| Competition: | T-Com Prva HNL |
| Season: | 2009–10 |
| Winners: | Dinamo Zagreb 12th Croatian title 16th domestic title |
| Relegated: | Croatia Sesvete Međimurje |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Hajduk Split Cibalia Šibenik |
| League Topscorer: | Davor Vugrinec (18) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Dinamo Z. 7–1 Istra 1961 |
| Biggest Away Win: | Međimurje 1–5 Rijeka |
| Highest Scoring: | Dinamo Z. 7–1 Istra 1961 |
| Matches: | 240 |
| Total Goals: | 649 |
| Average Attendance: | 1,871 |
| Prevseason: | 2008–09 |
| Nextseason: | 2010–11 |
The 2009–10 Croatian First Football League (officially known as the T-Com Prva HNL for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. It began on 24 July 2009 and ended on 13 May 2010. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their eleventh championship title (and fourth consecutive title) the previous season, and they defended the title again, after a goalless draw with Hajduk Split on 1 May 2010.
The format was changed from previous season in that the league was expanded from 12 to 16 clubs.
Due to the expansion, no teams were directly relegated following the 2008–09 season.
Four teams from 2008–09 Druga HNL earned direct promotion. These were champions Istra 1961, runners-up Karlovac, third-placed Lokomotiva and fifth-placed Međimurje. Fourth-placed team Slavonac CO had to step back from promotion after they were not able to find a suitable ground.[1]
Croatia Sesvete as last-placed team had to compete in a two-legged play-off against the sixth-placed team from Druga HNL, Hrvatski Dragovoljac. After a scoreless first leg, Croatia Sesvete retained their Prva HNL status by winning the second leg, 2–1.[2]
| Team | Head coach | Team captain | 2008–09 result | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Stanko Mršić | Boris Leutar | Jako | Croatia osiguranje | |||
| Goran Jerković | Saša Mus | Diadora | ||||
| Krunoslav Jurčić | Igor Bišćan | Diadora | INA, Croatia osiguranje | |||
| Stanko Poklepović | Srđan Andrić | Umbro | INA | |||
| Ilija Lončarević | Tomislav Šarić | Legea | Hidrocommerce | |||
| Zoran Vulić | Dalibor Pauletić | Legea | Puris, Favorit pivo | |||
| Igor Pamić | Matija Štefančić | Legea | ||||
| Roy Ferenčina | Željko Sopić | Legea | ||||
| Tomislav Ivković | Mario Darmopil | Legea | ||||
| Tomislav Steinbrückner | Domagoj Vida | Legea | Croatia osiguranje | |||
| Nenad Gračan | Fausto Budicin | Jako | Croatia osiguranje | |||
| Zlatko Dalić | Dalibor Poldrugač | Adidas | Belupo | |||
| Branko Karačić | Arijan Ademi | Jako | ||||
| Samir Toplak | Miljenko Mumlek | Legea | Croatia osiguranje | |||
| Dalibor Zebić | Jakov Surać | Jako | ||||
| Igor Štimac | Ivan Parlov | Legea |
Since most Druga HNL stadiums failed to meet the licensing requirements for top-level football, the Croatian Football Federation announced on 8 May 2008 that clubs who are likely to win promotion berths have agreed to lease stadiums approved for top-flight football. Below is the list of all the stadiums which are licensed to be used in the Prva HNL, along with their home clubs and the promoted clubs who secured rights to use them as "guests" until their own grounds have sufficiently been upgraded to host top-level matches.[3]
| Stadium | City | Home club | Licensed club(s) | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9,920 | |||||
| 4,528 | |||||
| 8,850 | |||||
| 10,275 | |||||
| 35,000 | |||||
| 10,800 | |||||
| 37,168 | |||||
| 19,500 | |||||
| 4,000 | |||||
| 8,000 | |||||
| 5,860 | |||||
| 12,000 | |||||
| 8,000 | |||||
| 3,000 |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slaven Belupo | Mile Petković | Milivoj Bračun | |||||
| Hajduk Split | Ante Miše | Ivica Kalinić | |||||
| Šibenik | Ivica Kalinić | Branko Karačić | |||||
| Slaven Belupo | Milivoj Bračun | Zlatko Dalić | |||||
| Hajduk Split | Ivica Kalinić |  Edoardo Reja | |||||
| Croatia Sesvete | Anto Petrović | Nenad Gračan | |||||
| NK Zagreb | Luka Pavlović | Igor Štimac | |||||
| Rijeka | Robert Rubčić | Zoran Vulić | |||||
| Međimurje | Mario Ćutuk | Srećko Bogdan | |||||
| Istra 1961 | Elvis Scoria | Valdi Šumberac | |||||
| Rijeka | Zoran Vulić | Nenad Gračan | |||||
| Croatia Sesvete | Nenad Gračan | Anto Petrović | |||||
| Croatia Sesvete | Anto Petrović |  Adolf Pinter | |||||
| Varteks | Dražen Besek | Damir Jagačić | |||||
| Hajduk Split | Edoardo Reja | Stanko Poklepović | |||||
| Istra 1961 | Valdi Šumberac | Zoran Vulić | |||||
| Croatia Sesvete | Adolf Pinter | Goran Jerković | |||||
| Varteks | Damir Jagačić | Samir Toplak | |||||
| Međimurje | Srećko Bogdan | Tomislav Ivković | |||||
| Inter Zaprešić | Borimir Perković | Ilija Lončarević |
As of 13 May 2010; Source: HRnogomet.com
