# 1997–98 Macedonian First Football League

The 1997–98 Macedonian First League was the 6th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. The first matches of the season were played on 10 August 1997 and the last on 31 May 1998. Sileks defended their championship title, having won their third title in a row.

## Promotion and relegation

| At the start of the 1997–98 season Promoted from 1996–97 Second League Skopje (Winners; West) Borec (Winners; East) Relegated to 1997–98 Second League Shkëndija (13th) Rudar Probishtip (14th) | At the end of the 1997–98 season Promoted from 1997–98 Second League Rabotnichki Kometal (Winners; West) Osogovo (Winners; East) Relegated to 1998–99 Second League Belasica (13th) Bregalnica Shtip (14th)$^1$ |
1 Bregalnica Shtip was removed from the league after the round 19, due to the absence in a match against Sloga Jugomagnat. Their matches from round 14 were annulled.

## Participating teams

| Club | City | Stadium |
| Balkan BISI | Skopje | Chair Stadium |
| Belasica | Strumica | Stadion Mladost |
| Borec MHK | Veles | Gradski stadion Veles |
| 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 |
| Sasa | Makedonska Kamenica | Gradski stadion Makedonska Kamenica |
| Sileks | Kratovo | Stadion Sileks |
| Skopje | Skopje | Stadion Zhelezarnica |
| 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) | 25 | 15 | 3 | 7 | 40 | 21 | +19 | 48 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Sloga Jugomagnat | 25 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 43 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Makedonija | 25 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 21 | +13 | 42 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round |
| 4 | Vardar | 25 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 41 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 5 | Pobeda | 25 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 39 | |
| 6 | Pelister | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 37 | |
| 7 | Borec | 25 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 30 | −2 | 33 | |
| 8 | Balkan | 25 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 21 | −1 | 31 | |
| 9 | Cementarnica 55 | 25 | 9 | 3 | 13 | 28 | 32 | −4 | 30 | |
| 10 | Skopje | 25 | 9 | 3 | 13 | 31 | 45 | −14 | 30 | |
| 11 | Tikvesh | 25 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 23 | 27 | −4 | 29 | |
| 12 | Sasa | 25 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 32 | −11 | 29 | |
| 13 | Belasica (R) | 25 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 28 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
| 14 | Bregalnica Shtip (R) | 13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 32 | −19 | 12 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
* ↑ Bregalnica Shtip were withdraw from First League after 18th round due to unknown reasons. Their matches from 14th round onwards were annulled.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BAL | BEL | BOR | BRE | CEM | MGP | PEL | POB | SAS | SIL | SKO | SLO | TIK | VAR |
| Balkan | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Belasica | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Borec | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Bregalnica Shtip | — | 3–1 | — | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–3 | 0–3 | — | 2–1 | — |
| Cementarnica 55 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | — | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 |
| Makedonija | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 7–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Pelister | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Pobeda | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–2 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Sasa | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Sileks | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–3 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 |
| Skopje | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | — | 3–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| Sloga Jugomagnat | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Tikvesh | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | — | 3–2 |
| Vardar | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — |
* 1 2 3 4 5 Matches annulled after a withdrawn of Bregalnica Štip.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Vancho Atanasov | Belasica | 12 |
| 2 | Vlado Trifunov | Makedonija | 11 |
| 3 | Ilcho Borov | Pobeda | 10 |
| 3 | Fernando Jefferson | Pelister | 10 |
Source: Top15goalscorers.blogspot.com