Croatian Football League
| 1.HNL |
|---|
 1.HNL 2008-09
|
| File:HNL Logo.JPG |
| Founded |
| 1991 |
| Nation |
 Croatia
|
| Relegation To |
| 2.HNL |
| Number of Teams |
| 12 |
| European Qualification |
| Champions League UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup |
| Cups |
| Croatian Cup Croatian Supercup |
| Current Champions |
| Dinamo Zagreb |
| Most Successful Club |
| Dinamo Zagreb (10) |
| Website |
| Official |
The Croatian First Football League (Croatian: Prva hrvatska nogometna liga or commonly Prva HNL or 1.HNL) is the top football league in Croatia.
The Prva HNL was formed in 1991, following the dissolution of the Yugoslav First League, and is operated by the Croatian Football Federation. The first season started in February 1992. Since its formation, the league went through many changes in its system and number of participating clubs. Currently, there are 12 teams participating in the league.
Each season of the Prva HNL starts in late July or early August and ends in May, with a two-month hiatus between December and February. Historically, the teams were split into two groups of six which continued to play separately starting in March. These two groups were known as the Championship League and the Relegation League. However, the 2006-07 season introduced a new system in which everybody plays everybody three times in the season. Upon the end of the first part of the season, consisting of 22 matchdays, a draw is held to pair the teams and decide host teams for the last 11 matchdays of the season. This system brought one additional matchday in comparison to the preceding seasons.
At the end of each season, the last team is directly relegated to the Druga HNL and the second-last team goes in the relegation play-off, a two-legged tie against the second-placed team from the Druga HNL. The champions qualify for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, the runners-up for the UEFA Cup qualifying, as well as the winners of the Croatian Cup, with the third-placed team winning a spot in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. The average attendance for the 06-07 season was about 3,150 per game. Altogether the attendance was 622,900. UEFA currently ranks the league 26th in Europe.
Prva HNL clubs in the 2007-08 season
| Team | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Cibalia | Stadion Cibalia | 12,108 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Maksimir | 38,923 |
| Hajduk Split | Poljud | 35,000 |
| Inter Zaprešić | Stadion Intera | 5,000 |
| Međimurje | SRC Mladost | 7,000 |
| Osijek | Gradski vrt | 19,500 |
| Rijeka | Kantrida | 10,600 |
| Slaven Belupo | Gradski stadion | 3,000 |
| Šibenik | Šubićevac | 8,000 |
| Varteks | Stadion Varteksa | 10,000 |
| Zadar | Stanovi | 8,000 |
| NK Zagreb | Kranjčevićeva | 12,000 |
Progression in 2006
The 2006 league champions Dinamo Zagreb reached the third qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League after beating Ekranas in the second round, but were eliminated by Arsenal and continued to play in the UEFA Cup, exiting the competition in the first round after losing to Auxerre. Cup winners and league runners-up Rijeka as well as Cup runners-up and league's third-placed Varteks Varaždin played in the first qualifying round for the UEFA Cup, but both failed to advance to the next round. The league's fourth-placed club Osijek qualified for the second round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup, but failed to advance to the next round as well.
The 12th-place finishers in the league, Inter Zaprešić, were directly relegated to the Druga HNL and they were replaced in the Prva HNL by Šibenik, the champions of the Southern Second League. The 11th-place finishers Međimurje stayed in the Prva HNL without having to play two play-off matches against Belišće, the champions of the Northern Second League, because the club's stadium did not meet the criteria required to host matches in the Prva HNL.
Prva HNL Champions
Croatia previously had its own football league which operated from 1940 to 1944 (during the Banovina of Croatia 1939-1941 and the Independent State of Croatia 1941-1945).
The Croatian Football Federation seems to recognize this league as being equivalent to the current Prva HNL, despite the fact that the territory covered by these leagues was not the same as of Croatia today, and that most of this was during World War II.
In the 1944 season, the final match between HAŠK Zagreb and SAŠK Sarajevo could not be played due to war complications, leaving no champion.
Record League Champions
| Rank | Club | Titles | Years Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dinamo Zagreb | 1993, 1996 , 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 | ||
| Hajduk Split | 1992, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2005 | ||
| NK Zagreb | 2002 |
- *Including 5 titles as Croatia Zagreb
All-Time Prva HNL Table
The All-Time Prva HNL Table is a cumulative record of all Prva HNL matches played since the inception of Prva HNL in 1992. The table is accurate from the 1992 season through the 2006-07 season, inclusive.[1] Three points are given for win, one for draw. Names in bold indicate clubs that are competing in the current Prva HNL 2007-08 season. Yellow fields indicate record high in the category.
| Pos. | Club | Seasons | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for |
Goals against |
Goal +/- |
Points total |
Points average |
1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dinamo Zagreb | 16 | 498 | 336 | 92 | 70 | 1141 | 429 | 712 | 1100 | 2.20 | 10 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | Hajduk Split | 16 | 498 | 295 | 108 | 95 | 943 | 448 | 495 | 993 | 1.99 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| 3 | NK Zagreb | 16 | 498 | 208 | 125 | 165 | 725 | 622 | 103 | 749 | 1.50 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Rijeka | 16 | 502 | 199 | 135 | 168 | 681 | 595 | 86 | 732 | 1.45 | 2 | 1 | |
| 5 | Osijek | 16 | 498 | 205 | 115 | 178 | 638 | 693 | -55 | 730 | 1.46 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Varteks | 16 | 498 | 202 | 109 | 187 | 703 | 671 | 32 | 715 | 1.43 | 3 | ||
| 7 | Cibalia | 14 | 438 | 129 | 128 | 181 | 470 | 587 | -117 | 515 | 1.17 | |||
| 8 | Šibenik | 13 | 406 | 126 | 97 | 183 | 474 | 578 | -104 | 475 | 1.16 | |||
| 9 | Slaven Belupo | 10 | 320 | 113 | 87 | 120 | 374 | 408 | -34 | 426 | 1.33 | |||
| 10 | Zadar | 11 | 336 | 93 | 86 | 157 | 383 | 588 | -205 | 365 | 1.08 | |||
| 11 | Inter Zaprešić | 9 | 278 | 96 | 68 | 114 | 325 | 370 | -45 | 356 | 1.28 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Istra Pula | 7 | 215 | 65 | 48 | 102 | 215 | 313 | -98 | 243 | 1.13 | |||
| 13 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 7 | 199 | 62 | 54 | 83 | 234 | 294 | -60 | 240 | 1.20 | 1 | ||
| 14 | Kamen Ingrad | 6 | 191 | 59 | 40 | 92 | 203 | 279 | -76 | 217 | 1.13 | |||
| 15 | Segesta | 5 | 160 | 55 | 42 | 63 | 197 | 206 | -9 | 207 | 1.29 | |||
| 16 | Marsonia | 6 | 190 | 53 | 43 | 94 | 217 | 319 | -102 | 202 | 1.06 | |||
| 17 | Mladost 127 | 4 | 108 | 34 | 26 | 58 | 119 | 149 | -30 | 128 | 1.18 | |||
| 18 | Istra 1961 | 3 | 97 | 26 | 31 | 40 | 100 | 107 | -7 | 109 | 1.12 | |||
| 19 | Međimurje | 3 | 97 | 29 | 19 | 49 | 109 | 163 | -54 | 106 | 1.09 | |||
| 20 | Belišće | 4 | 94 | 24 | 21 | 49 | 115 | 170 | -55 | 93 | 0.98 | |||
| 21 | Dubrovnik | 3 | 86 | 18 | 23 | 45 | 64 | 133 | -69 | 77 | 0.89 | |||
| 22 | Pomorac Kostrena | 2 | 62 | 19 | 15 | 28 | 78 | 93 | -15 | 72 | 1.16 | |||
| 23 | Čakovec | 2 | 62 | 19 | 14 | 29 | 59 | 81 | -22 | 71 | 1.14 | |||
| 24 | Primorac Stobreč | 2 | 64 | 18 | 17 | 29 | 69 | 103 | -34 | 71 | 1.10 | |||
| 25 | Pazinka Pazin | 2 | 64 | 15 | 20 | 29 | 71 | 95 | -24 | 65 | 1.01 | |||
| 26 | Radnik Velika Gorica | 2 | 64 | 12 | 9 | 43 | 47 | 161 | -114 | 45 | 0.70 | |||
| 27 | Samobor | 1 | 32 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 34 | 55 | -21 | 32 | 1.00 | |||
| 28 | Vukovar '91 | 1 | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 32 | 56 | -24 | 30 | 0.90 | |||
| 29 | Dubrava Zagreb | 1 | 34 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 28 | 63 | -35 | 30 | 0.88 | |||
| 30 | Orijent Rijeka | 1 | 30 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 28 | 53 | -25 | 26 | 0.86 | |||
| 31 | Neretva Metković | 1 | 30 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 44 | -24 | 23 | 0.76 | |||
| 32 | TŠK Topolovac | 1 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 31 | 95 | -64 | 14 | 0.46 |
Top scorers
External links
- Prva HNL website Template:Hr icon
- HNL Results, Team Profiles and Standings
- Croatian First League - all time table
| National teams | |
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| League system | |
| Domestic cups | |
| Seasons | |
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