Wikipedia

2008–09 Croatian First Football League

The 2008–09 Croatian First Football League (officially known as the T-Com Prva HNL for sponsorship reasons) was the eighteenth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. It started on 27 July 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their twelfth championship title the previous season, and they defended the title again, after a win against Slaven Belupo on 17 May 2009.

T-Com Prva HNL
Season2008–09
ChampionsDinamo Zagreb
11th Croatian title
15th domestic title
RelegatedNone
Champions LeagueDinamo Zagreb
Europa LeagueHajduk Split
Rijeka
Slaven Belupo
Matches played198
Goals scored522 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorerMario Mandžukić (16)
Biggest home winDinamo 6–0 Cibalia
Biggest away winVarteks 1–6 Dinamo
Highest scoringRijeka 6–2 Slaven B.
Average attendance3,067

Promotion and relegation edit

Međimurje were automatically relegated to Druga HNL as they finished last in the previous season, while Croatia Sesvete were automatically promoted from Druga HNL after winning the 2007–08 title. In a two-legged playoff between Inter Zaprešić and Hrvatski dragovoljac, the former kept their Prva HNL status by beating Hrvatski dragovoljac with 2–0 on aggregate (2–0, 0–0).

League expansion edit

In June 2007 Igor Štimac, president of Association of Prva HNL clubs, proposed a future expansion of Prva HNL from 12 to 16 clubs, starting from 2008–09 season.[1] However, although a majority of club representatives supported that proposal, no strict agreement or final decision was made. On HNS meeting in late August 2007 it was decided to postpone the decision for late 2007 or even 2008 and that the expansion would not be possible before the 2009–10 season.[2]

For more than a year nothing explicit was stated on that matter. Finally, on a regular HNS meeting in February 2009 HNS Secretary Zorislav Srebrić stated that club licensing would decide whether the 2009–10 season would feature 12 or 16 teams. Theoretically, if only 15 teams obtained Prva HNL license, league would have featured 12 teams. The deadline for submitting the license was 1 May 2009.[3] On 8 May 2009 HNS declared that all 19 clubs that applied for the license were awarded with it and would be in possibility to enter the league in 2009–10, now expanded to 16 clubs.[4] Also, on 26 May 2009 HNS received official confirmations from all 19 clubs in which they expressed their will to compete in next year's Prva HNL, what means that none of the clubs would withdraw from the league.[5] However, despite their guarantee to compete in Prva HNL, Slavonac eventually withdrew although they finished fourth and earned direct access to 2009–10 Prva HNL. Their place was taken by Međimurje while sixth-placed Hrvatski Dragovoljac competed in a relegation play-offs.[6]

Stadiums and locations edit

After the death of Hrvoje Ćustić during a game played at Zadar's Stanovi Stadium in March 2008, it was decided that the stadia for the 2008–09 season would have to pass a closer inspection to be deemed fit for first-league football. Since only 9 stadia managed to meet the requirements and obtain first-league license from the Croatian Football Federation, it was announced in May 2008 that some of the teams (Cibalia, Croatia Sesvete, Zadar and NK Zagreb) would have to share stadia and temporarily play their home games at other venues.[7] Just before Round 1 kicked off, Cibalia managed to bring their stadium to standard, and in August, just before round 5, Zadar secured the licence to play their games at Stanovi Stadium.[8]

class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2008–09 Prva HNL

Stadia and personnel edit

Team Manager1 Location Stadium Capacity
Cibalia   Stanko Mršić Vinkovci Stadion HNK Cibalia
9,920
Croatia Sesvete   Milan Đuričić Zagreb Stadion Kranjčevićeva
8,850
Dinamo Zagreb   Krunoslav Jurčić Zagreb Stadion Maksimir
37,168
Hajduk Split   Ante Miše Split Stadion Poljud
35,000
Inter Zaprešić   Borimir Perković Zagreb Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić
4,528
Osijek   Tomislav Steinbrückner Osijek Stadion Gradski vrt
19,500
Rijeka   Robert Rubčić Rijeka Stadion Kantrida
10,275
Slaven Belupo   Mile Petković Koprivnica Gradski stadion u Koprivnici
4,000
Šibenik   Ivica Kalinić Šibenik Stadion Šubićevac
8,000
Varteks   Dražen Besek Varaždin Stadion Varteks
10,800
Zadar   Dalibor Zebić Zadar Stadion Stanovi
5,860
NK Zagreb   Luka Pavlović Zagreb Stadion Kranjčevićeva
8,850
  • 1 On final match day of the season, played on 31 May 2009.

Managerial changes edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
NK Zagreb   Miroslav Blažević
Mutual consent
10 May 2008 [9]
   Luka Pavlović
11 May 2008 [10]
Pre-season
Dinamo Zagreb   Zvonimir Soldo
Resigned
14 May 2008 [11]
   Branko Ivanković
20 May 2008 [12]
Pre-season
Slaven Belupo   Krunoslav Jurčić
Resigned
14 May 2008 [13]
   Mile Petković
26 May 2008 [14]
Pre-season
Hajduk Split   Robert Jarni
Sacked
24 May 2008 [15]
   Goran Vučević
25 May 2008 [16]
Pre-season
Croatia Sesvete   Zlatko Kranjčar
Resigned
18 June 2008 [17]
   Ljupko Petrović
2 July 2008 [18]
Pre-season
Rijeka   Zlatko Dalić
Sacked
1 July 2008 [19]
   Mladen Ivančić
7 July 2008 [20]
Pre-season
Osijek   Ilija Lončarević
Sacked
26 September 2008 [21]
   Tomislav Steinbrückner
26 September 2008 [21]
10th
Zadar   Dalibor Zebić
Resigned
28 September 2008 [22]
   Ivica Datković
9 October 2008 [23]
12th
Rijeka   Mladen Ivančić
Resigned
8 October 2008 [24]
   Robert Rubčić
13 October 2008 [25]
7th
Inter Zaprešić   Milivoj Bračun
Resigned
20 October 2008 [26]
   Borimir Perković
20 October 2008 [26]
11th
Hajduk Split   Goran Vučević
Resigned
26 October 2008 [27]
   Ante Miše
21 November 2008 [28]
3rd
Cibalia   Srećko Lušić
Sacked
10 November 2008 [29]
   Stanko Mršić
14 November 2008 [30]
11th
Dinamo Zagreb   Branko Ivanković
Mutual consent
24 November 2008 [31]
   Marijan Vlak
24 November 2008 [31]
1st
Croatia Sesvete   Ljupko Petrović
Resigned
7 December 2008 [32]
   Zlatko Kranjčar
30 December 2008 [33]
10th
Zadar   Ivica Datković
Mutual consent
21 December 2008 [34]
   Dalibor Zebić
30 December 2008 [35]
12th
Croatia Sesvete   Zlatko Kranjčar
Resigned
21 February 2009 [36]
   Milan Đuričić
3 May 2009 [37]
10th
Dinamo Zagreb   Marijan Vlak
Sacked
5 March 2009 [38]
   Krunoslav Jurčić
5 March 2009 [38]
2nd

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dinamo Zagreb (C) 33 23 5 5 71 26 +45 74 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Hajduk Split 33 21 5 7 59 25 +34 68 Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
3 Rijeka 33 17 5 11 50 44 +6 56 Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
4 Slaven Belupo 33 16 7 10 46 39 +7 55 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[a]
5 NK Zagreb 33 13 8 12 38 39 −1 47
6 Šibenik 33 13 7 13 44 35 +9 46
7 Osijek 33 10 11 12 40 41 −1 41
8 Cibalia 33 10 8 15 33 53 −20 38
9 Inter Zaprešić 33 9 9 15 41 50 −9 36
10 Varteks 33 10 5 18 41 55 −14 35
11 Zadar 33 7 8 18 28 49 −21 29
12 Croatia Sesvete[b] (O) 33 6 8 19 31 66 −35 25 Qualification to relegation play-off
Source: Sportnet.hr
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:
  1. ^ Because both cup finalists, Dinamo and Hajduk, qualified for Europe through their league positions, all three UEFA Europa League spots were given to teams according to their league positions, what means that fourth-placed Slaven Belupo also earned a spot in Europa League.
  2. ^ Croatia Sesvete were docked 1 point due to unpaid debts to Imotski over player Darko Vučić.[39]

Relegation play-off edit

Due to the expansion of Prva HNL to 16 clubs in the 2009–10 season, four clubs from 2008–09 Druga HNL were automatically promoted. Those should have been top four clubs, but since Slavonac withdrew[6] their direct access spot was taken by fifth-placed Međimurje. Therefore, the 12th placed Croatia Sesvete played a two-legged relegation play-off against the 6th placed team of Druga HNL, Hrvatski Dragovoljac. Croatia Sesvete won 2–1 on aggregate and thereby earned a spot in the 2009–10 season.

Hrvatski Dragovoljac0 – 0Croatia Sesvete
Ercegović   58'   84' Report
(in Croatian)
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Domagoj Ljubičić (Osijek)
Croatia Sesvete2 – 1Hrvatski dragovoljac
Vojnović   10'   41'   62'
Čižmek   90'		 Report
(in Croatian)		 Janjetović   67'
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Rijeka)

Results edit

The schedule consisted of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.

Home \ Away CIB CRS DIN HAJ INT OSI RIJ SLA ŠIB VAR ZAD ZAG CIB CRS DIN HAJ INT OSI RIJ SLA ŠIB VAR ZAD ZAG
Cibalia 3–1 1–1 1–1 4–3 0–3 3–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 3–0 3–4 1–1 2–1 2–1
Croatia Sesvete 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–3 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 4–0 3–1 1–4 0–4 0–3 1–1 0–1 2–1
Dinamo Zagreb 6–0 6–1 0–2 3–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 1–0 0–0 4–0 2–0 2–0 0–1
Hajduk Split 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–3 3–1 2–0 3–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 4–0 2–0 5–0 2–2 2–0 0–1 2–0
Inter Zaprešić 1–2 3–2 1–3 0–4 0–1 2–2 0–0 2–3 2–3 3–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 3–0 1–0 2–2
Osijek 2–0 4–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 2–2 0–0 1–3 2–1 3–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–0
Rijeka 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 0–1 2–0 3–2 2–1 6–2 4–1 2–0
Slaven Belupo 1–0 4–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 4–2 2–1 3–1 2–3 2–1 2–0 1–1 5–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–1
Šibenik 4–0 0–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 4–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–1
Varteks 3–0 2–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–0[a] 3–3 2–3 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–6 0–1 2–3 2–2 0–0 1–2
Zadar 2–1 1–2 2–3 1–0 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 1–1 0–3 3–1 0–1
NK Zagreb 0–0 1–1 2–2 3–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–4 0–3 0–0 4–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 3–1
Source: Sportnet.hr
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ The match was suspended after 82 minutes due to heavy fog. However, since more than 80% of the game was played it was officially registered with the score at the moment of suspension (0–0).[40]

Top goalscorers edit

Source: HRnogomet.com (in Croatian)

Rank Player Club Goals
1   Mario Mandžukić Dinamo Zagreb 16
2   Nikola Kalinić Hajduk Split 15
3   Anas Sharbini Rijeka 14
  Bojan Vručina Slaven Belupo
  Ermin Zec Šibenik
6   Senijad Ibričić Hajduk Split 12
  Ahmad Sharbini Rijeka
8   Goran Mujanović Varteks 11
  Ilija Sivonjić Inter Zaprešić / Dinamo Zagreb
  Davor Vugrinec NK Zagreb

Transfers edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Berislav Jelinić (28 August 2007). "'Liga 16' nogometu donosi 400 mil. kn" [League of 16 brings 400 million kuna to football]. Nacional (weekly) (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  2. ^ Liga 16 (zasad) stopirana (in Croatian)
  3. ^ Licenciranje odlučuje o Ligi 16 (in Croatian)
  4. ^ Njih 15, stadiona sedam (in Croatian)
  5. ^ Svi žele u Prvu HNL (in Croatian)
  6. ^ a b Međimurci direktno, Slavonac odustao (in Croatian)
  7. ^ Zagreb u Maksimiru, Zadar na Šubićevcu (in Croatian)
  8. ^ Zadar se vraća kući (in Croatian)
  9. ^ "Ćiro odlazi iz Kranjčevićeve" (in Croatian). sportnet.hr. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  10. ^ "Luka Pavlović preuzeo Zagreb". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 11 May 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  11. ^ "Zvonimir Soldo podnio ostavku". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 14 May 2008. Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  12. ^ "Povratak Tanca". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 20 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  13. ^ "Krunoslav Jurčić napustio Slaven Belupo". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 14 May 2008. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  14. ^ "Mile Petković trener Slaven Belupa". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 26 May 2008. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  15. ^ "Jarni na odlasku, Buljan i službeno". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 24 May 2008. Archived from the original on 24 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  16. ^ "Vučević novi trener Hajduka, Rukavina odlazi". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 25 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  17. ^ "Kranjčar dao ostavku u Sesvetama". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 25 May 2008. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  18. ^ "Prvi srbijanski trener u HNL-u". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 2 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  19. ^ "Ne može svatko voditi Rijeku". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 1 July 2008. Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  20. ^ "Rijeka dobila novog trenera". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 7 July 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  21. ^ a b "Smijenjen Ilija Lončarević". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 26 September 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-26.
  22. ^ "Vrijeme je za novog trenera". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 28 September 2008. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  23. ^ "Datković preuzeo momčad Zadra". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  24. ^ "Ivančić dao ostavku!". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 8 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  25. ^ "Rijeku preuzeo Rubčić!". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 13 October 2008. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  26. ^ a b "Bračun otišao, Perković došao". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 20 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  27. ^ "Vučević podnio ostavku". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 26 October 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  28. ^ "Miše ostaje trener, Grant će doći". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 21 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  29. ^ "Cibalia dala otkaz Lušiću". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 10 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  30. ^ "Cibalia našla zamjenu za Lušića". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 14 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  31. ^ a b "Otišao Ivanković!". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 24 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  32. ^ "Ljupko Petrović napustio Sesvete". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 7 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  33. ^ "Cico od Croatije do Croatije". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 30 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  34. ^ "Zadar ponovno bez trenera". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 21 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  35. ^ "Zebić se vraća na klupu Zadra". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 30 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  36. ^ "Cicin drugi odlazak". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 21 February 2009. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  37. ^ "Srećko se vraća kući". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 3 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  38. ^ a b "Jurčić trener, odlasci igrača, Mamić ostaje!". sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 5 March 2009. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  39. ^ Sesvećanima ipak oduzet bod Archived 2012-08-07 at the Wayback Machine (in Croatian)
  40. ^ Magla prekinula utakmicu (in Croatian)

External links edit

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