2021–22 Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

The 2021–22 Second League was the 66th season of the Second League, the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system, and the 6th season under this name and current league structure.

Second Professional Football League
Season2021–22
Dates24 July 2021 – 21 May 2022[1]
PromotedSeptemvri Sofia
Hebar Pazardzhik
Spartak Varna
RelegatedSeptemvri Simitli
Marek Dupnitsa
Neftochimic (disqualified)
Levski Lom (withdrawn)
Matches played342
Goals scored871 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorerBulgaria Mariyan Tonev
(19 goals)
Biggest home winSeptemvri Sofia 7−0 Septemvri Simitli
Biggest away winSozopol 0−5 Septemvri Sofia
Highest scoringMaritsa 3−5 Spartak Varna
Sportist Svoge 4–4 CSKA 1948 Sofia II
All statistics correct as of 3 June 2022.

For this season, the league was expanded from 17 to 20 teams, with four teams promoted from the Third League, as well as two reserve teams being added to the league. This makes this season the largest in terms of number of teams competing since the 2011–12 season, when 20 teams competed in two separate divisions.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stadiums were initially limited to 50% capacity, with the spectators also being subject to compliance with social distancing and the wearing of face masks.[2] Since 7 September 2021, only 30% of the stadium could be occupied.[3] In mid September 2021, the Football Union postponed the next three Levski Lom matches (two for the league and one for the Cup) after 12 of the team's players tested positive for the coronavirus.[4] From 14 October 2021, no fans were allowed at the stadiums of the teams based in Sofia Province and Sofia City Province.[5] From 21 October, a prerequisite to fan attendance was the possession of a green certificate, entailing proof of vaccination, recovery from an infection or a negative COVID-19 test.[6] From 24 February 2022, the green pass was no longer required for spectators, though it remained in place for the staff and event organizers.[7] From 21 March 2022, the vaccine pass was abolished for all public activities, including football matches.[8]

On 4 November 2021 the professional football license of Neftochimic was revoked by the Licensing commission of the Bulgarian Football Union as a result of the club not following financial fair play rules and outstanding payments towards personnel and state institutions. In the following days the team was to be removed from the group and its matches annulled.[9] On 19 November the BFU confirmed its decision and removed Neftochimic from the group, annulling all their fixtures played until that point.[10]

On 16 March 2022 Levski Lom decided to discontinue its participation in the league, citing the club's position in the league standings and financial issues.[11] On March 17, as a result of the team`s withdrawal, the sports-technical commission of BFU removed Levski Lom from the group. Team`s results up to that date still count toward the league standings with opponents awarded 3:0 wins for the remainder of the season.[12]

Teams

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The following teams have changed division since the 2020–21 season.

Stadia and locations

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Team City Stadium Capacity
Botev II Plovdiv Futbolen kompleks Botev 1912 3,500
CSKA 1948 II Sofia Bistritsa 2,500
Dobrudzha Dobrich Druzhba 12,500
Etar Veliko Tarnovo Ivaylo 18,000
Hebar Pazardzhik Georgi Benkovski 13,128
Levski Lom Dunavski Yunak 2,500
Litex Lovech Gradski 8,100
Ludogorets II Razgrad Eagles' Nest 2,000
Marek Dupnitsa Bonchuk 16,000
Maritsa Plovdiv Maritsa 5,000
Minyor Pernik Minyor 8,000
Montana Montana Ogosta 6,000
Neftochimic Burgas efbet Arena 18,037
Septemvri Simitli Struma 8,000
Septemvri Sofia DIT 2,000
Sozopol Sozopol Arena Sozopol 3,500
Spartak Varna Spartak 6,000
Sportist Svoge Chavdar Tsvetkov 3,500
Strumska Slava Radomir Gradski 3,500
Yantra Gabrovo Hristo Botev 14,000

Personnel and sponsorship

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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 Kit sponsor
Botev Plovdiv II   Stefan Stoyanov   Dimitar Balinov Uhlsport WinBet
CSKA 1948 II   Vladimir Dimitrov   Georgi Mariyanov Adidas efbet Bachkovo
Dobrudzha   Atanas Atanasov   Dimitar Iliev Uhlsport Corteva Agriscience
Etar   Veselin Velikov   Zdravko Iliev Joma[15] WinBet
Hebar   Nikolay Mitov   Tsvetelin Tonev Jako Efbet Pazardzhik Municipality
Levski Lom   Anatoli Tonov   Nikolay Hristov Joma
Litex   Zhivko Zhelev   Plamen Nikolov Givova WINBET
Ludogorets II   Todor Zhivondov   Tsvetoslav Petrov Nike Efbet Vivacom, Spetema
Marek   Vasil Pavlov   Aleksandar Bliznakov Joma Dupnitsa Municipality
Maritsa   Nikolay Dimitrov   Valeri Domovchiyski Tenev
Minyor   Hristo Yanev   Andreas Vasev Jumper Efbet
Montana   Antoni Zdravkov   Ivan Mihov Joma efbet
Neftochimic   Vladimir Ivanov   Marin Orlinov KRASIKO Masterhaus Burgas Municipality
Septemvri Simitli   Spas Stoimenov   Anatoli Luleyski Joma Simitli Municipality
Septemvri Sofia   Slavko Matić   Asen Chandarov Uhlsport WINBET
Sоzopol   Margarit Dimov   Petar Kyumurdzhiev Erreà Efbet
Spartak   Vasil Petrov   Yancho Andreev Jako Efbet
Sportist   Borislav Kyosev   Borislav Stoychev Zeus Petar Electric
Strumska Slava   Yuriy Vasev   Borislav Nikolov Givova Efbet
Yantra   Sasho Angelov   Hristiyan Kozhuharov Jumper Efbet

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

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
CSKA 1948 II N/A (inaugural season) pre-season   Miroslav Mindev 29 May 2021[16]
Levski Lom   Ferario Spasov Sacked 31 May 2021 pre-season   Emil Velev 31 May 2021[17]
Botev II N/A (inaugural season) pre-season   Stefan Stoyanov 7 June 2021[18]
CSKA 1948 II   Miroslav Mindev Promoted to CSKA 1948 27 July 2021 10th   Atanas Apostolov 27 July 2021[19]
Levski Lom   Emil Velev Resigned 11 August 2021 19th   Ivaylo Vasilev 12 August 2021[20]
Yantra Gabrovo   Kostadin Angelov Resigned 15 August 2021 19th   Sasho Angelov 1 September 2021[21]
Dobrudzha   Stefan Slavov Mutual consent 14 September 2021 16th   Atanas Atanasov 14 September 2021[22]
CSKA 1948 II   Atanas Apostolov Mutual consent 14 September 2021 15th   Andrey Andreev 28 September 2021[23]
Neftochimic   Lyudmil Kirov Resigned 22 October 2021 20th   Kaloyan Genov 24 October 2021[24]
Neftochimic   Kaloyan Genov Resigned 27 October 2021 20th   Vladimir Ivanov 30 October 2021[25]
Levski Lom   Ivaylo Vasilev Sacked 1 November 2021 19th   Anatoli Tonov 1 November 2021[26]
CSKA 1948 II   Andrey Andreev Mutual consent 3 December 2021 14th   Vladimir Dimitrov 19 December 2021[27][28]
Strumska Slava   Vladimir Dimitrov Mutual consent 17 December 2021 8th   Yuriy Vasev 17 December 2021[29]
Montana   Svetlan Kondev Mutual consent 21 December 2021 9th   Antoni Zdravkov 21 December 2021[30]
Septemvri Sofia   Hristo Arangelov Mutual consent 7 January 2022 6th   Slavko Matić 9 January 2022[31][32]

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Septemvri Sofia (P) 36 21 7 8 77 35 42 70 Promotion to the First League
2 Hebar Pazardzhik (P) 36 22 4 10 54 33 21 70
3 Spartak Varna (P) 36 21 7 8 64 39 25 70
4 Etar Veliko Tarnovo (A) 36 21 5 10 69 42 27 68 Qualification for the promotion play-off
5 Minyor Pernik 36 18 9 9 50 35 15 63
6 Ludogorets Razgrad II 36 18 7 11 70 48 22 61 Ineligible for promotion
7 Montana 36 15 13 8 39 31 8 58
8 Strumska Slava Radomir 36 15 9 12 40 37 3 54
9 Maritsa Plovdiv 36 14 8 14 51 48 3 50
10 Sportist Svoge 36 13 9 14 38 46 −8 48
11 Dobrudzha Dobrich 36 11 12 13 39 45 −6 45
12 CSKA 1948 II 36 12 9 15 53 50 3 45 Ineligible for promotion
13 Litex Lovech 36 12 9 15 41 42 −1 45
14 Yantra Gabrovo 36 10 10 16 30 46 −16 40
15 Sozopol 36 9 12 15 40 56 −16 39
16 Botev Plovdiv II 36 8 14 14 34 47 −13 38 Ineligible for promotion
17 Marek Dupnitsa (R) 36 8 12 16 29 46 −17 36 Relegation to the Third League
18 Septemvri Simitli (R) 36 8 9 19 41 68 −27 33
19 Levski Lom (R, D) 36 1 5 30 12 77 −65 8 Disqualified
20 Neftochimic Burgas (R, D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: bulgarian-football.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Fairplay ranking; 9) Draw.[33]
(A) Advance to a further round; (D) Disqualified; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

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Home \ Away BOT CSK DOB ETA HEB LEV LIT LUD MAR MRP MIN MON NEF SIM SEP SOZ SPA SPO STR YAN
Botev Plovdiv II 2–0 0–0 0–2 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 3–0 1–1 / 1–1 0–3 4–1 3–2 0–1 1–1 1–1
CSKA 1948 Sofia II 0–0 1–2 3–1 3–1 3–0 4–1 4–3 2–0 3–1 0–1 0–1 / 2–0 0–3 1–1 2–3 2–1 1–3 3–0
Dobrudzha 1–1 0–0 0–3 0–1 3–0 1–0 3–2 1–1 1–3 3–2 0–1 / 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 4–1 2–3 0–1
Etar 2–0 1–0 3–2 2–4 3–0 2–1 1–2 6–0 2–0 3–0 0–2 / 2–1 4–1 2–0 1–2 4–0 1–2 3–1
Hebar 3–0 4–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 3–0 2–0 1–1 0–3 / 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 3–1 1–1 2–0
Levski Lom 0–0 1–2 0–3 1–2 0–3 2–3 1–2 0–3 0–3 0–1 1–1 / 1–1 0–2 0–0 0–3 0–1 1–1 0–3
Litex 3–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–0 3–0 1–2 1–0 3–1 0–3 1–2 / 2–0 0–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 0–1 0–0
Ludogorets II 3–3 3–3 5–0 4–1 3–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 3–1 1–1 1–0 / 4–0 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–0 0–1 4–0
Marek 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 3–1 / 2–2 2–1 0–2 1–1 2–4 4–2 0–1
Maritsa 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 0–2 4–1 / 1–2 1–1 3–2 3–5 2–0 1–1 3–1
Minyor Pernik 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–3 3–0 4–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 / 4–2 0–3 3–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 2–0
Montana 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 / 1–1 0–0 3–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–0
Neftochimic / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
Septemvri Simitli 2–2 1–4 1–1 1–2 1–2 3–0 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 / 1–2 2–1 0–1 0–1 1–3 5–2
Septemvri Sofia 3–0 3–2 2–1 3–1 2–1 3–0 3–1 3–2 1–1 1–2 3–0 1–1 / 7–0 5–0 4–2 0–3 2–0 4–1
Sozopol 4–1 2–1 3–0 1–1 0–0 3–0 0–4 1–1 0–0 3–2 0–2 1–0 / 2–1 0–5 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–0
Spartak 3–0 2–0 1–2 3–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 3–0 2–0 2–1 / 3–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–1
Sportist Svoge 0–0 4–4 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–3 2–0 0–2 0–0 1–3 / 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–3 1–0 1–1
Strumska Slava 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–4 0–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–1 0–1 / 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–2 0–1 1–0
Yantra Gabrovo 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 3–0 2–2 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 / 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 2–1
Source: bulgarian-football.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

References

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  1. ^ "Втора професионална лига 2021/22".
  2. ^ "Заповед № РД-01-646/29.07.2021 г." (PDF). mh.government.bg (in Bulgarian). 29 July 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Заповед № РД-01-748/02.09.2021 г." (PDF). mh.government.bg (in Bulgarian). 2 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  4. ^ Koleva, Hristina (16 September 2021). "БФС отложи 3 мача на Левски Лом заради 12 болни от Ковид 19". trud.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  5. ^ Hristova, Anna (12 October 2021). "София затяга ограничителните мерки срещу COVID-19 от четвъртък". dnevnik.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  6. ^ Pehlivanova, Ivomira (19 October 2021). "От четвъртък: Всички дейности на закрито - само срещу "зелен" сертификат (ВИДЕО)". nova.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Новата COVID заповед: Зеленият сертификат отпада и за футболните фенове". dariknews.bg (in Bulgarian). 23 February 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  8. ^ "От 21 март отпада изискването за "зелен сертификат" за всякакви дейности в България". mh.government.bg (in Bulgarian). 17 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Second Professional League 2021/2022". bulgarian-football.com. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  10. ^ "BFU confirmed the withdrawal of Neftochimic from the Second League". Sportal.bg. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Официално: Левски (Лом) се отказа от Втора лига". topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). 16 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Официално: БФС извади Левски (Лом) от Втора лига". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  13. ^ a b Втора лига става с 20 отбора заради дублиращ отбор на Ботев Пд
  14. ^ ""Етър" е първият изпадащ, "Славия" оцеля" (in Bulgarian). btvnovinite.bg. 19 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Етър показа новите екипи за сезон 2020/21" (in Bulgarian). etarvt.bg. 8 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Бивш голмайстор на Сливен поема дубъла на ЦСКА 1948" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg.
  17. ^ "Емил Велев - Кокала отново ще е треньор на Левски, но от Лом" (in Bulgarian). offnews.bg.
  18. ^ "Ботев ІІ стартира подготовка на 14-ти юни, информация за елитните юношески групи". botevplovdiv.bg (in Bulgarian).
  19. ^ "Обявиха новия наставник на ЦСКА 1948" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg.
  20. ^ "Ивайло Василев поема "Левски" Лом" (in Bulgarian). BNR.
  21. ^ "Сашо Ангелов пое Янтра" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg.
  22. ^ "Атанас Атанасов е новият старши-треньор на Добруджа" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg.
  23. ^ "ЦСКА 1948 официално обяви новия наставник на дубъла на тима" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg.
  24. ^ "Ясно е кой ще води Нефтохимик в Пловдив" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg.
  25. ^ "Владимир Иванов е новият треньор на Нефтохимик". topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  26. ^ "Падна треньорска глава във Втора лига". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  27. ^ "Андрей Андреев вече не е старши треньор на ЦСКА 1948 II". bg.cska1948.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  28. ^ "Доскорошният треньор на Струмска слава поема дубъла на ЦСКА 1948". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Сензационни треньорски рокади! Замесени са ЦСКА 1948, Марек и Струмска слава". kotasport.com (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  30. ^ "Монтана има нов треньор". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  31. ^ "Септември официално се раздели с Арангелов". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  32. ^ "Славко Матич е новият треньор на Септември (София)". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  33. ^ "Second League - Season Rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 14 June 2018.