# 2018–19 Macedonian First Football League

The 2018–19 Macedonian First League was the 27th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of North Macedonia (before 12 February Macedonia). It began on 11 August 2018 and ended on 26 May 2019. Each team played the other sides four times on home-away basis, for a total of 36 matches. Shkëndija were the defending champions, having won their second title in 2017–18.

## Promotion and relegation

| 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) | At the end of the 2018–19 season Promoted from 2018–19 Second League Borec (Winners; East) Struga (Winners; West) Relegated to 2019–20 Second League Belasica (9th) Pobeda (10th) |

## Participating teams

| Akademija Pandev | Belasica | Makedonija G.P. | Pobeda |
| Kukuš Stadium | Blagoj Istatov Stadium | Gjorče Petrov Stadium | Various |
| Capacity: 1,500 | Capacity: 9,200 | Capacity: 3,000 | |
| File:File:Стадион Кукуш.webp | | | |
| Rabotnički Vardar | Renova Shkëndija | Shkupi | Sileks |
| Toše Proeski Arena UEFA | Ecolog Arena | Chair Stadium | City Stadium Kratovo |
| Capacity: 36,460 | Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 6,000 | Capacity: 4,800 |
* ↑ The stadium was called Philip II Arena until 9 April 2019.

### 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 | Jugoslav Trenchovski | Sashko Pandev | Givova | |
| Belasica | Zdravko Zdravkov | Dragan Stojkov | Nike | Cosmopolit |
| Makedonija G.P. | Aleksandar Tanevski | Bobi Bozhinovski | Kappa | Evropa |
| Pobeda | Toni Meglenski | Darko Tofiloski | Jako | Krali Marko & Vitaminka |
| Rabotnički | Zhikica Tasevski | Blazhe Ilijoski | Joma | Seavus |
| Renova | Nikola Ilievski | Fisnik Nuhi | Jako | Renova |
| Shkëndija | Qatip Osmani | Armend Alimi | Macron | Ecolog |
| Shkupi | Ümit Karan | Muharem Bajrami | Kappa | ATS Group |
| Sileks | Momchilo Mitevski | Filip Duranski | Legea | |
| Vardar | Aleksandar Vasoski | Goran Popov | Hummel | BetCity |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Shkëndija (C) | 36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 80 | 29 | +51 | 79 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Vardar | 36 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 45 | 23 | +22 | 64 | Excluded from European competitions |
| 3 | Akademija Pandev | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 58 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Shkupi | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 40 | 42 | −2 | 48 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Makedonija G.P. | 36 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 45 | 50 | −5 | 47 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 6 | Renova | 36 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 47 | |
| 7 | Rabotnički | 36 | 13 | 7 | 16 | 43 | 49 | −6 | 46 | |
| 8 | Sileks (O) | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 27 | 39 | −12 | 44 | Qualification for the relegation play-off final |
| 9 | Belasica (R) | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 37 | 49 | −12 | 38 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
| 10 | Pobeda (R) | 36 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 26 | 76 | −50 | 23 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
* ↑ Vardar failed to get the UEFA license for the competition due to financial problems.

## Results

Each team played home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each.
| Home \ Away | AKP | BEL | MGP | POB | RAB | REN | SKË | SKU | SIL | VAR | AKP | BEL | MGP | POB | RAB | REN | SKË | SKU | SIL | VAR |
| Akademija Pandev | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–2 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Belasica | 0–2 | — | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Makedonija G.P. | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Pobeda | 2–4 | 1–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | — | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Rabotnički | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | — | 3–4 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Renova | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 9–1 | 1–2 | — | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Shkëndija | 0–1 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 0–2 | 6–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 5–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Shkupi | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Sileks | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | — | 1–0 |
| Vardar | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — |

### 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 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 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 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Akademija Pandev | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Shkupi | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Makedonija G.P. | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| Renova | 1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Rabotnički | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| Sileks | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Belasica | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Pobeda | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 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 26 May 2019
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Vlatko Stojanovski | Renova | 18 |
| 2 | Ljupcho Doriev | Akademija Pandev | 16 |
| 3 | Izair Emini | Shkëndija | 11 |
| 3 | Besart Ibraimi | Shkëndija | 11 |
| 3 | Hristijan Kirovski | Makedonija G.P. | 11 |
| 3 | Petar Petkovski | Rabotnički | 11 |
| 3 | Emran Ramadani | Renova | 11 |
| 8 | Pepi Gorgiev | Belasica | 9 |
| 8 | Dejan Tanturovski | Makedonija G.P. | 9 |
| 10 | Bobi Bozhinovski | Makedonija G.P. | 8 |
| 10 | Boban Georgiev | Sileks | 8 |
| 10 | Omar Imeri | Shkëndija | 8 |
| 10 | Darko Micevski | Vardar | 8 |