1997–98 A Group

A Group
Season1997–98
Dates2 August 1997 – 10 May 1998
ChampionsLitex Lovech
(1st title)
Relegated
Champions LeagueLitex
UEFA CupCSKA
Matches played240
Goals scored696 (2.9 per match)
Top goalscorer
(17 goals each)

The 1997–98 A Group was the 50th season of the A Football Group, the top Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948.

Overview

It was contested by 16 teams, and Litex Lovech won the championship.

League standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Litex Lovech (C) 30 21 6 3 73 25 +48 69 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2 Levski Sofia 30 19 7 4 73 27 +46 64 Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
3 CSKA Sofia 30 18 7 5 71 29 +42 61 Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round
4 Neftochimic Burgas 30 17 4 9 59 31 +28 55
5 Slavia Sofia 30 15 9 6 51 30 +21 54
6 Levski Kyustendil 30 15 1 14 45 40 +5 46
7 Spartak Varna 30 12 6 12 42 36 +6 42 Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
8 Minyor Pernik 30 12 5 13 32 35 −3 41
9 Lokomotiv Sofia 30 11 6 13 42 40 +2 39
10 Metalurg Pernik 30 11 4 15 28 36 −8 37
11 Botev Plovdiv 30 11 3 16 35 48 −13 36
12 Dobrudzha Dobrich 30 11 3 16 33 55 −22 36
13 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 30 11 3 16 31 58 −27 36
14 Olimpik Galata (R) 30 11 2 17 26 47 −21 35 Relegation to 1998–99 B Group
15 Spartak Pleven (R) 30 7 0 23 32 75 −43 21
16 Etar Veliko Tarnovo (R) 30 4 2 24 21 82 −61 14
Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away BOT CSK DOB ETA LVK LEV LIT LPL LSO MET MIN NEF OLI SLA SPL SPV
Botev Plovdiv 3–1 1–0 5–1 0–0 2–4 2–3 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–0 0–3 2–1 1–1 4–0 2–0
CSKA Sofia 3–0 4–1 5–1 3–1 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 2–0 5–0 3–0 5–0 1–1 5–0 2–1
Dobrudzha Dobrich 1–0 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–4 1–1 2–0 0–5[a] 1–0 1–0 0–0 4–2 1–0 4–0 2–0
Etar Veliko Tarnovo 1–0 0–2 1–2 1–4 0–3 1–3 2–1 0–3 1–0 0–1 1–3 1–1 3–4 0–2 1–3
Levski Kyustendil 4–0 1–2 1–0 3–1 1–3 3–0[b] 2–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 2–0
Levski Sofia 1–0 3–3 3–1 5–0 4–0 1–1 5–0 1–0 7–0 1–0 2–3 3–0 1–1 3–0 2–1
Litex Lovech 3–0 2–0 3–0 3–0 3–0 0–4[c] 6–0 3–1 4–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 4–0 4–0
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1–0 1–4 2–0 4–1 2–1 1–1 1–3 0–1 3–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 3–2 1–0
Lokomotiv Sofia 0–0 1–2 4–2 1–0 4–2 0–0 0–3 2–3 2–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–0 1–1
Metalurg Pernik 2–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–3 1–0 2–0 0–1 3–0 1–0
Minyor Pernik 2–0 2–2 4–0 0–1 2–0 2–1 0–2 1–0 3–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 2–1
Neftochimic Burgas 2–0 1–3 4–1 7–0 3–1 3–0 3–2 4–0 4–1 1–0 2–0 5–0 0–1 4–1 0–0
Olimpik Galata 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–4 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 0–2 2–1 2–0
Slavia Sofia 5–3 2–3 3–1 4–0 3–1 2–2 1–2 2–2 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 4–0 3–0 0–1
Spartak Pleven 4–2 0–3 5–1 4–1 0–1 2–5 1–4 2–0 1–3 0–1 2–1 1–3 1–0 0–1 1–3
Spartak Varna 4–0 2–1 3–1 3–1 2–0 1–3 1–1 5–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 2–0 0–0 3–1
Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ Match awarded after was abandoned at 65th minute by the result 0–2.
  2. ^ Match awarded as Litex Lovech fielded ineligible player Radostin Kishishev (originally finished 0–0).
  3. ^ Match awarded as Litex Lovech fielded ineligible player Radostin Kishishev (originally finished 1–1).

Champions

Litex Lovech
Goalkeepers
Bulgaria Vitomir Vutov 28 0(0)
Bulgaria Stoyan Stavrev 02 0(0)
Defenders
Bulgaria Petar Kushev 16 0(2)
Bulgaria Stefan Kolev 21 0(1)
Bulgaria Nikolay Dimitrov 24 0(1)
Bulgaria Dimitar Karadaliev 01 0(0)
Bulgaria Zlatomir Zagorčić 27 0(0)
Bulgaria Ivaylo Petkov 27 0(3)
Bulgaria Radostin Kishishev 05 0(0)
Bulgaria Dimitar Balabanov 06 0(0)
Bulgaria Rosen Kirilov 28 0(0)
Bulgaria Koycho Ivanov 01 0(0)
Midfielders
Bulgaria Rosen Emilov 17 0(1)
Bulgaria Mariyan Todorov 28 0(6)
Bulgaria Stoycho Stoilov 30 0(8)
Bulgaria Daniel Ostrovski 05 0(0)
Serbia and Montenegro Dragoljub Simonović 22 0(6)
Bulgaria Ivaylo Petev* 12 0(2)
Bulgaria Veselin Sarbakov 16 0(3)
Bulgaria Emil Tsanev* 02 0(0)
Forwards
Bulgaria Stefan Yurukov* 14 (13)
Bulgaria Dimcho Belyakov* 14 0(5)
Albania Alban Bushi 15 0(4)
Bulgaria Svetoslav Todorov 19 0(9)
Brazil Luis Carlos Mota 05 0(1)
Serbia and Montenegro Igor Bogdanović 15 0(6)
Bulgaria Metodi Stoynev 08 0(1)
Manager
Bulgaria Dimitar Dimitrov
  • Petev, Tsanev, Yurukov and Belyakov left the club during a season.

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Bulgaria Anton Spasov Neftochimic Burgas 17
Bulgaria Boncho Genchev CSKA Sofia
3 Bulgaria Stefan Yurukov Litex Lovech 13
Serbia and Montenegro Danilo Dončić Lokomotiv Sofia
5 Bulgaria Stanimir Stoilov Slavia Sofia 12
Bulgaria Valentin Stanchev Spartak Varna
7 Bulgaria Ivaylo Andonov CSKA Sofia 11
8 Bulgaria Aleksandar Aleksandrov Levski Sofia 10
Bulgaria Plamen Petrov Levski Kyustendil
Bulgaria Georgi Ivanov Levski Sofia
Bulgaria Iliya Voynov Spartak Pleven

References