# 2015–16 A Group

The 2015–16 A Group was the 92nd season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, and 68th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A 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 after Levski Sofia's home loss against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the 29th round. The title is Ludogorets' fifth consecutive and overall.

## Competition format

The league is contested by ten teams and will be played in a quadruple round robin format, with each team playing every other team four times over 36 rounds.

## Teams

A total of 12 teams were set to contest the league, including the best 10 sides from the previous season, plus two promoted clubs from the lower division B Group.
On 22 June 2015, the BFU announced the final list of participants for the 2015–16 season. CSKA Sofia and Lokomotiv 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 and Haskovo, 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.
The relegated teams were replaced by Montana, the 2014–15 B Group champions and Pirin Blagoevgrad, the 2014–15 B Group runner-up. While Montana returns to the top division after two years, Pirin reaches again the highest class after 4 years.

### Stadia and locations

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 |

### Personnel and sponsoring

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 |
| Beroe | Plamen Lipenski (caretaker) | Ivo Ivanov | Uhlsport | BEROE, Refan |
| Botev Plovdiv | Nikolay Kostov | Yordan Hristov | Uhlsport | efbet |
| Cherno More | Nikola Spasov | Mihail Venkov | Uhlsport | Armeets |
| Levski Sofia | Ljupko Petrović | Veselin Minev | Joma | Vivacom, efbet, Strabag |
| Litex Lovech | Lyuboslav Penev | Anton Nedyalkov | adidas | Prima |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Ilian Iliev | Martin Kamburov | Uhlsport | efbet |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | Georgi Dermendzhiev | Svetoslav Dyakov | Macron | eCasino.bg, Vivacom |
| Montana | Emil Velev | Hristo Ivanov | Jako | Montana Municipality |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Naci Şensoy | Yuliyan Popev | Joma | Lafka |
| Slavia Sofia | Aleksandr Tarkhanov | Georgi Petkov | Joma | Asset Insurance, efbet |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Ivo Trenchev | End of caretaker tenure | 31 May 2015 | Pre-season | Nedelcho Matushev | 6 June 2015 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | Georgi Dermendzhiev | Resigned | 31 May 2015 | Pre-season | Bruno Ribeiro | 17 June 2015 |
| Litex Lovech | Krasimir Balakov | Resigned | 11 July 2015 | Pre-season | Ljupko Petrović (interim) | 12 July 2015 |
| Botev Plovdiv | Petar Penchev | Sacked | 25 July 2015 | 9th | Ermin Šiljak | 27 July 2015 |
| Litex Lovech | Ljupko Petrović (interim) | Resigned | 5 August 2015 | 1st | Laurențiu Reghecampf | 5 August 2015 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | Bruno Ribeiro | Sacked | 2 September 2015 | 1st | Eduard Eranosyan | 2 September 2015 |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Nedelcho Matushev | Resigned | 26 September 2015 | 10th | Naci Şensoy | 14 October 2015 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | Eduard Eranosyan | Resigned | 6 November 2015 | 3rd | Georgi Dermendzhiev | 6 November 2015 |
| Montana | Ferario Spasov | Resigned | 8 November 2015 | 9th | Emil Velev | 11 November 2015 |
| Botev Plovdiv | Ermin Šiljak | Resigned | 9 November 2015 | 8th | Nikolay Kostov | 11 November 2015 |
| Slavia Sofia | Ivan Kolev | Resigned | 30 November 2015 | 6th | Vladimir Ivanov (caretaker) | 30 November 2015 |
| Litex Lovech | Laurențiu Reghecampf | Signed by Steaua București | 3 December 2015 | 3rd | Ljupko Petrović (interim) | 3 December 2015 |
| Slavia Sofia | Vladimir Ivanov | End of caretaker tenure | 18 December 2015 | 5th | Aleksandr Tarkhanov | 18 December 2015 |
| Litex Lovech | Ljupko Petrović (interim) | End of contract | 23 December 2015 | 10th | Lyuboslav Penev | 22 January 2016 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Hristo Kolev | Mutual agreement | 26 February 2016 | 7th | Ilian Iliev | 26 February 2016 |
| Beroe | Petar Hubchev | Sacked | 7 April 2016 | 4th | Plamen Lipenski (caretaker) | 8 April 2016 |
| Levski Sofia | Stoycho Stoev | Mutual agreement | 13 May 2016 | 2nd | Ljupko Petrović | 17 May 2016 |

## League table

| 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 the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Levski Sofia | 32 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 36 | 18 | +18 | 56 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Beroe | 32 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 53 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Slavia Sofia | 32 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 49 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 32 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 40 | 45 | −5 | 49 | |
| 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 the relegation playoff |
| 10 | Litex Lovech (D, R, R, R) | 0 | 0 (8) | 0 (9) | 0 (3) | 0 (29) | 0 (19) | — | 0 | Expelled and relegated to the Second League |
* 1 2 Slavia Sofia ahead of Lokomotiv Plovdiv on head-to-head record; Slavia Sofia–Lokomotiv Plovdiv 3–0, Lokomotiv Plovdiv–Slavia Sofia 2–0, Slavia Sofia–Lokomotiv Plovdiv 3–0, Lokomotiv Plovdiv–Slavia Sofia 3–1.
* ↑ On 16 December 2015, Litex Lovech were expelled from the league after their players left the field in protest over referee decisions in a match against Levski Sofia on 12 December 2015. On 20 January 2016 it was announced that Litex Lovech would be relegated to B Group All results from played matches involving Litex Lovech were annulled on 22 January 2016.

## Positions by round

| 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 |

## Season statistics

| Round | Goal of the week | Club |
| 1 | Danilo Aspirilla vs Ludogorets | Litex |
| 2 | Sténio vs Ludogorets | Cherno More |
| 3 | Georgi Bozhilov vs Pirin Blagievgrad | Beroe |
| 4 | Aleksandar Kolev vs Pirin Blagievgrad | Botev Plovdiv |
| 5 | Atanas Zehirov vs Cherno More | Beroe |
| 6 | Aleksandar Vasilev vs Pirin Blagievgrad | Ludogorets |
| 7 | Bozhidar Vasev vs Cherno More | Botev Plovdiv |
| 8 | Arsénio Nunes vs Botev Plovdiv | Litex |
| 9 | Ivan Minchev vs Slavia | Montana |
| 10 | Georgi Kostadinov vs Botev Plovdiv | Levski Sofia |
| 11 | Roman Procházka vs Litex | Levski Sofia |
| 12 | Claudiu Keșerü vs Levski Sofia | Ludogorets |
| 13 | Atanas Zehirov vs Slavia | Beroe |
| 14 | Nemanja Milisavljević vs Cherno More | Beroe |
| 15 | Atanas Zehirov vs Botev Plovdiv | Beroe |
| 16 | Igor Djoman vs Litex | Beroe |
| 17 | Roman Procházka vs Slavia | Levski Sofia |
| 18 | Spas Delev vs Levski Sofia | Beroe |
| 19 | Strahil Popov vs Ludogorets | Litex |
| 20 | Georgi Dinkov vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Beroe |
| 21 | Nemanja Milisavljević vs Pirin Blagoevgrad | Beroe |
| 22 | Miguel Bedoya vs Cherno More | Levski Sofia |
| 23 | Serder Serderov vs Botev Plovdiv | Slavia |
| 24 | Georgi Andonov vs Botev Plovdiv | Beroe |
| 25 | Ventsislav Hristov vs Pirin Blagoevgrad | Levski Sofia |
| 26 | Marcelinho vs Beroe | Ludogorets |
| 27 | Martin Kamburov vs Pirin Blagoevgrad | Lokomotiv Plovdiv |
| 28 | Roman Procházka vs Botev Plovdiv | Levski Sofia |
| 29 | Nemanja Milisavljević vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Beroe |
| 30 | Stefan Velev vs Botev Plovdiv | Lokomotiv Plovdiv |
| 31 | Ventsislav Hristov vs Cherno More | Levski Sofia |
| 32 | Emil Gargorov vs Ludogorets | Lokomotiv Plovdiv |
| 33 | Ventsislav Hristov vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Levski Sofia |
| 34 | Georgi Iliev vs Botev Plovdiv | Cherno More |
| 35 | Martin Kamburov vs Cherno More | Lokomotiv Plovdiv |
| 36 | Veselin Marchev vs Pirin Blagoevgrad | Lokomotiv Plovdiv |

### Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Martin Kamburov | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 18 |
| 2 | Claudiu Keșerü | Ludogorets Razgrad | 15 |
| 3 | Mathias Coureur | Cherno More | 11 |
| 4 | Martin Toshev | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 10 |
| 5 | Wanderson | Ludogorets Razgrad | 9 |
| 6 | Ventsislav Hristov | Levski Sofia | 8 |
| 7 | Marcelinho | Ludogorets Razgrad | 7 |
| 7 | Ivaylo Dimitrov | Slavia Sofia | 7 |
| 7 | Lachezar Baltanov | Botev Plovdiv | 7 |
| 7 | Jonathan Cafu | Ludogorets Razgrad | 7 |
| 7 | Borislav Baldzhiyski$^1$ | Slavia Sofia | 7 |
| 12 | Anton Karachanakov | Slavia Sofia | 6 |
| 12 | Roman Procházka | Levski Sofia | 6 |
| 12 | Ivan Minchev | Montana | 6 |
| 12 | Ismail Isa | Beroe Stara Zagora | 6 |
| 12 | Miguel Bedoya | Levski Sofia | 6 |

#### Note

$^1$ Including 2 goals for Montana.
$_{Updatedon28May2016}$

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Ivan Minchev | Montana | Botev Plovdiv | 6–0 | 25 July 2015 |
| Martin Kamburov | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 4–2 | 1 April 2016 |
| Ventsislav Hristov | Levski Sofia | Cherno More | 5–1 | 28 April 2016 |
$_{Updatedon28April2016}$

#### Clean sheets

* Levski Sofia – 13
* Ludogorets – 12
* Slavia Sofia – 12
* Beroe – 11

## Transfers

* List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2015
* List of Bulgarian football transfers winter 2015–16