Organising body | Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) |
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Founded | 1924knockout) 1937–1940; 1948 (as round-robin) | (
Country | Bulgaria |
Confederation | UEFA |
Number of teams | 16 |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Relegation to | Second League |
Domestic cup(s) | Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Supercup |
International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League |
Current champions | Ludogorets Razgrad (13th title) (2023–24) |
Most championships | CSKA Sofia (31 titles) |
Most appearances | Georgi Iliev (461) |
Top goalscorer | Martin Kamburov (256 goals) |
TV partners | Nova Broadcasting Group |
Website | fpleague.bg |
Current: 2024–25 season |
The First Professional Football League (Bulgarian: Първа професионална футболна лига, romanized: Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons),[1] is a professional association football league, being the top tier of Bulgarian football league system. Contested by 16 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Second Professional Football League.
The Bulgarian football championship was inaugurated in 1924 as the Bulgarian State Football Championship and has been played in a league format since 1948, when the A Group was established. The champions of the First League have the right to participate in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League based on the league's European coefficient. Additionally, two UEFA Europa Conference League spots are allocated to the second team in the final standings and the winner of the European playoffs. A further fourth spot may also be granted to the fourth placed team in the final league ranking, given that the Bulgarian Cup holder has finished among the top three teams at the end of the season.
A total of 75 clubs have competed in the Bulgarian top-tier since its establishment, with FC Krumovgrad being the newest member of the top tier, after promotion in 2023. Since 1948, eleven different teams have been crowned champions of Bulgaria. The three most successful clubs are CSKA Sofia with 31 titles, Levski Sofia with 26 titles and Ludogorets Razgrad with 13 titles. The current champions Ludogorets Razgrad won their twelfth consecutive title in their twelfth First League season in 2022–23. Historically, the competition has been dominated by Sofia-based teams. Together they have won a total number of 70 titles.