# 2017–18 Macedonian First Football League

The 2017–18 Macedonian First League was the 26th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. The fixtures were announced on 25 July 2017. It began on 12 August 2017 and ended on 20 May 2018. Each team will play the other sides four times on home-away basis, for a total of 36 matches. Vardar are the defending champions, having won their tenth title in 2016–17.

## Promotion and relegation

| At the start of the 2017–18 season Promoted from 2016–17 Second League Akademija Pandev (winners) Skopje (runners-up) Relegated to 2017–18 Second League Bregalnica Shtip (9th) Makedonija G.P. (10th) | At the end of the 2017–18 season Promoted from 2017–18 Second League Belasica (Winners; East) Makedonija G.P. (Winners; West) Relegated to 2018–19 Second League Skopje (9th) Pelister (10th) |

## Participating teams

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Akademija Pandev | Strumica | Stadion Mladost Stadion Kukush | 9,200 1,500 |
| Pelister | Bitola | Stadion Tumbe Kafe | 8,000 |
| Pobeda | Prilep | Stadion Goce Delchev | 15,000 |
| Rabotnički | Skopje | Philip II Arena | 36,460 |
| Renova | Djepchishte | City Stadium Tetovo | 15,000 |
| Shkëndija | Tetovo | City Stadium Tetovo | 15,000 |
| Shkupi | Skopje | Chair Stadium | 6,000 |
| Sileks | Kratovo | Stadion Sileks | 1,800 |
| Skopje | Skopje | Stadion Zhelezarnica | 3,000 |
| Vardar | Skopje | Philip II Arena | 36,460 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Akademija Pandev | Risto Panov | Sashko Pandev | Givova | |
| Pelister | Nexhat Husein | Goce Todorovski | Givova | ZK Pelagonija |
| Pobeda | Toni Meglenski | Darko Tofiloski | Jako | Krali Marko & Vitaminka |
| Rabotnički | Gjore Jovanovski | Dushko Trajchevski | Joma | |
| Renova | Agron Memedi & Kushtrim Abdulahu | Fisnik Nuhi | Jako | Renova |
| Shkëndija | Qatip Osmani | Ferhan Hasani | Macron | Ecolog |
| Shkupi | Zekirija Ramadani | Suat Zendeli | Nike | V:KO |
| Sileks | Zhikica Tasevski | Gligor Gligorov | Legea | |
| Skopje | Ljupcho Markovski | Filip Petkovski | Givova | |
| Vardar | Boban Babunski | Boban Grncharov | Hummel | BetCity |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Shkëndija (C) | 36 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 101 | 27 | +74 | 91 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Vardar | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 56 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Rabotnički | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 50 | 43 | +7 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Shkupi | 36 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 51 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Sileks | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 50 | |
| 6 | Akademija Pandev | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 42 | |
| 7 | Renova | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 36 | 53 | −17 | 41 | |
| 8 | Pobeda (O) | 36 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 36 | 56 | −20 | 38 | Qualification for the relegation play-off final |
| 9 | Skopje (R) | 36 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 24 | 43 | −19 | 35 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
| 10 | Pelister (R) | 36 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 37 | 68 | −31 | 34 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |

## Results

Each team played home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each.
| Home \ Away | AKA | PEL | POB | RAB | REN | SKË | SKU | SIL | SKO | VAR | AKA | PEL | POB | RAB | REN | SKË | SKU | SIL | SKO | VAR |
| Akademija Pandev | — | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Pelister | 3–4 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–6 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Pobeda | 2–2 | 1–2 | — | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Rabotnički | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–6 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Renova | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–6 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 5–1 | 2–5 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Shkëndija | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 4–1 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Shkupi | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–3 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 |
| Sileks | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Skopje | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Vardar | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | — | 3–2 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | — |

### Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| Shkëndija | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Vardar | 10 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Rabotnički | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Shkupi | 5 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Sileks | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Akademija Pandev | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Renova | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Pobeda | 8 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Skopje | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 |
| Pelister | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
* Leader and qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
* Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
* Qualification for the Relegation play-off final
* Relegation to the Macedonian Second League

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 20 May 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ferhan Hasani | Shkëndija | 22 |
| 1 | Besart Ibraimi | Shkëndija | 22 |
| 3 | Zoran Baldovaliev | Akademija Pandev | 14 |
| 4 | Blazhe Ilijoski | Pelister & Shkupi | 13 |
| 4 | Alen Jasharoski | Shkupi | 13 |
| 6 | Chinedu Charles Geoffrey | Rabotnički | 11 |
| 6 | Stênio Júnior | Shkëndija | 11 |
| 6 | Kire Markoski | Rabotnički | 11 |
| 9 | Tigran Barseghyan | Vardar | 9 |
| 9 | Marjan Radeski | Shkëndija | 9 |