The First Federal League of Yugoslavia's 1952 season (colloquially the Yugoslav First League) was shortened and sped-up. It was completed over a period of little more than three and a half months, beginning on 2 March 1952 and finishing on 22 June 1952. The reason for the changes was a desire to start the next season in the fall of 1952, thus implementing the fall-spring format that had become a norm all across Europe by this time.
| Season | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Hajduk Split (4th title) |
| Relegated | Rabotnički Mačva Šabac |
← 1951 1952–53 → | |
The clubs were initially divided into two groups of six teams each, where everyone within a given group played each other twice (home and away).
Then, according to the placement in these preliminary groups, three new groups were formed:
- First two teams in each of the two preliminary groups advanced to the 4-team group, the winner of which would become a champion.
- Teams placed 3rd and 4th in each of the two preliminary groups got to move to a 4-team group that would decide final league standings from 5th to 8th place.
- The bottom two teams in each of the two preliminary groups moved to a 4-team group that would decide final league standings at the bottom (places 9th through 12th) and thus determine who gets relegated to the Second League.
League
editPreliminary stage
editGroup 1
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dinamo Zagreb | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 13 | +14 | 16 | Qualification for Championship group |
| 2 | Lokomotiva | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 14 | |
| 3 | Partizan | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 12 | Qualification for Central group |
| 4 | Vojvodina | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 10 | |
| 5 | Rabotnički | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 30 | −21 | 5 | Qualification for Relegation group |
| 6 | Mačva Šabac | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 29 | −19 | 3 |
Source: rsssf.org
Group 2
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Star Belgrade | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 14 | Qualification for Championship group |
| 2 | Hajduk Split | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 11 | +12 | 12 | |
| 3 | BSK Belgrade | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 10 | Qualification for Central group |
| 4 | Vardar | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 18 | −5 | 10 | |
| 5 | NK Zagreb | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 8 | Qualification for Relegation group |
| 6 | Sarajevo | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 21 | −13 | 6 |
Source: rsssf.org
Final round
editChampionship group
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hajduk Split (C) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 9 |
| 2 | Red Star Belgrade | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 8 |
| 3 | Lokomotiva | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 19 | −7 | 4 |
| 4 | Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 3 |
Central group
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | BSK Belgrade | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 11 |
| 6 | Partizan | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 11 | +6 | 7 |
| 7 | Vardar | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 5 |
| 8 | Vojvodina | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 1 |
Source: rsssf.org
Relegation group
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Sarajevo | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 8 | |
| 10 | NK Zagreb | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 | |
| 11 | Rabotnički (R) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 5 | Relegation to Yugoslav Second League |
| 12 | Mačva Šabac (R) | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 4 |
Top scorers
edit| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Stanoje Jocić
|
BSK Belgrade | 13 |
| 2 | Vladimir Firm
|
Lokomotiva | 11 |
| 3 | Drago Hmeljina
|
Lokomotiva | 10 |