# 2000–01 A Group

The 2000–01 A Group was the 53rd season of the A Football Group, the top Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948.
The league was contested by the top 12 teams from the 1999–2000 season as well as Cherno More Varna and Hebar Pazardzhik, who joined as the promoted clubs from the 1999–2000 B Group.
Defending champions Levski Sofia won their 22nd Bulgarian league title overall. Botev Plovdiv and Minyor Pernik were relegated at the end of the season by finishing in the last two places.

## Teams

Fourteen teams competed in the league – the top twelve teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the B Group. The promoted teams were Cherno More Varna (returning to the top flight after a six-year absence) and Hebar Pazardzhik (returning after an eight-year absence). They replaced Dobrudzha Dobrich, Belasitsa Petrich, Pirin Blagoevgrad and Shumen.

### Stadiums and Locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Beroe | Stara Zagora | Beroe | 22,500 |
| Botev | Plovdiv | Hristo Botev | 22,000 |
| Cherno More | Varna | Ticha | 8,250 |
| Chernomorets | Burgas | Chernomorets | 22,000 |
| CSKA | Sofia | Balgarska Armia | 22,015 |
| Hebar | Pazardzhik | Georgi Benkovski | 13,128 |
| Levski | Sofia | Georgi Asparuhov | 29,200 |
| Lovech | Lovech | Gradski | 7,050 |
| Lokomotiv | Sofia | Lokomotiv | 22,000 |
| Minyor | Pernik | Minyor | 20,000 |
| Neftochimic | Burgas | Lazur | 18,037 |
| Slavia | Sofia | Slavia | 32,000 |
| Spartak | Varna | Spartak | 7,500 |
| Velbazhd | Kyustendil | Osogovo | 13,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Beroe | Tsvetomir Parvanov | | Erima | AKSA |
| Botev Plovdiv | Georgi Lazarov | | | Vitosha AD |
| Cherno More | Bozhil Kolev | Ventsislav Marinov | Asics | VAI Holding |
| Chernomorets | Nikolay Rusev | Angel Stoykov | | |
| CSKA Sofia | Enrico Catuzzi | | Lotto | |
| Hebar | Voyn Voynov | | | |
| Levski Sofia | Ljupko Petrović | Stanimir Stoilov | Diadora | Mobiltel |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Angel Kolev | | Adidas | Delta-G |
| Lovech | Ferario Spasov | Vitomir Vutov | Asics | Litex Commerce |
| Minyor | Ventsislav Arsov | | Nike | |
| Neftochimic | Dimitar Stoychev | Veliyan Parushev | Puma | Petrol AD |
| Slavia Sofia | Kiril Kachamanov | Veselin Vachev | Adidas | Sofiyski Imoti |
| Spartak Varna | Stefan Grozdanov | | | |
| Velbazhd | Dimitar Dimitrov | Slavcho Pavlov | Nike | VIS-2 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Botev Plovdiv | Dinko Dermendzhiev | Mutual consent | 1 June 2000 | Pre-season | Marin Bakalov | 26 June 2000 |
| Lovech | Čedomir Đoinčević | Sacked | 10 June 2000 | Pre-season | Mihai Stoichiță | 1 July 2000 |
| Levski Sofia | Dimitar Dimitrov | Sacked | 15 June 2000 | Pre-season | Vladimir Fedotov | 7 July 2000 |
| CSKA Sofia | Aleksandar Stankov | End of caretaker tenure | 23 June 2000 | Pre-season | Enrico Catuzzi | 24 June 2000 |
| Beroe | Ventsislav Kepov | Mutual consent | June 2000 | Pre-season | Nikola Ivanov | June 2000 |
| Slavia | Miroslav Mironov | Mutual consent | June 2000 | Pre-season | Žarko Olarević | June 2000 |
| Cherno More | Radoslav Zdravkov | Mutual consent | June 2000 | Pre-season | Bozhil Kolev | June 2000 |
| Velbazhd | Dimitar Sokolov | Mutual consent | 26 June 2000 | Pre-season | Dimitar Dimitrov | 26 June 2000 |
| Neftochimic | Dimitar Stoychev | Mutual consent | 30 June 2000 | Pre-season | Salvatore Polverino | 1 July 2000 |
| Neftochimic | Salvatore Polverino | Sacked | 6 August 2000 | 13th | Dimitar Stoychev | 6 August 2000 |
| Beroe | Nikola Ivanov | Sacked | 14 August 2000 | 12th | Petko Petkov | 14 August 2000 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Pavel Panov | Sacked | 29 August 2000 | 8th | Radoslav Zdravkov | 29 August 2000 |
| Levski Sofia | Vladimir Fedotov | Sacked | 30 August 2000 | 2nd | Nasko Sirakov (caretaker) | 30 August 2000 |
| Levski Sofia | Nasko Sirakov | End of caretaker tenure | 2 October 2000 | 1st | Ljupko Petrović | 2 October 2000 |
| Lovech | Mihai Stoichiță | Sacked | 21 October 2000 | 6th | Ferario Spasov | 21 October 2000 |
| Slavia Sofia | Žarko Olarević | Mutual consent | 27 November 2000 | 10th | Kiril Kachamanov | 27 November 2000 |
| CSKA Sofia | Enrico Catuzzi | Mutual consent | 19 December 2000 | 2nd | Aleksandar Stankov | 20 December 2000 |
| CSKA Sofia | Aleksandar Stankov | Mutual consent | 3 March 2001 | 2nd | Enrico Catuzzi | 4 March 2001 |
| Beroe | Petko Petkov | Sacked | 20 March 2001 | ? | Tsvetomir Parvanov | 20 March 2001 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Radoslav Zdravkov | Sacked | 29 April 2001 | ? | Angel Kolev | 29 April 2001 |

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Levski Sofia (C) | 26 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 63 | 13 | +50 | 69 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | CSKA Sofia | 26 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 65 | 16 | +49 | 62 | Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Velbazhd Kyustendil | 26 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 48 | 29 | +19 | 57 | Relegation to V Group |
| 4 | Lovech | 26 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 70 | 23 | +47 | 55 | Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 5 | Neftochimic Burgas | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 42 | |
| 6 | Slavia Sofia | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 35 | |
| 7 | Spartak Varna | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 38 | 40 | −2 | 34 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
| 8 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 33 | |
| 9 | Hebar Pazardzhik | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 26 | Relegation to V Group |
| 10 | Cherno More | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 20 | 49 | −29 | 26 | |
| 11 | Chernomorets Burgas | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 22 | 48 | −26 | 22 | |
| 12 | Beroe (O) | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 21 | 47 | −26 | 22 | Qualification for relegation play-off |
| 13 | Botev Plovdiv (R) | 26 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 28 | 55 | −27 | 20 | Relegation to 2001–02 B Group |
| 14 | Minyor Pernik (R) | 26 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 19 | 71 | −52 | 13 | Relegation to 2001–02 B Group |
* ↑ Lovech won the 2000–01 Bulgarian Cup and qualified for the 2001–02 UEFA Cup qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BSZ | BOT | CHB | CHM | CSK | HEB | LEV | LSO | LOV | MIN | NEF | SLA | SPV | VEL |
| Beroe | | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Botev Plovdiv | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–4 |
| Chernomorets Burgas | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Cherno More | 1–2 | 3–2 | 3–0 | | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 |
| CSKA Sofia | 5–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | | 9–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Hebar Pazardzhik | 3–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 2–4 | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| Levski Sofia | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 0–2 | | 2–2 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| Lovech | 4–0 | 6–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 2–0 | | 4–1 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 4–0 | 5–0 |
| Minyor Pernik | 2–0 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–4 | | 1–4 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Neftochimic Burgas | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | | 2–2 | 2–5 | 5–0 |
| Slavia Sofia | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 7–1 | 0–0 | | 3–2 | 0–2 |
| Spartak Varna | 4–1 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 0–3 |
| Velbazhd Kyustendil | 2–0 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
* ↑ Match awarded after was abandoned at 0-1 in 65th minute due to home fans throwing stones following a second sending off
* ↑ Match awarded (originally finished 1–3).

## Champions
### Levski Sofia

* Pažin, Koval, Aleksandrov, Tsykhmeystruk, Kaynov and Georgiev left the club during a season.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Georgi Ivanov | Levski Sofia | 22 |
| 2 | Hristo Yovov | Lovech | 17 |
| 3 | Stefan Yurukov | Lovech | 14 |
| 4 | Vladimir Manchev | CSKA Sofia | 13 |
| 4 | Valentin Stanchev | Spartak Varna | 13 |
| 4 | Zoran Janković | Lovech | 13 |
| 7 | Hristo Yanev | CSKA Sofia | 12 |
| 8 | Martin Kushev | Slavia Sofia | 11 |
| 8 | Boyko Velichkov | Velbazhd Kyustendil | 11 |
| 10 | Ivan Tonchev | Beroe Stara Zagora | 9 |
* Source:2000–01 Top Goalscorers