View source for Yugoslav Handball Championship

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
The '''Yugoslav Handball Championship''' was the highest level competition in men's [[team handball]] in the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], played regularly for almost four decades between 1953 and 1992, before being abandoned due to the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]].

==History==
The first five editions from 1953 to 1957 were decided via a finals play-off tournament contested by clubs who had qualified in regional competitions, before a regular round-robin league format was introduced for the 1957–58 season. The league featured clubs from all of Yugoslavia's [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia#Federal units|federal subjects]], with the most successful being [[RK Bjelovar]] with 9 titles, followed by [[RK Borac Banja Luka]] and [[RK Metaloplastika]] with 7 titles each.

Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the competition was eventually succeeded by the following handball leagues:
*{{flagicon|BIH}} [[Handball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
*{{flagicon|CRO}} [[Croatian Handball Premier League]]
*{{flagicon|MKD}} [[Macedonian Handball Super League]]
*{{flagicon|MNE}} [[Montenegrin Men's Handball First League]]
*{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Serbian Handball Super League]]
*{{flagicon|SLO}} [[Slovenian First League (men's handball)|Slovenian First League]]

==Title holders==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}<ref>{{cite web |language=sr |url=https://rss.org.rs/files/Drzavni_prvaci.pdf |title=Historique des championnats de Yougoslavie, de RF Yougoslavie, de Serbie-et-Monténégro et de Serbie (1953-2004) |publisher=[[Serbian Handball Federation]] |access-date=26 October 2024}}</ref>
* .....1953 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Medveščak|Prvomajska]]
* .....1954 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Medveščak|Prvomajska]]
* .....1955 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Crvena zvezda|Crvena zvezda]]
* .....1956 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Crvena zvezda|Crvena zvezda]]
* .....1957 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Zagreb|Zagreb]]
* 1957–58 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]] 
* 1958–59 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]] 
* 1959–60 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]] 
* 1960–61 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]] 
* 1961–62 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Zagreb|Zagreb]]
* 1962–63 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Zagreb|Zagreb]]
* 1963–64 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Medveščak|Prvomajska/Medveščak]]
* 1964–65 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Zagreb|Zagreb]]
* 1965–66 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Medveščak|Medveščak]]
* 1966–67 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]
* 1967–68 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]
* 1968–69 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Crvenka|Crvenka]]
* 1969–70 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]
* 1970–71 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]
* 1971–72 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]
* 1972–73 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]] 
* 1973–74 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]] 
* 1974–75 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]] 
* 1975–76 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]] 
* 1976–77 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]
* 1977–78 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[RK Željezničar|Željezničar Sarajevo]]
* 1978–79 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]
* 1979–80 {{flagicon|SR Slovenia}} [[RD Slovan|Slovan]]
* 1980–81 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]] 
* 1981–82 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]] 
* 1982–83 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]] 
* 1983–84 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]] 
* 1984–85 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]] 
* 1985–86 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]] 
* 1986–87 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]] 
* 1987–88 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]] 
* 1988–89 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Zagreb|Zagreb]]
* [[1989–90 Yugoslav Handball Championship|1989–90]] {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Proleter Zrenjanin|Proleter]]
* [[1990–91 Yugoslav Handball Championship|1990–91]] {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[RK Zagreb|Zagreb]]
* [[1991–92 Yugoslav Handball Championship|1991–92]] {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[RK Proleter Zrenjanin|Proleter]]
{{div col end}}

===Championships by club===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! Titles
! width=120|Club
! width=80|City
! Republic
|- 
|align=center| 9
| [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]
| [[Bjelovar]]
| {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[SR Croatia|CRO]] 
|-
|align=center| 7
| [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]]
| [[Banja Luka]]
| {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[SR Bosnia and Herzegovina|BIH]] 
|-
|align=center| 7
| [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]]
| [[Šabac]]
| {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[SR Serbia|SRB]] 
|-
|align=center| 6
| [[RK Zagreb|Zagreb]]
| [[Zagreb]]
| {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[SR Croatia|CRO]] 
|-
|align=center| 4
| [[RK Medveščak|Medveščak]]
| [[Zagreb]]
| {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} [[SR Croatia|CRO]] 
|-
|align=center| 2
| [[RK Crvena zvezda|Crvena zvezda]]
| [[Belgrade]]
| {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[SR Serbia|SRB]] 
|-
|align=center| 2
| [[RK Proleter Zrenjanin|Proleter]]
| [[Zrenjanin]]
| {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[SR Serbia|SRB]] 
|-
|align=center| 1
| [[RK Crvenka|Crvenka]]
| [[Crvenka]]
| {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} [[SR Serbia|SRB]] 
|-
|align=center| 1
| [[RK Željezničar|Željezničar]]
| [[Sarajevo]]
| {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[SR Bosnia and Herzegovina|BIH]] 
|-
|align=center| 1
| [[RD Slovan|Slovan]]
| [[Ljubljana]]
| {{flagicon|SR Slovenia}} [[SR Slovenia|SLO]] 
|-
|}

==European success==
Traditionally one of the strongest handball leagues in Europe, several Yugoslav clubs went on to compete with considerable success in the European Cup (present-day [[EHF Champions League]]), the premier continental handball competition. Prior to the breakup of Yugoslavia, six Yugoslav clubs had managed to reach the European finals 11 times, winning four titles.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Club
!width=50|{{Tooltip|W|Winners}}
!width=50|{{Tooltip|RU|Runners-up}}
!width=50|{{Tooltip|SF|Losing semi-finalists}}
!class="unsortable" width=165|Years won
!class="unsortable" width=165|Years runners-up
!class="unsortable" width=165|Years semi-finalists
|-
| {{flagicon|YUG}} [[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]]|| style="text-align:center"|2 || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|3 ||[[1984–85 European Cup (handball)|1984–85]], [[1985–86 European Cup (handball)|1985–86]] || [[1983–84 European Cup (handball)|1983–84]] ||[[1982–83 European Cup (handball)|1982–83]], [[1986–87 European Cup (handball)|1986–87]], [[1987–88 European Cup (handball)|1987–88]]
|-
|{{flagicon|YUG}} [[RK Bjelovar|Partizan Bjelovar]]|| style="text-align:center"|1 || style="text-align:center"|2 ||style="text-align:center"|2 ||[[1971–72 European Cup (handball)|1971–72]] || [[1961–62 European Cup (handball)|1961–62]], [[1972–73 European Cup (handball)|1972–73]] ||[[1967–68 European Cup (handball)|1967–68]], [[1970–71 European Cup (handball)|1970–71]]
|-
|{{flagicon|YUG}} [[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac Banja Luka]]|| style="text-align:center"|1 || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|— ||[[1975–76 European Cup (handball)|1975–76]] || [[1974–75 European Cup (handball)|1974–75]] ||
|-
|{{flagicon|YUG}} [[RK Medveščak|Medveščak]]|| style="text-align:center"|— || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|— || || [[1964–65 European Cup (handball)|1964–65]] ||
|-
|{{flagicon|YUG}} [[RD Slovan|Slovan]]|| style="text-align:center"|— || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|— || || [[1980–81 European Cup (handball)|1980–81]]||
|-
|{{flagicon|YUG}} [[RK Proleter Zrenjanin|Proleter]]|| style="text-align:center"|— || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|— || || [[1990–91 European Cup (handball)|1990–91]]||
|-
|{{flagicon|YUG}} [[RK Crvenka|Crvenka]]|| style="text-align:center"|— || style="text-align:center"|— ||style="text-align:center"|1 || ||  ||[[1969–70 European Cup (handball)|1969–70]]
|-
|}

===Notable clubs===
(at least 10 top-flight seasons or at least one title)
{|
|valign="top"|
;{{flag|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
*[[RK Borac Banja Luka|Borac]], [[Banja Luka]] 
*[[RK Željezničar|Željezničar]], [[Sarajevo]] 
*[[RK Krivaja|Krivaja]], [[Zavidovići]]
*[[RK Bosna Sarajevo|Bosna]], [[Sarajevo]] 
*[[RK Sloga Doboj|Sloga]], [[Doboj]] 

;{{flag|SR Croatia}}
*[[RK Medveščak|Medveščak]], [[Zagreb]] 
*[[RK Partizan Bjelovar|Partizan]], [[Bjelovar]]
*[[RK Zagreb]], [[Zagreb]]

;{{flag|SR Macedonia}}
*[[RK Eurofarm Pelister|Pelister]], [[Bitola]] 
|

;{{flag|SR Montenegro}}

;{{flag|SR Serbia}}
*[[RK Crvena zvezda|Crvena zvezda]], [[Belgrade]] 
*[[RK Crvenka|Crvenka]], [[Crvenka]] 
*[[RK Dubočica|Dubočica]], [[Leskovac]] 
*[[RK Dinamo Pančevo|Dinamo]], [[Pančevo]] 
*[[RK Železničar Niš|Železničar]], [[Niš]] 
*[[RK Metaloplastika|Metaloplastika]], [[Šabac]] 
*[[RK Proleter Zrenjanin|Proleter]], [[Zrenjanin]] 
*[[RK Partizan|Partizan]], [[Belgrade]] 

;{{flag|SR Slovenia}}
*[[RD Slovan|Slovan]], [[Ljubljana]]
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Sports leagues of Yugoslavia}}
{{Men's Global Handball Leagues}}
{{EHF leagues}}

[[Category:Handball competitions in Yugoslavia|Cham]]
[[Category:National championships in Yugoslavia|Handball]]
[[Category:1953 establishments in Yugoslavia]]
[[Category:1992 disestablishments in Yugoslavia]]