2008–09 Croatian First Football League

The 2008–09 Croatian First Football League (officially known as the T-Com Prva HNL for sponsorship reasons) was the eighteenth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. It started on 27 July 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their twelfth championship title the previous season, and they defended the title again, after a win against Slaven Belupo on 17 May 2009.

T-Com Prva HNL
Season2008–09
ChampionsDinamo Zagreb
11th Croatian title
15th domestic title
RelegatedNone
Champions LeagueDinamo Zagreb
Europa LeagueHajduk Split
Rijeka
Slaven Belupo
Matches played198
Goals scored522 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorerMario Mandžukić (16)
Biggest home winDinamo 6–0 Cibalia
Biggest away winVarteks 1–6 Dinamo
Highest scoringRijeka 6–2 Slaven B.
Average attendance3,067

Promotion and relegation

Međimurje were automatically relegated to Druga HNL as they finished last in the previous season, while Croatia Sesvete were automatically promoted from Druga HNL after winning the 2007–08 title. In a two-legged playoff between Inter Zaprešić and Hrvatski dragovoljac, the former kept their Prva HNL status by beating Hrvatski dragovoljac with 2–0 on aggregate (2–0, 0–0).

League expansion

In June 2007 Igor Štimac, president of Association of Prva HNL clubs, proposed a future expansion of Prva HNL from 12 to 16 clubs, starting from 2008–09 season.[1] However, although a majority of club representatives supported that proposal, no strict agreement or final decision was made. On HNS meeting in late August 2007 it was decided to postpone the decision for late 2007 or even 2008 and that the expansion would not be possible before the 2009–10 season.[2]

For more than a year nothing explicit was stated on that matter. Finally, on a regular HNS meeting in February 2009 HNS Secretary Zorislav Srebrić stated that club licensing would decide whether the 2009–10 season would feature 12 or 16 teams. Theoretically, if only 15 teams obtained Prva HNL license, league would have featured 12 teams. The deadline for submitting the license was 1 May 2009.[3] On 8 May 2009 HNS declared that all 19 clubs that applied for the license were awarded with it and would be in possibility to enter the league in 2009–10, now expanded to 16 clubs.[4] Also, on 26 May 2009 HNS received official confirmations from all 19 clubs in which they expressed their will to compete in next year's Prva HNL, what means that none of the clubs would withdraw from the league.[5] However, despite their guarantee to compete in Prva HNL, Slavonac eventually withdrew although they finished fourth and earned direct access to 2009–10 Prva HNL. Their place was taken by Međimurje while sixth-placed Hrvatski Dragovoljac competed in a relegation play-offs.[6]

Stadiums and locations

After the death of Hrvoje Ćustić during a game played at Zadar's Stanovi Stadium in March 2008, it was decided that the stadia for the 2008–09 season would have to pass a closer inspection to be deemed fit for first-league football. Since only 9 stadia managed to meet the requirements and obtain first-league license from the Croatian Football Federation, it was announced in May 2008 that some of the teams (Cibalia, Croatia Sesvete, Zadar and NK Zagreb) would have to share stadia and temporarily play their home games at other venues.[7] Just before Round 1 kicked off, Cibalia managed to bring their stadium to standard, and in August, just before round 5, Zadar secured the licence to play their games at Stanovi Stadium.[8]

Location of teams in 2008–09 Prva HNL

Stadia and personnel
Team Manager1 Location Stadium Capacity
Cibalia Croatia Stanko Mršić Vinkovci Stadion HNK Cibalia
9,920
Croatia Sesvete Croatia Milan Đuričić Zagreb Stadion Kranjčevićeva
8,850
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia Krunoslav Jurčić Zagreb Stadion Maksimir
37,168
Hajduk Split Croatia Ante Miše Split Stadion Poljud
35,000
Inter Zaprešić Croatia Borimir Perković Zagreb Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić
4,528
Osijek Croatia Tomislav Steinbrückner Osijek Stadion Gradski vrt
19,500
Rijeka Croatia Robert Rubčić Rijeka Stadion Kantrida
10,275
Slaven Belupo Croatia Mile Petković Koprivnica Gradski stadion u Koprivnici
4,000
Šibenik Croatia Ivica Kalinić Šibenik Stadion Šubićevac
8,000
Varteks Croatia Dražen Besek Varaždin Stadion Varteks
10,800
Zadar Croatia Dalibor Zebić Zadar Stadion Stanovi
5,860
NK Zagreb Croatia Luka Pavlović Zagreb Stadion Kranjčevićeva
8,850
  • 1 On final match day of the season, played on 31 May 2009.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
NK Zagreb Croatia Miroslav Blažević
Mutual consent
10 May 2008 [9]
 Croatia Luka Pavlović
11 May 2008 [10]
Pre-season
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia Zvonimir Soldo
Resigned
14 May 2008 [11]
 Croatia Branko Ivanković
20 May 2008 [12]
Pre-season
Slaven Belupo Croatia Krunoslav Jurčić
Resigned
14 May 2008 [13]
 Croatia Mile Petković
26 May 2008 [14]
Pre-season
Hajduk Split Croatia Robert Jarni
Sacked
24 May 2008 [15]
 Croatia Goran Vučević
25 May 2008 [16]
Pre-season
Croatia Sesvete Croatia Zlatko Kranjčar
Resigned
18 June 2008 [17]
 Serbia Ljupko Petrović
2 July 2008 [18]
Pre-season
Rijeka Croatia Zlatko Dalić
Sacked
1 July 2008 [19]
 Croatia Mladen Ivančić
7 July 2008 [20]
Pre-season
Osijek Croatia Ilija Lončarević
Sacked
26 September 2008 [21]
 Croatia Tomislav Steinbrückner
26 September 2008 [21]
10th
Zadar Croatia Dalibor Zebić
Resigned
28 September 2008 [22]
 Croatia Ivica Datković
9 October 2008 [23]
12th
Rijeka Croatia Mladen Ivančić
Resigned
8 October 2008 [24]
 Croatia Robert Rubčić
13 October 2008 [25]
7th
Inter Zaprešić Croatia Milivoj Bračun
Resigned
20 October 2008 [26]
 Croatia Borimir Perković
20 October 2008 [26]
11th
Hajduk Split Croatia Goran Vučević
Resigned
26 October 2008 [27]
 Croatia Ante Miše
21 November 2008 [28]
3rd
Cibalia Croatia Srećko Lušić
Sacked
10 November 2008 [29]
 Croatia Stanko Mršić
14 November 2008 [30]
11th
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia Branko Ivanković
Mutual consent
24 November 2008 [31]
 Croatia Marijan Vlak
24 November 2008 [31]
1st
Croatia Sesvete Serbia Ljupko Petrović
Resigned
7 December 2008 [32]
 Croatia Zlatko Kranjčar
30 December 2008 [33]
10th
Zadar Croatia Ivica Datković
Mutual consent
21 December 2008 [34]
 Croatia Dalibor Zebić
30 December 2008 [35]
12th
Croatia Sesvete Croatia Zlatko Kranjčar
Resigned
21 February 2009 [36]
 Croatia Milan Đuričić
3 May 2009 [37]
10th
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia Marijan Vlak
Sacked
5 March 2009 [38]
 Croatia Krunoslav Jurčić
5 March 2009 [38]
2nd

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dinamo Zagreb (C) 33 23 5 5 71 26 +45 74 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Hajduk Split 33 21 5 7 59 25 +34 68 Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
3 Rijeka 33 17 5 11 50 44 +6 56 Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
4 Slaven Belupo 33 16 7 10 46 39 +7 55 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
5 NK Zagreb 33 13 8 12 38 39 −1 47
6 Šibenik 33 13 7 13 44 35 +9 46
7 Osijek 33 10 11 12 40 41 −1 41
8 Cibalia 33 10 8 15 33 53 −20 38
9 Inter Zaprešić 33 9 9 15 41 50 −9 36
10 Varteks 33 10 5 18 41 55 −14 35
11 Zadar 33 7 8 18 28 49 −21 29
12 Croatia Sesvete[lower-alpha 2] (O) 33 6 8 19 31 66 −35 25 Qualification to relegation play-off
Source: Sportnet.hr
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:
  1. Because both cup finalists, Dinamo and Hajduk, qualified for Europe through their league positions, all three UEFA Europa League spots were given to teams according to their league positions, what means that fourth-placed Slaven Belupo also earned a spot in Europa League.
  2. Croatia Sesvete were docked 1 point due to unpaid debts to Imotski over player Darko Vučić.[39]

Relegation play-off

Due to the expansion of Prva HNL to 16 clubs in the 2009–10 season, four clubs from 2008–09 Druga HNL were automatically promoted. Those should have been top four clubs, but since Slavonac withdrew[6] their direct access spot was taken by fifth-placed Međimurje. Therefore, the 12th placed Croatia Sesvete played a two-legged relegation play-off against the 6th placed team of Druga HNL, Hrvatski Dragovoljac. Croatia Sesvete won 2–1 on aggregate and thereby earned a spot in the 2009–10 season.

Hrvatski Dragovoljac0 – 0Croatia Sesvete
Ercegović Yellow card 58' Yellow-red card 84' Report
(in Croatian)
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Domagoj Ljubičić (Osijek)
Croatia Sesvete2 – 1Hrvatski dragovoljac
Vojnović 10' Yellow card 41' Yellow-red card 62'
Čižmek 90'		 Report
(in Croatian)		 Janjetović 67'
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Rijeka)

Results

The schedule consisted of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.

First and second round
Home \ Away CIB CRS DIN HAJ INT OSI RIJ SLA ŠIB VAR ZAD ZAG
Cibalia 3–1 1–1 1–1 4–3 0–3 3–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–1
Croatia Sesvete 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–3 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 4–0 3–1 1–4
Dinamo Zagreb 6–0 6–1 0–2 3–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 3–1
Hajduk Split 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–3 3–1 2–0 3–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 4–0
Inter Zaprešić 1–2 3–2 1–3 0–4 0–1 2–2 0–0 2–3 2–3 3–1 1–1
Osijek 2–0 4–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 2–2 0–0 1–3 2–1 3–0 0–2
Rijeka 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 0–1
Slaven Belupo 1–0 4–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 4–2 2–1 3–1 2–3 2–1 2–0
Šibenik 4–0 0–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 1–1
Varteks 3–0 2–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–0[lower-alpha 1] 3–3 2–3 2–1 2–0 2–1
Zadar 2–1 1–2 2–3 1–0 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–1
NK Zagreb 0–0 1–1 2–2 3–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–4 0–3 0–0
Source: Sportnet.hr
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The match was suspended after 82 minutes due to heavy fog. However, since more than 80% of the game was played it was officially registered with the score at the moment of suspension (0–0).[40]

Third round
Home \ Away CIB CRS DIN HAJ INT OSI RIJ SLA ŠIB VAR ZAD ZAG
Cibalia 3–0 3–4 1–1 2–1 2–1
Croatia Sesvete 0–4 0–3 1–1 0–1 2–1
Dinamo Zagreb 1–0 0–0 4–0 2–0 2–0 0–1
Hajduk Split 2–0 5–0 2–2 2–0 0–1 2–0
Inter Zaprešić 0–0 0–2 3–0 1–0 2–2
Osijek 1–0 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–0
Rijeka 2–0 3–2 2–1 6–2 4–1 2–0
Slaven Belupo 1–1 5–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–1
Šibenik 0–2 4–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–1
Varteks 1–6 0–1 2–3 2–2 0–0 1–2
Zadar 3–1 1–1 0–3 3–1 0–1
NK Zagreb 4–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 3–1
Source: Sportnet.hr
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Source: HRnogomet.com (in Croatian)

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Croatia Mario Mandžukić Dinamo Zagreb 16
2 Croatia Nikola Kalinić Hajduk Split 15
3 Croatia Anas Sharbini Rijeka 14
Croatia Bojan Vručina Slaven Belupo
Bosnia and Herzegovina Ermin Zec Šibenik
6 Bosnia and Herzegovina Senijad Ibričić Hajduk Split 12
Croatia Ahmad Sharbini Rijeka
8 Croatia Goran Mujanović Varteks 11
Croatia Ilija Sivonjić Inter Zaprešić / Dinamo Zagreb
Croatia Davor Vugrinec NK Zagreb

Transfers

See also

References
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  2. Liga 16 (zasad) stopirana (in Croatian)
  3. Licenciranje odlučuje o Ligi 16 (in Croatian)
  4. Njih 15, stadiona sedam (in Croatian)
  5. Svi žele u Prvu HNL (in Croatian)
  6. Međimurci direktno, Slavonac odustao (in Croatian)
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  8. Zadar se vraća kući (in Croatian)
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  40. Magla prekinula utakmicu (in Croatian)
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