1973–74 Yugoslav First League Explained

Competition:Prva savezna liga
Season:1973–74
Winners:Hajduk Split
(5th Federal League title)
(7th Yugoslav title overall)
Relegated:Borac Banja Luka
NK Zagreb
Continentalcup1:European Cup
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Hajduk Split
Continentalcup2:Cup Winners' Cup
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Red Star
Continentalcup3:UEFA Cup
Continentalcup3 Qualifiers:Velež
Partizan
League Topscorer:Danilo Popivoda (17)
Prevseason:1972–73
Nextseason:1974–75

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.

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

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.

TeamLocationFederal RepublicPosition
in 1972–73
BorBor01515th
Borac Banja LukaBanja Luka01212th
ČelikZenica01414th
Dinamo ZagrebZagreb0088th
Hajduk SplitSplit0099th
OFK BelgradeBelgrade0033rd
Olimpija LjubljanaLjubljana01616th
PartizanBelgrade0044th
Proleter ZrenjaninZrenjanin
Radnički NišNiš01111th
Red StarBelgrade0011st
SarajevoSarajevo0077th
SlobodaTuzla0066th
VardarSkopje01010th
VeležMostar0022nd
VojvodinaNovi Sad01313th
NK ZagrebZagreb
ŽeljezničarSarajevo0055th

League table

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Danilo PopivodaOlimpija17
2 Dušan BajevićVelež16
3 Husnija FazlićBorac Banja Luka15
4 Stanislav KarasiRed Star14
Nenad BjekovićPartizan
Mate GavranČelik
7 Slaviša ŽungulHajduk Split12
Dušan ŠujicaVardar
Slobodan RadovićBor
10 Aleksandar PanajotovićRed Star11

Match-fixing allegations

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

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: "Zvezda i Hajduk su bili privilegovani" . . 5 July 2023 . 14 May 2023.