First Professional Football League

Also known as APFG, Parva Liga, Bulgarian A Football Group, Bulgarian A Professional Football Group, A Group, A PFG

men's association football top division of Bulgaria

Key facts

Organising body: Bulgarian Football Union (BFU), Bulgarian Professional Football League (BPFL)
Founded: 1924 ; 102 years ago ( 1924 ) ( knockout ), 1937–1940; 1948 (as round-robin )
Country: Bulgaria
Confederation: UEFA
Number of clubs: 16 (14 from 2026–27)
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: Levski Sofia (27th title) , ( 2025–26 )
Most championships: CSKA Sofia (31 titles)
Most appearances: Georgi Iliev (461)
Top scorer

~20 min read

Article

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), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of the Bulgarian football league system. Contested by 14 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.