# 1996–97 Macedonian First Football League

The 1996–97 Macedonian First League was the 5th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. The first matches of the season were played on 16 August 1996 and the last on 1 June 1997. Sileks defended their championship title, having won their second title in a row.

## Promotion and relegation

| At the start of the 1996–97 season Promoted from 1995–96 Second League Shkëndija (Winners; West) Bregalnica Shtip (Winners; East) Relegated to 1996–97 Second League Ohrid (13th) Osogovo (14th) Ljuboten (15th) | At the end of the 1996–97 season Promoted from 1996–97 Second League Skopje (Winners; West) Borec (Winners; East) Relegated to 1997–98 Second League Shkëndija (13th) Rudar Probishtip (14th) |

## Participating teams

| Club | City | Stadium |
| Balkan BISI | Skopje | Chair Stadium |
| Belasica | Strumica | Stadion Mladost |
| Bregalnica | Shtip | Gradski stadion Shtip |
| Cementarnica 55 | Skopje | Stadion Cementarnica |
| Makedonija | Skopje | Stadion Gjorche Petrov |
| Pelister | Bitola | Stadion Tumbe Kafe |
| Pobeda | Prilep | Stadion Goce Delchev |
| Rudar | Probishtip | Gradski stadion Probishtip |
| Sasa | Makedonska Kamenica | Gradski stadion Makedonska Kamenica |
| Shkëndija | Tetovo | Gradski stadion Tetovo |
| Sileks | Kratovo | Stadion Sileks |
| Sloga Jugomagnat | Skopje | Chair Stadium |
| Tikvesh | Kavadarci | Gradski stadion Kavadarci |
| Vardar | Skopje | Gradski stadion Skopje |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Sileks (C) | 26 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 83 | 23 | +60 | 62 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Pobeda | 26 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 55 | 26 | +29 | 54 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Sloga Jugomagnat | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 42 | 25 | +17 | 46 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Vardar | 26 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 32 | 15 | +17 | 40 | |
| 5 | Sasa | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 36 | 31 | +5 | 37 | |
| 6 | Bregalnica Shtip | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 30 | 33 | −3 | 35 | |
| 7 | Makedonija | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 34 | |
| 8 | Balkan | 26 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 31 | 26 | +5 | 33 | |
| 9 | Pelister | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 33 | |
| 10 | Belasica | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 32 | 41 | −9 | 33 | |
| 11 | Tikvesh | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 32 | |
| 12 | Cementarnica 55 | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 32 | 39 | −7 | 29 | |
| 13 | Shkëndija (R) | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 27 | 48 | −21 | 29 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
| 14 | Rudar Probishtip (R) | 26 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 15 | 111 | −96 | 5 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
* ↑ Since Sileks, winners of 1996–97 Macedonian Football Cup, was qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists Sloga Jugomagnat earned a spot in the qualifying round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
* ↑ Vardar were deducted 3 points and fined 48,000 German marks for fielding a suspended player in the match against Sloga Jugomagnat in the 1st round.
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Shkëndija–Cementarnica 55 2–1, Cementarnica 55–Shkëndija 3–1.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BAL | BEL | BRE | CEM | MGP | PEL | POB | RUD | SAS | SKE | SIL | SLO | TIK | VAR |
| Balkan | — | 4–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–0 |
| Belasica | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Bregalnica Shtip | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 8–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Cementarnica 55 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Makedonija | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | 7–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| Pelister | 0–3 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Pobeda | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 5–1 | 9–2 | 2–3 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 |
| Rudar Probishtip | 0–0 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–7 | 0–1 | — | 1–5 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 1–7 | 0–1 |
| Sasa | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 6–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Shkëndija | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Sileks | 2–0 | 7–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 17–1 | 6–2 | 6–2 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Sloga Jugomagnat | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 7–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 6–1 | 3–0 |
| Tikvesh | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 0–2 |
| Vardar | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 7–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 4–0 | — |
* 1 2 3 Match awarded

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Miroslav Gjokić | Sileks | 16 |
| 2 | Goran Stankovski | Sloga Jugomagnat | 12 |
| 2 | Dragan Mučibabić | Makedonija | 12 |
| 2 | Vancho Micevski | Pelister | 12 |
| 5 | Nexhat Shabani | Pobeda | 11 |
| 5 | Rogério Oliveira | Pobeda | 11 |
| 5 | Mario Petkov | Belasica | 11 |
| 8 | Dejan Ristevski | Cementarnica | 11 |
| 8 | Toni Eftimov | Pelister | 11 |
| 10 | Sasho Krstev | Pobeda | 9 |
| 10 | Iskender Jonuzi | Shkëndija | 9 |
Source: Top15goalscorers.blogspot.com