# 1996–97 First League of FR Yugoslavia

The 1996–97 First League of FR Yugoslavia was the fifth season of the FR Yugoslavia's top-level football league since its establishment.

## Overview

For the fourth season in a raw that the league was divided in 2 groups, A and B, consisting each of 10 clubs. Both groups were played in league system. By winter break all clubs in each group meet each other twice, home and away, with the bottom four classified from A group moving to the group B, and being replaced by the top four from the B group. At the end of the season the same situation happened with four teams being replaced from A and B groups, adding the fact that the bottom three clubs from the B group were relegated into the Second League of FR Yugoslavia for the next season and replaced by the top three from that league.
At the end of the season FK Partizan were the champions in the second consecutive year.
The league top-scorer was Red Star Belgrade striker Zoran Jovičić with 21 goals.
The relegated clubs were OFK Kikinda, FK Sloboda Užice and FK Mladost Bački Jarak.

## Teams
### 1A League

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Partizan | Belgrade | Partizan Stadium | 32,710 |
| Red Star | Belgrade | Red Star Stadium | 55,538 |
| Vojvodina | Novi Sad | Karađorđe Stadium | 17,204 |
| Zemun | Zemun, Belgrade | Zemun Stadium | 10,000 |
| Rad | Belgrade | Stadion Kralj Petar I | 6,000 |
| Proleter | Zrenjanin | Stadion Karađorđev park | 13,500 |
| Hajduk Kula | Kula | Stadion Hajduk | 6,000 |
| Budućnost Podgorica | Podgorica | Podgorica City Stadium | 12,000 |
| Bečej | Bečej | Stadion kraj Tise | 3,000 |
| Borac | Čačak | Čačak Stadium | 6,000 |
| Mladost Lučani | Lučani | Mladost Stadium | 8,000 |
| Čukarički | Belgrade | Stadion Čukarički | 7,000 |

### 1B League

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Mladost Bački Jarak | Bački Jarak | Stadion Livadice | 3,000 |
| Sloboda | Užice | Užice City Stadium | 12,000 |
| Loznica | Loznica | Stadion Lagator | 4,000 |
| Obilić | Belgrade | FK Obilić Stadium | 4,500 |
| Sutjeska | Nikšić | Gradski stadion (Nikšić) | 10,800 |
| OFK Beograd | Karaburma, Belgrade | Omladinski Stadium | 20,000 |
| Spartak | Subotica | Subotica City Stadium | 13,000 |
| Radnički Niš | Niš | Čair Stadium | 18,000 |
| Železnik | Belgrade | Železnik Stadium | 8,000 |
| Budućnost Valjevo | Valjevo | Park Pećina | 6,000 |
| OFK Kikinda | Kikinda | Kikinda City Stadium | 6,000 |
| Rudar Pljevlja | Pljevlja | Stadion pod Golubinjom | 10,000 |

## IA league
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Partizan (C) | 33 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 88 | 17 | +71 | 84 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Red Star | 33 | 25 | 3 | 5 | 79 | 30 | +49 | 78 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Vojvodina | 33 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 53 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 4 | Hajduk Kula | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 44 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup group stage |
| 5 | Proleter Zrenjanin | 33 | 12 | 6 | 15 | 48 | 46 | +2 | 42 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup group stage |
| 6 | Čukarički | 33 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 35 | 46 | −11 | 41 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup group stage |
| 7 | Zemun | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 41 | |
| 8 | Mladost Lučani | 33 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 45 | 59 | −14 | 41 | |
| 9 | Rad | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 33 | 38 | −5 | 40 | |
| 10 | Budućnost Podgorica | 33 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 26 | 44 | −18 | 39 | Qualification for IA/IB play-off |
| 11 | Bečej | 33 | 11 | 5 | 17 | 34 | 48 | −14 | 38 | Transfer to IB League |
| 12 | Borac Čačak | 33 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 22 | 93 | −71 | 14 | Transfer to IB League |

### Results
#### First and second round

| Home \ Away | BEČ | BOR | BPO | ČUK | HAJ | MLA | PAR | PRO | RAD | RSB | VOJ | ZEM |
| Bečej | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Borac Čačak | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–10 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| Budućnost Podgorica | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Čukarički | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Hajduk Kula | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Mladost Lučani | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Partizan | 6–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Proleter Zrenjanin | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 6–1 | 0–2 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| Rad | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–5 | 0–0 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Red Star | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 8–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 5–1 | | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Vojvodina | 3–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | | 2–1 |
| Zemun | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | |

#### Third round

| Home \ Away | BEČ | BOR | BPO | ČUK | HAJ | MLA | PAR | PRO | RAD | RSB | VOJ | ZEM |
| Bečej | | | 2–0 | 1–0 | | | 0–3 | | | | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Borac Čačak | 1–3 | | 2–0 | 0–2 | | | | 2–2 | 1–2 | | | |
| Budućnost Podgorica | | | | 1–0 | | | 1–1 | 1–1 | | | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Čukarički | | | | | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | | |
| Hajduk Kula | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | | 2–1 | | | 1–0 | 1–3 | | |
| Mladost Lučani | 1–0 | 5–2 | 0–1 | | | | | | 1–1 | 2–5 | | 2–2 |
| Partizan | | 4–0 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 7–0 | | 3–1 | | 2–1 | | |
| Proleter Zrenjanin | 2–0 | | | | 2–1 | 1–0 | | | 4–1 | 0–0 | | |
| Rad | 3–1 | | 3–0 | | | 1–2 | 1–0 | | | | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Red Star | 1–0 | 7–0 | 4–1 | | | | | | 1–0 | | 4–3 | 1–0 |
| Vojvodina | | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | | | | |
| Zemun | | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | | | 2–2 | |

## IB league
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Obilić | 33 | 25 | 4 | 4 | 65 | 16 | +49 | 79 | Transfer to IA League |
| 2 | Železnik | 33 | 20 | 4 | 9 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 64 | Transfer to IA League |
| 3 | Loznica | 33 | 20 | 1 | 12 | 48 | 25 | +23 | 61 | Qualification for IA/IB play-off |
| 4 | Radnički Niš | 33 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 66 | 36 | +30 | 56 | |
| 5 | OFK Beograd | 33 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 44 | 28 | +16 | 56 | |
| 6 | Rudar Pljevlja | 33 | 14 | 4 | 15 | 44 | 46 | −2 | 46 | |
| 7 | Budućnost Valjevo | 33 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 42 | 49 | −7 | 41 | |
| 8 | Sutjeska | 33 | 12 | 4 | 17 | 43 | 56 | −13 | 40 | |
| 9 | OFK Kikinda (R) | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 16 | 41 | −25 | 31 | Qualification for relegation play-off |
| 10 | Spartak Subotica | 33 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 27 | 60 | −33 | 30 | Qualification for relegation play-off |
| 11 | Sloboda Užice (R) | 33 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 27 | 52 | −25 | 28 | Relegation to Second League of FR Yugoslavia |
| 12 | Mladost Bački Jarak (R) | 33 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 23 | 56 | −33 | 26 | Relegation to Second League of FR Yugoslavia |

### Results
#### First and second round

| Home \ Away | BVA | KIK | LOZ | MBJ | OBI | OFK | RNI | RUD | SLO | SPA | SUT | ŽEL |
| Budućnost Valjevo | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 6–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| Kikinda | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Loznica | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Mladost Bački Jarak | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Obilić | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| OFK Beograd | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Radnički Niš | 7–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Rudar Pljevlja | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 4–2 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Sloboda Užice | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Spartak Subotica | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–5 | 1–4 | 1–2 | | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Sutjeska | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | | 3–1 |
| Železnik | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | |

#### Third round

| Home \ Away | BVA | KIK | LOZ | MBJ | OBI | OFK | RNI | RUD | SLO | SPA | SUT | ŽEL |
| Budućnost Valjevo | | | | | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | | 3–0 | | 1–1 | |
| Kikinda | 0–0 | | | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–5 | | 0–0 | | | |
| Loznica | 4–0 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 3–2 | | | 1–0 | | |
| Mladost Bački Jarak | 2–1 | 0–0 | | | | | | | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | |
| Obilić | | | 1–0 | 5–1 | | | | 4–1 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| OFK Beograd | | | | 3–0 | 0–3 | | | 4–0 | 4–0 | | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Radnički Niš | | | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 4–1 | 4–0 | | 7–0 | |
| Rudar Pljevlja | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | | | | | 0–1 | | 0–1 |
| Sloboda Užice | | | 0–1 | | | | | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Spartak Subotica | 1–1 | 4–0 | | | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | | | | |
| Sutjeska | | 2–0 | 0–2 | | | | | 6–0 | | 1–0 | | 3–4 |
| Železnik | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | | | 3–1 | | | 1–1 | | |

## IA/IB Playoff

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Loznica | 0–1 | Budućnost Podgorica | 0–0 | 0–1 |

## Relegation playoff

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Kikinda | 2–4 | Radnički Kragujevac | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Spartak Subotica | 3–1 | Palilulac Beograd | 2–1 | 1–0 |

## Winning squad

Champions: Partizan Belgrade (Coach: Ljubiša Tumbaković)
Players (league matches/league goals)
* Ivica Kralj (goalkeeper)
* Nikola Damjanac (goalkeeper)
* Viktor Trenevski
* Bratislav Mijalković
* Darko Tešović
* Georgi Hristov
* Ivan Tomić
* Dražen Bolić
* Mladen Krstajić
* Predrag Pažin
* Đorđe Svetličić
* Dejan Peković
* Dejan Vukićević
* Damir Čakar
* Dragan Ćirić
* Niša Saveljić
* Igor Taševski
Source:

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Zoran Jovičić | Red Star | 21 |
| 2 | Damir Čakar | Partizan | 20 |
| 3 | Damir Stojak | Vojvodina | 16 |
| 4 | Dragan Mićić | Red Star | 14 |
| 5 | Branko Stojanović | Mladost Lučani | 12 |
| 5 | Darko Pivaljević | Mladost Lučani | 12 |
| 7 | Milan Stojanoski | Proleter Zrenjanin | 11 |
| 8 | Ivan Tomić | Partizan | 10 |
| 8 | Dejan Stanković | Red Star | 10 |