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.

Team information

Stadia and locations

The following teams have ensured their participation in A Group for season 1997–98 (listed in alphabetical order):

Sofia 1997–98 A Group football clubs
Team City Stadium Capacity
Botev Plovdiv Hristo Botev 18,000
CSKA Sofia Bulgarian Army 22,995
Dobrudzha Dobrich Druzhba 12,500
Etar Veliko Tarnovo Ivaylo 18,000
Levski Kyustendil Osogovo 10,000
Levski Sofia Georgi Asparuhov 29,986
Litex Lovech Lovech 7,050
Lokomotiv Plovdiv Lokomotiv 24,000
Lokomotiv Sofia Lokomotiv 22,000
Metalurg Pernik Metalurg 18,000
Minyor Pernik Minyor 18,000
Neftochimic Burgas Lazur 18,037
Olimpik Galata Georgi Benkovski 10,000
Slavia Sofia Ovcha Kupel 18,000
Spartak Pleven Slavi Aleksiev 21,940
Spartak Varna Spartak 8,000

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 Vutov28(0)
Bulgaria Stoyan Stavrev2(0)
Defenders
Bulgaria Petar Kushev16(2)
Bulgaria Stefan Kolev21(1)
Bulgaria Nikolay Dimitrov24(1)
Bulgaria Dimitar Karadaliev1(0)
Bulgaria Zlatomir Zagorčić27(0)
Bulgaria Ivaylo Petkov27(3)
Bulgaria Radostin Kishishev5(0)
Bulgaria Dimitar Balabanov6(0)
Bulgaria Rosen Kirilov28(0)
Bulgaria Koycho Ivanov1(0)
Midfielders
Bulgaria Rosen Emilov17(1)
Bulgaria Mariyan Todorov28(6)
Bulgaria Stoycho Stoilov30(8)
Bulgaria Daniel Ostrovski5(0)
Serbia and Montenegro Dragoljub Simonović22(6)
Bulgaria Ivaylo Petev*12(2)
Bulgaria Veselin Sarbakov16(3)
Bulgaria Emil Tsanev*2(0)
Forwards
Bulgaria Stefan Yurukov*14(13)
Bulgaria Dimcho Belyakov*14(5)
Albania Alban Bushi15(4)
Bulgaria Svetoslav Todorov19(9)
Brazil Luis Carlos Mota5(1)
Serbia and Montenegro Igor Bogdanović15(6)
Bulgaria Metodi Stoynev8(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

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997–98_A_Group