# 1946–47 NK Dinamo Zagreb season

This article shows statistics of individual players for the football club Dinamo Zagreb. It also lists all matches that Dinamo Zagreb played in the 1946–47 season, the first competitive season since the club's foundation in June 1945.

## Competitions
### Preliminaries

In late 1945, only several months after the club's foundation in June, the regional qualifiers for what was to become the new national league championship were held. Dinamo first entered the Zagreb preliminaries, which were played in two eight-club groups in a single round-robin format, from October to December 1945. After topping their group with seven wins and a goal difference 40–5 Dinamo qualified for the local Zagreb Championship.
The eight-club Zagreb Championship was played from January to February 1946, and Dinamo again won the league with six wins and only one defeat in seven matches. Dinamo was equal on points with Lokomotiva, but progressed further thanks to superior goal difference (Dinamo's 41–8 vs Lokomotiva's 16–12).
Their triumph qualified them for the 1946 Croatian Football Championship, played by eight regional winners from SR Croatia. The league was played in a double round-robin format from May to August 1946, and it served as regional qualifier for the inaugural edition of the First Federal League, Yugoslavia's post-war national championship.
After 14 rounds, Dinamo finished second behind rivals Hajduk Split. Both clubs were equal on points, each recording ten wins, two draws and two defeats, but this time Hajduk had a superior goal difference (51–11) compared to Dinamo (40–12). Nevertheless, since the top two Croatian clubs were guaranteed a spot in the new Yugoslav championship, both Hajduk and Dinamo qualified.

### First League

Managed by seasoned coach Márton Bukovi Dinamo played their first national league match on 25 August 1946, an away 2–2 draw with Budućnost played in Titograd. Their first home game was on 8 September 1946, a 0–1 defeat to Hajduk Split via a goal from Antun Lokošek.
In October, after five rounds had been played, two more clubs were added to what was originally a 12-team league. Kvarner joined the league, as representative of the military-administered Zone B, and weeks later Ponziana from Trieste was added to represent Zone A, from what was to become the Free Territory of Trieste. Because of this, the fixture list was rescheduled in late October.
By January and the winter break Dinamo have established themselves as one of the strongest clubs in Yugoslavia, with nine wins in the first 13 rounds, level on points with Hajduk and Red Star, with all three trailing first-placed Partizan, the newly established Yugoslav Army club, by only three points. The club's success was largely fueled by Franjo Wölfl, a prolific striker who scored 14 goals in 13 games in the first half of the season.
In the spring Bukovi left Zagreb to take over MTK in his native Hungary. He was replaced by interim player-manager Mirko Kokotović. The spring fixture list was determined via a draw, and under Kokotović Dinamo started strong, with three victories in four matches, including a win over their biggest Zagreb rivals Lokomotiva.
In March the Slovenian side Nafta Lendava abandoned the league after suffering 14 defeats in 17 rounds. FSJ therefore decided to record all of their remaining nine matches as 3–0 forfeits. After yet another loss to Hajduk in March, Dinamo remained undefeated until the end of season, recording seven wins and two draws, including a home 4–2 win vs Partizan and a home 2–2 draw with Red Star.
By July, Dinamo finished their first top-level season in history as runners-up, five points behind champions Partizan, and ahead of the other two members of the Yugoslav Big Four clubs, Red Star and Hajduk Split. Dinamo proved to be a tough opponent at home, losing only one league match in Zagreb, to Hajduk Split, in September 1946.
Wölfl became Yugoslav championship's first top scorer in the post-war era, having scored 28 goals in 23 matches (which included three braces, three hat-tricks, and one four-goal performance). Wölfl and player-manager Kokotović were also the club's most used players, each appearing in 23 out of 25 league games played.

### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last Match | Final position / round |
| 1945 Zagreb Championship Qualifiers | 21 October 1945 | 23 December 1945 | Winners |
| 1946 Zagreb Championship | 13 January 1946 | 24 February 1946 | Winners |
| 1946 Croatian Championship | 26 May 1946 | 18 August 1946 | 2nd place |
| 1946–47 First Federal League | 25 August 1946 | 6 July 1947 | 2nd place |

## First Federal League
### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 26 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 81 | 26 | +55 | 42 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 12 | +38 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 14 | +17 |

### Matches

| M | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Dinamo scorers | Attendance |
| 1 | 25 August 1946 | Budućnost | A | D | 2–2 | Kokotović 10', Beda 36' | 4,530 |
| 2 | 1 September 1946 | Red Star | A | W | 1–0 | Reiss 59' | 20,000 |
| 3 | 8 September 1946 | Hajduk Split | H | L | 0–1 | | 15,000 |
| 4 | 15 September 1946 | Lokomotiva | A | W | 2–1 | Wölfl 39', 49' | 5,000 |
| 5 | 22 September 1946 | Željezničar | H | W | 9–1 | Cimermančić 3', 25', 43', Wölfl 16', 68', 80', 90', Senčar 27', Beda 75' | 5,000 |
| 6 | 27 October 1946 | Partizan | A | L | 1–5 | Wölfl 30' | 8,000 |
| 7 | 3 November 1946 | Metalac | H | W | 3–1 | Strugar 10', Lojen 11' (pen.), Wölfl 85' | 8,000 |
| 8 | 17 November 1946 | Spartak Subotica | H | W | 3–0 | Senčar 13', Strugar 35', 45' | 5,000 |
| 9 | 24 November 1946 | Železničar Niš | H | W | 3–1 | Wölfl 34', 38', 78' | 4,000 |
| 10 | 1 December 1946 | Nafta Lendava | A | W | 6–0 | Wölfl 12', 20', Čajkovski 19', 53', Golob 22', Senčar 78' | 700 |
| 11 | 8 December 1946 | Pobeda | A | D | 0–0 | | 6,000 |
| 12 | 22 December 1946 | Kvarner | A | W | 3–1 | Wölfl 44' (pen.), Senčar 53', Cimermančić 77' | 5,000 |
| 13 | 12 January 1947 | Ponziana | A | W | 4–0 | Strugar 20', Wölfl 37', 69', Čajkovski 74' | 7,000 |
| 14 | 2 March 1947 | Željezničar | A | W | 3–1 | Wölfl 25', Kacian 52', Senčar 61' | 7,000 |
| 15 | 9 March 1947 | Kvarner | H | W | 2–1 | Lojen 31' (pen.), Čajkovski 35' | 7,000 |
| 16 | 16 March 1947 | Hajduk Split | A | L | 1–2 | Strnad 30' | 8,000 |
| 17 | 23 March 1947 | Lokomotiva | H | W | 4–0 | Čajkovski 8', 58', 66', Kacian 14' | 10,000 |
| 18 | 30 March 1947 | Partizan | H | W | 4–2 | Strugar 17', 53', Pleše 25', Wölfl 59' | 18,000 |
| 19 | 13 April 1947 | Spartak Subotica | A | D | 1–1 | Wölfl 49' | 6,000 |
| 20 | 20 April 1947 | Nafta Lendava | H | W | 3–0 (f) | Walkover | |
| 21 | 27 April 1947 | 14. Oktobar | A | W | 2–1 | Jovanović 39' (o.g.), Cimermančić 53' | 4,000 |
| 24 | 18 May 1947 | Pobeda | H | W | 5–0 | Cimermančić 4', Wölfl 25', 34', 74', Strugar 86' | 4,000 |
| 25 | 25 May 1947 | Budućnost | H | W | 7–1 | Cimermančić 15' (pen.), Kacian 30', Strnad 31', Čajkovski 64', 76', Wölfl 75', 79' | 6,000 |
| 26 | 8 June 1947 | Red Star | H | D | 2–2 | Cimermančić 7', Senčar 19' | 20,000 |
| 22 | 11 June 1947 | Ponziana | H | W | 5–2 | Senčar 20', Cimermančić 28', 84', Wölfl 44' (pen.), Čajkovski 70' | 2,000 |
| 23 | 6 July 1947 | Metalac | A | W | 5–0 | Wölfl 37', 67', 84', Reiss 57', Strugar 82' | 3,000 |

### Classification

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Partizan (C) | 26 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 77 | 17 | +60 | 47 |
| 2 | Dinamo Zagreb | 26 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 81 | 26 | +55 | 42 |
| 3 | Red Star Belgrade | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 66 | 23 | +43 | 38 |
| 4 | Hajduk Split | 26 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 57 | 21 | +36 | 36 |
| 5 | Metalac Belgrade | 26 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 29 |

## Players
### Squad statistics
#### Key

Numbers indicate starting appearances + appearances as substitute. Goals column shows total goals, numbers in brackets indicate penalty kicks scored. Players with name struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season. Age as of 25 August 1946, first matchday of the season.
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | DoB (Age) | League | League |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | DoB (Age) | Apps | Goals |
| FW | | Franjo Wölfl | (1918-05-18)18 May 1918 (aged 28) | 23 | 28 |
| FW | | Mirko Kokotović | (1913-04-15)15 April 1913 (aged 33) | 23 | 1 |
| MF | | Đuka Strugar | (1924-03-25)25 March 1924 (aged 22) | 22 | 8 |
| DF | | Ivica Horvat | (1926-07-16)16 July 1926 (aged 20) | 22 | 0 |
| FW | | Zvonimir Cimermančić | (1917-08-26)26 August 1917 (aged 28) | 20 | 10 (1) |
| DF | | Branko Pleše | (1915-01-20)20 January 1915 (aged 31) | 20 | 1 |
| FW | | Željko Čajkovski | (1925-05-05)5 May 1925 (aged 21) | 18 | 10 |
| FW | | Božidar Senčar | (1927-09-28)28 September 1927 (aged 18) | 16 | 7 |
| DF | | Dragutin Lojen | (1919-05-19)19 May 1919 (aged 27) | 16 | 2 (2) |
| GK | | Zvonko Monsider | (1920-05-11)11 May 1920 (aged 26) | 15 | 0 |
| FW | | Ivica Reiss | (1923-05-09)9 May 1923 (aged 23) | 14 | 2 |
| GK/DF | | Drago Horvat | (1924-07-04)4 July 1924 (aged 22) | 11 | 0 |
| DF | | Mijo Etlinger | (1923-11-29)29 November 1923 (aged 22) | 11 | 0 |
| DF | | Slavko Beda | (1919-10-17)17 October 1919 (aged 26) | 9 | 2 |
| FW | | Vinko Golob | (1921-04-22)22 April 1921 (aged 25) | 9 | 1 |
| FW | | Ratko Kacian | (1917-01-18)18 January 1917 (aged 29) | 8 | 3 |
| FW | | Zvonko Strnad | (1926-01-15)15 January 1926 (aged 20) | 7 | 2 |
| FW | | Vilim Medved | (1926-04-08)8 April 1926 (aged 20) | 4 | 0 |
| GK | | Zvonko Dogan | b. 1921 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | | Marko Jurić | (1924-08-14)14 August 1924 (aged 22) | 3 | 0 |