Bulgaria I Division

First Division. Scandals aside, purely football evaluation was not very optimistic. The usual suspects were not only battling for the title as ever, but dominated the league by far. The rest… Talented Trakia (Plovdiv) became mid-table team this season. Cherno more (Varna) was unable to overcome the handicap of losing half of their regulars, suspended for taking bribes, and barely avoided relegation. Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), included just before the start of the season to replace expelled Spartak (Pleven) did not have the squad to survive. They made some brave efforts, but lacking quality was a sorry fact. Slavia (Sofia) was the real shock, though. They had weak season before, but never so weak to be in danger of relegation – this season they were bad, they were almost relegated directly. Huge decline. Evident was stagnation and decline: many clubs simply did not get better, contrary to expectation based on talent (Chernomoretz, Beroe, most terribly Trakia). Others were simply in decline, urgently needing radical rebuilding (Lokomotiv Sofia, Cherno more, and most terribly Slavia). No team was really going up, so the league was relatively equal, thus escaping relegation was primary concern for most and those ending in the upper half of the table were more lucky than really good. On the bright side was only Levski-Spartak, which got new coach, perfect for the talented young squad and improving it immediately. CSKA was strong as ever, but not better than the previous seasons and the blame for it can be directed to the stupid firing of Asparoukh Nikodimov, who built the squad. Levski-Spartak aside, the season is remembered mostly for the scandalous finish of it.

Haskovo (Haskovo) was the hopeless outsider – last with 19 points. The former coach of Levski-Spartak, Dobromir Zhechev, was now at the helm, but little he could help a poor selection. The inevitable fate of small clubs… they had no way of recruiting strong players. One heroic season was more or less all – heroics could not help for longer. The only consolation this year was that they won their home match against Levski-Spartak.

With 24 points, Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) finished 15th and was relegated. Crouching, from left: Silatin Salimov, Petar Bumbarov, Fedya Mikov, Radostin Bonev, Ayan Sadakov, Emil Illiev, Plamen Panayotov, Tringov.

Middle row: Vassil Ankov – coach, Christo Sotirov, Ivan Bedelev, Georgy Fidanov, Petko Stankov, Eduard Eranosyan, Nikolay Kurbanov, Lyubomir Burnarsky, Illiya Anchev, Atanas Dramov-coach.

Top row: Zharov, Ivan Naydenov, Christo Bonev, Petar Vassilev, Aleksandar Ivanov, Ivan Marinov, Stefan Staykov.

Lokomotiv tried to survive, but failed. Many things worked against them: the team was unable te rebuild and for years kept unbalanced squad, sharply divided between group of old veterans and another of very young kids. This is what led them to relegation a few years back and the problem was still not fixed. As a relatively small club with little resources and hardly any clout, Lokomotiv was unable to recruit high-profiled players. It was also unable to keep its own talent when big Sofia-based clubs wanted it. To a point, the great Christo Bonev was to blame – he had so much power in the club for years and whoever of his teammates he disliked had to go. His relations with Kurbanov and Fidanov were tense – years ago he made them leave, they returned when he played in Greece, but old feuds were not forgotten. And there was new one, with the wonderful striker Eranosyan. As all this was not enough, Lokomotiv had to play promotion play-off on short notice and after the transfer window was closed, so they were unable to recruit new players better suited for the top league. On the surface, it was not a bad squad – Bonev, Staykov, Kurbanov, Fidanov, Ivanov, Stankov, Sadakov, Sotirov, Eranosyan. But with the exception of current national team players Sadakov and Eranosyan, and the explosive winger Sotirov, the stars were simply too old and already declining. Bonev himself played just a few games in the championship before deciding to retire and concentrate entirely on coaching. Lokomotiv lacked consistency, that was the simple objective fact, resulting from such age-divided squad. They played great football occasionally, but more often struggled, often losing terribly – CSKA trashed them 8-2, for instance. At the end, they just did not have enough points and returned to Second Division immediately after having been promoted.

Slavia was perhaps the biggest disaster this season. Like Lokomotiv, they failed to start rebuilding on time and now suddenly had a weak team made of veterans on their last legs (Tzvetkov, back from Austria, Illiev, Alliev, Malinov, Velichkov) and some undeveloped yet talent (Petar Aleksandrov, Ananiev), and all others (except Khaydarliev) quite middle-of-the-row or less than that. Slavia was in bad shape, but still their performance came as a shock. In here powers behind the scene decided to interfere and save the oldest Bulgarian club from quite possible relegation – according to the rules, the 14th placed had to go to promotion/relegation play-off against one of the second-placed second division teams. This was considered too risky and hastily new rule created: first there to be preliminary play-offs between top league teams which finished between 11th and 14th place. Slavia met Shumen in the preliminary play-off and barely prevailed – 2-1 and 2-2. Saved!

Cherno more (Varna), severely weakened before the season, struggled and ended 13th with 26 points. But they also benefited by the campaign for saving Slavia – they won the preliminary relegation play-off against Belasitza 3-1 and 2-1 and kept their place in the league.

Belasitza (Petrich) – 12th with 27 points. Their usual performance, strongly dependent on home games, would have been enough, but the new rule suddenly placed them in danger. They may not have been prepared for this and lost to Slavia 2-2 and 1-2. Thus, they went to the true promotion/relegation play-off against the 2nd placed team in the Southern Second Division, Minyor (Pernik). The first leg looked fine enough – Belasitza won 4-2 – but the visit to hostile Pernik doomed them – they lost 0-3 and were relegated. Most clubs in the top league were happy: Belasitza was big irritation, capable of beating even the leading big clubs. Now it was gone.

Shumen (Shumen) – 11th with 27 points. Ten years after they debuted in first division, Shumen looked like repeating their first season: the squad was weak even with the new recruits. And Shumen was nothing much, except that they played well at home. If not for the new relegation rule, they were good for another year, but now they went to play-offs. First they lost to Slavia 2-2 and 1-2 and after that – to the 2nd in the Northern Second Division, Dunav (Rousse) 1-1 and 2-3. Minimal losses, but enough to move them back to second level. Unlucky.

Botev (Vratza) – 10th with 27 points. Lucky, one can say looking at the table, goal-difference saved them. But in the original final table Botev was 8th – only later, when 3 points were deducted for using illegal player against Sliven, they dropped to 10th place. Not a great season, to be sure, and the reason was quite obvious: Botev had decent regulars, but the reserves were weak. Short bench handicapped them and something had to done urgently, for some of the starters were getting old and the best players were already eyed by big Sofia clubs.

Etar (Veliko Tirnovo) – 9th with 28 points. The main thing was they managed to stay in the league – the team was shaky, as it has been for years, and keeping a place in the top division was much needed for confidence and breathing space for calm work. It just started – Georgy Vassilev, who already was noticed as the most promising young coach, was at the helm and he was not afraid to introduce talented teenagers, named Trifon Ivanov and Krassimir Balakov. Staying in the league gave him the opportunity to continue the process of building good squad. Top row from left: Stoyanov, Dankov, Arnaudov, Trifon Ivanov, Velkov, Kotzev, Argirov.

Middle row: Vassilev – coach, Mladenov, Em. Dimitrov, B. Dimitrov, Minchev, Lakhchiev, Doychev, Petrov – assistant coach.

Sitting: Gizdev, Mikhailov, Dr. Donev – doctor, Kalchev, Shabarkov – masseur, Balakov, Akhmedov.

Trakia (Plovdiv) – 8th with 29 points. Dropped down to mid-table, but it was already expected, for this talented team did not really develop its potential – year after year they were expected to finally concur the championship, yet bronze medals was their best. Thus, going down was inevitable – the only question was were they going down permanently?

Lokomotiv (Sofia) – 7th with 30 points. Their usual performance.

Chernomoretz (Bourgas) – 6th with 31 points. Perhaps benefiting from rather weak season for most clubs, but still it was wonderful season, perhaps the best of this talented squad, which was already written off as empty promise. Well, the team was mature enough by now.

Beroe (Stara Zagora) – 5th with 31 points. Not bad, but this was not a memorable season for Beroe – they were similar to Chernomoretz: having experienced squad, which, with a bit of luck, ended high in the table.

ZSK Spartak (Varna) had its best season, so the late adjustment of the final table left particularly sour. They finished 3rd with 31 points – true, they were 14 points behind the 2nd placed and 3rd only on better goal-difference, but this was their finest season ever. They got the bronze medals and a spot in the UEFA Cup, their veteran goalkeeper Krassimir Zafirov was awarded best keeper of the season and everything was great until the Federation awarded Sliven with 2 points and thus ZSK Spartak was moved down a place – club and fans never accepted the change, but the adjusted table shows 4th position ever since. What a bitter shift of luck. Third row from left: Marinov, Lichev, Goranov – coach, Naydenov, Kalfov – assistant-coach, Nikolchev, Zafirov.

Middle row: Borisov, Stefanov, Mikhailov, Kazakov, Demirov, Ismailov, Radomirov.

Sitting: Aleksiev, Popov, Gospodinov, Simeonov, Gyorev, Dimov, Venkov.

If ZSK Spartak never accepted 4th place, Sliven (Sliven) omits their 3rd – originally, they finished 7th with 30 points. Quite satisfying. When the match against Botev was awarded to them, they suddenly jumped ahead and were 3rd. But it was too late… ZSK Spartak was already officially awarded with bronze medals and registered to play in the UEFA Cup. It was 3rd place bringing no joy at all.

The season was not much – almost the whole league was mainly preoccupied with escaping relegation. Only 5 teams finished with positive goal-difference. There was no team with less than 10 losses – 1/3 of total matches played – except the leaders. Not only there was no team challenging the perennial leaders CSKA and Levski, but the gap between them and the league was alarming: 14 points originally, reduced to 13 after the final table was readjusted. The general picture was bleak, but on the other hand the race between the eternal enemies was captivating drama, solved in the last round of the championship. At this point, the rivals had equal points, CSKA having superior goal-difference. The derby in the last round was deciding who will be Bulgarian champion. A tie benefited CSKA. Levski needed victory, nothing else would do. There was much at stake – CSKA was aiming at 5th consecutive title. Levski was looking for its first title since 1979. The arch-enemies already met twice in the semi-finals of the two cups and CSKA was eliminated twice, so wounded pride needed revenge. Tensions were high and foreign referee was brought for this match – the West German Dieter Pauli, one of the best referees in the world. It should be said that foreign referees were used for the derby since 1960s and it was the best solution – whenever foreigners refereed there were no troubles and nobody complained of unfair and manipulative refereeing. This match was no exception: Pauli took charge quickly, so the match was actually played instead of becoming bloody battle. CSKA fans had no reason to complain and they did not after the game – Levski, in perfect form, destroyed CSKA 3-1. Interpretations of this match changed a decade later – whenever foreigners refereed the derby, Levski tended to win, but this championship-decisive match was bitter pill to swallow and CSKA-fanatics years later created the myth that Levski bribed Dieter Pauli. CSKA, used to Bulgarian referees whistling in their favour, could not accept fair and impartial refereeing: such thing could be only biased refereeing against them. It did not matter a bit – Levski won and got the title. The only incident happened after the final whistle when the future all-time Bulgarian goalkeeper Borislav Mikhailov ‘celebrated’ CSKA fans with exceptionally rude gesture.

CSKA ‘Septemvriisko zname’ – 2nd with 45 points. Best scorers – 72, best defenders, allowing only 24 goals, but finished the season empty-handed. There was nothing wrong with this squad, it was just that their arch-enemies came with equally talented, but younger team. If there is fault with this team, it is not with the players – CSKA made big mistake sacking Asparoukh Nikodimov in 1991. Experienced coaches followed him, but they were somewhat too old for keeping up with modern tendencies. CSKA started the season with Apostol Chachevsky at the helm, but he was replaced with Manol Manolov, who lost the title in the final round.

Levski-Spartak winning its first title since 1979 with 47 points. 19 wins, 9 ties, and only 2 lost games. 64-29 goal-difference. Just for curiousity: Levski lost to last-placed Khaskovo 1-2 and to Etar 0-1, both away games. Dramatic victory, clinching the title in the last minute against their direct opponent, which makes for memorable season, but there was more to that, much more.