# 2008–09 A Group

The 2008–09 A Group was the 85th season of the Bulgarian national top football division, and the 61st of A Group as the top tier football league in the country. It began on 9 August 2008 and ended on 13 June 2009. CSKA Sofia were the defending champions, but they were unable to retain it and Levski Sofia won the title, which was their 26th overall.

## Promotion and relegation

Three teams were promoted from the 2007–08 B Group. These include the champions of the East and West B Groups, as well as the promotion playoff winner, decided through a one match between the runners-up of the two B Groups. The promoted teams were Lokomotiv Mezdra, Sliven, and Minyor Pernik. Lokomotiv Mezdra made their debut in the top tier of Bulgarian football, Sliven return after a fifteen-year absence, while Minyor Pernik return to the top tier after a seven-year absence. The promoted teams replaced Marek Dupnitsa, Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo and Beroe Stara Zagora, who were relegated after respective top flight spells of seven, one, and four years in the A Group.
Teams promoted from B PFG after the 2007–08 season
* West group champions: Lokomotiv Mezdra
* East group champions: OFC Sliven
* Play-offs: Minyor Pernik
Teams relegated to B PFG after the 2007–08 season
* Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo
* Marek Dupnitsa
* Beroe Stara Zagora

## Team overview

| Club | Location | Manager | Venue | Capacity |
| Belasitsa | Petrich | Miroslav Mitev | Tsar Samuil Stadium | 9,500 |
| Botev | Plovdiv | Kostadin Angelov | Hristo Botev Stadium, Plovdiv | 22,000 |
| Cherno More | Varna | Nikola Spasov | Ticha Stadium | 8,250 |
| Chernomorets | Burgas | Dimitar Dimitrov | Naftex Stadium | 18,037 |
| CSKA | Sofia | Luboslav Penev | Balgarska Armiya Stadium | 22,015 |
| Levski | Sofia | Emil Velev | Georgi Asparuhov Stadium | 29,800 |
| Litex | Lovech | Stanimir Stoilov | Lovech Stadium | 7,000 |
| Lokomotiv Mezdra | Mezdra | Georgi Bachev | Lokomotiv Stadium, Mezdra | 5,000 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Plovdiv | Ayan Sadakov | Lokomotiv Stadium, Plovdiv | 13,800 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Sofia | Dragomir Okuka | Lokomotiv Stadium, Sofia | 22,000 |
| Minyor | Pernik | Dimitar Aleksiev | Minyor Stadium | 16,500 |
| OFC Sliven | Sliven | Georgi Dermendzhiev | Hadzhi Dimitar Stadium | 10,000 |
| Pirin | Blagoevgrad | Petar Tsvetkov | Hristo Botev Stadium, Blagoevgrad | 7,500 |
| Slavia | Sofia | Stevica Kuzmanovski | Ovcha Kupel Stadium | 18,000 |
| Spartak | Varna | Dragoljub Simonović | Spartak Stadium | 8,000 |
| Vihren | Sandanski | Filip Filipov | Sandanski Stadium | 6,000 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Levski Sofia (C) | 30 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 57 | 18 | +39 | 69 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | CSKA Sofia | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 54 | 22 | +32 | 68 | Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Cherno More | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 48 | 19 | +29 | 60 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Litex Lovech | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 53 | 26 | +27 | 58 | Qualification for Europa League play-off round |
| 5 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 52 | 29 | +23 | 54 | |
| 6 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 43 | |
| 7 | Chernomorets Burgas | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 41 | 37 | +4 | 43 | |
| 8 | Lokomotiv Mezdra | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 37 | |
| 9 | Slavia Sofia | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 41 | 38 | +3 | 37 | |
| 10 | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 35 | 50 | −15 | 35 | |
| 11 | Minyor Pernik | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 24 | 39 | −15 | 35 | |
| 12 | Sliven | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 32 | |
| 13 | Botev Plovdiv | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 31 | 50 | −19 | 30 | |
| 14 | Vihren (R) | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 29 | 50 | −21 | 26 | Relegation to 2009–10 B Group |
| 15 | Spartak Varna (R) | 30 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 46 | −27 | 25 | Relegation to 2009–10 B Group |
| 16 | Belasitsa Petrich (R) | 30 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 24 | 71 | −47 | 17 | Relegation to 2009–10 B Group |
* ↑ Litex Lovech won the 2008–09 Bulgarian Cup and qualified for the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League.
* 1 2 Lokomotiv Plovdiv ahead of Chernomorets Burgas on head-to-head record; Chernomorets Burgas–Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–3, Lokomotiv Plovdiv–Chernomorets Burgas 1–1.
* 1 2 Lokomotiv Mezdra ahead of Slavia Sofia on head-to-head record; Slavia Sofia–Lokomotiv Mezdra 0–0, Lokomotiv Mezdra–Slavia Sofia 1–0.
* 1 2 Montana ahead of Slavia Sofia on head-to-head record; Minyor Pernik–Pirin Blagoevgrad 0–0, Pirin Blagoevgrad–Minyor Pernik 1–0.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BEL | BOT | CHM | CHB | CSK | LEV | LIT | LME | LPL | LSO | MIN | OFC | PIR | SLA | SPV | VIH |
| Belasitsa Petrich | | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–7 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Botev Plovdiv | 5–0 | | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Cherno More | 6–0 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 |
| Chernomorets Burgas | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 |
| CSKA Sofia | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Levski Sofia | 2–0 | 6–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 |
| Litex Lovech | 4–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Lokomotiv Mezdra | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–4 | | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | | 5–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Minyor Pernik | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| OFC Sliven | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Slavia Sofia | 3–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Spartak Varna | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 1–1 |
| Vihren | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–5 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | |

## Champions
### Levski Sofia

* Iliev and Jean Carlos left the club during a season.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Martin Kamburov | Lokomotiv Sofia | 17 |
| 2 | Dormushali Saidhodzha | CSKA Sofia$^1$ | 14 |
| 3 | Georgi Ivanov | Levski Sofia | 12 |
| 4 | Yordan Yurukov | Cherno More Varna | 11 |
| 4 | Georgi Hristov | Levski Sofia | 11 |
| 6 | Zoran Baldovaliev | Lokomotiv Sofia | 10 |
| 6 | Pavle Delibašić | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 10 |
| 6 | Michel Platini | Chernomorets Burgas | 10 |
| 9 | Krum Bibishkov | Litex Lovech | 9 |
| 9 | Adrián Fernández | Chernomorets Burgas$^2$ | 9 |
| 9 | Miroslav Manolov | Cherno More Varna | 9 |
| 9 | Saša Simonović | Lokomotiv Mezdra | 9 |
| 9 | Ivan Stoyanov | Sliven | 9 |
| 9 | Yordan Todorov | CSKA Sofia | 9 |
$^{1.Saidhodzhascored7goalsforBotevPlovdivand7forCSKASofia(hewastransferredduringthewinterbreak)}$ $^{2.Fernándezscored4goalsforChernoMoreVarnaand5forChernomoretsBurgas(hewastransferredduringthewinterbreak)}$

## Annual awards
### Team of the season

The team have been voted by selected media representatives (Note: First team members are denoted in bold).
| Position | Name | Club |
| Goalkeepers | Kiril Akalski | Lokomotiv Plovdiv |
| Goalkeepers | Georgi Petkov | Levski |
| Defenders | Tanko Dyakov | Cherno More |
| Defenders | Ivan Ivanov | CSKA |
| Defenders | Stanislav Manolev | Litex |
| Defenders | Zhivko Milanov | Levski |
| Defenders | Veselin Minev | Levski |
| Defenders | Youssef Rabeh | Levski |
| Midfielders | Alex | Cherno More |
| Midfielders | Joãozinho | Levski |
| Midfielders | Dani Kiki | Lokomotiv Plovdiv |
| Midfielders | Aleksandar Tonev | CSKA |
| Midfielders | Todor Yanchev | CSKA |
| Midfielders | Kosta Yanev | Sliven |
| Forwards | Spas Delev | Pirin |
| Forwards | Georgi Ivanov | Levski |
| Forwards | Martin Kamburov | Lokomotiv Sofia |
| Forwards | Ivelin Popov | Litex |
| Head coach | Emil Velev | Levski |