2021–22 First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

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First Professional Football League
Season information
Dates	24 July 2021–30 May 2022
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League
Europa Conference League
Season statistics
Matches played	7
Goals scored	17
Top goalscorer	Ivaylo Chochev (2 goals)
← 2020–21	2022–23 →

The 2021–22 First Professional Football League, also known as efbet League for sponsorship reasons, was the 98th season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, the 73rd since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid, and also the 6th season of the First Professional Football League, which decides the Bulgarian champion.

Teams

Fourteen teams are competing in the league – the top eleven teams from the previous season, the top two teams from the Second League, and the winner of the promotion/relegation playoffs, between the third-placed team from the 2020-21 Second League and the 12th placed team from the 2020-21 First League.

The first team to earn promotion was Pirin Blagoevgrad, who were promoted after winning 0–2 against Litex Lovech on 23 April 2021. Pirin returned to the top tier after a 3-year absence, having last competed in the highest level during the 2017-18 season. The second team to earn promotion was Lokomotiv Sofia, who were promoted after winning 1-4 against Septemvri Simitli on 13 May 2021. Lokomotiv returned to the top tier after a 6-year absence, having last competed in the highest level during the 2014-15 season.

Botev Vratsa won the promotion/relegation play-off 1–0 against Septemvri Sofia on 28 May 2021, thus remaining in the First League.

Stadiums and locations

Arda	Beroe	Botev Plovdiv	Botev Vratsa
Arena Arda	Beroe	Futbolen kompleks Botev 1912	Hristo Botev
Capacity: 11,114	Capacity: 12,128	Capacity: 4,000	Capacity: 12,000
Cherno More			CSKA Sofia
Ticha			Balgarska Armia
Capacity: 8,250			Capacity: 22,995
CSKA 1948			Levski
Vasil Levski National Stadium			Vivacom Arena - Georgi Asparuhov
Capacity: 44,000			Capacity: 25,000
Lokomotiv Plovdiv			Lokomotiv Sofia
Lokomotiv			Lokomotiv
Capacity: 13,220			Capacity: 22,000
Ludogorets	Pirin	Slavia	Tsarsko Selo
Huvepharma Arena	Hristo Botev	Slavia	Arena Tsarsko Selo
Capacity: 10,422	Capacity: 7,500	Capacity: 25,556	Capacity: 1,550

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor	Additional
Arda	Nikolay Kirov	Plamen Krumov	Nike	efbet	—
Beroe	Petar Kolev	Aleksandar Tsvetkov	Uhlsport	efbet	Refan, Ajax Group
Botev Plovdiv	Azrudin Valentić	Todor Nedelev	Uhlsport	WinBet	—
Botev Vratsa	Daniel Morales	Valeri Domovchiyski	Erreà	WinBet	Kozloduy NPP
Cherno More	Ilian Iliev	Daniel Dimov	Uhlsport	Armeets	—
CSKA 1948	Angel Stoykov	Galin Ivanov	Adidas	efbet	Bachkovo
CSKA Sofia	Stoycho Mladenov	Geferson	Adidas	WinBet	A1, Baristo
Levski Sofia	Zhivko Milanov	Radoslav Tsonev	Joma	Strabag	PalmsBet, Belfry Group
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	Aleksandar Tunchev	Dimitar Iliev	Nike	WinBet	General Broker
Lokomotiv Sofia	Ivan Kolev	Mario Petkov	Joma	Casa Boyana	Efbet, Malizia, Intesa, VIA 2000, Club 33
Ludogorets	Valdas Dambrauskas	Anton Nedyalkov	Nike	efbet	Vivacom
Pirin Blagoevgrad	Warren Feeney	Nikolay Bodurov	Adidas	Belogour Properties	—
Slavia Sofia	Zlatomir Zagorčić	Andrea Hristov	Uhlsport	bet365	Asset Insurance
Tsarsko Selo	Antoni Zdravkov	Reyan Daskalov	Nike	WinBet	—

Note: Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising. However, only one sponsorship is permitted per jersey for official tournaments organised by UEFA in addition to that of the kit manufacturer (exceptions are made for non-profit organisations). Clubs in the domestic league can have more than one sponsorship per jersey which can feature on the front of the shirt, incorporated with the main sponsor or in place of it; or on the back, either below the squad number or on the collar area. Shorts also have space available for advertisement.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Botev Vratsa	Veselin Velikov	Resigned	8 June 2021	Pre-season	Daniel Morales	9 June 2021
CSKA Sofia	Lyuboslav Penev	Resigned	25 July 2021	1st	Stoycho Mladenov	26 July 2021
CSKA 1948	Todor Kiselichkov	Mutual consent	26 July 2021	14th	Angel Stoykov	26 July 2021

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Template:Fb team Ludogorets Razgrad	26	21	1	4	64	23	+41	64	Qualification for the Championship group
2	Template:Fb team CSKA Sofia	26	15	7	4	39	25	+14	52
3	Template:Fb team Botev Vratsa	26	13	7	6	34	28	+6	46
4	Template:Fb team Cherno More	26	12	9	5	35	18	+17	45
5	Template:Fb team Levski Sofia	26	12	6	8	33	25	+8	42
6	Template:Fb team Slavia Sofia	26	9	9	8	30	26	+4	36
7	Template:Fb team Lokomotiv Plovdiv	26	9	7	10	30	35	−5	34	Qualification for the Europa Conference League group
8	Template:Fb team Beroe	26	9	5	12	23	27	−4	32
9	Template:Fb team CSKA 1948	26	8	6	12	36	37	−1	30
10	Template:Fb team Arda	26	7	8	11	27	34	−7	29
11	Template:Fb team Pirin Blagoevgrad	26	7	6	13	34	41	−7	27	Qualification for the Relegation group
12	Template:Fb team Lokomotiv Sofia	26	6	7	13	22	42	−20	25
13	Template:Fb team Botev Plovdiv	26	5	7	14	23	48	−25	22
14	Template:Fb team Tsarsko Selo	26	3	7	16	15	36	−21	16

Source: Bulgarian Football
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 26 July 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ivaylo Chochev	CSKA 1948	2
2	Amos Youga	CSKA Sofia	1
	Bernard Tekpetey	Ludogorets
	Dimitar Iliev	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
	Elvis Manu	Ludogorets
	Emil Viyachki	Slavia Sofia
	Kaloyan Krastev	Slavia Sofia
	Kiril Despodov	Ludogorets
	Jordy Caicedo	CSKA Sofia
	Jurgen Mattheij	CSKA Sofia
	Marin Petkov	Levski Sofia
	Marquinhos	Botev Plovdiv
	Martin Kamburov	Beroe
	Pa Konate	Botev Plovdiv
	Stilyan Nikolov	Pirin Blagoevgrad
	Yohan Baï	CSKA Sofia

Template:First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) Template:2021–22 in Bulgarian football