The 2002–03 A Group was the 55th season of the top Bulgarian national football league (commonly referred to as A Group) and the 79th edition of a Bulgarian national championship tournament.
Overview It was contested by 14 teams, and CSKA Sofia won the championship. The Reds finished with 66 points in total, six points above archrivals Levski Sofia. CSKA Sofia qualified for the 2003-04 Champions League qualifying rounds, while Levski and third placed Litex Lovech qualified for the UEFA Cup for next season. Marek Dupnitsa qualified for the Intertoto Cup.
At the end of the season, Dobrudzha Dobrich and Rilski Sportist were relegated after just one season in the elite. Only two teams were relegated, because the league was expanded the following season from 14 to 16 teams.
Teams Promotion and Relegation Beroe, Belasitsa Petrich, and Spartak Pleven were relegated at the end of the last season. The relegated teams were replaced by three teams from B PFG. These teams were Botev Plovdiv, Dobrudzha Dobrich, and Rilski Sportist Samokov. Botev return after a one-year absence, Dobrudzha return after a two-year absence, while Rilski Sportist made their debut in the top tier of Bulgarian football. Stadia and Locations
Team City Stadium CapacityBotevPlovdivHristo Botev 22,000Cherno MoreVarnaTicha12,000ChernomoretsBurgasChernomorets22,000CSKASofiaBalgarska Armia22,015DobrudzhaDobrichDruzhba12,500LevskiSofiaGeorgi Asparuhov29,986LitexLovechLovech7,050LokomotivPlovdivLokomotiv (Plovdiv)13,800LokomotivSofiaLokomotiv (Sofia)22,000MarekDupnitsaBonchuk Stadium 16,050NaftexBurgasLazur18,037Rilski SportistSamokovIskar 7,000SlaviaSofiaOvcha Kupel18,000SpartakVarnaSpartak Stadium 7,500
League standings
Results
Champions CSKA Sofia Goalkeepers1 Ivaylo Ivanov 1 (0)12 Stoyan Kolev 24 (0) Defenders2 Georgi Antonov 17 (0)3 Fábio Lima 10 (0)4 Marcos Charras 5 (1)6 Aleksandar Tomash 16 (1)13 Yordan Varbanov 4 (0)25 João Carlos 24 (1)29 Ibrahima Gueye 23 (0)30 Yordan Todorov 10 (1) Galin Ivanov* 1 (0) Midfielders5 Todor Yanchev 23 (3)7 Hristo Yanev 16 (1)10 Metodi Deyanov* 5 (0)11 Stoycho Mladenov, Jr. 1 (0)14 Svetoslav Petrov 24 (3)15 Artim Šakiri 20 (5)17 Borislav Karamatev 1 (0)20 João Paulo Brito 23 (8)23 Emil Gargorov 24 (14)26 Ivan Pavlov 1 (0)27 Petar Zlatinov 4 (0) Forwards8 Velizar Dimitrov 24 (13)9 Agnaldo 18 (5)18 Gerasim Zakov 4 (0)21 MacDonald Mukansi 23 (8)24 Petar Nikolov 2 (0) Manager Stoycho Mladenov
Ivanov and Deyanov left the club during a season.
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Georgi ChilikovLevski Sofia 222 Martin KushevSlavia Sofia 173 Emil GargorovCSKA Sofia 144 Velizar DimitrovCSKA Sofia135 Desislav RusevLitex Lovech 11 Georgi VladimirovSlavia Sofia 7 Velimir IvanovićSlavia Sofia 9 Doncho DonevLokomotiv Plovdiv Boyko VelichkovLokomotiv Sofia Borislav DimitrovBotev Plovdiv
References
External links Bulgaria - List of final tables (RSSSF) 2002–03 Statistics of A Group at a-pfg.com