Croatian First League

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Croatian First League Logo

The Croatian First League (Croatian: 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.

Twelve teams currently comprise the league. Each season of the league starts in late July or early August and in March the teams are split into two groups of six which continue to play separately. These two groups are known as the Championship League and the Relegation League. At the end of each season, the team that takes the last place is directly relegated to the Croatian Second League and the second last team plays two play-off matches with the club that was defeated in the previous two play-off matches between the first place finishers from both of the Croatian Second Leagues. The Croatian First League winner goes into the UEFA Champions League qualifying round and the runners-up go into the UEFA Cup, just like the winner of the Croatian Cup. Third and fourth place finishers go into the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

The league was formed in 1991 with the dissolution of the Yugoslav First League and its first season started in February 1992. The league is operated by the Croatian Football Federation.

Contents

1 First League in the 2006-2007 season
2 Progressions in 2006
3 First League Champions
4 External links

First League in the 2006-2007 season

Progressions in 2006

The league winners Dinamo Zagreb will play in the qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, the Cup winners and runners-up Rijeka qualified for the UEFA Cup, just like the third place finishers and Cup finalists Varteks Varaždin. The fourth place finishers Osijek will play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

The last place finishers Inter Zaprešić were directly relegated into the Second League and the club will be replaced in the First League by Šibenik, the winners of the Southern Second League. The eleventh place finishers Međimurje did not have to play two play-off matches because Belišće, that finished first in the Northern Second League, did not fulfill the requirements to play in the First League.

First League Champions

1992 Hajduk Split
1993 Dinamo Zagreb (as "Croatia Zagreb")
1994 Hajduk Split
1995 Hajduk Split
1996 Dinamo Zagreb (as "Croatia Zagreb")
1997 Dinamo Zagreb (as "Croatia Zagreb")
1998 Dinamo Zagreb (as "Croatia Zagreb")
1999 Dinamo Zagreb (as "Croatia Zagreb")
2000 Dinamo Zagreb
2001 Hajduk Split
2002 NK Zagreb
2003 Dinamo Zagreb
2004 Hajduk Split
2005 Hajduk Split
2006 Dinamo Zagreb

Croatia previously had its own football league which operated from 1940 to 1944 (under 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 First League, despite the fact the territory covered by these leagues was not the same as 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.

External links

[Croatian First League website] (in Croatian)
[Croatian First League - all time table]

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1. HNL 2006/07 clubs
Cibalia \| Dinamo \| Hajduk \| Kamen Ingrad \| Međimurje \| Osijek Pula \| Rijeka \| Šibenik \| Slaven Belupo \| Varteks \| Zagreb