2021–22 Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

Second Professional Football League

Season	2021–22
Dates	24 July 2021 – 21 May 2022[1]
Promoted	Septemvri Sofia Hebar Pazardzhik Spartak Varna
Relegated	Septemvri Simitli Marek Dupnitsa Neftochimic (disqualified) Levski Lom (withdrawn)
Matches played	342
Goals scored	871 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mariyan Tonev (19 goals)
Biggest home win	Septemvri Sofia 7−0 Septemvri Simitli
Biggest away win	Sozopol 0−5 Septemvri Sofia
Highest scoring	Maritsa 3−5 Spartak Varna Sportist Svoge 4–4 CSKA 1948 Sofia II
← 2020–21 2022–23 → All statistics correct as of 3 June 2022.

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.

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On 4 November 2021 the professional football license of Neftochimic was revoked by the Licensing commission of the Bulgarian Football Union as a result of the club not following financial fair play rules and outstanding payments towards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

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

To Second League Introduced reserve team Botev Plovdiv II[13] CSKA 1948 II[13] Promoted from Third League Spartak Varna Levski Lom Marek Dupnitsa Maritsa Plovdiv Relegated from First League Etar[14] Montana

From Second League Relegated to Third League Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa Kariana Vitosha Bistritsa Promoted to First League Pirin Lokomotiv Sofia

Stadia and locations

Sofia

Sofia teams :
CSKA 1948 II
Septemvri

Dobrudzha

Hebar

Levski

Litex

Marek

Ludogorets II

Minyor

Neftochimic

Maritsa

Septemvri Simitli

Sozopol

Sportist

Strumska Slava

Spartak

Yantra

Botev II

Montana

Etar

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Location of teams in 2021–22 Second League

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

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

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

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

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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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.
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12. "Официално: БФС извади Левски (Лом) от Втора лига". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 22 March 2022.
13. 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.