# 2011–12 A Group

The 2011–12 A Group was the 88th season of the Bulgarian national top football division, and the 64th of A Group as the top tier football league in the country. The season began on 6 August 2011 and ended on 23 May 2012. Ludogorets Razgrad claimed their maiden title in their debut season, after winning the last round clash against CSKA, which were leading by 2 points prior to the match. Vidima-Rakovski, Kaliakra and Svetkavitsa were relegated, after finishing at the bottom three places.

## Team information

Akademik Sofia and Sliven were directly relegated after finishing in the bottom two places of the table at the end of season 2010/11. Akademik were relegated after one year in the top league of Bulgarian football, while Sliven ended a three-year tenure in the top flight. Furthermore, Pirin (Blagoevgrad) were excluded from A Group due to financial difficulties and demoted to V Group.
The relegated teams were replaced by Botev Vratsa, champions of West B Group, Ludogorets Razgrad, champions of East B Group and promotion play-off winners Svetkavitsa. Botev Vratsa returned to A Group after twenty-two years, while Ludogorets Razgrad and Svetkavitsa both made their debut on the highest level of Bulgarian football.
There was some controversy regarding the relegation/promotion play-offs at the end of season 2010/11. In the original match-up, 14th-placed Vidima-Rakovski lost 3-0 against B Group play-off winners Chernomorets (Pomorie). However, Pomorie did not receive an A Group licence, so Vidima-Rakovski were spared from relegation. In order to fill the void, a second play-off match was scheduled between Svetkavitsa, 4th-placed team of East B Group, and Etar (Veliko Tarnovo), 3rd-placed team of West B Group. Svetkavitsa won this match by a score of 3-1.

### Stadia and locations

As in the previous year, the league comprises the best thirteen teams of season 2010-11, the champions of the two B Groups and the winners of the promotion play-offs.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Beroe | Stara Zagora | Beroe | 17,800 |
| Botev | Vratsa | Hristo Botev | 32,000 |
| Cherno More | Varna | Ticha | 8,250 |
| Chernomorets | Burgas | Lazur | 18,037 |
| CSKA | Sofia | Balgarska Armiya | 22,015 |
| Kaliakra | Kavarna | Kavarna | 5,000 |
| Levski | Sofia | Georgi Asparuhov | 29,200 |
| Litex | Lovech | Lovech | 7,050 |
| Lokomotiv | Plovdiv | Lokomotiv | 13,800 |
| Lokomotiv | Sofia | Lokomotiv Sofia | 22,000 |
| Ludogorets | Razgrad | Ludogorets Arena | 6,000 |
| Minyor | Pernik | Minyor | 8,000 |
| Montana | Montana | Ogosta | 8,000 |
| Slavia | Sofia | Ovcha Kupel | 18,000 |
| Svetkavitsa | Targovishte | Dimitar Burkov | 8,000 |
| Vidima-Rakovski | Sevlievo | Rakovski | 8,816 |

#### Notes

* Lokomotiv Sofia play their home matches at Vasil Levski National Stadium as their own ground, Lokomotiv Stadium, had not received approval from the BFU license committee.

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit Manufacturer | Shirt Sponsor |
| Beroe Stara Zagora | Ilian Iliev | Slavi Zhekov | Uhlsport | Bulsatcom |
| Botev Vratsa | Sasho Angelov | Rosen Vankov | Jumper | |
| Cherno More Varna | Stefan Genov | Georgi Iliev | Misho | Armeets |
| Chernomorets Burgas | Dimitar Dimitrov | Radostin Kishishev | Macron | |
| CSKA Sofia | Dimitar Penev | Todor Yanchev | Kappa | GLOBUL |
| Kaliakra | Radostin Trifonov | Ivan Raychev | Uhlsport | Municipality of Kavarna |
| Levski Sofia | Nikolay Kostov | Hristo Yovov | Nike | VTB Bank |
| Litex Lovech | Atanas Dzhambazki | Nebojša Jelenković | adidas | b-connect |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Emil Velev | Zdravko Lazarov | Uhlsport | Refan |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Anton Velkov | Kristian Dobrev | Puma | |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | Ivaylo Petev | Todor Kolev | adidas | Huvepharma |
| Minyor Pernik | Stoycho Stoev | Kostadin Markov | Jumper | Municipal Insurance Company |
| Montana | Stefan Grozdanov | Daniel Gadzhev | Jako | GM Capital |
| Slavia Sofia | Martin Kushev | Bogomil Dyakov | Puma | |
| Svetkavitsa | Nikola Spasov | Georgi Damyanov | Jako | Vinprom Targovishte |
| Vidima-Rakovski | Kostadin Angelov | Georgi Stoychev | Asics | VIDEXIM |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager(s) | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Levski Sofia | Yasen Petrov | End of contract | 27 May 2011 | Pre-season | Georgi Ivanov | 27 May 2011 |
| Slavia Sofia | Emil Velev | Sacked | 28 May 2011 | Pre-season | Martin Kushev | 28 May 2011 |
| Kaliakra Kavarna | Antoni Zdravkov | End of contract | 28 May 2011 | Pre-season | Adalbert Zafirov | 28 May 2011 |
| Chernomorets Burgas | Georgi Vasilev | Sacked | 30 May 2011 | Pre-season | Dimitar Dimitrov | 30 May 2011 |
| Montana | Atanas Dzhambazki | End of contract | 2 June 2011 | Pre-season | Stefan Grozdanov | 11 June 2011 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Saša Nikolić | Sacked | 14 June 2011 | Pre-season | Dragan Kanatlarovski | 17 June 2011 |
| Vidima-Rakovski | Dimitar Todorov | Sacked | 16 June 2011 | Pre-season | Kostadin Angelov | 17 June 2011 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Dian Petkov | Sacked | 3 October 2011 | 10th | Anton Velkov | 3 October 2011 |
| Kaliakra Kavarna | Adalbert Zafirov | Sacked | 19 October 2011 | 15th | Radostin Trifonov | 19 October 2011 |
| Svetkavitsa Targovishte | Plamen Donev | Resigned | 19 October 2011 | 16th | Nikola Spasov | 23 October 2011 |
| Litex Lovech | Lyuboslav Penev | Resigned | 24 October 2011 | 5th | Atanas Dzhambazki | 24 October 2011 |
| CSKA Sofia | Milen Radukanov | Sacked | 25 October 2011 | 2nd | Dimitar Penev | 25 October 2011 |
| Levski Sofia | Georgi Ivanov | Resigned | 4 November 2011 | 5th | Nikolay Kostov | 7 November 2011 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Dragan Kanatlarovski | Sacked | 7 November 2011 | 6th | Emil Velev | 8 November 2011 |
| Levski Sofia | Nikolay Kostov | Resigned | 26 March 2012 | 4th | Georgi Ivanov (caretaker) | March 2012 |
Note: Georgi Ivanov subsequently stepped down and was replaced by Yasen Petrov as caretaker manager at the helm of Levski, with Ilian Iliev set to take over prior to the 2012/2013 season.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Ludogorets Razgrad (C) | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 73 | 16 | +57 | 70 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | CSKA Sofia | 30 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 60 | 19 | +41 | 69 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Levski Sofia | 30 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 61 | 28 | +33 | 62 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Chernomorets Burgas | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 57 | 23 | +34 | 60 | |
| 5 | Litex Lovech | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 57 | 28 | +29 | 59 | |
| 6 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 44 | 39 | +5 | 57 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 7 | Cherno More | 30 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 46 | 25 | +21 | 52 | |
| 8 | Slavia Sofia | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 51 | |
| 9 | Minyor Pernik | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 36 | |
| 10 | Beroe | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 35 | |
| 11 | Montana | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 51 | −22 | 31 | |
| 12 | Botev Vratsa | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 30 | 44 | −14 | 29 | |
| 13 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 26 | 50 | −24 | 24 | |
| 14 | Vidima-Rakovski (R) | 30 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 59 | −40 | 15 | Relegation to 2012–13 B Group |
| 15 | Kaliakra (R) | 30 | 2 | 5 | 23 | 26 | 77 | −51 | 11 | Relegation to 2012–13 B Group |
| 16 | Svetkavitsa (R) | 30 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 8 | 71 | −63 | 8 | Relegation to 2012–13 B Group |
* ↑ Ludogorets Razgrad won the 2011–12 Bulgarian Cup competition but were qualified for 2012–13 UEFA Champions League via winning the league, hence their Europa League berth was awarded to the cup runners-up, Lokomotiv Plovdiv.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BSZ | BVR | CHM | CHB | CSK | KAV | LEV | LIT | LPL | LSO | LUD | MIN | MON | SLA | SVE | VRA |
| Beroe | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Botev Vratsa | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 6–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Cherno More | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 7–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Chernomorets Burgas | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–2 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 6–0 | 4–0 |
| CSKA Sofia | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 4–1 |
| Kaliakra | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–5 | 0–4 | 1–2 | | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Levski Sofia | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | | 3–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 7–0 | 2–1 |
| Litex Lovech | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | | 6–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 3–0 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 4–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | | 4–1 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 |
| Minyor Pernik | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–7 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Montana | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Slavia Sofia | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Svetkavitsa | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | | 0–0 |
| Vidima-Rakovski | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–6 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–5 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | |
* ↑ The match between Lokomotiv Sofia and Slavia Sofia was awarded to Slavia by a score of 3–0. The original fixture was not played after police security for the match could not be provided.

## Champions
### Ludogorets Razgrad

* Mihaylov, Travner, Grabus, Remzi, Atanasov, Dyulgerov and Kolev left the club during a season.

## Season statistics
### Top goalscorers

Below is a list of the top goalscorers at the end of the competition.
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Júnior Moraes | CSKA Sofia | 16 |
| 1 | Ivan Stoyanov | Ludogorets Razgrad | 16 |
| 3 | Emil Gargorov | Ludogorets Razgrad | 13 |
| 3 | Ianis Zicu | CSKA Sofia | 13 |
| 5 | Juninho | Slavia Sofia / Levski Sofia | 12 |
| 6 | Svetoslav Todorov | Litex Lovech | 11 |
| 6 | Ivan Tsvetkov | Levski Sofia | 11 |
| 6 | Gerasim Zakov | Kaliakra Kavarna | 11 |
| 9 | Lourival Assis | Chernomorets Burgas | 10 |
| 9 | Aatif Chahechouhe | Chernomorets Burgas | 10 |
| 9 | Georgi Iliev | Cherno More Varna | 10 |
| 9 | Marcelo Nicácio | Litex Lovech | 10 |

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: 19:08 – Georgi Bozhilov for Cherno More against Montana (6 August 2011)
* Fastest goal of the season: 6 seconds – Miroslav Manolov (Cherno More) against Montana (22 March 2012)

## Transfers

* List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2011
* List of Bulgarian football transfers winter 2011–12