The following is a list of association football managers who won the Croatian First Football League, the top professional league in the Croatian football league system, since its establishment in 1992. Currently contested by 10 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with second-tier Croatian Second Football League. The league was inaugurated on 29 February 1992. The reigning champions are Rijeka, who won their first title at the end of the 2016–17 season under the management of Matjaž Kek.
List of managers
edit- Key
| † | Manager won both the League and Cup in the same season, completing the Croatian domestic Double. |
- Notes
- A In the 2010–11 season Vahid Halilhodžić took over the helm at Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 played on 22 August 2010. He led the club to their sixth consecutive league win, securing the title after a 1–0 win against Osijek on Matchday 26 played on 23 April 2011. Halilhodžić resigned after Matchday 28 on 6 May 2011 and was replaced by caretaker manager Marijo Tot for the remaining two league fixtures and the 2011 Cup Final. Most sources attribute the 2010–11 league title to Halilhodžić and the 2011 cup to Tot.
- B In the 2017–18 season Nikola Jurčević took over Dinamo Zagreb from Mario Cvitanović in March, and won the title with 3 games to play in May. He was sacked with only one league fixture left to play and replaced with Nenad Bjelica.
- C The 2019–20 season was another turbulent season for Dinamo. Following the Covid-19 lockdown in March, coach Bjelica was sacked in late April. He was replaced by Dinamo's youth coach Igor Jovićević and under him the club clinched the 2019–20 league title on 20 June 2020 with a draw against Gorica on Matchday 30, with six games left to play. However, following a 2–0 defeat to rivals Rijeka on Matchday 33, Jovićević too was sacked on 6 July 2020 and replaced by Zoran Mamić for the last three fixtures of the season.
Super Cup winners
editThe Croatian Football Super Cup is the third trophy available to clubs in the Croatian system. The super cup is contested by previous season's league and cup holders, and is only played when the two competitions are won by different clubs. The super cup was first played in July 1992 as a single match before the start of the 1992–93 league season. In 1993 and 1994 the super cup was played as a two-legged tie. Over the next 23 years the super cup was played on only eight occasions due to the frequent domestic doubles won by Dinamo Zagreb (ten times), Hajduk Split (once) and Rijeka (once). In addition, although different clubs had won league and cup titles between 1999 and 2001, the tie was never played due to fixture congestion.
| Croatian Football Super Cup winners | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Manager (Titles) | Nat. | Club (Titles) | |
| 1992 (1st) | Stanko Poklepović |  CRO
|
Hajduk Split (1) | |
| 1993 (2nd) | Ivan Katalinić | CRO
|
Hajduk Split (2) | |
| 1994 (3rd) | Ivan Katalinić (2) | CRO
|
Hajduk Split (3) | |
| 2002 (4th) | Miroslav Blažević | CRO
|
Dinamo Zagreb (1) | |
| 2003 (5th) | Nikola Jurčević | CRO
|
Dinamo Zagreb (2) | |
| 2004 (6th) | Ivan Katalinić (3) | CRO
|
Hajduk Split (4) | |
| 2005 (7th) | Miroslav Blažević (2) | CRO
|
Hajduk Split (5) | |
| 2006 (8th) | Josip Kuže | CRO
|
Dinamo Zagreb (3) | |
| 2010 (9th) | Velimir Zajec | CRO
|
Dinamo Zagreb (4) | |
| 2013 (10th) | Krunoslav Jurčić | CRO
|
Dinamo Zagreb (5) | |
| 2014 (11th) | Matjaž Kek |  SLO
|
Rijeka (1) | |
| 2019 (12th) | Nenad Bjelica | CRO
|
Dinamo Zagreb (6) | |
| 2022 (13th) | Ante Čačić | CRO
|
Dinamo Zagreb (7) | |
| 2023 (14th) | Igor Bišćan | CRO
|
Dinamo Zagreb (8) | |
Multiple trophy winners
editThe following table lists managers who won two or more trophies in Croatian football since the country's independence and the establishment of the Croatian football league system in 1992. Managers are ordered by total number of trophies, then in the order of league, cup and super cup titles, and then by year of last trophy won.
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Total | League | Cups | Super Cups | Club(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | Years | Wins | Years | Wins | Years | |||||
1
|
Ivan Katalinić | CRO
|
7
|
2
|
1994, 1995 | 2
|
1993, 1995 | 3
|
1993, 1994, 2004 | Hajduk Split |
2
|
Zlatko Kranjčar | CRO
|
5
|
3
|
1996, 1998, 2002 | 2
|
1996, 1998 | — | — | Dinamo Zagreb, NK Zagreb |
| Zoran Mamić | CRO
|
5
|
3
|
2014, 2015, 2016 | 2
|
2015, 2016 | — | — | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Krunoslav Jurčić | CRO
|
5
|
3
|
2009, 2010, 2013 | 1
|
2009 | 1
|
2013 | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Miroslav Blažević | CRO
|
5
|
2
|
1993, 2003 | 1
|
1994 | 2
|
2002, 2005 | Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split | |
6
|
Stanko Poklepović | CRO
|
4
|
1
|
1992 | 2
|
1999, 2010 | 1
|
1992 | Hajduk Split, Osijek |
| Matjaž Kek | SLO
|
4
|
1
|
2017 | 2
|
2014, 2017 | 1
|
2014 | Rijeka | |
8
|
Ilija Lončarević | CRO
|
3
|
1
|
1999 | 2
|
1992, 2001 | — | — | Inter Zaprešić, Dinamo Zagreb |
9
|
Otto Barić | CRO
|
2
|
1
|
1997 | 1
|
1997 | — | — | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Marijan Vlak | CRO
|
2
|
1
|
2000 | 1
|
2002 | — | — | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Zoran Vulić | CRO
|
2
|
1
|
2001 | 1
|
2003 | — | — | Hajduk Split | |
| Petar Nadoveza | CRO
|
2
|
1
|
2004 | 1
|
2000 | — | — | Hajduk Split | |
| Branko Ivanković | CRO
|
2
|
1
|
2007 | 1
|
2007 | — | — | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Zvonimir Soldo | CRO
|
2
|
1
|
2008 | 1
|
2008 | — | — | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Ante Čačić | CRO
|
2
|
1
|
2012 | 1
|
2012 | — | — | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Josip Kuže | CRO
|
2
|
1
|
2006 | — | — | 1
|
2006 | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Nikola Jurčević | CRO
|
2
|
— | — | 1
|
2004 | 1
|
2003 | Dinamo Zagreb | |