# 1988–89 NK Rijeka season

The 1988–89 season was the 43rd season in Rijeka's history and their 27th season in the Yugoslav First League. Their 8th place finish in the 1987–88 season meant it was their 15th successive season playing in the Yugoslav First League.

## Competitions

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Yugoslav First League | 7 August 1988 | 4 June 1989 | Matchday 1 | 10th | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 041.18 |
| Yugoslav Cup | 10 August 1988 | 10 August 1988 | First round | First round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 35 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 040.00 |

### Yugoslav First League
#### Classification

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | Osijek | 34 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 31 |
| 9 | Vardar | 34 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 46 | 51 | −5 | 29 |
| 10 | Rijeka | 34 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 28 |
| 11 | Velež | 34 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 28 |
| 12 | Sloboda Tuzla | 34 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 35 | 42 | −7 | 28 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### Results by round

| 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 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | D | L | W | D | D | W | D | L | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | D | W | W | L | D | L | W | W |
| Position | 2 | 6 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 10 |

## Matches
### First League

| Round | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Attendance$^1$ | Rijeka Scorers |
| 1 | 7 Aug | A | Osijek | 3 – 1 | 1,377 | Valenčić, Kljajić, Mladenović |
| 2 | 14 Aug | H | Budućnost | 0 – 1 | 2,522 | |
| 3 | 21 Aug | A | Vardar | 2 – 3 | 6,357 | Ekmeščić, Mladenović |
| 4 | 28 Aug | H | Rad | 0 – 1 | 1,889 | |
| 5 | 4 Sep | A | Red Star | 1 – 5 | 12,336 | Vujčić |
| 6 | 10 Sep | H | Željezničar | 3 – 0 | 1,585 | Ljubančić, Ekmeščić, Vujčić |
| 9 | 2 Oct | H | Spartak Subotica | 0 – 0 (5–6 p) | 1,245 | |
| 10 | 9 Oct | A | Radnički Niš | 0 – 1 | 2,684 | |
| 8 | 16 Oct | A | Sloboda | 0 – 0 (4–5 p) | 755 | |
| 11 | 23 Oct | H | Čelik | 2 – 1 | 1,633 | Mladenović, Florijančič |
| 12 | 30 Oct | A | Vojvodina | 0 – 0 (3–4 p) | 1,079 | |
| 7 | 2 Nov | A | Velež | 3 – 0 | 1,677 | Mladenović (3, 1p) |
| 13 | 5 Nov | H | Partizan | 1 – 1 (3–4 p) | 4,401 | Mladenović |
| 14 | 27 Nov | A | Sarajevo | 2 – 1 | 606 | Valenčić, Mladenović |
| 15 | 4 Dec | H | Hajduk Split | 0 – 0 (1–3 p) | 9,570 | |
| 16 | 14 Dec | A | Dinamo Zagreb | 0 – 2 | 4,544 | |
| 17 | 18 Dec | H | Napredak Kruševac | 4 – 1 | 1,063 | Valenčić (2), Ekmeščić, Mladenović |
| 18 | 26 Feb | H | Osijek | 2 – 0 | 1,755 | Ekmeščić (2) |
| 19 | 5 Mar | A | Budućnost | 0 – 1 | 1,297 | |
| 20 | 12 Mar | H | Vardar | 3 – 0 | 1,871 | Florijančič (2), Rubčić |
| 21 | 18 Mar | A | Rad | 0 – 4 | 520 | |
| 22 | 26 Mar | H | Red Star | 1 – 2 | 7,646 | Mladenović |
| 23 | 2 Apr | A | Željezničar | 0 – 1 | 2,133 | |
| 24 | 9 Apr | H | Velež | 2 – 1 | 1,827 | Ekmeščić, Paliska |
| 25 | 16 Apr | H | Sloboda | 1 – 0 | 2,238 | Vujčić |
| 26 | 19 Apr | A | Spartak Subotica | 0 – 1 | 2,049 | |
| 27 | 3 May | H | Radnički Niš | 0 – 0 (4–5 p) | 1,237 | |
| 28 | 7 May | A | Čelik | 1 – 0 | 3,288 | Mladenović |
| 29 | 14 May | H | Vojvodina | 2 – 1 | 2,272 | Rubčić (2) |
| 30 | 21 May | A | Partizan | 0 – 1 | 5,154 | |
| 31 | 24 May | H | Sarajevo | 0 – 0 (2–3 p) | 1,462 | |
| 32 | 28 May | A | Hajduk Split | 0 – 4 | 3,699 | |
| 33 | 31 May | H | Dinamo Zagreb | 1 – 0 | 3,466 | Mladenović (p) |
| 34 | 4 Jun | A | Napredak Kruševac | 1 – 0 | 764 | Mladenović |
Source: rsssf.com

### Yugoslav Cup

| Round | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Rijeka Scorers |
| R1 | 10 Aug | A | Napredak Kruševac | 1 – 3 | Kljajić |
Source: rsssf.com

### Squad statistics

Competitive matches only. Appearances in brackets indicate numbers of times the player came on as a substitute.
| Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Name | League | League | Cup | Cup | Total | Total |
| Tonči Gabrić | 25 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 25 (0) | 0 |
| Mladen Romić | 30 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 31 (0) | 0 |
| Branko Dragutinović | 33 (0) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | 34 (0) | 1 |
| Saša Peršon | 32 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 33 (0) | 0 |
| Roberto Paliska | 21 (2) | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 21 (3) | 1 |
| Robert Rubčić | 32 (0) | 3 | 1 (0) | 0 | 33 (0) | 3 |
| Dušan Kljajić | 22 (3) | 1 | 1 (0) | 1 | 23 (3) | 2 |
| Mladen Mladenović | 33 (0) | 13 | 1 (0) | 0 | 34 (0) | 13 |
| Boris Ekmeščić | 22 (7) | 6 | 1 (0) | 0 | 23 (7) | 6 |
| Zoran Vujčić | 28 (1) | 3 | 1 (0) | 0 | 29 (1) | 3 |
| Predrag Valenčić | 30 (0) | 4 | 0 (0) | 0 | 30 (0) | 4 |
| Matjaž Florijančič | 25 (0) | 3 | 1 (0) | 0 | 26 (0) | 3 |
| Valdi Šumberac | 8 (13) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 8 (13) | 0 |
| Enver Jahić | 6 (3) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 7 (3) | 0 |
| Nedžad Kuruzović | 4 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 |
| Zvonko Radoš | 5 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 6 (0) | 0 |
| Vlado Miloševič | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| Dean Ljubančić | 4 (8) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 4 (8) | 1 |
| Stojan Belajić | 3 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 3 (2) | 0 |
| Marin Galić | 2 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 2 (2) | 0 |
| Miro Stipić | 7 (5) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 7 (5) | 0 |
| David Sabadin | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| Nevenko Vasiljević | 0 (4) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 |
| Ivica Klapan | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| Elmir Imširević | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 |