| Competition: | First Professional Football League |
| Season: | 2021–22 |
| Dates: | 24 July 2021 – 30 May 2022 |
| Winners: | Ludogorets Razgrad (11th title) |
| Relegated: | Tsarsko Selo |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Ludogorets Razgrad |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa Conference League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Botev Plovdiv CSKA Sofia Levski Sofia |
| Matches: | 221 |
| Total Goals: | 540 |
| League Topscorer: | Pieros Sotiriou (17 goals) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | Nikolay Mihaylov (15 clean sheets) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (20 August 2021) (4 April 2022) (30 April 2022) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (13 February 2022) (19 February 2022) |
| Highest Scoring: | (22 April 2022) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 12 games CSKA Sofia |
| Longest Losses: | 6 games Tsarsko Selo Botev Vratsa |
| Highest Attendance: | 19,000 (6 March 2022)[1] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 110 (19 March 2022)[2] |
| Prevseason: | 2020–21 |
| Nextseason: | 2022–23 |
| Updated: | 20:30, 22 May 2022 (UTC) |
The 2021–22 First Professional Football League, also known as efbet League for sponsorship reasons,[3] was the 98th season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, the 74th 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. Ludogorets Razgrad were the defending champions for the 10th consecutive time. They clinched their 11th title with four games to spare on 17 April 2022, following a 4–1 home win over Slavia Sofia.[4]
This was the last season featuring 14 teams; from next season, the league will expand from 14 to 16 teams, with the 14th placed team from this season being automatically relegated to the Second League, while the first three-placed teams were automatically promoted from the Second League and the 13th placed team from the First League qualified for the relegation play-off, facing the 4th placed team from the second league.
Fourteen teams competed 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 play-off 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 2–0 against Litex Lovech on 23 April 2021.[5] 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 4–1 against Septemvri Simitli on 13 May 2021.[6] 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.[7]
| 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 Sofia | |||
| Bistritsa | Vivacom Arena - Georgi Asparuhov | |||
| Capacity: 2,500 | Capacity: 25,000 | |||
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Lokomotiv Sofia | |||
| Lokomotiv | Lokomotiv | |||
| Capacity: 13,220 | Capacity: 22,000 | |||
| Ludogorets | Pirin Blagoevgrad | Slavia Sofia | Tsarsko Selo | |
| Huvepharma Arena | Hristo Botev | Aleksandar Shalamanov | Arena Tsarsko Selo | |
| Capacity: 10,422 | Capacity: 7,500 | Capacity: 25,556 | Capacity: 1,550 | |
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 | Stamen Belchev | Ivan Kokonov | Nike | efbet | — | |
| Beroe | Petar Hubchev | Georgi Dinkov | Uhlsport[8] | efbet | Refan, Ajax Group | |
| Botev Plovdiv |  Azrudin Valentić | Todor Nedelev | Uhlsport[9] | WinBet | — | |
| Botev Vratsa |  Gennaro Iezzo | Krasimir Kostov | Erreà | WinBet | Kozloduy NPP[10] | |
| Cherno More | Ilian Iliev | Daniel Dimov | Uhlsport | Armeets | — | |
| CSKA 1948 | Nikolay Kirov | Daniel Naumov | Adidas | efbet | Bachkovo | |
| CSKA Sofia | Alan Pardew | Jurgen Mattheij | Adidas | WinBet | A1, Baristo | |
| Levski Sofia | Stanimir Stoilov | Nikolay Mihaylov | Joma | Levski e Vechen | PalmsBet | |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Aleksandar Tomash | Dimitar Iliev | Nike[11] | WinBet | General Broker, Money+ | |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | Ivan Kolev | Krasimir Miloshev | Joma | Betano | Casa Boyana, Malizia, Intesa, VIA 2000, Club 33 | |
| Ludogorets |  Ante Šimundža | Anton Nedyalkov | Nike | efbet | Vivacom | |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Radoslav Mitrevski | Nikolay Bodurov | Adidas[12] | 8888.bg | Belogour Properties, AMFEX | |
| Slavia Sofia | Zlatomir Zagorčić | Georgi Petkov | Uhlsport | bet365 | Asset Insurance | |
| Tsarsko Selo | Stefano Maccoppi | Martin Kavdanski | Nike | WinBet | — |
| 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[13] | Pre-season |  Daniel Morales | 9 June 2021[14] | |
| CSKA Sofia | Lyuboslav Penev | Resigned | 25 July 2021 | 1st | Stoycho Mladenov | 26 July 2021[15] | |
| CSKA 1948 | Todor Kiselichkov | Mutual consent | 26 July 2021 | 14th | Miroslav Mindev | 27 July 2021[16] | |
| Levski Sofia | Zhivko Milanov | Resigned | 20 August 2021 | 12th | Todor Simov (interim) | 23 August 2021[17] | |
| CSKA 1948 | Miroslav Mindev | Mutual consent | 30 August 2021 | 14th | Nikolay Kirov | 3 September 2021[18] | |
| Arda | Nikolay Kirov | Mutual consent | 2 September 2021 | 11th | Dimitar Dimitrov | 6 September 2021[19] | |
| Levski Sofia | Todor Simov (interim) | End of interim period | 2 September 2021 | 12th | Stanimir Stoilov | 2 September 2021[20] | |
| Arda | Dimitar Dimitrov | Mutual consent | 8 September 2021 | 11th | Georgi Chilikov | 8 September 2021[21] | |
| Ludogorets | Valdas Dambrauskas | Sacked | 3 October 2021 | 3rd | Stanislav Genchev (interim) | 3 October 2021[22] | |
| Tsarsko Selo | Antoni Zdravkov | Mutual consent | 8 October 2021 | 13th | Lyuboslav Penev | 13 October 2021[23] | |
| Arda | Georgi Chilikov | Mutual consent | 9 November 2021 | 7th |  Slavko Matić | 12 November 2021[24] | |
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | Warren Feeney | Mutual consent | 3 December 2021 | 13th | 3 December 2021[25] [26] | ||
| Arda | Slavko Matić | Sacked | 16 December 2021 | 9th |  Stamen Belchev | 23 December 2021[27] | |
| Ludogorets | Stanislav Genchev (interim) | End of interim period | 3 January 2022 | 1st | Ante Šimundža | 3 January 2022[28] | |
| Tsarsko Selo | Lyuboslav Penev | Mutual consent | 8 January 2022 | 14th | Andrea Sassarini | 28 January 2022[29] [30] | |
| Beroe | Petar Kolev | Mutual consent | 19 January 2022 | 7th | Petar Hubchev | 19 January 2022[31] | |
| Tsarsko Selo | Andrea Sassarini | Sacked | 5 March 2022[32] | 14th | Stefano Maccoppi | 6 March 2022[33] | |
| Botev Vratsa | Daniel Morales | Mutual consent | 22 March 2022[34] | 13th | Ivaylo Dimitrov | 23 March 2022[35] | |
| Lokomotiv Plovdiv | Aleksandar Tunchev | Resigned | 7 April 2022[36] | 8th | Aleksandar Tomash | 11 April 2022[37] | |
| CSKA Sofia | Stoycho Mladenov | Resigned | 14 April 2022[38] | 2nd | Alan Pardew | 14 April 2022[39] | |
| Botev Vratsa | Ivaylo Dimitrov | Mutual consent | 26 April 2022 | 13th | Gennaro Iezzo | 27 April 2022 |
Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.
Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.
Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pieros Sotiriou | Ludogorets | 17 |
| 2 |  Jordy Caicedo | CSKA Sofia | 16 |
| 3 | Ivaylo Chochev | CSKA 1948 | 13 |
| Dimitar Iliev | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | ||
| 5 |  Yevheniy Serdyuk | Cherno More | 12 |
| 6 |  Dorian Babunski | Botev Vratsa | 10 |
 Bernard Tekpetey | Ludogorets | ||
| 8 | Georgi Minchev | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 9 |
| Octávio | Lokomotiv Sofia | ||
| Galin Ivanov | CSKA 1948 | ||
| Tonislav Yordanov | Arda | ||
| Aleksandar Kolev | CSKA 1948 | ||
| 13 | Georgi Yomov | CSKA Sofia | 8 |
| 14 | Stanislav Manolev | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 7 |
| Rank | Goalkeeper | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikolay Mihaylov | Levski Sofia | 15 |
| 2 | Ivan Dyulgerov | Cherno More | 12 |
| 3 | Yanko Georgiev | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 10 |
| 4 | Gustavo Busatto | CSKA Sofia | 9 |
| Svetoslav Vutsov | Slavia Sofia | ||
| Daniel Naumov | CSKA 1948 | ||
| 7 | Georgi Argilashki | Botev Plovdiv | 8 |
| Sergio Padt | Ludogorets | ||
| Krasimir Kostov | Botev Vratsa | ||
| Aleksandar Lyubenov | Lokomotiv Sofia | ||
| 11 | Ivan Karadzhov | CSKA 1948 | 7 |
| Hennadiy Hanyev | Beroe | ||
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3–1 (A)[41] | 31 October 2021 | |||
| 3–2 (A)[42] | 27 November 2021 | |||
| 6–3 (A)[43] | 22 April 2022 | |||
| 5–1 (H)[44] | 13 May 2022 | |||
| 5–3 (A) | 21 May 2022 | |||
