1998–99 A Group

A Group
Season	1998–99
Dates	7 August 1998 – 29 May 1999
Champions	Litex Lovech; (2nd title)
Relegated	Metalurg; Lokomotiv Plovdiv; Septemvri;
Champions League	Litex Lovech
UEFA Cup	Levski Sofia; CSKA Sofia;
Matches	239
Goals	719 (3.01 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dimcho Belyakov; (21 goals)
	← 1997–98 1999–00 →

The 1998–99 A Group was the 51st 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.^[1]

Team information

Stadia and locations

The following teams have ensured their participation in A Group for season 1998–99 (listed in alphabetical order):

Sofia

Location of teams in 1998–99 A Group

Sofia 1998–99 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
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
Pirin	Blagoevgrad	Hristo Botev	15,000
Septemvri	Sofia	Vasil Levski	43,230
Shumen	Shumen	Panayot Volov	24,000
Slavia	Sofia	Ovcha Kupel	18,000
Spartak	Varna	Spartak	8,000

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Litex Lovech^[a] (C)	30	24	4	2	83	25	+58	73^[b]	Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2	Levski Sofia	30	23	5	2	51	11	+40	71^[b]	Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Levski Kyustendil	30	18	4	8	57	29	+28	57^[c]
4	Lokomotiv Sofia	30	17	4	9	46	30	+16	55
5	CSKA Sofia	30	15	6	9	54	39	+15	50^[c]	Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round^[d]
6	Neftochimic Burgas	30	15	4	11	52	38	+14	49
7	Slavia Sofia	30	11	8	11	47	36	+11	41
8	Minyor Pernik	30	11	7	12	44	46	−2	40
9	Dobrudzha Dobrich	30	11	3	16	45	55	−10	36
10	Metalurg Pernik (R)	30	11	2	17	33	46	−13	35	Relegation to 1999–2000 B Group^[e]
11	Pirin Blagoevgrad	30	10	4	16	35	58	−23	34
12	Spartak Varna	30	10	4	16	39	50	−11	34	Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
13	Botev Plovdiv	30	9	5	16	34	55	−21	32
14	Shumen	30	8	8	14	36	56	−20	32
15	Lokomotiv Plovdiv (R)	30	4	5	21	26	73	−47	17	Relegation to 1999–2000 B Group
16	Septemvri Sofia (R)	30	4	5	21	34	73	−39	17	Relegation to 1999–2000 B Group

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

↑ Litex (Lovech) have changed name to Lovech.
1 2 Litex and Levski three points deducted for winning fixed matches against Metalurg.
1 2 Levski (Kyustendil) and CSKA (Sofia) awarded no points following April 11 match abandoned at half-time.
↑ CSKA Sofia won the 1998–99 Bulgarian Cup and qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.
↑ Metalurg Pernik relegated by Bulgarian Football Union for match fixing.

Results

Home \ Away	BOT	CSK	DOB	LVK	LEV	LIT	LPL	LSO	MET	MIN	NEF	PIR	SEP	SHU	SLA	SPV
Botev Plovdiv		2–0	3–2	2–2	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–0	2–1	3–1	5–2	1–0	3–2
CSKA Sofia	5–0		3–0	3–2	2–3	2–3	6–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	3–0	3–1	3–2	1–1	2–1
Dobrudzha Dobrich	4–0	1–1		1–0	0–1	1–2	4–2	2–3	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	5–1	4–1	3–1	3–1
Levski Kyustendil	2–1	–^[a]	3–0		0–1	1–0	5–1	1–0	7–1	2–1	3–0	2–0	4–1	3–0	3–0	2–0
Levski Sofia	6–0	2–0	2–0	3–0		0–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	3–0	5–0	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–0
Litex Lovech	2–0	8–0	5–0	2–0	1–1		5–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	3–1	8–1	4–1	2–0	3–1	3–2
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–2	1–2	1–4		1–3	2–0	0–1	2–4	0–0	2–0	1–3	0–0	1–3
Lokomotiv Sofia	2–0	0–2	5–2	1–0	0–1	1–0	4–1		1–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	0–0	2–1	0–2	3–1
Metalurg Pernik	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	0–3	1–2	1–0	2–1		1–2	0–0	2–0	4–2	2–1	1–1	2–0
Minyor Pernik	1–0	2–0	4–2	0–0	2–2	2–3	2–0	1–5	3–4		1–0	2–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	5–0
Neftochimic Burgas	3–1	3–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	1–4	4–1	0–0	2–0	2–1		6–1	1–3	6–1	2–0	4–1
Pirin Blagoevgrad	3–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	6–1	0–2	2–1	3–1	1–1		2–1	2–0	2–1	1–0
Septemvri Sofia	2–0	2–5	2–1	0–3	0–4	2–5	1–1	0–1	3–1	2–3	0–1	2–3		1–1	0–2	1–1
Shumen	1–1	2–5	0–0	3–3	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	4–1	3–2		2–1	1–1
Slavia Sofia	2–0	0–1	6–2	1–0	0–0	1–1	6–1	2–3	1–0	2–2	1–2	4–1	4–1	2–0		2–2
Spartak Varna	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–3	2–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	3–0	0–2

Source: A PFG (in Bulgarian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

↑ Match Levski Kyustendil–CSKA Sofia was abandoned at half-time. No points were awarded to these two teams.

Champions

Litex Lovech

Goalkeepers
1	Vitomir Vutov	19	(0)
12	Stoyan Stavrev	11	(0)

Defenders
3	Zhivko Zhelev	8	(1)
4	Stefan Kolev	26	(0)
5	Dimitar Balabanov*	1	(0)
13	Nikolay Dimitrov	22	(0)
16	Dimitar Karadaliev	16	(1)
17	Zlatomir Zagorčić	19	(1)
22	Altin Haxhi	24	(6)
25	Radostin Kishishev	26	(1)
	Rosen Kirilov*	11	(1)

Midfielders
2	Laurențiu Reghecampf	14	(4)
6	Rosen Emilov	15	(0)
7	Mariyan Todorov	21	(2)
8	Stoycho Stoilov	24	(9)
10	Vasil Kirov	16	(1)
15	Dragoljub Simonović	24	(9)
18	Ivaylo Petev	5	(0)
19	Veselin Sarbakov*	2	(0)
23	Svetlan Kondev	2	(0)
	Georgi Bogdanov	3	(0)

Forwards
9	Stefan Yurukov	19	(7)
11	Dimcho Belyakov	25	(21)
14	Alban Bushi	22	(10)
20	Svetoslav Todorov	12	(2)
21	Veselin Ignatov*	5	(1)
24	Luis Carlos Mota	11	(1)
	Igor Bogdanović*	9	(5)
	Metodi Stoynev*	1	(0)
	Ivan Gemedzhiev	2	(0)

Manager
	Ferario Spasov

Ignatov, Kirilov, Balabanov, Sarbakov, Bogdanović and Stoynev left the club during a season.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Dimcho Belyakov	Litex Lovech	21
2	Todor Pramatarov	Shumen	17
3	Hristo Marashliev	Levski Kyustendil	16
4	Georgi Georgiev	Minyor Pernik	15
5	Georgi Ivanov	Levski Sofia	13
6	Diyan Bozhilov	Dobrudzha Dobrich	12
7	Serge Yoffou	Dobrudzha Dobrich	11
	Dimitar Telkiyski	Botev Plovdiv
	Iliya Gruev	Neftochimic Burgas
10	Alban Bushi	Litex Lovech	10
	Genadi Simeonov	Metalurg Pernik
	Petar Mihtarski	Pirin Blagoevgrad
	Mihail Mihaylov	Levski Kyustendil
	Boyko Velichkov	Spartak Varna

Source:1998–99 Top Goalscorers

References

↑ "Касета убива Металург, Литекс се измъква сух" (in Bulgarian). temasport.com. 10 August 2013.

External links

Bulgaria - List of final tables (RSSSF)

[table_note_LIT0.10865963441723-2] Litex (Lovech) have changed name to Lovech.

[table_hth_LIT0.10865963441723-3] 1 2 Litex and Levski three points deducted for winning fixed matches against Metalurg.

[table_hth_LVK0.10865963441723-4] 1 2 Levski (Kyustendil) and CSKA (Sofia) awarded no points following April 11 match abandoned at half-time.

[table_note_res_UCCQ0.10865963441723-5] CSKA Sofia won the 1998–99 Bulgarian Cup and qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

[table_note_res_R10.10865963441723-6] Metalurg Pernik relegated by Bulgarian Football Union for match fixing.

[table_note_1_LVK_CSK0.2608784792297-7] Match Levski Kyustendil–CSKA Sofia was abandoned at half-time. No points were awarded to these two teams.

[1] "Касета убива Металург, Литекс се измъква сух" (in Bulgarian). temasport.com. 10 August 2013.

[1]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[a]

Bulgarian football championship seasons
State Championship (National Football Division)	1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1941 1942 1943 1944
Republic Championship	1945 1946 1947 1948
A Group	1948–49 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16
First League	2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27

1998–99 in Bulgarian football
Domestic leagues	A Group B Group V Group
Domestic cups	Bulgarian Cup (Final)
European competitions	Champions League UEFA Cup Cup Winners' Cup Intertoto Cup
Related to national team	UEFA Euro 2000 qualification (Group 5) Hristo Bonev Dimitar Dimitrov
List of transfers

1998–99 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia '98 '99 Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '98 '99 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina (Herzeg-Bosnia, Republika Srpska) Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia '98 '99 Faroe Islands '98 '99 Finland '98 '99 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '98 '99 Israel Italy Latvia '98 '99 Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '98 '99 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia '98 '99 San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '98 '99 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '98 '99 Finland '98 '99 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '98 '99 Israel Italy Latvia '98 '99 Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '98 '99 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
League cups	England Finland '98 '99 France Germany Iceland '98 '99 Israel Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland Wales
UEFA competitions	Champions League (qualifying, group stage, knockout stage, final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Intertoto Cup Super Cup