# 1978–79 Yugoslav First League

The 1978–79 Yugoslav First League season was the 33rd season of the First Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna liga), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. Hajduk Split won the league title.
A total of 18 teams competed in the league, with the defending champions Partizan nearly relegated, finishing the season in 15th place, one point above the relegation zone. Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb both finished the season equal on 50 points, but Hajduk won the championship due to better goal difference.
The season began on 12 August 1978 and concluded on 17 June 1979. This was the third and last national title win for Hajduk under the guidance of manager Tomislav Ivić, who previously led the club to four consecutive Yugoslav Cup wins in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1976 (not contested in 1975). Striker Dušan Savić of Red Star won the Golden Boot with 24 goals scored, his second, having previously topped the scoring table four years earlier in the 1974–75 season.
Rijeka, which finished 10th in the league, defeated Partizan in the final of the 1978–79 Marshal Tito Cup under the guidance of Marijan Brnčić, and qualified for the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup.
Other standout players this season were Hajduk's Vedran Rožić, Mišo Krstičević, and Slaviša Žungul, Dinamo Zagreb's forwards Snješko Cerin and Zlatko Kranjčar, Sarajevo's attacking midfielders Safet Sušić and Srebrenko Repčić, the Velež stalwart Vahid Halilhodžić.
The season was marked by controversy after Rijeka's 2–1 win over Dinamo at Kantrida in the first round. Dinamo claimed that Rijeka's player Edmond Tomić, who had joined the club in pre-season from Lirija Prizren, should have served a one-match suspension for two yellow cards received while playing for his former club. They appealed to the Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ), which after two months of deliberation decided to award the match 3–0 to Dinamo. After more appeals and counter-appeals from both Rijeka and Dinamo, in the spring of 1979 FSJ ruled in favor of Rijeka. The case was then brought to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which four years later ruled Dinamo as champions.

## Teams

A total of eighteen teams contested the league, including sixteen sides from the 1977–78 season and two sides promoted from the 1977–78 Yugoslav Second League (YSL) as winners of the two second level divisions East and West. The league was contested in a double round robin format, with each club playing every other club twice, for a total of 34 rounds. Two points were awarded for wins and one point for draws.
Čelik Zenica and Trepča Kosovska Mitrovica were relegated from the 1977–78 Yugoslav First League after finishing the season in bottom two places of the league table. The two clubs promoted to top level were Napredak Kruševac and Željezničar Sarajevo.
| Team | Location | Federal Republic | Position in 1977–78 |
| Borac Banja Luka | Banja Luka | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 01212th |
| Budućnost | Titograd | SR Montenegro | 01111th |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Zagreb | SR Croatia | 0044th |
| Hajduk Split | Split | SR Croatia | 0033rd |
| Napredak Kruševac | Kruševac | SR Serbia | — |
| OFK Belgrade | Belgrade | SR Serbia | 01616th |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | Ljubljana | SR Slovenia | 01010th |
| Osijek | Osijek | SR Croatia | 01313th |
| Partizan | Belgrade | SR Serbia | 0011st |
| Radnički Niš | Niš | SR Serbia | 01414th |
| Red Star | Belgrade | SR Serbia | 0022nd |
| Rijeka | Rijeka | SR Croatia | 0055th |
| Sarajevo | Sarajevo | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0099th |
| Sloboda | Tuzla | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0066th |
| Velež | Mostar | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0077th |
| Vojvodina | Novi Sad | SR Serbia | 0088th |
| NK Zagreb | Zagreb | SR Croatia | 01515th |
| Željezničar | Sarajevo | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | — |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Hajduk Split (C) | 34 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 62 | 28 | +34 | 50 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dinamo Zagreb | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 67 | 38 | +29 | 50 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Red Star Belgrade | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 41 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Sarajevo | 34 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 56 | 53 | +3 | 39 | |
| 5 | Velež | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 50 | 41 | +9 | 38 | |
| 6 | Budućnost | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 38 | |
| 7 | Radnički Niš | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 35 | |
| 8 | Sloboda Tuzla | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 32 | |
| 9 | Željezničar | 34 | 14 | 4 | 16 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 32 | |
| 10 | Rijeka | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 31 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 11 | Borac Banja Luka | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 45 | 56 | −11 | 31 | |
| 12 | Vojvodina | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 35 | 38 | −3 | 29 | |
| 13 | Osijek | 34 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 32 | 39 | −7 | 29 | |
| 14 | Napredak Kruševac | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 43 | 51 | −8 | 29 | |
| 15 | Partizan | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 29 | |
| 16 | Olimpija | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 34 | 53 | −19 | 29 | |
| 17 | NK Zagreb (R) | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 32 | 39 | −7 | 28 | Relegation to Yugoslav Second League |
| 18 | OFK Belgrade (R) | 34 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 30 | 55 | −25 | 22 | Relegation to Yugoslav Second League |

## Results

| Home \ Away | BBL | BUD | DIN | HAJ | NAP | OFK | OLI | OSI | PAR | RNI | RSB | RIJ | SAR | SLO | VEL | VOJ | ZAG | ŽEL |
| Borac Banja Luka | | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Budućnost | 1–0 | | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 4–0 | 3–0 | | 2–2 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Hajduk Split | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Napredak Kruševac | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| OFK Belgrade | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Olimpija | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Osijek | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Partizan | 3–0 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Radnički Niš | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Red Star | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–2 |
| Rijeka | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 5–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Sarajevo | 5–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Sloboda Tuzla | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Velež | 4–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–2 |
| Vojvodina | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 7–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 5–0 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| NK Zagreb | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | | 1–2 |
| Željezničar | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 2–1 | |

## Winning squad

Champions: Hajduk Split :
| Player | League | League |
| Player | Matches | Goals |
| Boriša Đorđević | 32 | 4 |
| Šime Luketin | 32 | 3 |
| Vedran Rožić | 32 | |
| Mišo Krstičević | 31 | 8 |
| Boro Primorac | 30 | |
| Luka Peruzović | 30 | |
| Dražen Mužinić | 29 | |
| Ivica Šurjak | 27 | 6 |
| Zlatko Vujović | 25 | 9 |
| Nenad Šalov | 25 | 1 |
| Ivan Budinčević | 21 | |
| Zoran Vujović | 18 | 4 |
| Slaviša Žungul | 17 | 12 |
| Davor Čop | 16 | 2 |
| Mićun Jovanić | 16 | 2 |
| Špiro Ćosić | 11 | |
| Damir Maričić | 9 | |
| Ivica Matković | 4 | |
| Mario Boljat | 3 | 1 |
| Robert Juričko | 2 | |
| Milorad Nižetić | 2 | |
| Marijan Zovko | 1 | |
| Ivan Gudelj | 1 | |
| Ivan Katalinić | 1 | |
| Head coach: Tomislav Ivić |||
Source:

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Dušan Savić | Red Star | 24 |
| 2 | Vahid Halilhodžić | Velež | 16 |
| 3 | Safet Sušić | Sarajevo | 15 |
| 4 | Slobodan Santrač | Partizan | 14 |
| 5 | Snješko Cerin | Dinamo Zagreb | 13 |
| 5 | Abid Kovačević | Borac Banja Luka | 13 |
| 5 | Zlatko Kranjčar | Dinamo Zagreb | 13 |
| 5 | Ivan Lukačević | Osijek | 13 |
| 9 | Muhamed Ibrahimbegović | Borac Banja Luka | 12 |
| 9 | Vladimir Jocić | Radnički Niš | 12 |
| 9 | Miloš Kostić | OFK Belgrade | 12 |
| 9 | Srebrenko Repčić | Sarajevo | 12 |
| 9 | Slaviša Žungul | Hajduk Split | 12 |