Wikipedia

2001–02 A Group

The 2001–02 A Group was the 54th season of the A Football Group, the top Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948.

A Group
Season2001–02
Dates3 August 2001 – 30 May 2002
ChampionsLevski Sofia
(23rd title)
Relegated
Champions LeagueLevski
UEFA Cup
Matches played268
Goals scored681 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorerVladimir Manchev
(21 goals)

Defending champions Levski Sofia won their third consecutive title, and 23rd title overall.

Overview edit

The format of the league was changed from last season, with the intention of making the league more competitive. This resulted in the league being divided into two groups after the regular season. The top 6 teams from the regular season would continue in the championship round, while the bottom 8 teams would play in the relegation round. It was contested by 14 teams, and Levski Sofia won the championship.[1]

Teams edit

Fourteen teams competed in the league. The promoted teams from the 2000–01 B Group were Spartak Pleven (returning to the top flight after a three-year absence) and Marek Dupnitsa (returning after a nineteen-year absence). The league also included Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Belasitsa Petrich after mergers with Velbazhd Kyustendil and Hebar Pazardzhik respectively.

These teams replace Botev Plovdiv and Minyor Pernik, who were relegated at the end of the last season.

Stadiums and Locations edit

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Location of teams in 2001–02 A Group
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Sofia 2001–02 A Group football clubs
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Belasitsa Petrich Tsar Samuil 9,500
Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe 22,500
Cherno More Varna Ticha 8,250
Chernomorets Burgas Chernomorets 22,000
CSKA Sofia Balgarska Armia 22,015
Levski Sofia Georgi Asparuhov 29,200
Litex Lovech Gradski 7,050
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Lokomotiv 24,000
Lokomotiv Sofia Lokomotiv 22,000
Marek Dupnitsa Bonchuk 16,050
Naftex Burgas Lazur 18,037
Slavia Sofia Slavia 32,000
Spartak Pleven Slavi Aleksiev 21,940
Spartak Varna Spartak 7,500

Personnel and kits edit

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Belasitsa   Mihail Valchev Vitosha AD
Beroe   Venelin Sivriev   Vanyo Shishkov   Erima
Cherno More   Aleksandar Stankov   Ventsislav Marinov   BURGELOF St. Elias
Chernomorets   Ivan Tsvetanov   Kostadin Dzhambazov
CSKA Sofia   Luigi Simoni   Georgi Antonov   Lotto —
Levski Sofia   Slavoljub Muslin   Stanimir Stoilov   Diadora Mobiltel
Lokomotiv Plovdiv   Dimitar Dimitrov   Asics VAI Holding
Lokomotiv Sofia   Emil Dimitrov   Adidas Delta-G
Litex   Ferario Spasov   Vitomir Vutov   Asics Litex Commerce
Marek   Dimitar Aleksiev   Velizar Dimitrov   Nike
Naftex   Dimitar Stoychev   Stanimir Dimitrov   Puma Petrol AD
Slavia Sofia   Žarko Olarević   Veselin Vachev   Adidas Sofiyski Imoti
Spartak Pleven   Angel Stankov   Slavcho Pavlov   Asics VIS-2
Spartak Varna   Stefan Grozdanov   Valentin Stanchev

Managerial changes edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Beroe   Tsvetomir Parvanov Mutual consent 1 June 2001 Pre-season   Ivan Vutov 21 June 2001[2]
Chernomorets   Nikolay Rusev Mutual consent 1 June 2001 Pre-season   Mihail Valchev 22 June 2001[3]
Marek Dupnitsa   Petar Zehtinski Mutual consent 8 September 2001 12th   Yanko Dinkov 10 September 2001[4]
Chernomorets   Mihail Valchev Sacked 9 September 2001 14th   Ivan Tsvetanov 12 September 2001[5]
Levski Sofia   Ljupko Petrović Mutual consent 10 September 2001[6] 1st   Georgi Todorov (caretaker) 10 September 2001
Slavia Sofia   Kiril Kachamanov Sacked 25 September 2001 10th   Žarko Olarević 25 September 2001
Lokomotiv Sofia   Angel Kolev Sacked 28 October 2001[7] 9th   Emil Dimitrov 28 October 2001
CSKA Sofia   Asparuh Nikodimov Sacked 4 December 2001 3rd   Luigi Simoni 10 December 2001
Marek Dupnitsa   Yanko Dinkov Mutual consent 2 January 2002 13th   Dimitar Aleksiev 2 January 2002[8]
Levski Sofia   Georgi Todorov End of caretaker tenure 3 January 2002 1st   Rüdiger Abramczik 3 January 2002
Beroe   Ivan Vutov Mutual consent 4 January 2002 14th   Tsvetomir Parvanov 4 January 2002
Levski Sofia   Rüdiger Abramczik Sacked 11 March 2002[9] 1st   Slavoljub Muslin 17 March 2002[10]
Beroe   Tsvetomir Parvanov Sacked 12 March 2002 14th   Iliya Iliev 17 March 2002
Spartak Pleven   Velislav Vutsov Mutual consent 12 March 2002 7th   Angel Stankov 18 March 2002
Belasitsa   Voyn Voynov Sacked 12 May 2002 12th   Mihail Valchev 13 May 2002[11]

First stage edit

League standings edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Levski Sofia 26 20 5 1 58 21 +37 65 Qualification for championship group
2 Litex Lovech 26 16 7 3 50 27 +23 55
3 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 26 16 5 5 42 23 +19 53
4 CSKA Sofia 26 15 7 4 48 17 +31 52
5 Naftex Burgas 26 12 6 8 35 25 +10 42
6 Slavia Sofia 26 10 7 9 30 32 −2 37
7 Spartak Pleven 26 10 3 13 40 44 −4 33 Qualification for relegation group
8 Lokomotiv Sofia 26 7 8 11 33 32 +1 29
9 Spartak Varna 26 5 11 10 29 39 −10 26
10 Chernomorets Burgas 26 7 5 14 24 54 −30 26
11 Marek 26 6 6 14 22 42 −20 24
12 Cherno More 26 6 6 14 28 36 −8 24
13 Belasitsa Petrich 26 6 5 15 21 35 −14 23
14 Beroe 26 3 5 18 13 46 −33 14
Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th season goal difference; 7th season goals scored; 8th "sportsmanship" (R & Y cards); 9th draw.

Results edit

Home \ Away BEL BSZ CHM CHB CSK LEV LIT LPL LSO MAR NAF SLA SPL SPV
Belasitsa Petrich 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–0 0–2 0–1 0–2 2–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–0
Beroe 1–0 3–1 0–0 0–3[a] 0–0 0–2 1–2 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–4 0–2 1–0
Cherno More 2–1 2–0 3–1 0–1 1–2 4–0 1–3 1–1 3–1 0–3 0–1 2–2 1–1
Chernomorets Burgas 3–0 3–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–2 2–2 0–0 1–0 3–2 0–0 1–0 2–1
CSKA Sofia 1–0 3–0 1–0 6–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 4–0 2–1 3–0 5–0 3–2 5–1
Levski Sofia 3–2 1–0 1–0 4–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 3–2 4–1 4–1 3–1 4–1 6–0
Litex Lovech 1–0 3–1 3–2 4–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 5–3 2–0 1–0 4–1 6–2 1–1
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2–0 5–0 2–1 3–2 2–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–1
Lokomotiv Sofia 0–0 1–1 1–2 6–1 1–0 1–2 3–1 0–1 4–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 0–0
Marek 2–2 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–3 1–1 1–0 3–5 0–0
Naftex Burgas 1–0 2–0 1–0 4–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–0 3–1 1–0 0–1 4–1
Slavia Sofia 1–0 3–2 0–0 3–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 2–0 2–2 3–2 1–1
Spartak Pleven 3–2 2–1 3–1 4–0 0–0 2–4 0–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–2 2–0
Spartak Varna 4–1 3–1 0–0 3–0 1–2 1–2 2–4 1–1 0–0 4–1 0–0 1–2 2–1
Source: todor66.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ Match awarded after was not played after referee was beaten up ahead of the match.

Championship group edit

Standings edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Levski Sofia (C) 36 27 7 2 77 27 +50 56 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 Litex Lovech 36 23 8 5 66 34 +32 50 Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 CSKA Sofia 36 19 7 10 60 29 +31 38
4 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 36 18 6 12 48 41 +7 34
5 Slavia Sofia 36 14 8 14 42 48 −6 32
6 Naftex Burgas 36 14 9 13 44 40 +4 30
Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th season goal difference; 7th season goals scored; 8th "sportsmanship" (R & Y cards); 9th draw.
(C) Champions

Results edit

Home \ Away CSK LEV LIT LPL NAF SLA
CSKA Sofia 1–0 1–2 4–0 3–2 0–2
Levski Sofia 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 3–1
Litex Lovech 1–0 2–2 3–1 1–0 2–0
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–0 1–3 0–2 2–1 1–2
Naftex Burgas 1–0 1–1 0–2 0–0 2–2
Slavia Sofia 1–3 0–2 2–1 1–0 1–2
Source: todor66.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation group edit

Standings edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
7 Marek 40 14 8 18 46 57 −11 38 Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
8 Lokomotiv Sofia 40 14 9 17 49 48 +1 37
9 Spartak Varna 40 12 13 15 50 51 −1 36
10 Chernomorets Burgas 40 13 9 18 41 69 −28 35
11 Cherno More 40 12 11 17 47 51 −4 35
12 Spartak Pleven (R) 40 15 4 21 58 66 −8 33 Relegation to 2002–03 B Group
13 Belasitsa Petrich (R) 40 12 7 21 34 50 −16 32
14 Beroe (R) 40 4 8 28 19 70 −51 13
Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th head-to-head away goals scored; 6th season goal difference; 7th season goals scored; 8th "sportsmanship" (R & Y cards); 9th draw.
(R) Relegated

Results edit

Home \ Away BEL BSZ CHM CHB LSO MAR SPL SPV
Belasitsa Petrich 3–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 3–2 2–1
Beroe 0–1 1–1 0–3 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–3
Cherno More 1–1 2–1 1–1 3–2 2–0 2–0 1–1
Chernomorets Burgas 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–4 1–0 1–1
Lokomotiv Sofia 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 2–1 3–0 1–0
Marek 2–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 3–1 1–0
Spartak Pleven 2–0 1–2 2–1 3–1 1–2 3–1 1–0
Spartak Varna 2–0 2–0 1–2 3–0 3–1 2–1 2–1
Source: todor66.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Champions edit

Levski Sofia
Goalkeepers
01   Georgi Petkov 27 0(0)
12   Georgi Sheytanov 01 0(0)
27   Dimitar Ivankov 09 0(0)
Defenders
02   Martin Stankov 15 0(0)
03   Stanimir Stoilov 30 0(0)
05   Georgi Markov* 16 0(0)
11   Elin Topuzakov 26 0(5)
13   Ivo Trenchev 19 0(1)
14   Vladimir Ivanov 11 0(0)
20   Stanislav Angelov 28 0(5)
22   Ilian Stoyanov 25 0(0)
23   Dalibor Dragić 24 0(5)
26   Tsanko Tsvetanov 06 0(0)
28   Bogomil Dyakov 01 0(0)
Midfielders
04   Biser Ivanov 24 0(1)
06   Stanislav Genchev 21 0(3)
07   Péter Kabát 15 0(5)
15   Saša Simonović 06 0(3)
17   Konstantin Golovskoy 20 0(0)
18   Brent Rahim 11 0(0)
21   Dimitar Telkiyski 30 0(4)
25   Yordan Terziev* 04 0(0)
30   Dimitar Krastev 03 0(0)
  Asen Nikolov* 03 0(0)
  William Batista* 01 0(0)
  Svetoslav Barkanichkov* 02 0(0)
Forwards
08   Georgi Bachev 18 0(8)
09   Georgi Ivanov 19 (13)
10   István Ferenczi 04 0(3)
16   Martin Kushev 15 0(6)
19   Georgi Chilikov 27 (10)
24   Miodrag Pantelić 29 0(4)
29   Dimitar Makriev 01 0(0)
  Rogério Gaúcho* 08 0(0)
  Todor Kolev* 02 0(0)
Manager
  Slavoljub Muslin
  • Markov, Terziev, Nikolov, Batista, Barkanichkov, Gaucho and Kolev left the club during a season.

Top scorers edit

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1   Vladimir Manchev CSKA Sofia 21
2   Todor Kolev Spartak Pleven 18
3   Stoyko Sakaliev Naftex Burgas 17
4   Stefan Yurukov Litex Lovech 14
  Metodi Stoynev Lokomotiv Plovdiv
  Boyko Velichkov Lokomotiv Sofia
  Velizar Dimitrov Marek Dupnitsa
8   Georgi Ivanov Levski Sofia 13
  Zoran Janković Litex Lovech
  Martin Kushev Slavia Sofia
Levski Sofia

References edit

  1. ^ "С 5-ма треньори Левски стига до титлата" (in Bulgarian). temasport.com. 31 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Иван Вутов пак треньор на Берое" (in Bulgarian). segabg.com. 22 June 2001.
  3. ^ "Мишо Вълчев ще поеме Черноморец" (in Bulgarian). segabg.com. 22 June 2001.
  4. ^ "Янко Динков пое Марек" (in Bulgarian). segabg.com. 11 September 2001.
  5. ^ "Иван Цветанов ще поеме Черноморец" (in Bulgarian). segabg.com. 12 September 2001.
  6. ^ "Люпко Петрович вече не е треньор на Левски" (in Bulgarian). news.bg. 10 September 2001.
  7. ^ "Локомотив (Сф) изгони треньора Ангел Колев" (in Bulgarian). dnevnik.bg. 29 October 2001.
  8. ^ "Димитър Алексиев пое Марек" (in Bulgarian). news.bg. 2 January 2002.
  9. ^ "Гонят Рюдигер Абрамчик" (in Bulgarian). news.bg. 11 March 2002.
  10. ^ "Славолюб Муслин поема Левски в неделя" (in Bulgarian). news.bg. 13 March 2002.
  11. ^ "М. Вълчев поема Беласица" (in Bulgarian). segabg.com. 14 May 2002.

External links edit

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