| Season | 2015–16 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 17 July 2015 – 28 May 2016 |
| Champions | Ludogorets Razgrad(5th title) |
| Relegated | Litex Lovech (expelled) |
| Champions League | Ludogorets Razgrad |
| Europa League | Levski Sofia Beroe Slavia Sofia |
| Matches | 144 |
| Goals | 317 (2.2 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | |
| Biggest home win | Montana 6–0Botev Plovdiv |
| Biggest away win | Slavia Sofia 0–5Ludogorets |
| Highest scoring | Beroe 5–2Lokomotiv Plovdiv |
2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 28 May 2016. | |
The2015–16 A Group was the 92nd season of the top division of theBulgarian football league system, and 68th since a league format was adopted for the national competition ofA Group as a top tier of the pyramid. The season has started on 17 July 2015 and is expected to end in May 2016. The league is contested by ten teams.Ludogorets Razgrad were the defending champions, and successfully defended the title afterLevski Sofia's home loss againstLokomotiv Plovdiv in the 29th round.[1] The title isLudogorets' fifth consecutive and overall.
The league is contested by ten teams and will be played in a quadrupleround robin format, with each team playing every other team four times over 36 rounds.[2]
A total of 12 teams were set to contest the league, including the best 10 sides from theprevious season, plus two promoted clubs from the lower divisionB Group.
On 22 June 2015, the BFU announced the final list of participants for the 2015–16 season.CSKA Sofia andLokomotiv Sofia were both denied a professional license for the following season due to outstanding debts and would have to compete in the V AFG or fold. The group was kept at 10 teams.Marek Dupnitsa andHaskovo, who finished in the bottom two places of the table at the end of previous season, also failed to receive professional license, and were relegated to V Group.[3]
The relegated teams were replaced byMontana, the2014–15 B Group champions andPirin Blagoevgrad, the2014–15 B Group runner-up. While Montana returns to the top division aftertwo years, Pirin reaches again the highest class after4 years.
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity (seating) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beroe | Stara Zagora | Beroe | 12,128 |
| Botev | Plovdiv | Botev 1912 Football Complex | 4,000 |
| Cherno More | Varna | Ticha | 8,250 |
| Levski | Sofia | Georgi Asparuhov | 25,000 |
| Litex | Lovech | Gradski | 8,100 |
| Lokomotiv | Plovdiv | Lokomotiv | 10,000 |
| Ludogorets | Razgrad | Ludogorets Arena | 7,500 |
| Montana | Montana | Ogosta | 6,000 |
| Pirin | Blagoevgrad | Hristo Botev | 7,000 |
| Slavia | Sofia | Slavia | 25,556 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined underFIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beroe | Uhlsport | BEROE, Refan | ||
| Botev Plovdiv | Uhlsport | efbet | ||
| Cherno More | Uhlsport | Armeets | ||
| Levski Sofia | Joma | Vivacom, efbet,Strabag | ||
| Litex Lovech | adidas | Prima | ||
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Uhlsport | efbet | ||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | Macron | eCasino.bg,Vivacom | ||
| Montana | Jako | Montana Municipality | ||
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Joma | Lafka | ||
| Slavia Sofia | Joma | Asset Insurance, efbet |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | End of caretaker tenure | 31 May 2015 | Pre-season | 6 June 2015[4] | ||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | Resigned | 31 May 2015 | 17 June 2015[5] | |||
| Litex Lovech | 11 July 2015 | 12 July 2015 | ||||
| Botev Plovdiv | Sacked | 25 July 2015 | 9th | 27 July 2015 | ||
| Litex Lovech | Resigned | 5 August 2015 | 1st | 5 August 2015 | ||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | Sacked | 2 September 2015[6] | 1st | 2 September 2015 | ||
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Resigned | 26 September 2015 | 10th | 14 October 2015 | ||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 6 November 2015 | 3rd | 6 November 2015 | |||
| Montana | 8 November 2015 | 9th | 11 November 2015 | |||
| Botev Plovdiv | 9 November 2015 | 8th | 11 November 2015 | |||
| Slavia Sofia | 30 November 2015 | 6th | 30 November 2015 | |||
| Litex Lovech | Signed by | 3 December 2015 | 3rd | 3 December 2015 | ||
| Slavia Sofia | End of caretaker tenure | 18 December 2015 | 5th | 18 December 2015 | ||
| Litex Lovech | End of contract | 23 December 2015 | 10th | 22 January 2016 | ||
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Mutual agreement | 26 February 2016 | 7th | 26 February 2016[7] | ||
| Beroe | Sacked | 7 April 2016[8] | 4th | 8 April 2016 | ||
| Levski Sofia | Mutual agreement | 13 May 2016 | 2nd | 17 May 2016 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ludogorets Razgrad(C) | 32 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 55 | 21 | +34 | 70 | Qualification for theChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Levski Sofia | 32 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 36 | 18 | +18 | 56 | Qualification for theEuropa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Beroe | 32 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 53 | Qualification for theEuropa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Slavia Sofia | 32 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 49[a] | |
| 5 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 32 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 40 | 45 | −5 | 49[a] | |
| 6 | Cherno More | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 38 | |
| 7 | Botev Plovdiv | 32 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 33 | |
| 8 | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 32 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 45 | −18 | 26 | |
| 9 | Montana(O) | 32 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 23 | 43 | −20 | 21 | Qualification for therelegation playoff |
| 10 | Litex Lovech(D, R, R, R) | 0 | 0 (8) | 0 (9) | 0 (3) | 0 (29) | 0 (19) | — | 0 | Expelled and relegated to theSecond League[b] |
Source:bulgarian-football.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. |
Source:bulgarian-football.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
|
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beroe | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Botev Plovdiv | 3 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Cherno More | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Levski Sofia | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Litex Lovech | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 9 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Montana | 8 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Slavia Sofia | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
1 Including 2 goals forMontana.
Updated on 28 May 2016
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | Botev Plovdiv | 6–0 | 25 July 2015 | |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 4–2 | 1 April 2016 | |
| Levski Sofia | Cherno More | 5–1 | 28 April 2016 |
Updated on 28 April 2016