# 1946 Croatian Football Championship

The 1946 Croatian Football Championship was a two-stage competition for clubs from PR Croatia which served as a qualifying tournament for the new post-war First League in communist Yugoslavia, and its inaugural 1946–47 edition.
Croatia, as one of six republics in the newly formed Yugoslavia, was given two places in the new national league. Through a series of regional preliminaries and playoffs eight clubs earned a spot in the final stage, in which they played each other twice in a 14-round double round-robin format.
The final stage was won by Hajduk Split, in front of runners-up Dinamo Zagreb, on goal difference. Both clubs qualified to play in the Yugoslav top level in the 1946–47 season. A third Croatian club, Lokomotiva, which had finished second in the Zagreb qualifying tournament, also earned a spot in the 1946–47 national league via additional inter-regional qualifiers, in which they reached the final and lost to Belgrade-based club Metalac.
A separate qualifying tournament was organized for clubs from the newly acquired territories of Istria and the city of Rijeka (Fiume). The newly established SD Kvarner (also known as "SCF Quarnero" in Italian) from Rijeka won a playoff against US Operaia from Pula to represent the military-administered Zone B, in the Julian March. A club from Trieste, representing Zone A, Ponziana, was also later added directly to the Yugoslav national league.
Regional qualifiers were played early in the year, and the final stage was played between May and August. The three Croatian clubs thus joined the first 12-club season of the Yugoslav league championship which kicked off in late August 1946. (Kvarner and Ponziana were two additional clubs which joined mid-season, in October 1946, after five rounds had already been played).

## City of Zagreb preliminaries "A"

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | FD Lokomotiva Zagreb | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 4 | +16 | 12 |
| 2 | Narodna obrana | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 9 | +14 | 11 |
| 3 | FD Tekstilac Zagreb | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 8 | +23 | 9 |
| 4 | 32 divizija | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 9 |
| 5 | FD Postar Zagreb | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 8 |
| 6 | FD Jedinstvo Zagreb | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 5 |
| 7 | Slaven Kustosija | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 24 | −19 | 2 |
| 8 | FD Milicija Zagreb | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 46 | −46 | 0 |

## City of Zagreb preliminaries "B"

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | FD Dinamo | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 5 | +35 | 14 |
| 2 | FD Metalac | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 6 | +13 | 12 |
| 3 | II armija | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 6 | +33 | 10 |
| 4 | FD Dubrava | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 7 |
| 5 | FD Element | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 16 | −2 | 5 |
| 6 | FD Amater | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 29 | −15 | 5 |
| 7 | FD Grafičar | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 37 | −35 | 2 |
| 8 | FD Građevinar | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 38 | −34 | 1 |

## City of Zagreb championship

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | FD Dinamo | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 8 | +33 | 12 |
| 2 | FD Lokomotiva | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 12 |
| 3 | FD Metalac | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 9 |
| 4 | FD Amater | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 17 | −3 | 7 |
| 5 | FD Tekstilac | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 6 |
| 6 | FD Element | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 27 | −17 | 5 |
| 7 | FD Poštar | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 5 |
| 8 | FD Jedinstvo | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 23 | −13 | 0 |

## Zagreb Provincial championship

* Borac Zagreb 0-1 ; 1-8 FD Dubrava Zagreb

## City of Osijek championship

* 1 : FD Jedinstvo Osijek
* 2 : FD Udarnik Osijek
* 3 : FD Tipograf Osijek
* 4 : FD Sloga Osijek
* 5 : FD Bratstvo Osijek

## Region of Banija championship

* SFD Sloboda Sisak 8-1 ; 3-0 OFD Turkulin Petrinja

## District of Karlovac championship

Udarnik Karlovac qualified to play-offs.

## District of Primorsko-goranska championship

FD Jedinstvo Susak qualified to play-offs.
Also played FD Crikvenica, Omladinac Senj, Plavi Jadran Pag, NK Naprijed Hreljin

## Region of Slavonia championship
### Semifinals

* Sloga Vinkovci 5-1 ; 1-5 ; 0-3 FD Proleter Belisce
* SFD Naprijed Sisak 2-0 ; 1-0 FD Jedinstvo Osijek

### Final

* SFD Naprijed Sisak 2-0 ; 0-3 FD Proleter Belisce

## District of Varazdin championship

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | RSD Tekstilac Varazdin | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 7 |
| 2 | Jedinstvo Cakovec | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 4 |
| 3 | Sloboda Varazdin | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 16 | −15 | 1 |

## District of Bjelovar championship

Bjelovar qualified to play-offs.

## Region of Dalmatia championship
### Preliminary round

* Zadar 1-0 ; 1-2 Sibenik

### Final

* RSD Split 0-2 ; 1-6 FD Hajduk Split

#### Play-offs

* RSD Split 4-0 Dubrovnik
* Sibenik 1-2; 0-4 RSD Split

## Play-offs
### Round 1

* Bjelovar 1-5 ; 1-2 RSD Tekstilac Varazdin
* Udarnik Karlovac 4-2 ; 1-3 FD Dubrava Zagreb
* SFD Naprijed Sisak 2-1 ; 4-1 FD Amater Zagreb
* FD Metalac Zagreb 8-0 ; 3-1 FD Jedinstvo Susak

### Round 2

* FD Dubrava Zagreb 3-2 ; 1-3 RSD Tekstilac Varazdin
* FD Jedinstvo Susak 6-0 ; 2-4 SFD Naprijed Sisak

### Additional play-off

* Lokomotiva Zagreb 1-0 ; 3-0 FD Dubrava Zagreb

## Final Stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | FD Hajduk Split | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 51 | 11 | +40 | 22 |
| 2 | FD Dinamo Zagreb | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 12 | +28 | 22 |
| 3 | FD Lokomotiva Zagreb | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 13 | +15 | 17 |
| 4 | RSD Tekstilac Varaždin | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 27 | −3 | 15 |
| 5 | FD Proleter Belišće | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 28 | −10 | 15 |
| 6 | FD Metalac Zagreb | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 13 |
| 7 | RSD Split | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 14 | 42 | −28 | 6 |
| 8 | FD Jedinstvo Sušak | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 49 | −42 | 2 |

## City of Rijeka championship

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Magazzini generali Rijeka | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 59 | 19 | +40 | 27 |
| 2 | Cantieri Rijeka | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 66 | 23 | +43 | 23 |
| 3 | Lignum Rijeka | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 60 | 32 | +28 | 23 |
| 4 | Torpedo Rijeka | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 48 | 18 | +30 | 19 |
| 5 | ROMSA Rijeka | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 18 |
| 6 | Portuale Rijeka | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 30 | 39 | −9 | 12 |
| 7 | ASPM Rijeka | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 9 |
| 8 | Metallurgica Rijeka | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 31 | 75 | −44 | 9 |
| 9 | Dinamo Rijeka | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 18 | 102 | −84 | 4 |

## Rijeka/Istria Final

* SD Kvarner Rijeka 1-2 ; 4-1 US Operaia Pula