# 1997–98 Croatian First Football League

The 1997–98 Croatian First Football League was the seventh season of the Croatian top-level football league since its establishment.

## Teams
### Stadia and personnel

| Team | Manager$^1$ | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Croatia Zagreb | Zlatko Kranjčar | Zagreb | Stadion Maksimir | 37,168 |
| Hajduk Split | Zoran Vulić | Split | Stadion Poljud | 35,000 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | Ilija Lončarević | Velika Gorica | Stadion Radnik | 8,000 |
| Mladost 127 | Vinko Begović | Suhopolje | Stadion Park | 5,000 |
| Osijek | Milan Đuričić | Osijek | Stadion Gradski vrt | 19,500 |
| Rijeka | Nenad Gračan | Rijeka | Stadion Kantrida | 10,275 |
| Samobor | Božidar Štefković | Samobor | Gradski stadion u Samoboru | 5,000 |
| Slaven Belupo | Nenad Lušić | Koprivnica | Gradski stadion u Koprivnici | 4,000 |
| Šibenik | Ivan Buljan | Šibenik | Stadion Šubićevac | 8,000 |
| Varteks | Dražen Besek | Varaždin | Stadion Varteks | 10,800 |
| Zadarkomerc | Ivan Katalinić | Zadar | Stadion Stanovi | 5,860 |
| NK Zagreb | Valentin Barišić | Zagreb | Stadion Kranjčevićeva | 8,850 |
* $^1$ On final match day of the season, played on 10 May 1998.

## First stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Croatia Zagreb | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 46 | 18 | +28 | 49 | Qualification to championship group |
| 2 | Hajduk Split | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 20 | +16 | 43 | Qualification to championship group |
| 3 | NK Zagreb | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 41 | Qualification to championship group |
| 4 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 31 | 18 | +13 | 36 | Qualification to championship group |
| 5 | Osijek | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 32 | Qualification to championship group |
| 6 | Zadarkomerc | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 28 | Qualification to championship group |
| 7 | Rijeka | 22 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 20 | 24 | −4 | 26 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 8 | Varteks | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 32 | −8 | 24 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 9 | Slaven Belupo | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 43 | −23 | 23 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 10 | Mladost 127 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 24 | −7 | 23 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 11 | Samobor | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 35 | −12 | 22 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 12 | Šibenik | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 19 | 38 | −19 | 17 | Qualification to relegation group |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Slaven Belupo–Mladost 127 2–0, Mladost 127–Slaven Belupo 2–1.

### Rounds 1–22 results

| Home \ Away | CZG | HAJ | HRD | MLA | OSI | RIJ | SAM | SLA | ŠIB | VAR | ZAD | ZAG |
| Croatia Zagreb | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Hajduk Split | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 2–1 | 3–1 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 6–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Mladost 127 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Osijek | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 |
| Rijeka | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Samobor | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 5–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–6 |
| Slaven Belupo | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Šibenik | 1–3 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Varteks | 2–6 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Zadarkomerc | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 0–1 |
| NK Zagreb | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |

## Championship group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Croatia Zagreb (C) | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 28 | 10 | +18 | 49 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Hajduk Split | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 16 | +1 | 36 | Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 3 | Osijek | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 32 | Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 4 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 32 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 5 | NK Zagreb | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 30 | |
| 6 | Zadarkomerc | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 26 | −15 | 21 | |

### Rounds 23–32 results

| Home \ Away | CZG | HAJ | HRD | OSI | ZAD | ZAG |
| Croatia Zagreb | | 2–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 6–1 | 2–2 |
| Hajduk Split | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 2–1 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Osijek | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Zadarkomerc | 0–3 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 1–2 |
| NK Zagreb | 2–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | |

## Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | Rijeka | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 28 | |
| 8 | Šibenik | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 27 | |
| 9 | Slaven Belupo | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 27 | |
| 10 | Varteks | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 26 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 11 | Mladost 127 (O) | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 25 | Qualification to relegation play-off |
| 12 | Samobor (R) | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 20 | −9 | 21 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |

### Rounds 23–32 results

| Home \ Away | MLA | RIJ | SAM | SLA | ŠIB | VAR |
| Mladost 127 | | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Rijeka | 3–2 | | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 |
| Samobor | 2–1 | 3–1 | | 3–0 | 2–4 | 0–3 |
| Slaven Belupo | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Šibenik | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | | 1–1 |
| Varteks | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | |

### Relegation play-off

The match was played on 7 June 1998.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Mladost 127 | 2–1 | Segesta |

## Statistics

* The top scorer was NK Zagreb's Mate Baturina, with 19 goals.
* The player of the year was Mario Bazina from NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Mate Baturina | NK Zagreb | 19 |
| 2 | Mario Bazina | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 12 |
| 2 | Vladimir Petrović | Croatia Zagreb | 12 |
| 4 | Tomislav Erceg | Hajduk Split | 11 |
| 4 | Admir Hasančić | Rijeka | 11 |
| 6 | Petar Krpan | Osijek | 10 |
| 7 | Igor Cvitanović | Croatia Zagreb | 9 |
| 7 | Joško Popović | Šibenik | 9 |
| 7 | Klaudio Vuković | Samobor | 9 |
| 10 | Mark Viduka | Croatia Zagreb | 8 |