# 2009–10 Croatian First Football League

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.

## Promotion and relegation from 2008–09

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.
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.

## Overview
### Teams

| Team | Head coach | Team captain | 2008–09 result | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Cibalia | Stanko Mršić | Boris Leutar | 8th | Jako | Croatia osiguranje |
| Croatia Sesvete | Goran Jerković | Saša Mus | 12th | Diadora | |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Krunoslav Jurčić | Igor Bišćan | 1st | Diadora | INA, Croatia osiguranje |
| Hajduk Split | Stanko Poklepović | Srđan Andrić | 2nd | Umbro | INA |
| Inter Zaprešić | Ilija Lončarević | Tomislav Šarić | 9th | Legea | Hidrocommerce |
| Istra 1961 | Zoran Vulić | Dalibor Pauletić | 2. HNL, 1st | Legea | Puris, Favorit pivo |
| Karlovac | Igor Pamić | Matija Štefančić | 2. HNL, 2nd | Legea | |
| Lokomotiva | Roy Ferenčina | Željko Sopić | 2. HNL, 3rd | Legea | |
| Međimurje | Tomislav Ivković | Mario Darmopil | 2. HNL, 5th | Legea | |
| Osijek | Tomislav Steinbrückner | Domagoj Vida | 7th | Legea | Croatia osiguranje |
| Rijeka | Nenad Gračan | Fausto Budicin | 3rd | Jako | Croatia osiguranje |
| Slaven Belupo | Zlatko Dalić | Dalibor Poldrugač | 4th | Adidas | Belupo |
| Šibenik | Branko Karačić | Arijan Ademi | 6th | Jako | |
| Varteks | Samir Toplak | Miljenko Mumlek | 10th | Legea | Croatia osiguranje |
| Zadar | Dalibor Zebić | Jakov Surać | 11th | Jako | |
| NK Zagreb | Igor Štimac | Ivan Parlov | 5th | Legea | |

### Stadia and locations

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.
| Stadium | City | Home club | Licensed club(s) | Capacity |
| Stadion HNK Cibalia | Vinkovci | Cibalia | | 9,920 |
| ŠRC Zaprešić | Zaprešić | Inter Zaprešić | | 4,528 |
| Kranjčevićeva | Zagreb | NK Zagreb | Croatia Sesvete | 8,850 |
| Kantrida | Rijeka | Rijeka | | 10,275 |
| Poljud | Split | Hajduk Split | | 35,000 |
| Stadion Varteks | Varaždin | Varteks | | 10,800 |
| Maksimir | Zagreb | Dinamo Zagreb | Lokomotiva | 37,168 |
| Gradski vrt | Osijek | Osijek | | 19,500 |
| Gradski stadion | Koprivnica | Slaven Belupo | | 4,000 |
| Šubićevac | Šibenik | Šibenik | | 8,000 |
| Stanovi | Zadar | Zadar | | 5,860 |
| Branko Čavlović-Čavlek | Karlovac | Karlovac | | 12,000 |
| SRC Mladost | Čakovec | Međimurje | | 8,000 |
| Veruda | Pula | Istra 1961 | | 3,000 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Slaven Belupo | Mile Petković | Mutual consent | 31 May 2009 | Milivoj Bračun | 9 June 2009 | Pre-season |
| Hajduk Split | Ante Miše | Resigned | 2 August 2009 | Ivica Kalinić | 3 August 2009 | 12th |
| Šibenik | Ivica Kalinić | Resigned | 3 August 2009 | Branko Karačić | 11 August 2009 | 5th |
| Slaven Belupo | Milivoj Bračun | Mutual consent | 6 August 2009 | Zlatko Dalić | 8 August 2009 | 6th |
| Hajduk Split | Ivica Kalinić | Mutual consent | 18 August 2009 | Edoardo Reja | 18 August 2009 | 13th |
| Croatia Sesvete | Anto Petrović | Sacked | 1 September 2009 | Nenad Gračan | 1 September 2009 | 15th |
| NK Zagreb | Luka Pavlović | Resigned | 11 September 2009 | Igor Štimac | 14 September 2009 | 16th |
| Rijeka | Robert Rubčić | Resigned | 21 September 2009 | Zoran Vulić | 22 September 2009 | 7th |
| Međimurje | Mario Ćutuk | Sacked | 8 October 2009 | Srećko Bogdan | 9 October 2009 | 11th |
| Istra 1961 | Elvis Scoria | Mutual consent | 2 November 2009 | Valdi Šumberac | | 14th |
| Rijeka | Zoran Vulić | Resigned | 10 November 2009 | Nenad Gračan | 10 November 2009 | 7th |
| Croatia Sesvete | Nenad Gračan | Resigned | 10 November 2009 | Anto Petrović | | 15th |
| Croatia Sesvete | Anto Petrović | Resigned | 24 November 2009 | Adolf Pinter | 19 January 2010 | 16th |
| Varteks | Dražen Besek | Mutual consent | 26 December 2009 | Damir Jagačić | 4 January 2010 | 11th |
| Hajduk Split | Edoardo Reja | Signed by Lazio | 9 February 2010 | Stanko Poklepović | 12 February 2010 | 7th |
| Istra 1961 | Valdi Šumberac | Sacked | 28 February 2010 | Zoran Vulić | 28 February 2010 | 15th |
| Croatia Sesvete | Adolf Pinter | Sacked | 5 March 2010 | Goran Jerković | 5 March 2010 | 16th |
| Varteks | Damir Jagačić | Sacked | 15 March 2010 | Samir Toplak | 15 March 2010 | 11th |
| Međimurje | Srećko Bogdan | Sacked | 2 April 2010 | Tomislav Ivković | 3 April 2010 | 12th |
| Inter Zaprešić | Borimir Perković | Sacked | 11 April 2010 | Ilija Lončarević | 11 April 2010 | 12th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dinamo Zagreb (C) | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 70 | 20 | +50 | 62 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Hajduk Split | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 50 | 21 | +29 | 58 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Cibalia | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 46 | 20 | +26 | 57 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Šibenik | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 50 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Osijek | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 49 | 36 | +13 | 47 | |
| 6 | Karlovac | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 47 | |
| 7 | Slaven Belupo | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 44 | 45 | −1 | 43 | |
| 8 | Lokomotiva | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 35 | 38 | −3 | 42 | |
| 9 | Rijeka | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 49 | 44 | +5 | 40 | |
| 10 | Varteks | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 36 | |
| 11 | Istra 1961 | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 31 | 40 | −9 | 35 | |
| 12 | Zadar | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 27 | 41 | −14 | 34 | |
| 13 | Inter Zaprešić | 30 | 10 | 3 | 17 | 36 | 50 | −14 | 33 | |
| 14 | NK Zagreb | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 43 | 49 | −6 | 33 | |
| 15 | Međimurje (R) | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 37 | 61 | −24 | 29 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |
| 16 | Croatia Sesvete (R) | 30 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 30 | 81 | −51 | 14 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |
* ↑ Hajduk Split won the 2009–10 Croatian Cup and thus qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League.
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Inter Zaprešić–NK Zagreb 1–3, NK Zagreb–Inter Zaprešić 0–3.
* ↑ Despite finishing 14th NK Zagreb eventually avoided relegation as only two second level clubs were granted first division licences by the Croatian Football Federation.

## Results

| Home \ Away | CIB | CRS | DIN | HAJ | INT | IST | KAR | LOK | MEĐ | OSI | RIJ | SLA | ŠIB | VAR | ZAD | ZAG |
| Cibalia | | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Croatia Sesvete | 0–3 | | 2–5 | 2–5 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 1–1 | 6–0 | | 0–0 | 3–1 | 7–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 6–0 | 6–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Hajduk Split | 2–1 | 6–0 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Inter Zaprešić | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–3 |
| Istra 1961 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Karlovac | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Lokomotiva | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Međimurje | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | | 1–1 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–2 |
| Osijek | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 5–3 |
| Rijeka | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Slaven Belupo | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 5–2 | 1–1 | | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Šibenik | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Varteks | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Zadar | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 |
| NK Zagreb | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 4–0 | |

## Top goalscorers

As of 13 May 2010; Source: HRnogomet.com
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Davor Vugrinec | NK Zagreb | 18 |
| 2 | Senijad Ibričić | Hajduk Split | 17 |
| 3 | Asim Šehić | Istra 1961 | 15 |
| 4 | Nino Bule | Lokomotiva | 14 |
| 4 | Mario Mandžukić | Dinamo Zagreb | 14 |
| 6 | Bojan Golubović | Međimurje | 13 |
| 6 | Pedro Morales | Dinamo Zagreb | 13 |
| 8 | Milan Badelj | Dinamo Zagreb | 11 |
| 8 | Miljenko Mumlek | Varteks | 11 |
| 8 | Ermin Zec | Šibenik | 11 |

## Transfers

* List of Croatian football transfers summer 2009
* List of Croatian football transfers winter 2009–10