The 2017–18 First Professional Football League was the 94th season of the top division of the

Bulgarian football league system The Bulgarian football league system or the Bulgarian football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Bulgaria. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, and ...

, the 70th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid and also the 2nd season of the

First Professional Football League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

, which decides the Bulgarian champion. The season is the second with a new league structure and strict financial criteria where 14 clubs play each other home and away, until the league is split up in championship and relegation playoffs. The new league structure, inspired by the ones used by the

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

and

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each ye ...

, was approved by the Bulgarian Football Union on 6 June 2016. The fixture list was released on 22 June 2017. On 29 April 2018, four rounds before the end of the championship, Ludogorets Razgrad managed to secure the title for a seventh consecutive and overall time.

Teams

A total of 14 teams would be contesting the league. Etar were promoted as champions of the 2016–17 Second League, sealing their title on the final day of the season with a 2–2 away draw against

Nesebar Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur, bg, Несебър, pronounced ) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative cen ...

, coupled with

Septemvri Sofia Septemvri ( bg, Септември) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the First League, the first tier of Bulgarian football. Its home ground is the Septemvri Stadium, but due to i ...

's 0–2 away defeat to Oborishte. The promoted club replaced

Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa Lokomotiv ( bg, Локомотив) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Gorna Oryahovitsa, which currently competes in the Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football. Established in 1932 as a sports association of the rai ...

, who suffered an immediate return to the second tier after elimination in the

relegation play-offs In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, runners-up of the 2016–17 Second League, won the

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

against

and return to the top flight after an 18-year absence, for the first time since the 1998–99 season.

return to the second tier after two seasons in the top flight. Vitosha Bistritsa, who finished 3rd in the 2016–17 Second League, defeated Neftochimic in the

and won promotion to the top division for the first time in their history. Neftochimic spent only one season in the First League.

Stadia and locations

Note: From the 2016–17 season onwards, all participating clubs are required to have electric floodlights and adequate pitch conditions under the BFU and TV broadcaster's new licensing criteria. The following stadiums below have either obtained a license under UEFA's category ranking or fulfill the licensing criteria. a. Cherno More played their first home match at

Kavarna Stadium Kavarna Stadium ( bg, Стадион "Каварна") is a multi-purpose stadium in Kavarna, Bulgaria. It is located in the south part of the city. Currently, the venue is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of former Bulgari ...

Kavarna Kavarna ( bg, Каварна ; ro, Cavarna), is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Dobruja region of northeastern Bulgaria. It lies northeast of Varna, from Dobrich on the international road E87 and south of the border with R ...

due to ongoing renovation works at their Ticha Stadium.
b. Etar played their first two home matches at

Lovech Stadium Gradski stadion ( bg, Градски стадион, ) is a football stadium in Lovech, Bulgaria. It is currently used for football matches. The stadium has more than 8100 seats. On July 12, 2010, the venue received a 3-star rating by UEFA and cu ...

Lovech Lovech ( bg, Ловеч, Lovech, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near ...

due to ongoing renovation works at their

Ivaylo Stadium Stadion Ivaylo ( bg, Стадион „Ивайло“, en, 'Ivaylo Stadium' ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Etar Veliko Tarnovo. The stadium ...

.
c.

will play at the

Vasil Levski National Stadium Vasil Levski National Stadium ( bg, Национален стадион „Васил Левски“), named after Bulgarian national hero and revolutionary Vasil Levski (1837–1873), is the country's second largest stadium. The stadium has 43 ...

because their Dragalevtsi Stadium is not licensed for First League.
d.

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home groun ...

obtained permission from the Bulgarian Football Union to use their own stadium and will play their matches at the

only when

floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...

s are necessary.

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising. However, only one sponsorship is permitted per jersey for official tournaments organised by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

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

1.No license for First League.

Regular season

League table

Results

Positions by round

Results by round

Championship round

Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.

Positions by round

Below the positions per round are shown. As teams did not all start with an equal number of points, the initial pre-playoffs positions are also given.

Relegation round

Points and goals will carry over in full from regular season.

Group A

Group B

European play-offs

Bracket

European play-off quarter-finals

----

European play-off semi-finals

European play-off final

Relegation play-offs

Bracket

Winners of matches 3, 5 and 6 will play in the top division next season

First round

----

Second round

---- ''Pirin Blagoevgrad are relegated to the Second League.''

Third round

Season statistics

Top scorers

;Notes

Hat-tricks

Clean sheets

;Notes

Transfers

* List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2017 * List of Bulgarian football transfers winter 2017–18

References

External links

First League (uefa.com)
{{DEFAULTSORT:First League 2017-18 2017-18 Bul 1