| Season | 2003–04 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 8 August 2003 – 15 May 2004 |
| Champions | Lokomotiv Plovdiv (1st title) |
| Relegated | |
| Champions League | Lokomotiv Plovdiv |
| UEFA Cup | |
| Intertoto Cup | Marek Dupnitsa |
| Matches | 240 |
| Goals | 686 (2.86 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Martin Kamburov (25 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Lokomotiv Plovdiv 8–1Cherno More Varna |
| Biggest away win | |
| Highest scoring | Lokomotiv Plovdiv 8–1Cherno More Varna (9 goals) |
2004–05 → | |
The2003–04 A Group was the 56th season of the top Bulgarian national football league (commonly referred to asA Group) and the80th edition of a Bulgarian national championship tournament.
This is the first season since the revision of the league rules after an unsuccessful attempt for a creation of a so-calledPremier Professional Football League.
In the doorstep of the new millennium theBulgarian Football Union decided to reform the football league system creating thePremier Professional Football League. The new top tier of Bulgarian football required all of its participants to be licensed as professional football clubs. The reforms also saw the number of teams reduced and introduced relegation play-offs during the years of its existence. The Bulgarian Premier League, however, was unsuccessful so from season 2003–04 the top Bulgarian league was re-established as theBulgarian A Professional Football Group, returning to the traditions of A Republican Football Group and increasing the number of teams participating back to 16. Still, A Group retained the requirement of a professional status of all participants.
In the 2003–04 seasonLokomotiv Plovdiv became champions for the first time in their history.[1]
A total of 16 clubs contested the league, including 12 fromthe previous season in the tier, and 4 promoted fromthe second flight.
As before the start of the season, the top flight of Bulgarian football was once again restructured and the number of participants in the league was increased back to the traditional 16 teams from 14 theprevious season, there were no promotion play-offs for the right to participate in A Group that season. Instead after the end ofseason 2002–03 the last two teams in the top level –Dobrudzha Dobrich placed 13th, andRilski Sportist Samokov placed 14th – were directly relegated toB Group.
The winners and the runners-up from the two divisions ofB Group in season 2002–03 –Vidima-Rakovski andRodopa Smolyan from the East division, andBelasitsa andMakedonska slava from the West division – were directly promoted to the top level of Bulgarian football. Vidima-Rakovski, Rodopa and Makedonska Slava all made their debut in the top tier, while Belasitsa Petrich returned after a one-year absence.
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belasitsa | Petrich | Tsar Samuil Stadium | 9,500 |
| Botev | Plovdiv | Hristo Botev Stadium | 22,000 |
| Cherno More | Varna | Ticha | 12,000 |
| Chernomorets | Burgas | Chernomorets | 22,000 |
| CSKA | Sofia | Balgarska Armia | 22,015 |
| Levski | Sofia | Georgi Asparuhov | 29,986 |
| Litex | Lovech | Lovech | 7,050 |
| Lokomotiv | Plovdiv | Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) | 13,800 |
| Lokomotiv | Sofia | Lokomotiv (Sofia) | 22,000 |
| Makedonska slava | Blagoevgrad | Hristo Botev | 11,000 |
| Marek | Dupnitsa | Bonchuk Stadium | 16,050 |
| Naftex | Burgas | Lazur | 18,037 |
| Rodopa | Smolyan | Septemvri | 6,100 |
| Slavia | Sofia | Ovcha Kupel | 18,000 |
| Spartak | Varna | Spartak Stadium | 7,500 |
| Vidima-Rakovski | Sevlievo | Rakovski | 8,816 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv(C) | 30 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 74 | 24 | +50 | 75 | Qualification forChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Levski Sofia | 30 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 59 | 16 | +43 | 72 | Qualification forUEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 3 | CSKA Sofia | 30 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 65 | 28 | +37 | 65 | |
| 4 | Litex Lovech | 30 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 43 | 20 | +23 | 64 | |
| 5 | Slavia Sofia | 30 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 57 | 30 | +27 | 57 | |
| 6 | Cherno More | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 45 | 53 | −8 | 38[a] | |
| 7 | Marek | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 33 | 50 | −17 | 38[a] | Qualification forIntertoto Cup second round |
| 8 | Naftex Burgas | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 49 | 38 | +11 | 35 | |
| 9 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 33[b] | |
| 10 | Rodopa Smolyan | 30 | 10 | 3 | 17 | 28 | 47 | −19 | 33[b] | |
| 11 | Belasitsa Petrich | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 31 | |
| 12 | Vidima-Rakovski | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 32 | 48 | −16 | 30[c] | |
| 13 | Spartak Varna | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 35 | 46 | −11 | 30[c] | |
| 14 | Botev Plovdiv(R) | 30 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 33 | 60 | −27 | 27 | Relegation to2004–05 B Group |
| 15 | Makedonska slava(R) | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 32 | 58 | −26 | 26 | |
| 16 | Chernomorets Burgas(R) | 30 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 30 | 68 | −38 | 18 |
| Home \ Away | BEL | BOT | CHM | CHB | CSK | LEV | LIT | LPL | LSO | MKS | MAR | NAF | RSM | SLA | SPV | VRA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belasitsa Petrich | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | |
| Botev Plovdiv | 1–0 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | |
| Cherno More | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 4–1 | |
| Chernomorets Burgas | 2–0 | 2–5 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 3–0 | |
| CSKA Sofia | 5–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | |
| Levski Sofia | 4–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | |
| Litex Lovech | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 2–0 | 3–2 | 8–1 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 5–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | |
| Makedonska slava | 1–3 | 4–3 | 3–4 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Marek | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | |
| Naftex Burgas | 3–1 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | |
| Rodopa Smolyan | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Slavia Sofia | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | |
| Spartak Varna | 4–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |
| Vidima-Rakovski | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Goalkeepers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | (0) | |
| 12 | 0 | (0) | |
| 32 | 14 | (0) | |
| Defenders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 28 | (1) | |
| 3 | 25 | (1) | |
| 5 | 2 | (0) | |
| 6 | 30 | (3) | |
| 20 | 20 | (3) | |
| 22 | 1 | (0) | |
| 24 | 29 | (1) | |
| Midfielders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 6 | (0) | |
| 7 | 4 | (0) | |
| 10 | 10 | (2) | |
| 14 | 5 | (0) | |
| 16 | 19 | (2) | |
| 17 | 16 | (0) | |
| 19 | 22 | (1) | |
| 21 | 27 | (1) | |
| 25 | 10 | (0) | |
| 6 | (1) | ||
| 2 | (0) | ||
| Forwards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 21 | (11) | |
| 11 | 29 | (25) | |
| 13 | 20 | (3) | |
| 15 | 10 | (4) | |
| 18 | 3 | (0) | |
| 23 | 27 | (9) | |
| 10 | (4) | ||
| Manager | |
|---|---|