The First Federal Basketball League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna košarkaška liga) was the highest tier level men's professional club basketball competition in the former country of SFR Yugoslavia. Founded in 1945, and folded in 1992 (1991–92 Winer Broker YUBA League), it was run by the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia. With a total of 16 European-wide trophy winners and 11 finalists, the Yugoslav First Basketball League was one of the strongest European national domestic basketball leagues of all time.

First Federal Basketball League
Founded1945
Folded1992
CountriesSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Level on pyramid1st Tier
(Yugoslavia)
Relegation toFirst B Federal League
Related competitionsYugoslav Basketball Cup
Last championsPartizan (5th title)
Most championshipsCrvena zvezda (12 titles)
All-time top scorerVinko Jelovac (7,351)

Although each of the former Yugoslav countries now have their own national domestic leagues, the six nations also now take part in the ABA League (commonly known as the Adriatic League), which was founded in 2001; and which is, the closest basketball league in existence today, that is similar to the former Yugoslav First Federal Basketball League.

History

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After the end of Second World War in Yugoslavia in 1945, there arose a need for athletic development in the fledgling nation. Post-WW2 Yugoslavia was (with the exception of major cities such as Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Sarajevo) for the most part lacking in competitive opportunities in sports. In response to this, 1945 and 1946 saw an explosion of new clubs and leagues for every sport, the basketball league being part of this phenomenon.

The very first competition under the newly formed Yugoslav Basketball League in 1945, drawing parallel to the Yugoslav First League (of football), was more or less a nationwide affirmation of unity. Instead of individual clubs competing in the usual fashion, there were only eight teams. Six representing each state within Yugoslavia, one representing the province of Vojvodina, and the last representing the Yugoslav People's Army.

Only in the 1970s did the basketball culture of Yugoslavia truly come to enjoy recognition as the top nation in basketball. Breaking away from the dominance of the Soviet Union, the Yugoslav league gave rise to stars that would go on to win multiple Basketball World Championships and European Basketball Championships. After a decade of dominance, the 1980s saw a disappointing slump of talent in the Yugoslav Basketball League.

Once again the world witnessed a sleeping giant come awake in the early 90s as Yugoslavia won two straight European Basketball Championships and a World Basketball Championship. This momentum was swiftly halted by the ethnic strife which broke out in 1991. Clubs from SR Slovenia and SR Croatia withdrew from the league so that the 1991–92 season, the competition's last, was contested without them. The country got divided into five successor republics, each founding their own basketball federations with the exception of Serbia and Montenegro, which retained the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the YUBA League.

Despite all these changes, the joint league of clubs from the former Yugoslavia proved to be a winning league format formula, so on 3 July 2001, the Adriatic League was founded. It features teams from all the former Yugoslav states, and it exists alongside scaled-down versions of the individual national domestic leagues of each of the former Yugoslav states.

Title holders

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Performance by club

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Titles Club Years
12 Crvena zvezda 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1968–69, 1971–72
6 Olimpija 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1969–70
Zadar 1965, 1967, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1985–86
Split 1970–71, 1976–77, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91
5 Partizan 1975–76, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1986–87, 1991–92
4 OKK Beograd 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964
3 Bosna 1977–78, 1979–80, 1982–83
Cibona 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85
1 Yugoslav Army 1945
Proleter Zrenjanin 1956
Radnički Belgrade 1972–73

Performance by constitutional republics

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Titles Republic
23   SR Serbia
15   SR Croatia
6   SR Slovenia
3   SR Bosnia and Herzegovina

Playoff finals

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Playoffs, as a way of determining the Yugoslav First Basketball League champion following the regular season, got instituted in 1981 ahead of the 1981–82 season.

Season Home court advantage Coach Result Home court disadvantage Coach 1st of Regular Season Record
Partizan Borislav Ćorković
0–2
Cibona Mirko Novosel Partizan
18–4
Šibenka Vlade Đurović
1–2
Bosna Svetislav Pešić Šibenka
16–6
Cibona Mirko Novosel
2–1
Crvena zvezda Ranko Žeravica Cibona
16–6
Cibona Željko Pavličević
2–1
Crvena zvezda Ranko Žeravica Cibona
19–3
Cibona Željko Pavličević
1–2
Zadar Vlade Đurović Cibona
21–1
Partizan Duško Vujošević
2–0
Crvena zvezda Vlade Đurović Cibona
22–0
Jugoplastika Božidar Maljković
2–1
Partizan Duško Vujošević Jugoplastika
21–1
Partizan Duško Vujošević
0–2
Jugoplastika Božidar Maljković Partizan
16–6
Jugoplastika Božidar Maljković
3–1
Crvena zvezda Zoran Slavnić Jugoplastika
19–3
POP 84 Željko Pavličević
3–0
Partizan Duško Vujošević Pop 84
19–3
Partizan Željko Obradović
3–0
Crvena zvezda Duško Vujošević Partizan
20–2

Source: official website archive[3]

All-time participants

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1st Champions
2nd Runners-up
SF Semi-finalists
QF Quarter-finalists
Q Play-in qualifying round
Relegated
R Regular season champions
S Yugoslav Second League clubs in Playoff phase
Team 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 Total
seasons
Highest
finish
  Bosna
12th
4th
7th
3rd
2nd
1st
4th
1st
7th
QF
2nd
SF
QF
QF
SF
Q
SF
6th
8th
5th
  Čelik
12th
  Igman Ilidža
14th
  Sloboda Tuzla
9th
11th
QS
11th
11th
SF
  Željezničar Sarajevo
9th
12th
11th
14th
13th
  Cibona
2nd
4th
6th
6th
4th
7th
8th
5th
5th
4th
2nd
3rd
8th
10th
8th
7th
4th
5th
3rd
3rd
2nd
1st
QF
1stR
1stR
2ndR
SFR
SF
7th
SF
SF
Withdrawn
  Dalvin
14th
  Kvarner
14th
8th
11th
12th
12th
QS
12th
  Mladost
10th
  Slavonski Brod
12th
11th
12th
  Split
9th
6th
5th
6th
6th
3rd
3rd
1st
2nd
6th
2nd
2nd
2nd
1st
3rd
2nd
2nd
11th
QFS
QF
10th
Q
SF
QF
1stR
1st
1stR
1stR
Withdrawn
  Šibenka
8th
4th
QF
1stR
QF
Q
QF
QF
QF
10th
11th
  Zadar
4th
3rd
5th
2nd
1st
3rd
1st
1st
4th
6th
7th
10th
9th
1st
1st
8th
11th
6th
10th
6th
3rd
SF
QF
SF
SF
1st
QF
QF
5th
SF
SF
Withdrawn
  Zagreb
9th
Withdrawn
  Zrinjevac
13th
12th
13th
  Željezničar Karlovac
7th
7th
4th
5th
7th
6th
5th
8th
9th
10th
12th
11th
14th
  MZT Skopje
QS
QF
11th
  Rabotnički
11th
11th
10th
7th
5th
5th
10th
11th
5th
9th
12th
13th
9th
10th
12th
QS
11th
QS
Q
12th
SF
  Budućnost
8th
Q
10th
Q
QF
QF
Q
12th
10th
10th
  Ivangrad
12th
  Atlas
QS
9th
12th
QS
QF
8th
10th
6th
12th
  OKK Beograd
3rd
2nd
1st
1st
3rd
8th
4th
7th
8th
5th
4th
8th
7th
9th
11th
4th
5th
12th
9th
11th
  Borac Čačak
10th
10th
11th
7th
8th
9th
9th
4th
8th
9th
14th
10th
5th
12th
10th
9th
QF
QF
Q
Q
Q
12th
  Crvena zvezda
6th
8th
8th
3rd
8th
4th
3rd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
8th
7th
5th
5th
SF
SF
2nd
2nd
QF
2nd
QF
SF
2nd
9th
2nd
  Dinamo Pančevo
10th
  Metalac Valjevo
12th
12th
11th
9th
9th
11th
  Partizan
5th
6th
2nd
7th
5th
2nd
7th
4th
6th
9th
10th
6th
3rd
6th
3rd
1st
3rd
2nd
1st
4th
1st
2ndR
SF
QF
SF
SF
1st
2nd
2ndR
8th
2nd
1stR
  Proleter Zrenjanin
10th
13th
  Radnički Beograd
8th
5th
7th
8th
9th
9th
9th
9th
11th
11th
8th
4th
1st
5th
10th
6th
7th
7th
6th
10th
9th
9th
11th
QFS
11th
9th
  Zastava Kragujevac
9th
  Sloboda Užice
QS
11th
7th
  Sloga
QS
Q
12th
11th
  Spartak Subotica
6th
  Šabac
12th
  Vojvodina
13th
QS
9th
5th
5th
8th
  Branik
12th
  Olimpija
1st
1st
3rd
4th
2nd
1st
2nd
2nd
2nd
1st
6th
7th
5th
7th
6th
10th
10th
4th
8th
7th
6th
QF
QF
12th
QFS
11th
QS
SF
6th
7th
7th
Withdrawn
  Plama Pur
12th
  Slovan
10th
10th
11th
10th
12th


Clubs in European and worldwide competitions

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Notable players

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Award winners

Statistical leaders

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Successor leagues

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ On Saturday, 9 April 1983 at Baldekin Hall in Šibenik, Šibenka and Bosna played the deciding game 3 of their best-of-three playoff final series. The contest was decided in the very last second: Bosna's Sabit Hadžić got called for a foul on Šibenka's Dražen Petrović who proceeded to score two free throws that won the game. The next morning, after watching video replays of the game's last moments, the presidency of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia (KSJ) established that the foul happened after time had already elapsed. The game was thus voided and a rematch was ordered at a neutral venue in Novi Sad. Unhappy with the decision Šibenka decided to boycott it, refusing to show up for the rematch. The championship got awarded to Bosna.[1]

References

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  1. ^ "Režimski poraz iz '83. bio je pobjeda: "I hrvatski klubovi grozili su se na pomisao da Dražen sa Šibenkom osvoji naslov"" (in Croatian). Index.hr. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Tri decenije od historijske utakmice Bosne i Šibenke (VIDEO)". sport.ba. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  3. ^ "Tabele državnih prvenstava od sezone 1991/92 (archive copy at the Wayback Machine)". Basketball League of Serbia. 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2010.