1973–74 Yugoslav First League

1973–74 Yugoslav First League (Prva savezna liga Jugoslavije, Prvenstvo 1973/74) competition was the 46th top league season since 1923 in various incarnations of Yugoslavia. It was won by Hajduk Split by the tightest of margins over second placed Velež. The two teams were tied on points at the end of the season, so the goal difference decided the title.

Prva savezna liga
Season1973–74
Dates19 August 1973 – 14 May 1974
ChampionsHajduk Split
(5th Federal League title)
(7th Yugoslav title overall)
RelegatedBorac Banja Luka
NK Zagreb
European CupHajduk Split
Cup Winners' CupRed Star
UEFA CupVelež
Partizan
Top goalscorerDanilo Popivoda (17)

Had the current three-points-for-a-win system been in use instead of the standard two-points-for-a-win that was used at the time, Velež Mostar would have been champions with 64 points, while Hajduk would have been be second with 63.

This was Hajduk's 7th league title overall (their 5th after the World War II).

Teams

edit

A total of eighteen teams contested the league, including sixteen sides from the 1972–73 season and two sides promoted from the 1972–73 Yugoslav Second League (YSL) as winners of the two second level divisions East and West. The league was contested in a double round robin format, with each club playing every other club twice, for a total of 34 rounds. Two points were awarded for wins and one point for draws.

Spartak Subotica and Sutjeska Nikšić were relegated from the 1972–73 Yugoslav First League after finishing the season in bottom two places of the league table. The two clubs promoted to top level were Proleter Zrenjanin and NK Zagreb.

Team Location Federal Republic Position
in 1972–73
Bor Bor   SR Serbia 01515th
Borac Banja Luka Banja Luka   SR Bosnia and Herzegovina 01212th
Čelik Zenica   SR Bosnia and Herzegovina 01414th
Dinamo Zagreb Zagreb   SR Croatia 0088th
Hajduk Split Split   SR Croatia 0099th
OFK Belgrade Belgrade   SR Serbia 0033rd
Olimpija Ljubljana Ljubljana   SR Slovenia 01616th
Partizan Belgrade   SR Serbia 0044th
Proleter Zrenjanin Zrenjanin   SR Serbia
Radnički Niš Niš   SR Serbia 01111th
Red Star Belgrade   SR Serbia 0011st
Sarajevo Sarajevo   SR Bosnia and Herzegovina 0077th
Sloboda Tuzla   SR Bosnia and Herzegovina 0066th
Vardar Skopje   SR Macedonia 01010th
Velež Mostar   SR Bosnia and Herzegovina 0022nd
Vojvodina Novi Sad   SR Serbia 01313th
NK Zagreb Zagreb   SR Croatia
Željezničar Sarajevo   SR Bosnia and Herzegovina 0055th

League table

edit
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hajduk Split (C) 34 18 9 7 52 24 +28 45 Qualification for European Cup first round
2 Velež 34 19 7 8 54 34 +20 45 Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
3 Red Star Belgrade 34 19 5 10 72 46 +26 43 Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round
4 Partizan 34 12 13 9 41 33 +8 37 Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
5 OFK Belgrade 34 13 9 12 35 32 +3 35
6 Čelik 34 12 11 11 30 28 +2 35
7 Dinamo Zagreb 34 12 9 13 34 33 +1 33
8 Željezničar 34 10 12 12 39 39 0 32
9 Sloboda Tuzla 34 8 16 10 34 38 −4 32
10 Olimpija 34 11 10 13 36 42 −6 32
11 Vardar 34 12 7 15 38 40 −2 31
12 Vojvodina 34 10 11 13 33 37 −4 31
13 Proleter Zrenjanin 34 13 5 16 36 48 −12 31
14 Sarajevo 34 11 9 14 29 42 −13 31
15 Radnički Niš 34 11 9 14 29 43 −14 31 Qualification for Balkans Cup
16 Bor 34 13 5 16 32 49 −17 31
17 Borac Banja Luka (R) 34 8 14 12 43 43 0 30 Relegation to Yugoslav Second League
18 NK Zagreb (R) 34 9 9 16 28 44 −16 27
Source: rsssf.org
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

edit
Home \ Away BOR BBL ČEL DIN HAJ OFK OLI PAR PRO RNI RSB SAR SLO VAR VEL VOJ ZAG ŽEL
Bor 3–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 4–2 1–0 1–0 3–1 0–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 2–1 0–2
Borac Banja Luka 1–0 3–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 5–0 1–1 1–1 5–0 1–1 0–1 3–1 0–0 1–1 6–4
Čelik 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–3 2–0 1–0 3–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–0
Dinamo Zagreb 4–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 0–0 1–3 4–1 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–0
Hajduk Split 3–0 4–1 1–0 2–3 2–0 1–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 4–1 1–0 4–1 6–0 2–2 3–0 2–1 1–1
OFK Belgrade 4–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–0 6–1 2–2
Olimpija 4–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 2–2
Partizan 2–3 3–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 4–0 3–2 1–0 3–2 1–1 0–3 1–1
Proleter Zrenjanin 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 3–2 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0
Radnički Niš 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 3–3 2–1 0–1 1–1 2–2 2–0
Red Star 5–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 3–1 1–1 5–2 1–0 4–1 4–0 1–0 2–2 1–2 2–0 3–2 6–1 3–1
Sarajevo 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 4–2 0–0 3–2 0–1 3–4 0–0 0–0 1–3 3–1 1–0 1–0
Sloboda Tuzla 0–0 0–0 2–2 1–0 0–0 0–0 2–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–0 1–0 3–1 0–0
Vardar 3–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 5–0 1–3 3–0 2–0 2–3 1–1 1–1 2–0
Velež 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 5–0 2–1 1–1 4–2 1–1 4–2 2–1 3–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–1
Vojvodina 1–0 2–1 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 5–3 0–2 3–1 1–2 2–2 0–0 3–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 0–0
NK Zagreb 2–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 3–1 0–4 2–0 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 2–0
Željezničar 4–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–0 1–3 0–0 1–3 2–1 2–2 2–0 0–1
Source: DataSoccer.it
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

edit
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Danilo Popivoda Olimpija 17
2   Dušan Bajević Velež 16
3   Husnija Fazlić Borac Banja Luka 15
4   Stanislav Karasi Red Star 14
  Nenad Bjeković Partizan
  Mate Gavran Čelik
7   Slaviša Žungul Hajduk Split 12
  Dušan Šujica Vardar
  Slobodan Radović Bor
10   Aleksandar Panajotović Red Star 11

Match-fixing allegations

edit

FK Velež player Vahid Halilhodžić, whose team spent the spring of 1974 in a tight league title race with Hajduk Split, alleged in a 2023 interview that Hajduk fixed its last 1973-74 league match away at OFK Beograd (Hajduk won 0-2) while further insinuating that the approach took place through OFK goalkeeper Petar Borota.[1]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ ""Zvezda i Hajduk su bili privilegovani"". Arena Sport. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
edit