| Season | 2001–02 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3 August 2001 – 30 May 2002 |
| Champions | Levski Sofia (23rd title) |
| Relegated | |
| Champions League | Levski |
| UEFA Cup | |
| Matches | 268 |
| Goals | 681 (2.54 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Vladimir Manchev (21 goals) |
2002–03 → | |
The2001–02 A Group was the 54th season of theA Football Group, the top Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948.
Defending championsLevski Sofia won theirthird consecutive title, and 23rd title overall.
The format of the league was changed from last season, with the intention of making the league more competitive. This resulted in the league being divided into two groups after the regular season. The top 6 teams from the regular season would continue in the championship round, while the bottom 8 teams would play in the relegation round. It was contested by 14 teams, andLevski Sofia won the championship.[1]
Fourteen teams competed in the league. The promoted teams from the2000–01 B Group wereSpartak Pleven (returning to the top flight after a three-year absence) andMarek Dupnitsa (returning after a nineteen-year absence). The league also includedLokomotiv Plovdiv andBelasitsa Petrich after mergers withVelbazhd Kyustendil andHebar Pazardzhik respectively.
These teams replaceBotev Plovdiv andMinyor Pernik, who were relegated at the end of the last season.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belasitsa | Petrich | Tsar Samuil | 9,500 |
| Beroe | Stara Zagora | Beroe | 22,500 |
| Cherno More | Varna | Ticha | 8,250 |
| Chernomorets | Burgas | Chernomorets | 22,000 |
| CSKA | Sofia | Balgarska Armia | 22,015 |
| Levski | Sofia | Georgi Asparuhov | 29,200 |
| Litex | Lovech | Gradski | 7,050 |
| Lokomotiv | Plovdiv | Lokomotiv | 24,000 |
| Lokomotiv | Sofia | Lokomotiv | 22,000 |
| Marek | Dupnitsa | Bonchuk | 16,050 |
| Naftex | Burgas | Lazur | 18,037 |
| Slavia | Sofia | Slavia | 32,000 |
| Spartak | Pleven | Slavi Aleksiev | 21,940 |
| Spartak | Varna | Spartak | 7,500 |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belasitsa | Vitosha AD | |||
| Beroe | ||||
| Cherno More | St. Elias | |||
| Chernomorets | ||||
| CSKA Sofia | — | |||
| Levski Sofia | Mobiltel | |||
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | VAI Holding | |||
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Delta-G | |||
| Litex | Litex Commerce | |||
| Marek | ||||
| Naftex | Petrol AD | |||
| Slavia Sofia | Sofiyski Imoti | |||
| Spartak Pleven | VIS-2 | |||
| Spartak Varna |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beroe | Mutual consent | 1 June 2001 | Pre-season | 21 June 2001[2] | ||
| Chernomorets | Mutual consent | 1 June 2001 | Pre-season | 22 June 2001[3] | ||
| Marek Dupnitsa | Mutual consent | 8 September 2001 | 12th | 10 September 2001[4] | ||
| Chernomorets | Sacked | 9 September 2001 | 14th | 12 September 2001[5] | ||
| Levski Sofia | Mutual consent | 10 September 2001[6] | 1st | 10 September 2001 | ||
| Slavia Sofia | Sacked | 25 September 2001 | 10th | 25 September 2001 | ||
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Sacked | 28 October 2001[7] | 9th | 28 October 2001 | ||
| CSKA Sofia | Sacked | 4 December 2001 | 3rd | 10 December 2001 | ||
| Marek Dupnitsa | Mutual consent | 2 January 2002 | 13th | 2 January 2002[8] | ||
| Levski Sofia | End of caretaker tenure | 3 January 2002 | 1st | 3 January 2002 | ||
| Beroe | Mutual consent | 4 January 2002 | 14th | 4 January 2002 | ||
| Levski Sofia | Sacked | 11 March 2002[9] | 1st | 17 March 2002[10] | ||
| Beroe | Sacked | 12 March 2002 | 14th | 17 March 2002 | ||
| Spartak Pleven | Mutual consent | 12 March 2002 | 7th | 18 March 2002 | ||
| Belasitsa | Sacked | 12 May 2002 | 12th | 13 May 2002[11] |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levski Sofia | 26 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 58 | 21 | +37 | 65 | Qualification forchampionship group |
| 2 | Litex Lovech | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 50 | 27 | +23 | 55 | |
| 3 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 26 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 23 | +19 | 53 | |
| 4 | CSKA Sofia | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 48 | 17 | +31 | 52 | |
| 5 | Naftex Burgas | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 35 | 25 | +10 | 42 | |
| 6 | Slavia Sofia | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 37 | |
| 7 | Spartak Pleven | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 40 | 44 | −4 | 33 | Qualification forrelegation group |
| 8 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 33 | 32 | +1 | 29 | |
| 9 | Spartak Varna | 26 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 29 | 39 | −10 | 26 | |
| 10 | Chernomorets Burgas | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 24 | 54 | −30 | 26 | |
| 11 | Marek | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 22 | 42 | −20 | 24 | |
| 12 | Cherno More | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 28 | 36 | −8 | 24 | |
| 13 | Belasitsa Petrich | 26 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 21 | 35 | −14 | 23 | |
| 14 | Beroe | 26 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 13 | 46 | −33 | 14 |
| Home \ Away | BEL | BSZ | CHM | CHB | CSK | LEV | LIT | LPL | LSO | MAR | NAF | SLA | SPL | SPV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belasitsa Petrich | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | |
| Beroe | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–3[a] | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–0 | |
| Cherno More | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | |
| Chernomorets Burgas | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |
| CSKA Sofia | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 5–1 | |
| Levski Sofia | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 6–0 | |
| Litex Lovech | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 6–2 | 1–1 | |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | |
| Marek | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–5 | 0–0 | |
| Naftex Burgas | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | |
| Slavia Sofia | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | |
| Spartak Pleven | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | |
| Spartak Varna | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levski Sofia(C) | 36 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 77 | 27 | +50 | 56 | Qualification forChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Litex Lovech | 36 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 66 | 34 | +32 | 50 | Qualification forUEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | CSKA Sofia | 36 | 19 | 7 | 10 | 60 | 29 | +31 | 38 | |
| 4 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 36 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 34 | |
| 5 | Slavia Sofia | 36 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 32 | |
| 6 | Naftex Burgas | 36 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 44 | 40 | +4 | 30 |
| Home \ Away | CSK | LEV | LIT | LPL | NAF | SLA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSKA Sofia | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | |
| Levski Sofia | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | |
| Litex Lovech | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | |
| Naftex Burgas | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | |
| Slavia Sofia | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Marek | 40 | 14 | 8 | 18 | 46 | 57 | −11 | 38 | Qualification forIntertoto Cup first round |
| 8 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 40 | 14 | 9 | 17 | 49 | 48 | +1 | 37 | |
| 9 | Spartak Varna | 40 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 50 | 51 | −1 | 36 | |
| 10 | Chernomorets Burgas | 40 | 13 | 9 | 18 | 41 | 69 | −28 | 35 | |
| 11 | Cherno More | 40 | 12 | 11 | 17 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 35 | |
| 12 | Spartak Pleven(R) | 40 | 15 | 4 | 21 | 58 | 66 | −8 | 33 | Relegation to2002–03 B Group |
| 13 | Belasitsa Petrich(R) | 40 | 12 | 7 | 21 | 34 | 50 | −16 | 32 | |
| 14 | Beroe(R) | 40 | 4 | 8 | 28 | 19 | 70 | −51 | 13 |
| Home \ Away | BEL | BSZ | CHM | CHB | LSO | MAR | SPL | SPV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belasitsa Petrich | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | |
| Beroe | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | |
| Cherno More | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | |
| Chernomorets Burgas | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | |
| Marek | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | |
| Spartak Pleven | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | |
| Spartak Varna | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Goalkeepers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | (0) | |
| 12 | 1 | (0) | |
| 27 | 9 | (0) | |
| Defenders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 15 | (0) | |
| 3 | 30 | (0) | |
| 5 | 16 | (0) | |
| 11 | 26 | (5) | |
| 13 | 19 | (1) | |
| 14 | 11 | (0) | |
| 20 | 28 | (5) | |
| 22 | 25 | (0) | |
| 23 | 24 | (5) | |
| 26 | 6 | (0) | |
| 28 | 1 | (0) | |
| Midfielders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 24 | (1) | |
| 6 | 21 | (3) | |
| 7 | 15 | (5) | |
| 15 | 6 | (3) | |
| 17 | 20 | (0) | |
| 18 | 11 | (0) | |
| 21 | 30 | (4) | |
| 25 | 4 | (0) | |
| 30 | 3 | (0) | |
| 3 | (0) | ||
| 1 | (0) | ||
| 2 | (0) | ||
| Forwards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 18 | (8) | |
| 9 | 19 | (13) | |
| 10 | 4 | (3) | |
| 16 | 15 | (6) | |
| 19 | 27 | (10) | |
| 24 | 29 | (4) | |
| 29 | 1 | (0) | |
| 8 | (0) | ||
| 2 | (0) | ||
| Manager | |
|---|---|