

From Second League Relegated to Third League CSKA Sofia IIb Spartak Pleven Bansko Levski Karlovo Promoted to First League Etar Septemvri Sofia Vitosha Bistritsa

a.^ Zagorets, the champions of South-East Third League, declined promotion due to financial and organizational reasons; Maritsa Plovdiv took their place as runners-up.^[6]
b.^ CSKA Sofia II officially declined to participate in the South-West Third League and was dissolved.^[7]

Stadia and locations

Botev

Botev

Chernomorets

Litex

Lokomotiv

Lokomotiv
Tsarsko Selo

Ludogorets II

Maritsa

Montana

Neftochimic

Nesebar

Oborishte

Pomorie

Sozopol

Strumska Slava

Location of teams in 2017–18 Second League

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity
Botev	Galabovo	Energitik	3,000
Botev	Vratsa	Hristo Botev	12,000
Chernomorets	Balchik	Gradski, Balchik	3,100
Litex	Lovech	Gradski, Lovech	8,100
Lokomotiv	Gorna Oryahovitsa	Lokomotiv, Gorna Oryahovitsa	10,500
Lokomotiv	Sofia	Lokomotiv, Sofia	22,000
Ludogorets II	Razgrad	Eagles' Nest	2,000
Maritsa	Plovdiv	Botev 1912 Football ComplexA	3,500
Montana	Montana	Kiprovets, ChiprovtsiB	1,600
Neftochimic	Burgas	Gradski, BalgarovoC	3,000[8]
Nesebar	Nesebar	Nesebar Stadium	7,000
Oborishte	Panagyurishte	Orcho Voyvoda	3,000
Pomorie	Pomorie	Lazur, BurgasD	18,037[9]
Sozopol	Sozopol	Arena Sozopol	3,500
Strumska Slava	Radomir	Gradski, Radomir	3,500[10]
Tsarsko Selo	Sofia	Tsarsko Selo	2,000

A.^ Maritsa Plovdiv will play at Botev 1912 Football Complex because their Maritsa Stadium is not licensed for Second League.^[11]
B.^ Montana will play at Kiprovets Stadium in Chiprovtsi due to ongoing renovation works at their Ogosta Stadium.^[12]
C.^ Neftochimic will play at Gradski Stadium in Balgarovo for financial reasons.^[13]
D.^ Pomorie will play at Lazur Stadium in Burgas due to renovation works at their Pomorie Stadium.^[14]

Personnel and sponsorship

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	Kit sponsor
Botev Galabovo	Lyudmil Kirov	Georgi Kirilov	KRASIKO	Galabovo Municipality	Knauf
Botev Vratsa	Sasho Angelov	Ivaylo Mihaylov	Jumper	WinBet
Chernomorets Balchik	Georgi Ivanov	Genadi Lugo	Legea	Balchik Municipality
Litex	Zhivko Zhelev	Ivaylo Radentsov	adidas
Lokomotiv Sofia	Mladen Dodić	Aleksandar Branekov	Joma	Efbet	Malizia
Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa	Aleksandar Dimitrov	Mariyan Ivanov	KRASIKO	Efbet	Prity, Enel, Go Grill
Ludogorets Razgrad II	Radoslav Zdravkov	Ventsislav Kerchev	Umbro	bet365	Vivacom, Spetema
Maritsa	Dimcho Belyakov	Iliya Nikolov	Sportika	Hristov Commerce
Montana	Ferario Spasov	Ivan Mihov	Jako	Efbet
Neftochimic	Diyan Petkov	Stanislav Zhekov	KRASIKO	Masterhaus
Nesebar	Nikolay Zhechev	Nikolay Kostov	Joma	Efbet
Oborishte	Ivan Atanasov	Tsvetomir Tsonkov	KRASIKO	Asarel Medet
Pomorie	Veselin Branimirov	Georgi Petkov	Erreà[15]	Pomorie Municipality, Efbet[15]
Sozopol	Margarit Dimov	Ivan Yanchev	KRASIKO
Strumska Slava	Vladimir Dimitrov[16]	Nikolay Nikolov	Sportika
Tsarsko Selo	Velislav Vutsov	Simeon Ganchev	Nike

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

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Oborishte	Emil Velev	End of contract	1 June 2017[17]	Pre-season	Georgi Chilikov	9 June 2017[18]
Lokomotiv Sofia	Yavor Valchinov	Mutual consent	2 June 2017[19]		Mladen Dodić	9 June 2017[20]
Neftochimic	Hristo Yanev	Resigned	3 June 2017[21]		Nikolay Krastev	23 June 2017[22]
Montana	Atanas Atanasov	End of contract	11 June 2017[23]		Yavor Valchinov	14 June 2017[24]
Botev Galabovo	Ivan Vutov	Signed by Etar	16 June 2017		Svetoslav Todorov	16 June 2017[25]
Nesebar	Nikolay Rusev	Appointed as Head of Academy	18 June 2017		Nikolay Zhechev	18 June 2017[26]
Oborishte	Georgi Chilikov	Signed by Ludogorets Razgrad	14 August 2017	4th	Angel Slavkov	14 August 2017[27]
Montana	Yavor Valchinov	Resigned	27 August 2017[28]	12th	Ferario Spasov	28 August 2017[29]
Pomorie	Malin Orachev		27 September 2017	14th	Veselin Branimirov	27 September 2017[30]
Neftochimic	Nikolay Krastev	Demoted to assistant	6 October 2017	16th	Blagomir Mitrev	6 October 2017[31]
Botev Galabovo	Svetoslav Todorov	Mutual consent	16 November 2017[32]	12th	Lyudmil Kirov	21 November 2017[33]
Oborishte	Angel Slavkov		2 December 2017[34]	12th	Ivan Atanasov	12 December 2017[35]
Neftochimic	Blagomir Mitrev	Signed by Vereya	2 January 2018[36]	16th	Diyan Petkov	3 January 2018[37]
Tsarsko Selo	Nikola Spasov	Signed by Kyzylzhar	3 January 2018	2nd	Veselin Velikov	3 January 2018[38]
Sozopol	Rumen Dimov	Resigned	24 April 2018	15h	Margarit Dimov	24 April 2018[39]
Maritsa Plovdiv	Stoyan Dimitrov		30 April 2018	14th	Dimcho Belyakov	30 April 2018[40]
Tsarsko Selo	Veselin Velikov	Mutual consent	8 May 2018	3rd	Velislav Vutsov	8 May 2018[41]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Botev Vratsa (C, P)	30	19	7	4	46	20	+26	64	Promotion to the First League
2	Lokomotiv Sofia	30	19	6	5	51	27	+24	63[a]	Qualification for the promotion play-offs
3	Tsarsko Selo	30	19	6	5	56	28	+28	63[a]
4	Montana	30	17	5	8	50	20	+30	56
5	Nesebar	30	13	5	12	42	43	−1	44
6	Pomorie	30	10	11	9	36	32	+4	41[b]
7	Botev Galabovo	30	11	8	11	37	40	−3	41[b]
8	Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa	30	10	10	10	42	39	+3	40[c]
9	Ludogorets Razgrad II	30	11	7	12	40	50	−10	40[c]	Ineligible for promotion
10	Litex Lovech	30	10	9	11	26	26	0	39[d]
11	Chernomorets Balchik	30	10	9	11	37	40	−3	39[d]
12	Strumska Slava Radomir	30	10	6	14	31	43	−12	36
13	Oborishte (R)	30	9	6	15	26	32	−6	33[e]	Relegation to the Third League
14	Maritsa Plovdiv (R)	30	9	6	15	34	45	−11	33[e]
15	Sozopol (R)	30	6	6	18	25	47	−22	24
16	Neftochimic (R)	30	2	3	25	15	62	−47	9

Source: bulgarian-football.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Fairplay ranking; 9) Draw.^[42]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Lokomotiv Sofia is ahead of Tsarsko Selo on head-to-head points: Lokomotiv Sofia–Tsarsko Selo 0–0, Tsarsko Selo–Lokomotiv Sofia 1–2.
2. Pomorie is ahead of Botev Galabovo on head-to-head points: Pomorie–Botev Galabovo 0–0, Botev Galabovo–Pomorie 0–1.
3. Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa is ahead of Ludogorets Razgrad II on overall goal difference.
4. Litex Lovech is ahead of Chernomorets Balchik on head-to-head goal difference: Litex Lovech–Chernomorets Balchik 4–0, Chernomorets Balchik–Litex Lovech 1–0.
5. Oborishte is ahead of Maritsa Plovdiv on head-to-head goal difference: Oborishte–Maritsa Plovdiv 1–2, Maritsa Plovdiv–Oborishte 0–3.

Results

Home \ Away	GAL	BVR	CBA	LIT	LGO	LSO	LUD	MAR	MON	NEF	NES	OBO	POM	SOZ	STR	TSS
Botev Galabovo		0–4	3–2	3–0	1–0	2–3	0–0	1–1	0–2	2–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	2–0	1–0	0–0
Botev Vratsa	0–0		3–2	1–0	0–0	2–2	5–0	2–1	2–1	4–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–0
Chernomorets Balchik	4–1	0–1		1–0	1–1	2–2	3–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	3–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	4–0	1–1
Litex	0–1	0–0	4–0		1–1	0–0	4–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	0–2	2–1	2–0	0–1
Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa	3–1	1–3	3–0	1–0		1–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	3–0	0–0	1–1	3–0	4–3	1–3
Lokomotiv Sofia	1–1	1–0	1–0	4–0	3–0		1–0	4–2	1–0	2–0	4–1	1–0	2–1	3–0	0–1	0–0
Ludogorets Razgrad II	2–1	4–1	2–2	1–1	2–2	2–1		0–2	1–0	2–0	0–2	3–0	2–1	1–0	1–2	3–2
Maritsa Plovdiv	1–2	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–1	1–3	3–3		1–0	1–0	0–0	0–3	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–3
Montana	3–1	0–1	4–0	2–1	1–0	4–0	4–0	2–1		4–0	1–3	2–0	2–1	2–1	1–1	1–0
Neftochimic	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	0–1	2–1	0–2	0–3		0–1	0–2	1–3	0–2	1–0	0–2
Nesebar	1–5	2–0	2–0	0–1	4–2	1–3	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–1		2–1	0–3	0–0	0–0	2–3
Oborishte	2–0	0–2	2–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	1–2	0–0	3–1	0–1		0–0	1–0	1–1	1–3
Pomorie	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–3	0–1	2–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–0		1–1	1–1	2–2
Sozopol	2–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–3	0–0	1–2	2–0	0–5	3–1	1–2	1–3	1–2		2–1	0–1
Strumska Slava Radomir	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	3–6	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	1–2	1–0		1–3
Tsarsko Selo	2–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	3–2	2–0	1–1	5–1	3–2	2–0	2–0	4–1	3–2

Source: bulgarian-football.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

As of match(es) played on 19 May 2018^[43]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Svetoslav Dikov	Tsarsko Selo	25
2	Iliya Dimitrov	Lokomotiv Sofia	17
3	Ivan Kolev	Botev Vratsa[n 1]	15
	Vladislav Mirchev	Chernomorets Balchik
5	Pavel Petkov	Tsarsko Selo	11
	Atanas Iliev	Montana
7	Nikolay Kostov	Nesebar	10
	Petar Atanasov	Botev Vratsa[n 2]
9	Nikolay Tsvetkov	Lokomotiv Sofia	9
	Ivan Kokonov	Montana
	Ventsislav Gyuzelev	Maritsa Plovdiv
	Deyan Hristov	Lokomotiv GO
	Kristiyan Peshov	Sozopol
14	Spas Georgiev	Botev Vratsa	8
	Iliyan Kapitanov	Oborishte[n 3]
	Ahmed Ahmedov	Pomorie
	Denislav Aleksandrov	Ludogorets Razgrad II
	Kristiyan Tasev	Strumska Slava
	Zhivko Petkov	Pomorie
20	Ivaylo Stoyanov	Strumska Slava	7
	Rangel Ignatov	Maritsa Plovdiv
	Ivan Tsachev	Botev Galabovo

Notes

1. Including 8 goals for Nesebar.
2. Including 3 goals for Montana.
3. Including 6 goals for Botev Galabovo.