# 2010–11 A Group

The 2010–11 A Group season was the 87th edition of the Bulgarian national top football division, and the 63rd of A Group as the top-tier football league in the country. The season commenced on 31 July 2010 and ended with the last games on 28 May 2011. The winter break was between the weekends around 29 November 2010 and 26 February 2011. Litex Lovech defended their 2009/10 A Group title and were champions for 2 consecutive seasons.

## Team information

Lokomotiv Mezdra, Sportist Svoge and Botev Plovdiv were directly relegated after finishing in the bottom three places. Lokomotiv Mezdra ended a two-year tenure, Sportist Svoge were relegated after a year in A Group, and Botev were excluded from A Group due to financial difficulties at the winter brake, ending a five-year stint in the A Group.
The relegated teams were replaced by Vidima-Rakovski, champions of West B Group and Kaliakra Kavarna, champions of the East B Group. Vidima-Rakovski returned to A Group after two years, while Kaliakra entered the top division for their first time.
A further place in the league was decided by a play-off match between the runners-up teams from the two B Group's. The game was played on 23 May 2010 between Nesebar and Akademik Sofia. Akademik won the match by 2–1 and returned to the top division after 28 years. The last season the club had played in A Group was 1981–82.

### Stadia and locations

As in the previous year, the league will comprise the best thirteen teams of season 2009/10, the 2 champions of the West and East B Group's and the winners of the promotion play-off between the runners-up from the West and East B Group's.
The following teams have ensured their participation in A Group for season 2010/11 (listed in alphabetical order):
| Team | City | Stadium | Stadium capacity |
| Akademik | Sofia | Ovcha Kupel | 18,000 |
| Beroe | Stara Zagora | Beroe | 17,800 |
| Cherno More | Varna | Ticha | 8,250 |
| Chernomorets | Burgas | Lazur | 18,037 |
| CSKA | Sofia | Vasil Levski | 43,632 |
| Kaliakra | Kavarna | Kavarna | 5,000 |
| Levski | Sofia | Georgi Asparuhov | 29,986 |
| Litex | Lovech | Lovech | 7,050 |
| Lokomotiv | Plovdiv | Lokomotiv | 13,800 |
| Lokomotiv | Sofia | Vasil Levski | 43,632 |
| Minyor | Pernik | Minyor | 8,000 |
| Montana | Montana | Ogosta | 8,000 |
| Pirin | Blagoevgrad | Hristo Botev | 7,500 |
| Slavia | Sofia | Ovcha Kupel | 18,000 |
| Sliven 2000 | Sliven | Hadzhi Dimitar | 10,000 |
| Vidima-Rakovski | Sevlievo | Rakovski | 8,816 |

#### Notes

* Akademik Sofia will play their league home games at Ovcha Kupel Stadium in Sofia because their Akademik Stadium had not received approval from the BFU license committee.
* CSKA Sofia will play their league home games at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia because their Balgarska Armiya had not received approval from the BFU license committee.
* Lokomotiv Sofia will play their league home games at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia because their Lokomotiv Stadium had not received approval from the BFU license committee.

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit Manufacturer | Shirt Sponsor |
| Akademik Sofia | Boris Angelov | Nikola Asenov | Saller | Bench Mark Group |
| Beroe Stara Zagora | Ilian Iliev | Slavi Zhekov | GUPA | Bulsatcom |
| Cherno More Varna | Stefan Genov | Georgi Iliev | Misho | Armeets |
| Chernomorets Burgas | Georgi Vasilev | Trayan Dyankov | Puma | QUARTO |
| CSKA Sofia | Milen Radukanov | Todor Yanchev | Uhlsport | GLOBUL |
| Kaliakra | Anton Zdravkov | Ivan Raychev | Uhlsport | Municipality of Kavarna |
| Levski Sofia | Yasen Petrov | Hristo Yovov | Nike | M-Tel |
| Litex Lovech | Lyuboslav Penev | Nebojša Jelenković | Adidas | b-connect |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Saša Nikolić | Zdravko Lazarov | Uhlsport | |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Dian Petkov | Kristian Dobrev | Puma | |
| Minyor Pernik | Stoycho Stoev | Kostadin Markov | Jumper | Municipal Insurance Company |
| Montana | Atanas Dzhambazki | Daniel Gadzhev | ASICS | GM Capital |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Kostadin Angelov | Veselin Stoykov | Joma | Beer Pirinsko |
| Slavia Sofia | Emil Velev | Bogomil Dyakov | Puma | |
| Sliven | Dimcho Nenov | Evgeni Karamanov | Tomy | |
| Vidima-Rakovski | Dimitar Todorov | Georgi Stoychev | ASICS | VIDEXIM |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager(s) | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| CSKA Sofia | Adalbert Zafirov (interim) | End of caretaker contract | 16 May 2010 | Pre-season | Pavel Dochev | 13 May 2010 |
| Slavia Sofia | Velislav Vutsov | Sacked | 17 May 2010 | Pre-season | Emil Velev | 19 May 2010 |
| Levski Sofia | Anton Zdravkov Georgi Ivanov | End of caretaker contract | 20 May 2010 | Pre-season | Yasen Petrov | 20 May 2010 |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Stefan Grozdanov | Leaves the club | 8 June 2010 | Pre-season | Yordan Bozdanski | 21 June 2010 |
| Litex Lovech | Angel Chervenkov | Sacked | 5 August 2010 | 1st | Petko Petkov (interim) | 5 August 2010 |
| CSKA Sofia | Pavel Dochev | Sacked | 16 August 2010 | 13th | Gjore Jovanovski | 16 August 2010 |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Yordan Bozdanski | Sacked | 30 August 2010 | 14th | Kostadin Angelov | 1 September 2010 |
| Litex Lovech | Petko Petkov (interim) | End of caretaker contract | 1 September 2010 | 4th | Luboslav Penev | 2 September 2010 |
| Minyor Pernik | Anton Velkov | Resigned | 6 September 2010 | 16th | Stoycho Stoev | 8 September 2010 |
| Kaliakra Kavarna | Filip Filipov | Sacked | 6 October 2010 | 13th | Anton Zdravkov | 7 October 2010 |
| CSKA Sofia | Gjore Jovanovski | Sacked | 21 October 2010 | 9th | Milen Radukanov | 21 October 2010 |
| Cherno More Varna | Velizar Popov | Resigned | 23 October 2010 | 10th | Stefan Genov | 23 October 2010 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Dimitar Vasev | Sacked | 22 November 2010 | 5th | Dian Petkov (interim) | 22 November 2010 |
| Sliven | Dragoljub Simonović | Resigned | 4 December 2010 | 15th | Dimcho Nenov | 10 January 2011 |
| Chernomorets Burgas | Krasimir Balakov | Resigned | 7 December 2010 | 3rd | Anton Velkov | 23 December 2010 |
| Chernomorets Burgas | Anton Velkov | Sacked | 21 March 2011 | 7th | Georgi Vasilev | 21 March 2011 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Nedelcho Matushev | Sacked | 26 April 2011 | 5th | Saša Nikolić | 26 April 2011 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Litex Lovech (C) | 30 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 56 | 13 | +43 | 75 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Levski Sofia | 30 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 67 | 24 | +43 | 72 | Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round |
| 3 | CSKA Sofia | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 53 | 26 | +27 | 61 | Qualification for Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 30 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 47 | 33 | +14 | 52 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 54 | 28 | +26 | 52 | |
| 6 | Cherno More | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 51 | |
| 7 | Beroe | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 33 | 34 | −1 | 46 | |
| 8 | Chernomorets Burgas | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 19 | 28 | −9 | 37 | |
| 9 | Minyor Pernik | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 36 | |
| 10 | Montana | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 46 | −16 | 32 | |
| 11 | Slavia Sofia | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 34 | 38 | −4 | 32 | |
| 12 | Kaliakra | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 19 | 40 | −21 | 30 | |
| 13 | Pirin Blagoevgrad (R) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 32 | 39 | −7 | 27 | Relegation to 2011–12 V Group |
| 14 | Vidima-Rakovski (O) | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 26 | 52 | −26 | 25 | Qualification for relegation play-off |
| 15 | Akademik Sofia (R) | 30 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 16 | 51 | −35 | 20 | Relegation to 2011–12 B Group |
| 16 | Sliven (R) | 30 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 22 | 52 | −30 | 19 | Relegation to 2011–12 B Group |
* ↑ CSKA Sofia have won the 2010–11 Bulgarian Cup competition and therefore qualified for the play-off round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League.
* 1 2 Lokomotiv Sofia ahead of Lokomotiv Plovdiv on head-to-head record; Lokomotiv Sofia–Lokomotiv Plovdiv 3–0, Lokomotiv Plovdiv–Lokomotiv Sofia 0–0.
* 1 2 Montana ahead of Slavia Sofia on head-to-head record; Slavia Sofia–Montana 3–2, Montana–Slavia Sofia 1–0.
* ↑ The team did not receive a license for professional football for the next season.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AKD | BSZ | CHM | CHB | CSK | KAV | LEV | LIT | LPL | LSO | MIN | MON | PIR | SLA | OFC | VRA |
| Akademik Sofia | | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Beroe | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Cherno More | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 5–0 |
| Chernomorets Burgas | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| CSKA Sofia | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Kaliakra | 0–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Levski Sofia | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 |
| Litex Lovech | 2–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 3–0 | | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Minyor Pernik | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| Montana | 2–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | 6–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Slavia Sofia | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| OFC Sliven | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 6–1 |
| Vidima-Rakovski | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |

## 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 |
| Litex Lovech | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Levski Sofia | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| CSKA Sofia | 14 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 3 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Cherno More | 1 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Beroe | 10 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Chernomorets Burgas | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Minyor Pernik | 12 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Montana | 14 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Slavia Sofia | 14 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| Kaliakra | 3 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | 12 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| Vidima-Rakovski | 6 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Akademik Sofia | 8 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| OFC Sliven | 10 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |

## Relegation playoff

Chernomorets Pomorie wasn't allowed to compete in the next season, so there will be 2 play-offs. The first will be between the teams that lost against Chernomorets Pomorie, Vidima-Rakovski and Sportist Svoge. The other will be between Svetkavitsa and FC Etar Veliko Tarnovo (the 3rd teams in the West and East B Group) for the Pirin Blagoevgrad's place.

## Champions
### Litex Lovech

* Niflore, Popov and Bratu left the club during a season.

## Season statistics
### Scoring

* First goal of the season: 18:06, 31 July 2010 – Georgi Filipov for Kaliakra against Slavia (6th minute)
* Fastest goal in a match: 19 seconds – Rumen Trifonov for CSKA against Chernomorets (8 August 2010)
* First own goal of the season: Yordan Petkov (Slavia) for Beroe, 3rd round (15 August 2010)
* First hat-trick of the season: Garra Dembélé (Levski) against Loko Sofia (9 August 2010)
* Quickest hat-trick: 25 minutes – Garra Dembélé (Levski) against Minyor (12 September 2010)
* Widest winning margin: 5 goals
** Sliven 2000 6–1 Vidima-Rakovski (18 September 2010)
** Lokomotiv Plovdiv 5–0 Kaliakra (25 September 2010)
** Cherno More 5–0 Vidima-Rakovski (9 April 2011)
* Most goals in one half: 6 goals
** Sliven 2000 6–1 Vidima-Rakovski (5–1 at half time) (18 September 2010)
* Most goals scored by losing team: 3 goals
** Lokomotiv Sofia 4–3 Slavia (27 November 2010)
* Highest scoring draw: 4 goals
** Vidima-Rakovski 2–2 CSKA (14 August 2010)
** Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2–2 Litex (22 August 2010)
** Montana 2–2 Akademik (18 September 2010)
** Minyor 2–2 Lokomotiv Plovdiv (2 October 2010)
** Lokomotiv Sofia 2–2 CSKA (4 October 2010)
** Slavia 2–2 Levski (7 November 2010)

### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: Radoslav Mitrevski for Pirin against Cherno More, 17 minutes and 25 seconds (31 July 2010)
* First red card of the season: Anton Dimitrov for Kaliakra against Slavia, 87 minutes and 14 seconds (31 July 2010)
* Most yellow cards in a single match: 10
** Akademik 0–1 Sliven – 6 for Akademik (Pieter Mbemba, Asparuh Vasilev, Ivan Redovski, Nikola Asenov, Marcos Bonfim and Yulian Petkov) and 4 for Sliven (Petar Stoyanov, Nikolay Dimitrov, Miroslav Mindev and Dimo Bakalov) (21 August 2010)
* Most red cards in a single match: 3
** Cherno More 3–2 Slavia – 1 for Cherno More (Ademar Júnior) and 2 for Slavia (Galin Ivanov, Victor Deniran) (17 October 2010)