2016–17 First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)
The 2016–17 First Professional Football League is the 93rd season of the top division of the Bulgarian football league system, the 69th since a league format was adopted for the national competition of A Group as a top tier of the pyramid and also the inaugural season of the First Professional Football League, which decides the Bulgarian champion. The season is the first 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 and Danish Superliga, was approved by the Bulgarian Football Union on 6 June 2016. The fixtures were announced on 8 July 2016.
| Season | 2016–17 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 29 July 2016 – 4 June 2017 |
| Champions | Ludogorets Razgrad (6th title) |
| Relegated | Neftochimic Montana Lokomotiv GO |
| Champions League | Ludogorets Razgrad |
| Europa League | Botev Plovdiv Levski Sofia Dunav Ruse |
| Matches played | 240 |
| Goals scored | 616 (2.57 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Claudiu Keșerü (22) |
| Best goalkeeper | Georgi Kitanov (18 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Botev Plovdiv 7–1 Montana (7 April 2017) |
| Biggest away win | Lokomotiv GO 0–5 Ludogorets Razgrad (12 March 2017) |
| Highest scoring | Dunav Ruse 3–5 Ludogorets Razgrad (28 October 2016) Botev Plovdiv 7–1 Montana (7 April 2017) |
| Longest winning run | 13 games by Ludogorets Razgrad |
| Longest unbeaten run | 24 games by Ludogorets Razgrad |
| Longest winless run | 10 games by Lokomotiv GO |
| Longest losing run | 7 games by Montana |
| Highest attendance | ~21,000 CSKA Sofia 1–1 Levski Sofia (15 October 2016) Levski Sofia 2–1 CSKA Sofia (4 March 2017) |
| Lowest attendance | ~20 Montana 1–1 Vereya (10 May 2017) |
← 2015–16 2017–18 →
All statistics correct as of 31 May 2017. | |
On 5 May 2017, five rounds before the end of the championship, after winning the away match with Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Ludogorets Razgrad managed to secure the title for a sixth consecutive and overall time. Ludogorets finished 16 points ahead of CSKA Sofia. Levski Sofia finished third.