League and Cup history

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The Croatian First League (Prva hrvatska nogometna liga or shortly Prva HNL) is the top football league in Croatia. The league is currently officially known as Prva HNL Ožujsko as it is primarily sponsored by the brewery that produces the Ožujsko beer.

The Croatian First League 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 Croatian First League 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 two teams are relegated to the Croatian Second League, the champions are qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, the runners-up for the UEFA Cup qualifying, just like the winners of the Croatian Cup and the third and fourth-placed teams each win a spot in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Champions:

2007 - Dinamo Zagreb
2006 - Dinamo Zagreb
2005 - Hajduk Split
2004 - Hajduk Split
2003 - Dinamo Zagreb
2002 - FK Zagreb
2001 - Hajduk Split
2000 - Dinamo Zagreb
1999 - Dinamo Zagreb
1998 - Dinamo Zagreb
1997 - Dinamo Zagreb
1996 - Dinamo Zagreb
1995 - Hajduk Split
1994 - Hajduk Split
1993 - Dinamo Zagreb
1992 - Hajduk Split

Top five scorers of all time

1. Igor Cvitanovic (128 goals)
2. Josko Popvic (110)
3. Tomislav Erceg (97)
4. Robert Spehar (85)
5. Renato Jurcec (84)

Other facts
Best foreign scorer in Croatian first division: Admir Hasancic (64 goals).

Players from 18 countries scored in 14 seasons of Croatian first division:Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Liberia, Lithuania, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, USA, Serbia and Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Uruguay.

Most goals in his first season in Croatian first division:Ivica Zuljevic(Medjimurje, 12), Leonard Barnjak (Zadar, 11), Tomislav Busic(Hajduk, 11) Karlo Primorac(Osijek,11)

Most goals in a season: Eduardo Da Silva (34 goals, 1.06 per game, 2006/07 season)

Top goalscorer with least scored goals in a season: Ivica Olic(16 goals, 0.500 per game, 2002/03 season)

The club who's players win the top goalscorer award most times: Dinamo (4 players, 7 times)

6 clubs had top goalscorer of the season playing for them: dinamo, hajduk, osijek, zadar, sibenik, rijeka).

Hajduk had top goalscorer only once(Adrian Kozniku).

Player who scored most goals in croatian first division but played only for one club in it: Mario Dodik(62 goals, Slaven Belupo), Goran Vlaovic(61, Dinamo)
Dado Pršo scored only 2 goals in croatian first division. Both of them for Pazinka in 1992/93 season.

873 players scored a goal in Croatian first division.

32 different clubs played in Croatian first division.

6 clubs never got relegated from Croatian first division:dinamo, hajduk, rijeka, zagreb, osijek and varteks.

Zagreb has had most clubs in Croatian first division: 4(Dinamo, Zagreb, Hrvatski dragovoljac, Dubrava).

Towns that have had more than one club in croatian first division: Zagreb, Rijeka(rijeka, orijent), Pula(istra, pula 1856), Cakovec(cakovec, nedjimurje).

number of different formations of Croatian first division: 9 different league formations in 14 seasons(0.64285 changes of league's formation per season).

Longest time without changing the formation of the league: 4 seasons(2002/03-2005/06)

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The Croatian Cup (Hrvatski nogometni kup) is an annually held fooball tournament for Croatian Football slubs and is the second most important national title in Croatian football after the Croatian First League title.

The cup has been played for since 1992. It is open to 48 clubs, based on various criteria. The sixteen teams with the greatest coefficients in the cup over the last five years are admitted. Twenty-one cup-winners from regional leagues are admitted as well as eleven regional cup finalists. The teams from regional leagues participate in a knock-out qualifying round. The knock-out format continues until the quarter-finals when home and away (aggregate) takes effect for the rest of the cup.

Note that during World War II in 1941 this tournament was played in the Independent State of Croatia, and Građanski Zagreb won.

Past Winners:

2007 - Dinamo Zagreb
2006 - HNK Rijeka
2005 - HNK Rijeka
2004 - Dinamo Zagreb
2003 - Hajduk Split
2002 - Dinamo Zagreb
2001 - Dinamo Zagreb
2000 - Hajduk Split
1999 - Osijek
1998 - Dinamo Zagreb
1997 - Dinamo Zagreb
1996 - Dinamo Zagreb
1995 - Hajduk Split
1994 - Dinamo Zagreb
1993 - Hajduk Split
1992 -NK Inter Zaprešić

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The Croatian Supercup is an annually held football match between the football club that has won the Croatian First League and the club that has won the Croatian Cup.

From 1992 to 1994, the cup was played in two legs. Since 2002 it has been played in one deciding match.

2006 - Dinamo Zagreb
2005 - Hajduk Split
2004 - Hajduk Split
2003 - Dinamo Zagreb
2002 - Dinamo Zagreb
2001 - Not contested
2000 - Not contested
1999 - Not contested
1998 - Dinamo Zagreb
1997 - Dinamo Zagreb
1996 - Dinamo Zagreb
1995 - Hajduk Split
1994 - Hajduk Split
1993 - Hajduk Split
1992 - Hajduk Split