1998–99 A Group

A Group
Season	1998–99
Dates	7 August 1998 – 29 May 1999
Champions	Litex Lovech; (2nd title)
Relegated	Metalurg; Lokomotiv Plovdiv; Septemvri;
Champions League	Litex Lovech
UEFA Cup	Levski Sofia; CSKA Sofia;
Matches played	239
Goals scored	719 (3.01 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dimcho Belyakov; (21 goals)
	← 1997–98 1999–00 →

The 1998–99 A Group was the 51st season of the A Football Group, the top Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948.

Overview edit

It was contested by 16 teams, and Litex Lovech won the championship.^[1]

League standings edit

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Litex Lovech^[a] (C)	30	24	4	2	83	25	+58	73^[b]	Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2	Levski Sofia	30	23	5	2	51	11	+40	71^[b]	Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Levski Kyustendil	30	18	4	8	57	29	+28	57^[c]
4	Lokomotiv Sofia	30	17	4	9	46	30	+16	55
5	CSKA Sofia	30	15	6	9	54	39	+15	50^[c]	Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round^[d]
6	Neftochimic Burgas	30	15	4	11	52	38	+14	49
7	Slavia Sofia	30	11	8	11	47	36	+11	41
8	Minyor Pernik	30	11	7	12	44	46	−2	40
9	Dobrudzha Dobrich	30	11	3	16	45	55	−10	36
10	Metalurg Pernik (R)	30	11	2	17	33	46	−13	35	Relegation to 1999–2000 B Group^[e]
11	Pirin Blagoevgrad	30	10	4	16	35	58	−23	34
12	Spartak Varna	30	10	4	16	39	50	−11	34	Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
13	Botev Plovdiv	30	9	5	16	34	55	−21	32
14	Shumen	30	8	8	14	36	56	−20	32
15	Lokomotiv Plovdiv (R)	30	4	5	21	26	73	−47	17	Relegation to 1999–2000 B Group
16	Septemvri Sofia (R)	30	4	5	21	34	73	−39	17	Relegation to 1999–2000 B Group

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Litex (Lovech) have changed name to Lovech.
^ ^a ^b Litex and Levski three points deducted for winning fixed matches against Metalurg.
^ ^a ^b Levski (Kyustendil) and CSKA (Sofia) awarded no points following April 11 match abandoned at half-time.
^ CSKA Sofia won the 1998–99 Bulgarian Cup and qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.
^ Metalurg Pernik relegated by Bulgarian Football Union for match fixing.

Results edit

Home \ Away	BOT	CSK	DOB	LVK	LEV	LIT	LPL	LSO	MET	MIN	NEF	PIR	SEP	SHU	SLA	SPV
Botev Plovdiv		2–0	3–2	2–2	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–0	2–1	3–1	5–2	1–0	3–2
CSKA Sofia	5–0		3–0	3–2	2–3	2–3	6–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	3–0	3–1	3–2	1–1	2–1
Dobrudzha Dobrich	4–0	1–1		1–0	0–1	1–2	4–2	2–3	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	5–1	4–1	3–1	3–1
Levski Kyustendil	2–1	–^[a]	3–0		0–1	1–0	5–1	1–0	7–1	2–1	3–0	2–0	4–1	3–0	3–0	2–0
Levski Sofia	6–0	2–0	2–0	3–0		0–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	3–0	5–0	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–0
Litex Lovech	2–0	8–0	5–0	2–0	1–1		5–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	3–1	8–1	4–1	2–0	3–1	3–2
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–2	1–2	1–4		1–3	2–0	0–1	2–4	0–0	2–0	1–3	0–0	1–3
Lokomotiv Sofia	2–0	0–2	5–2	1–0	0–1	1–0	4–1		1–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	0–0	2–1	0–2	3–1
Metalurg Pernik	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	0–3	1–2	1–0	2–1		1–2	0–0	2–0	4–2	2–1	1–1	2–0
Minyor Pernik	1–0	2–0	4–2	0–0	2–2	2–3	2–0	1–5	3–4		1–0	2–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	5–0
Neftochimic Burgas	3–1	3–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	1–4	4–1	0–0	2–0	2–1		6–1	1–3	6–1	2–0	4–1
Pirin Blagoevgrad	3–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	6–1	0–2	2–1	3–1	1–1		2–1	2–0	2–1	1–0
Septemvri Sofia	2–0	2–5	2–1	0–3	0–4	2–5	1–1	0–1	3–1	2–3	0–1	2–3		1–1	0–2	1–1
Shumen	1–1	2–5	0–0	3–3	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	4–1	3–2		2–1	1–1
Slavia Sofia	2–0	0–1	6–2	1–0	0–0	1–1	6–1	2–3	1–0	2–2	1–2	4–1	4–1	2–0		2–2
Spartak Varna	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–3	2–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	3–0	0–2

Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

^ Match Levski Kyustendil–CSKA Sofia was abandoned at half-time. No points were awarded to these two teams.

Champions edit

Litex Lovech

Goalkeepers
01	Vitomir Vutov	19	0(0)
12	Stoyan Stavrev	11	0(0)

Defenders
03	Zhivko Zhelev	08	0(1)
04	Stefan Kolev	26	0(0)
05	Dimitar Balabanov*	01	0(0)
13	Nikolay Dimitrov	22	0(0)
16	Dimitar Karadaliev	16	0(1)
17	Zlatomir Zagorčić	19	0(1)
22	Altin Haxhi	24	0(6)
25	Radostin Kishishev	26	0(1)
	Rosen Kirilov*	11	0(1)

Midfielders
02	Laurențiu Reghecampf	14	0(4)
06	Rosen Emilov	15	0(0)
07	Mariyan Todorov	21	0(2)
08	Stoycho Stoilov	24	0(9)
10	Vasil Kirov	16	0(1)
15	Dragoljub Simonović	24	0(9)
18	Ivaylo Petev	05	0(0)
19	Veselin Sarbakov*	02	0(0)
23	Svetlan Kondev	02	0(0)
	Georgi Bogdanov	03	0(0)

Forwards
09	Stefan Yurukov	19	0(7)
11	Dimcho Belyakov	25	(21)
14	Alban Bushi	22	(10)
20	Svetoslav Todorov	12	0(2)
21	Veselin Ignatov*	05	0(1)
24	Luis Carlos Mota	11	0(1)
	Igor Bogdanović*	09	0(5)
	Metodi Stoynev*	01	0(0)
	Ivan Gemedzhiev	02	0(0)

Manager
	Ferario Spasov

Ignatov, Kirilov, Balabanov, Sarbakov, Bogdanović and Stoynev left the club during a season.

Top scorers edit

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Dimcho Belyakov	Litex Lovech	21
2	Todor Pramatarov	Shumen	17
3	Hristo Marashliev	Levski Kyustendil	16
4	Georgi Georgiev	Minyor Pernik	15
5	Georgi Ivanov	Levski Sofia	13
6	Diyan Bozhilov	Dobrudzha Dobrich	12
7	Serge Yoffou	Dobrudzha Dobrich	11
	Dimitar Telkiyski	Botev Plovdiv
	Iliya Gruev	Neftochimic Burgas
10	Alban Bushi	Litex Lovech	10
	Genadi Simeonov	Metalurg Pernik
	Petar Mihtarski	Pirin Blagoevgrad
	Mihail Mihaylov	Levski Kyustendil
	Boyko Velichkov	Spartak Varna