| Competition: | Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga |
| Season: | 2017–18 |
| Dates: | 14 July 2017 – 19 May 2018 |
| Winners: | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Relegated: | Cibalia |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Rijeka Hajduk Split Osijek |
| League Topscorer: | El Arabi Hillel Soudani (17) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Rijeka 7–0 Cibalia |
| Biggest Away Win: | Cibalia 0–5 Hajduk Split |
| Highest Scoring: | Rijeka 7–0 Cibalia Cibalia 2–5 Dinamo Zagreb Lokomotiva 5–2 Slaven Belupo |
| Matches: | 180 |
| Total Goals: | 496 |
| Longest Wins: | Dinamo Zagreb (6) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | Dinamo Zagreb (21) |
| Longest Winless: | Slaven Belupo (11) |
| Longest Losses: | Cibalia, Istra 1961 (5) |
| Highest Attendance: | 31,751 Hajduk Split 1–2 Dinamo Zagreb |
| Lowest Attendance: | 80 Lokomotiva 2–3 Inter Zaprešić |
| Attendance: | 530,638[1] [2] |
| Average Attendance: | 2,948 |
| Prevseason: | 2016–17 |
| Nextseason: | 2018–19 |
The 2017–18 Croatian First Football League (officially Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 14 July 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018. Rijeka were the defending champions, who have won their first Croatian league title and ended Dinamo Zagreb's consecutive 11-season reign the previous season. Dinamo Zagreb ultimately reclaimed the title by May 2018, their 19th since the league's inception, with Rijeka ending close second.
The league was contested by 10 teams.
On 21 April 2017, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2017–18 season was complete. For the 2017–18 Prva HNL, only seven clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Inter Zaprešić, Lokomotiva, Osijek, Rijeka and Slaven Belupo. All of these clubs except Inter Zaprešić were also issued a license for participating in UEFA competitions.[3] In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage can appeal on the decision. On 23 May 2017, it was announced that all remaining Prva HNL clubs except RNK Split were granted top level license. Four teams from Druga HNL acquired the top level license: Gorica, Rudeš, Solin and NK Zagreb.[4]
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9,958 | [5] | |||
| 35,123 | [6] | |||
| 35,000 | [7] | |||
| 5,228 | [8] | |||
| 10,000 | [9] | |||
| Zagreb | Kranjčevićeva1 | 8,850 | [10] | |
| 22,050 | [11] | |||
| 8,191 | [12] | |||
| Zagreb | Kranjčevićeva1 | 8,850 | ||
| 3,205 | [13] | |||
| Club | Chairman | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cibalia | Josip Kuterovac | Jako | DOBRO | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Mirko Barišić |  | adidas | |||
| Hajduk Split | Ivan Kos | Macron | Tommy | |||
| Inter Zaprešić | Branko Laljak | Joma | Veleučilište Baltazar Zaprešić | |||
| Istra 1961 | Vacant | Nike | Croatia Osiguranje | |||
| Lokomotiva | Tin Dolički | Nike | Crodux | |||
| Osijek | Ivan Meštrović | Nike | DOBRO | |||
| Rijeka | Damir Mišković | Jako | Sava Osiguranje | |||
| Rudeš | Ivan Knežević |  | Kelme | |||
| Hrvoje Kolarić | adidas | Belupo |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacked | Pre-season | ||||||
| Rudeš | Signed by Olimpija | | Pre-season | ||||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Sacked | Pre-season | |||||
| Slaven Belupo | Resigned | 7th | |||||
| Hajduk Split | | Sacked | (caretaker) | 4th | |||
| Hajduk Split | (caretaker) | Signing of Kopić | - | 4th | |||
| Lokomotiva | Removed from position | (caretaker) | 6th | ||||
| Rudeš | | Removed from position | 10th | ||||
| Lokomotiva | (caretaker) | Signing of Tomić | 6th | ||||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Resigned | 1st | |||||
| Rudeš | Sacked | José Manuel Aira | 10th | ||||
| Cibalia |  | Sacked | Davor Rupnik | 9th | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Sacked | 1st | |||||
| Rudeš | José Manuel Aira | 8th |
Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.
At the end of the season, ninth placed team Istra 1961 will contest a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Varaždin, runners-up of the 2017–18 Croatian Second Football League.
Istra 1961 won 3–2 on aggregate.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Arabi Hillel Soudani | Dinamo Zagreb | 17 |
| 2 |  Héber | Rijeka | 16 |
| 3 | Mario Gavranović | Rijeka (7), Dinamo Zagreb (8) | 15 |
| Mirko Ivanovski | Slaven Belupo | ||
| 5 | Mario Budimir | Rudeš (13), Dinamo Zagreb (1) | 14 |
| 6 | Jakov Puljić | Inter Zaprešić (4), Rijeka (8) | 12 |
| 7 | Lovro Majer | Lokomotiva | 11 |
 Said Ahmed Said | Hajduk Split | ||
| 9 | Ante Erceg | Hajduk Split | 9 |
| Haris Hajradinović | Osijek | ||
 Franck Ohandza | Hajduk Split | ||
| Award[16] | Winner | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Season |  Hillal Soudani | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Manager of the Season | Matjaž Kek | Rijeka | |
| Young Player of the Season | Lovro Majer | Lokomotiva |
| Team of the Year[17] | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | ||||||||||
| Defence | Josip Juranović (Hajduk Split) | Zoran Nižić (Hajduk Split) | Filip Benković (Dinamo Zagreb) | ||||||||
| Midfield | Hillal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb) | Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) | Filip Bradarić (Rijeka) | Borna Sosa (Dinamo Zagreb) | |||||||
| Lovro Majer (Lokomotiva) | |||||||||||
| Attack |  Mario Gavranović (Dinamo Zagreb) | Héber (Rijeka) | |||||||||