1992 Croatian First Football League

The 1992 Croatian First Football League was the first season of the top Croatian football league. It was the inaugural season of the league established following Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia. Affected by the political and social upheavals stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia and the early stages of the 1991–95 war, the season was drastically shortened and played over the course of less than four months, from 29 February to 13 June.

The league featured 12 Croatian-based clubs, all of which had previously competed at various levels in the Yugoslav football pyramid. Four of the clubs came from the Yugoslav First League, another four from the Yugoslav Second League, and the remaining four from lower levels.

The format used was a double round robin tournament, with each club playing every other club twice in home and away matches, for a total of 22 rounds. However, five of the clubs based in areas most affected by fighting had to host their matches in other towns around the country, effectively playing the entire season in exile. These were Cibalia and Osijek (based in the eastern part of the country, in the cities of Vinkovci and Osijek) and Zadar, Šibenik and Dubrovnik (based in the southern coastal part of the country, in the cities of Zadar, Šibenik and Dubrovnik).

After four of the five displaced clubs which had played the season in haphazard conditions eventually finished in the bottom four places, the Croatian Football Federation decided against relegating any of them, and opted to expand the format to 16 clubs in the following 1992–93 season.

Clubs

Club1	City / Town	Stadium	Head coach	1990–91 result
Cibalia	Vinkovci	Mladost2	Template:Flagicon Mile Petković	2088th in Yugoslav Div 2
Dubrovnik	Dubrovnik	Lapad2	Template:Flagicon Mario Bonić	21616th in Yugoslav Div 2
Hajduk Split	Split	Poljud	Template:Flagicon Stanko Poklepović	1066th in Yugoslav Div 1
HAŠK Građanski	Zagreb	Maksimir	Template:Flagicon Zdenko Kobeščak	1022nd in Yugoslav Div 1
Inker Zaprešić	Zaprešić	Stadion Inkera	Template:Flagicon Ilija Lončarević	3022nd in Yugoslav Div 3 West
Istra Pula	Pula	Aldo Drosina	Template:Flagicon Sergio Scoria	4044th in Yugoslav Div 4 West3
Osijek	Osijek	Gradski vrt2	Template:Flagicon Stjepan Čordaš	1099th in Yugoslav Div 1
Rijeka	Rijeka	Kantrida	Template:Flagicon Marijan Jantoljak	11515th in Yugoslav Div 1
Šibenik	Šibenik	Šubićevac2	Template:Flagicon Nikica Cukrov	21212th in Yugoslav Div 2
Varteks	Varaždin	Stadion Varteks	Template:Flagicon Branko Ivanković	3066th in Yugoslav Div 3 West3
Zadar	Zadar	Stanovi2	Template:Flagicon Goran Krešimir Vidov	3011st in Yugoslav Div 3 West
NK Zagreb	Zagreb	Kranjčevićeva	Template:Flagicon Ivo Šušak	2022nd in Yugoslav Div 2

Notes

• ¹ Several clubs were renamed shortly before the 1992 season began:
  • NK Dinamo Vinkovci became HNK Cibalia
  • NK GOŠK Jug Dubrovnik became HNK Dubrovnik
  • NK Dinamo Zagreb became NK HAŠK Građanski
  • NK Jugokeramika Zaprešić became NK Inker Zaprešić
• ² Five clubs were displaced and forced to host their home games outside their hometowns due to shelling in the ongoing Croatian War of Independence:
  • Cibalia hosted 5 matches in Đakovo (against Hajduk, Osijek, Varteks, Šibenik and Zadar), 1 match in Zagreb (against Dubrovnik), 1 match in Čakovec (against HAŠK Građanski), and 4 matches in Požega (against Rijeka, Inker, NK Zagreb and Istra).
  • Dubrovnik hosted 4 matches in Metković (against Zadar, HAŠK Građanski, Rijeka and Inker), and 7 matches in Blato on the island of Korčula (against NK Zagreb, Istra, Hajduk, Osijek, Varteks, Šibenik and Cibalia).
  • Osijek hosted 3 matches in Đakovo (against NK Zagreb, Istra and Dubrovnik), 4 matches in Donji Miholjac (against Hajduk, Zadar, Rijeka and Varteks) and 4 matches in Kutjevo (against Inker, Šibenik, Cibalia and HAŠK Građanski).
  • Šibenik hosted 7 matches in Split (against Osijek, Varteks, Istra, Dubrovnik, Hajduk, Rijeka and Inker), 1 match in Stobreč (against NK Zagreb), 2 matches in Žrnovnica (against Zadar and Cibalia) and a single match in their home town of Šibenik (against HAŠK Građanski).
  • Zadar hosted 4 matches in Split (against Varteks, NK Zagreb, Šibenik and Istra), 5 matches in Solin (against Cibalia, HAŠK Građanski, Hajduk, Rijeka and Osijek), 1 match in Crikvenica (against Dubrovnik), and a single match in their home town of Zadar (against Inker).
• ³ Varteks and Istra took part upon invitation from the Croatian Football federation - they were given preference over NK Radnik, fourth in the Yugoslav Division 3 West, and NK Neretva, third in Yugoslav Division 3 South.

League table

Relegation

At the end of the season no teams were relegated as it was decided that the league would expand to 16 clubs for the 1992–93 Croatian First Football League season.

European competitions

During the season Hajduk Split and HAŠK Građanski took part in European competitions on account of qualification secured at the end of the 1990–91 Yugoslav football season - Dinamo/HAŠK ended up as runners-up in the 1990–91 Yugoslav First League and qualified for 1991–92 UEFA Cup while Hajduk Split won the 1990–91 Yugoslav Cup and qualified for the 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup.

However, due to violent fighting in parts of the country, UEFA ordered both clubs to host their European matches abroad, in Austria. Dinamo played their UEFA Cup first round fixture against Trabzonspor in Klagenfurt on 11 September 1991 (losing the tie 3–4 on aggregate), while Hajduk Split played their Cup Winners' Cup first round match against Tottenham Hotspur on 17 September 1991 in Linz (also losing the tie 1–2 on aggregate).

At the end of the 1992 season, neither Hajduk Split (1992 Croatian league champions) nor Inker Zaprešić (1992 Croatian Football Cup winners) could qualify for European competitions in the following 1992–93 season as the Croatian Football Federation, the league's governing body, had not been accepted as full member by UEFA. Since its application was finally accepted by UEFA in June 1993, the first Croatian-qualified clubs entered European competitions in the 1993–94 season.

Season statistics

• Most goals in a match: 9 goals – Hajduk Split 9–0 Dubrovnik (11 March 1992).
• Widest winning margin: 9 goals – Hajduk Split 9–0 Dubrovnik (11 March 1992).
• First hat-trick of the season: Nenad Bjelica for Osijek against Šibenik (2 May 1992).

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Template:Flagicon Ardian Kozniku	Hajduk Split	12
2	Template:Flagicon Igor Cvitanović	Varteks	9
	Template:Flagicon Robert Špehar	Osijek	9
	Template:Flagicon Goran Vlaović	HAŠK Građanski	9
5	Template:Flagicon Željko Adžić	HAŠK Građanski	8
	Template:Flagicon Renato Jurčec	NK Zagreb	8
	Template:Flagicon Goran Vučević	Hajduk Split	8
8	Template:Flagicon Nenad Bjelica	Osijek	7
	Template:Flagicon Grgica Kovač	Varteks	7
	Template:Flagicon Ivica Mornar	Hajduk Split	7
	Template:Flagicon Zoran Škerjanc	Rijeka	7
	Template:Flagicon Dževad Turković	Varteks	7

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Date
Template:Flagicon Nenad Bjelica	Osijek	Šibenik	2 May 1992
Template:Flagicon Dean Ljubančić	Rijeka	Istra Pula	2 May 1992

Source: prva-hnl.hr Template:In lang

See also

• 1992 Croatian Football Cup

External links

• League table and results at Prva HNL official website Template:In lang
• 1992 in Croatian football at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.com