Wikipedia

2024–25 First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

The 2024–25 First Professional Football League, also known as efbet League for sponsorship reasons,[1] is the 101st season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, the 77th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid, and also the 9th season of the First Professional Football League, which decides the Bulgarian champion. The season began on 19 July 2024.

First Professional Football League
Season2024–25
Dates19 July 2024 – 31 May 2025
Matches played177
Goals scored420 (2.37 per match)
Top goalscorerAhmed Ahmedov (16 goals)
Best goalkeeperHans Christian Bernat
(11 clean sheets)
Biggest home winLudogorets Razgrad 5–1 Arda
(3 August 2024)
Levski Sofia 4–0 Botev Vratsa
(27 July 2024)
Beroe 5–1 Botev Vratsa
(4 December 2024)
Biggest away winLokomotiv Sofia 1–6 Levski Sofia
(20 July 2024)
Highest scoringLokomotiv Sofia 1–6 Levski Sofia
(20 July 2024)
Longest winning run9 games
Ludogorets Razgrad
Longest unbeaten run16 games
Ludogorets Razgrad
Longest winless run12 games
Lokomotiv Sofia
Longest losing run6 games
Septemvri Sofia
All statistics correct as of 11:55, 1 March 2025 (UTC).

Ludogorets Razgrad are the 13-time defending champions.

Teams

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As in the last season, 16 teams will compete in the league this year. Two teams were promoted from the 2023–24 Second League, and another place is for the winner of the promotion/relegation playoff.

The first team to earn promotion from the Second League was Spartak Varna, who mathematically secured a top two finish after Marek lost to Sportist Svoge on 3 May.[2] Spartak return to the top level after 1-year absence.

The second team to earn promotion from the Second League was Septemvri Sofia, who mathematically secured a top two finish after winning against Chernomorets Balchik on the last matchday of the season.[3] Septemvri return to the top level also after a 1-year absence.

Additionally, Botev Vratsa managed to defeat Marek with a score of 4–2 after penalties in the promotion/relegation playoff, thus remaining in the First League.[4]

Stadiums and locations

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Arda Beroe Botev Plovdiv Botev Vratsa
Arena Arda Beroe Hristo Botev Hristo Botev
Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 18,777 Capacity: 25,000
       
Cherno More CSKA 1948 CSKA Sofia Hebar
Ticha Bistritsa Vasil Levski National Stadium Georgi Benkovski
Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 4,000 Capacity: 45,000 Capacity: 13,000
       
Krumovgrad
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Location of teams in 2024–25 First League
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Sofia 2024–25 First League football clubs
 Levski Sofia
Nikola Shterev - Starika Sports Complex Georgi Asparuhov
Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 18,000
   
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Lokomotiv Sofia
Lokomotiv Lokomotiv
Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 22,000
   
Ludogorets Razgrad Septemvri Sofia Slavia Sofia Spartak Varna
Huvepharma Arena Lokomotiv Aleksandar Shalamanov Spartak
Capacity: 10,500 Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 10,000
       

Personnel and kits

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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 Additional
Arda   Aleksandar Tunchev   Anatoli Gospodinov Uhlsport efbet IK Nataliya Ltd.
Beroe   Josu Uribe   Franco Ramos Mingo Nike 8888.bg —
Botev Plovdiv   Dušan Kerkez   Ivelin Popov Macron[5] WinBet Bitcoin
Botev Vratsa   Hristo Yanev   Daniel Genov Erima WinBet Vratsa Municipality, Inex, Predsednik Ltd.
Cherno More   Ilian Iliev   Daniel Dimov Macron Armeets —
CSKA 1948   Borislav Kyosev   Radoslav Kirilov Puma efbet Bachkovo
CSKA Sofia   Aleksandar Tomash   Liam Cooper Macron[6] WinBet A1
Hebar   Bruno Akrapović   Róbert Mazáň Erima efbet —
Krumovgrad   Atanas Ribarski   Yanko Georgiev Uhlsport Compass Cargo Airlines Bethub
Levski Sofia   Julio Velázquez   Wenderson Tsunami Adidas[7] PalmsBet CT Interactive, Lacrima
Lokomotiv Plovdiv   Dušan Kosič   Dimitar Iliev Joma[8] WinBet General Broker Club
Lokomotiv Sofia   Anton Velkov   Aleksandar Lyubenov Joma 8888.bg VIA 2000
Ludogorets Razgrad   Igor Jovićević   Anton Nedyalkov Jako efbet Vivacom, Huvepharma, Navibulgar
Septemvri Sofia   Nikolay Mitov   Asen Chandarov Uhlsport 8888.bg
Slavia Sofia   Zlatomir Zagorčić   Georgi Petkov Zeus bet365 Asset Insurance, SportRespect
Spartak Varna   Nikolay Kirov   Viktor Mitev Nike efbet Intercom Group, Mussala Insurance Broker, 100 Tona

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

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Ludogorets Razgrad   Georgi Dermendzhiev Resigned 15 August 2024[9] 8th   Zahari Sirakov (interim) 15 August 2024
Spartak Varna   Aleksandar Tomash Mutual agreement 28 August 2024[10] 3rd   Ivan Tsvetanov (interim) 28 August 2024
CSKA Sofia   Tomislav Stipić Sacked 28 August 2024[11] 13th   Aleksandar Tomash 28 August 2024[12]
Botev Vratsa   Todor Yanchev 1 September 2024[13] 13th   Hristo Yanev 6 September 2024[14]
Spartak Varna   Ivan Tsvetanov End of interim spell 5 September 2024 3rd   Kyriakos Georgiou 5 September 2024[15]
Ludogorets   Zahari Sirakov 26 September 2024 1st   Igor Jovićević 26 September 2024[16]
Spartak Varna   Kyriakos Georgiou Resigned 28 September 2024[17] 5th   Ivan Tsvetanov (interim) 12 October 2024
Lokomotiv Sofia   Ivan Kolev Mutual agreement 30 September 2024[18] 12th   Anton Velkov 30 September 2024[19]
Beroe   José Acciari 30 September 2024[20] 8th   Josu Uribe 3 October 2024[21]
Hebar   Veselin Velikov 1 October 2024[22] 16th   Yordan Minev (interim) 12 October 2024
Lokomotiv Plovdiv   Lyuboslav Penev 11 October 2024[23] 10th   Hristo Zlatinski (interim) 11 October 2024
Hebar   Yordan Minev End of interim spell 16 October 2024[24] 16th   Bruno Akrapović 16 October 2024
Spartak Varna   Ivan Tsvetanov 20 October 2024[25] 5th   Nikolay Kirov 20 October 2024
CSKA 1948   Valentin Iliev Sacked 30 October 2024[26] 9th   Ivan Ivanov 30 October 2024
Lokomotiv Plovdiv   Hristo Zlatinski End of interim spell 7 December 2024[27] 14th   Vasil Garkov (interim) 7 December 2024
Levski Sofia   Stanislav Genchev Mutual agreement 16 December 2024[28] 4th   Julio Velázquez 6 January 2025[29]
Lokomotiv Plovdiv   Vasil Garkov (interim) End of interim spell 19 December 2024[30] 14th   Dušan Kosič 19 December 2024
CSKA 1948   Ivan Ivanov Sacked 18 February 2025[31] 12th   Borislav Kyosev 20 February 2025

Regular season

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Ludogorets Razgrad (X) 22 18 3 1 47 10 +37 57 Qualification for the Championship group
2 Levski Sofia 22 16 1 5 43 16 +27 49
3 Cherno More 22 12 6 4 33 15 +18 42
4 Botev Plovdiv 22 13 2 7 23 19 +4 41
5 Arda 22 10 6 6 28 27 +1 36 Qualification for the Conference League group
6 Spartak Varna 22 10 5 7 28 27 +1 35
7 Beroe 22 10 4 8 26 19 +7 34
8 CSKA Sofia 22 9 5 8 30 22 +8 32
9 Slavia Sofia 22 8 4 10 25 27 −2 28 Qualification for the Relegation group
10 Septemvri Sofia 22 8 2 12 21 31 −10 26
11 CSKA 1948 22 5 10 7 25 31 −6 25
12 Lokomotiv Sofia 23 6 5 12 21 35 −14 23
13 Krumovgrad 23 5 7 11 13 23 −10 22
14 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 22 5 5 12 23 33 −10 20
15 Botev Vratsa (Y) 22 3 4 15 17 46 −29 13
16 Hebar (Y) 22 1 7 14 17 39 −22 10
Updated to match(es) played on 1 March 2025. Source: soccerway, Bulgarian Football
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[32]
(X) Assured of the Conference League group, but may still qualify for the Championship group; (Y) Cannot qualify for Championship group, but may still qualify for Conference League group

Results

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Home \ Away ARD BER BPD BVR CHM CSK CSS HEB KRU LEV LPD LSO LUD SEP SLA SPV
Arda — 1–1 1–0 2–0 3 Mar 2–1 2–1 1–0 16 Mar 4–2 0–4 2–1 1–1 2–2
Beroe — 0–1 5–1 0–1 8 Mar 2–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 3–0
Botev Plovdiv 9 Mar — 3–1 1–0 16 Mar 0–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 2–4 1–0 0–1
Botev Vratsa 1–2 1–3 — 2–3 0–3 7 Mar 0–2 0–0 0–3 0–2 2–0 3–2 1–1
Cherno More 1–1 2–1 — 0–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 2–1 0–1 4–0 1–1 2–0 8 Mar
CSKA 1948 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–4 — 1–3 2–4 8 Mar 1–4 2–0 2–0 2–2
CSKA Sofia 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 15 Mar 2–2 — 3–1 2–2 2 Mar 2–2 0–1 0–1 3–1
Hebar 0–2 3–1 0–1 1–1 2 Mar 1–1 0–1 — 0–0 1–4 15 Mar 1–2 1–1 0–2
Krumovgrad 0–0 0–1 0–1 3–0 1–1 1–1 — 0–2 14 Mar 0–2 0–3 2–0 1–0 0–1
Levski Sofia 2–1 0–2 4–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 — 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–3 9 Mar 2–0
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–0 1–2 0–1 1 Mar 1–2 0–2 2–2 3–3 0–2 0–2 — 1–1 0–1
Lokomotiv Sofia 0–2 2–1 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–3 0–0 0–0 1–6 0–1 — 9 Mar 1–2 a
Ludogorets Razgrad 5–1 2–1 3–0 15 Mar 0–0 3–0 1–0 3–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 — 3 Mar 2–0
Septemvri Sofia 0–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 10 Mar 1–0 2–3 0–1 0–2 — 3–2 0–1
Slavia Sofia 1–1 14 Mar 3 Mar 1–0 17 Feb 1–0 3–2 0–1 0–1 2–1 3–2 0–1 — 3–1
Spartak Varna 1–0 1 Mar 1–0 0–2 1–1 3–0 4–0 0–0 1–0 3–2 1–3 16 Mar 1–3 —
Updated to match(es) played on 1 March 2025. Source: Bulgarian Football
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

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Top scorers

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As of 21 February 2025[33]
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Ahmed Ahmedov Spartak Varna 16
2   Goduine Koyalipou CSKA Sofia 14
3   Santiago Godoy Beroe 12
4   Rwan Cruz Ludogorets Razgrad 10
5   Ante Aralica Lokomotiv Sofia 9
6   Aleksandar Kolev Levski Sofia 7
  Nabil Makni Hebar
  Borislav Rupanov Septemvri Sofia
9   Dimitar Iliev Lokomotiv Plovdiv 6
  Stanislav Ivanov Arda
  Claudiu Keșerü Cherno More
  Julien Lamy Lokomotiv Plovdiv
  Ivan Minchev Slavia Sofia
  Marin Petkov Levski Sofia
  Mazire Soula Cherno More
  Tonislav Yordanov Arda

Clean sheets

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As of 21 February 2025[33]
Rank Goalkeeper Club Clean
sheets
1   Hans Christian Bernat Botev Plovdiv 11
2   Plamen Iliev Cherno More 10
3   Yanko Georgiev Krumovgrad 9
  Martin Velichkov Spartak Varna
5   Arthur Motta Beroe 8
  Sergio Padt Ludogorets Razgrad
7   Matej Marković Levski Sofia 7
8   Hendrik Bonmann Ludogorets Razgrad 6
  Anatoli Gospodinov Arda
  Aleksandar Lyubenov Lokomotiv Sofia
  Petar Marinov CSKA 1948

References

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  1. ^ "Обявиха официално новото име и лого на Първа лига" [Officially announced the new name and logo of First League.]. Sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  2. ^ "Спартак Варна се завърна в Първа лига" (in Bulgarian). bntnews.bg. 3 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Септември София се завърна в Първа лига, Марек ще играе бараж" (in Bulgarian). bntnews.bg. 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Страхотна драма във Враца! Ботев пречупи борбен Марек и остава в efbet Лига" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 30 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Започват предварителните поръчки на екипа за новия сезон" (in Bulgarian). botevplovdiv.bg. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Не просто екип, а кауза" (in Bulgarian). cska.bg. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Левски представи новия екип, реплика е на шампионския от 90-те години на миналия век". 24 May 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. ^ "ТИТУЛЯРНИЯТ ЕКИП НА ЛОКОМОТИВ ЗА СЕЗОН 2024/25" (in Bulgarian). lokomotivpd.com. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Лудогорец прие оставката на Георги Дерменджиев - ето кой ще води тима срещу Левски" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Босът на Спартак (Варна): Сагата с Томаш приключи" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  11. ^ "ЦСКА ще се раздели официално днес със Стипич" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Александър Томаш се завърна в ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). cska.bg. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Ботев (Враца) освободи Тодор Янчев" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Христо Янев отново пое Ботев Враца" (in Bulgarian). dsport.bg. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Кирякос Георгиу е новият старши треньор на Спартак (Варна)" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 4 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Лудогорец официално има нов треньор" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Трите Хикса ще води Спартак (Вн) в "Надежда"" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Официално: Иван Колев вече не е треньор на Локомотив (София)" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Официално: Антон Велков застава начело на Локомотив (София)" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Падна още една треньорска глава на отбор от елита! Берое се раздели с Ачиари" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Официално: Берое има нов треньор" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  22. ^ "Падна още една треньорска глава в efbet Лига" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Локомотив Пловдив обяви, че се разделя с Любо Пенев, ясно е кой ще води отбора" (in Bulgarian). dsport.bg. 11 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Официално: Акрапович се завърна в българския футбол" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  25. ^ "Спартак (Варна) има нов старши треньор" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 20 October 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  26. ^ "Официално: Иван Иванов пое ЦСКА 1948" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 30 October 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  27. ^ "Треньорският щаб на "Локомотив" (Пд) подаде оставка" (in Bulgarian). bgonair.bg. 7 December 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  28. ^ "Шок! Левски и Генчев се разделиха" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  29. ^ "Левски представи новия старши треньор" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  30. ^ "Официално: Душан Косич е новият старши треньор на Локомотив (Пловдив)" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  31. ^ "Иван Иванов аут от ЦСКА 1948" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 18 February 2025. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  32. ^ "Наредба за първенствата и турнирите по футбол в системата на БФС за сезон 2024/2025 година" (PDF) (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Football Union. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  33. ^ a b "Първа професионална лига 2024/25". bulgarian-football.com (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 13 July 2024.
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