2000–01 A Group Explained

Competition:A Group
Season:2000–01
Dates:4 August 2000 – 27 May 2001
Winners:Levski Sofia
(22nd title)
Relegated:Botev Plovdiv, Minyor
Continentalcup1:Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Levski
Continentalcup2:UEFA Cup
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:CSKA
Litex Lovech
League Topscorer:Georgi Ivanov
(21 goals)
Matches:182
Total Goals:552
Prevseason:1999–00
Nextseason:2001–02

The 2000–01 A Group was the 53rd season of the A Football Group, the top Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948.

The league was contested by the top 12 teams from the 1999–2000 season as well as Cherno More Varna and Hebar Pazardzhik, who joined as the promoted clubs from the 1999–2000 B Group.

Defending champions Levski Sofia won their 22nd Bulgarian league title overall. Botev Plovdiv and Minyor Pernik were relegated at the end of the season by finishing in the last two places.

Teams

Fourteen teams competed in the league – the top twelve teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the B Group. The promoted teams were Cherno More Varna (returning to the top flight after a six-year absence) and Hebar Pazardzhik (returning after an eight-year absence). They replaced Dobrudzha Dobrich, Belasitsa Petrich, Pirin Blagoevgrad and Shumen.

Stadiums and Locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
BeroeBeroe22,500
BotevPlovdiv22,000
Cherno MoreTicha8,250
ChernomoretsBurgasChernomorets22,000
CSKASofiaBalgarska Armia22,015
HebarPazardzhikGeorgi Benkovski13,128
LevskiSofiaGeorgi Asparuhov29,200
LovechLovech7,050
LokomotivSofia22,000
MinyorMinyor20,000
NeftochimicLazur18,037
SlaviaSofiaSlavia32,000
SpartakVarnaSpartak7,500
VelbazhdKyustendilOsogovo13,000

Personnel and kits

TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Beroe Tsvetomir Parvanov Erima[1] AKSA[2]
Botev Plovdiv Georgi LazarovVitosha AD
Cherno More Bozhil Kolev Ventsislav Marinov AsicsVAI Holding
Chernomorets Nikolay Rusev Angel Stoykov
CSKA Sofia Enrico Catuzzi Lotto
Hebar Voyn Voynov
Levski Sofia Ljupko Petrović Stanimir Stoilov DiadoraMobiltel
Lokomotiv Sofia Angel Kolev AdidasDelta-G
Lovech Ferario Spasov Vitomir Vutov AsicsLitex Commerce
Minyor Ventsislav Arsov Nike
Neftochimic Dimitar Stoychev Veliyan Parushev PumaPetrol AD
Slavia Sofia Kiril Kachamanov Veselin Vachev AdidasSofiyski Imoti
Spartak Varna Stefan Grozdanov
Velbazhd Dimitar Dimitrov Slavcho Pavlov NikeVIS-2

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment
Botev Plovdiv Dinko DermendzhievMutual consent1 June 2000Pre-season Marin Bakalov26 June 2000
Lovech Čedomir ĐoinčevićSacked10 June 2000Pre-season Mihai Stoichiță1 July 2000
Levski SofiaSacked15 June 2000[3] Pre-season Vladimir Fedotov7 July 2000[4]
CSKA SofiaEnd of caretaker tenure23 June 2000Pre-season Enrico Catuzzi24 June 2000[5]
BeroeMutual consentJune 2000Pre-season Nikola IvanovJune 2000
SlaviaMutual consentJune 2000Pre-season Žarko OlarevićJune 2000
Cherno MoreMutual consentJune 2000Pre-season Bozhil KolevJune 2000
Velbazhd Dimitar SokolovMutual consent26 June 2000Pre-season Dimitar Dimitrov26 June 2000[6]
Neftochimic Dimitar StoychevMutual consent30 June 2000Pre-season Salvatore Polverino1 July 2000[7]
Neftochimic Salvatore PolverinoSacked6 August 200013th Dimitar Stoychev6 August 2000
Beroe Nikola IvanovSacked14 August 200012th Petko Petkov14 August 2000
Lokomotiv Sofia Pavel PanovSacked29 August 20008th Radoslav Zdravkov29 August 2000[8]
Levski Sofia Vladimir FedotovSacked30 August 2000[9] 2nd Nasko Sirakov (caretaker)30 August 2000
Levski Sofia Nasko SirakovEnd of caretaker tenure2 October 20001st2 October 2000
Lovech Mihai StoichițăSacked21 October 20006th21 October 2000[10]
Slavia Sofia Žarko OlarevićMutual consent27 November 200010th27 November 2000[11]
CSKA Sofia Enrico CatuzziMutual consent19 December 20002nd20 December 2000
CSKA Sofia Aleksandar StankovMutual consent3 March 20012nd4 March 2001
Beroe Petko PetkovSacked20 March 2001?20 March 2001
Lokomotiv Sofia Radoslav ZdravkovSacked29 April 2001?29 April 2001

League standings

Champions

Levski Sofia
Goalkeepers
125 (5)
121 (0)
301 (0)
Defenders
218 (0)
315 (2)
522 (0)
617 (2)
1122 (3)
148 (0)
157 (0)
2220 (1)
2316 (2)
Predrag Pažin* 6 (0)
Oleksandr Koval* 3 (0)
Midfielders
422 (0)
107 (0)
1615 (2)
174 (0)
194 (0)
205 (0)
2115 (5)
259 (0)
261 (0)
283 (1)
Aleksandar Aleksandrov* 7 (1)
Eduard Tsykhmeystruk* 12 (1)
Konstantin Kaynov* 2 (0)
Forwards
78 (0)
811 (2)
924 (21)
182 (1)
2412 (1)
291 (0)
9911 (4)
Georgi Georgiev* 4 (3)

Top scorers

RankScorerClubGoals
1 Georgi Ivanov22
2 Hristo YovovLovech17
3 Stefan Yurukov14
4 Vladimir Manchev13
Valentin Stanchev
Zoran Janković
7 Hristo Yanev12
8 Martin Kushev11
Boyko Velichkov
10 Ivan Tonchev9

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: „Берое в елита“: 2000-2001 г. – Бараж. beroe.bg. Bulgarian.
  2. Web site: Турски спонсор пое "Берое". capital.bg. 15 September 2000. Bulgarian.
  3. Web site: Димитър Димитров – Херо напуска Левски. news.bg. 15 June 2000. Bulgarian.
  4. Web site: Циркът на Герена е с традиции. bgfootball.com. 12 April 2012. Bulgarian. 15 December 2019. 16 March 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200316122750/https://bgfootball.com/new.php?id=13123&blog_id=&s_id=. dead.
  5. Web site: Енрико Катуци подписва с ЦСКА за 1 година. segabg.com. 23 June 2000. Bulgarian.
  6. Web site: Димитър Димитров поема Велбъжд в понеделник. segabg.com. 22 June 2000. Bulgarian.
  7. Web site: Българо-италианската връзка в Нефтохимик не сработи. capital.bg. 21 July 2000. Bulgarian.
  8. Web site: Ради Здравков е новия треньор на Локомотив (Сф). news.bg. 29 August 2000. Bulgarian.
  9. Web site: Уволниха протежето на Чорни от Левски. segabg.com. 31 August 2000. Bulgarian.
  10. Web site: Цената на треньорските авантюри на Гриша Ганчев. capital.bg. 20 October 2000. Bulgarian.
  11. Web site: Славия избра най-лесния вариант за нов старши треньор. capital.bg. 24 November 2000. Bulgarian.