HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level of the Bulgarian football league system, below First League and above the Third League. Sixteen teams take part in the league, each playing twice against all the other, once home and once away. Most matches are played on Saturdays and Sundays. The league is administered by the Bulgarian Professional Football League. In 2016, the B Group's name was rebranded to Second Professional Football League.


Competition format

A team receives 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss.


Promotion and relegation positions

For 2021–22 Season : * ''First place'' (champion) to ''Third place'': Direct promotion to First Professional Football League. * ''Fourth place'': Promotion playoff against the 13th place team from
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 ...
. * ''19th to 20th place'': Relegation to Third Amateur Football League.


2022–23 clubs


History


B Republican Football Group

The B group was established in 1950 when the league was divided in two groups - ''North'' and ''South'', in each group participating 10 teams. The first champions of the ''B Republican Football Group'' are Torpedo (Ruse) (North) and Spartak (Sofia) (South). In season 1951 the group is only one - B Republican Football Group with 12 teams. The regulations are - in
A Group 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 ...
are going the top team in the final standings from
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
and the top two teams from the province (teams that aren't from Sofia). In the next season 1952 the group is formed by 14 teams and from season 1953 the league is divided into five groups - ''Sofia B Group'', ''North-West B Group'', ''South-West B Group'', ''North-East B Group'' and ''South-East B Group''.


Second Professional Football Group

In the next seasons the league had many changes. In 2000 the
Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( bg, Български футболен съюз, Bǎlgarski futbolen sǎyuz; BFS) is a football association based in Bulgaria and a member of UEFA. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and field ...
changed the name of the division. The league is formed by 18 teams, not like previous seasons - 16 teams. To reduce the teams to 16 again in the next season the last six teams that finish in the final standings in the league were directly relegated.


First Professional Football League

Before the start of season 2001/2002 the league was again renamed. The championship started with 13 teams, because Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) and Belasitsa (Petrich) united with two teams from
A Group 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 ...
- Lokomotiv with
PFC Velbazhd Kyustendil Velbazhd Kyustendil ( bg, Велбъжд Кюстендил) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Kyustendil. The club currently competes in the A RFG Kyustendil, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1919. ...
and
Belasitsa Belasica ( Macedonian and Bulgarian: , also translit. ''Belasitsa'' or ''Belasitza'', Ottoman Turkish: بلش Turkish: ''Beleş''), Belles ( el, Μπέλλες, ''Bélles'') or Kerkini (, ''Kerkíni'';), is a mountain range in the region of M ...
with
PFC Hebar Pazardzhik FC Hebar ( bg, Футболен клуб Хебър) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Pazardzhik. The club currently competes in the First League, the first tier of the Bulgarian football league system. Founded in 1918, Hebar h ...
. That meant, that this was the end of professional football in the towns of Kyustendil and Pazardzhik.


B Professional Football Group

Returning to the traditions of the B Republican Football Group was the creating of the ''B Professional Football Group''. 16 teams participated in the league, each playing twice against all the other, once home and once away, with no play-offs. Before the start of season 2005/2006 the
Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( bg, Български футболен съюз, Bǎlgarski futbolen sǎyuz; BFS) is a football association based in Bulgaria and a member of UEFA. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and field ...
decided to divide B Group in two groups - ''West B Group'' and ''East B Group'' with 14 teams in each group. Every team plays 13 matches as home team and 13 matches as away team. The two champions of the groups were directly promoted to
A Group 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 ...
and the two teams that finished in second place in their group played a play-off for winning the final third place for promotion in
A Group 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 ...
. On May 19, 2008 the two groups were extended to 16 teams. For season 2010/2011 the two groups were reduced again with 12 teams in each. But just before the start of season 2011/2012 the number of teams in the two groups was again reduced - 10 teams in both ''West B Group'' and ''East B Group'', with the winners of the groups directly promoting to
A Group 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 ...
. The two teams that finished in second place in their group enter in a play-off for winning a place at the final play-off for promotion/relegation with the team that finished 14th in
A Group 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 ...
. Further changes were made before the start of season 2012/2013. The former format of B Group with the two groups (''West'' and ''East'') was replaced by a single division, formed by fourteen teams.


Second League


Former champions (from season 2005–06)

The following table presents the former champions of B Group (until season 2011–12 it had separate champions about the zones ''East'' and ''West'').


References

{{UEFA second leagues 2
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
Professional sports leagues in Bulgaria