The Yugoslav Handball Championship was the highest level competition in men's team handball in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, played regularly for almost four decades between 1953 and 1992, before being abandoned due to the breakup of Yugoslavia.
History The first five editions from 1953 to 1957 were decided via a finals play-off tournament contested by clubs who had qualified in regional competitions, before a regular round-robin league format was introduced for the 1957–58 season. The league featured clubs from all of Yugoslavia's federal subjects, with the most successful being RK Bjelovar with 9 titles, followed by RK Borac Banja Luka and RK Metaloplastika with 7 titles each.
Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the competition was eventually succeeded by the following handball leagues: Handball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian Handball Premier League Macedonian Handball Super League Montenegrin Men's Handball First League Serbian Handball Super League Slovenian First League
Title holders
.....1953 Prvomajska .....1954 Prvomajska .....1955 Crvena zvezda .....1956 Crvena zvezda .....1957 Zagreb 1957–58 Partizan Bjelovar 1958–59 Borac Banja Luka 1959–60 Borac Banja Luka 1960–61 Partizan Bjelovar 1961–62 Zagreb 1962–63 Zagreb 1963–64 Prvomajska/Medveščak 1964–65 Zagreb 1965–66 Medveščak 1966–67 Partizan Bjelovar 1967–68 Partizan Bjelovar 1968–69 Crvenka 1969–70 Partizan Bjelovar 1970–71 Partizan Bjelovar 1971–72 Partizan Bjelovar 1972–73 Borac Banja Luka 1973–74 Borac Banja Luka 1974–75 Borac Banja Luka 1975–76 Borac Banja Luka 1976–77 Partizan Bjelovar 1977–78 Željezničar Sarajevo 1978–79 Partizan Bjelovar 1979–80 Slovan 1980–81 Borac Banja Luka 1981–82 Metaloplastika 1982–83 Metaloplastika 1983–84 Metaloplastika 1984–85 Metaloplastika 1985–86 Metaloplastika 1986–87 Metaloplastika 1987–88 Metaloplastika 1988–89 Zagreb 1989–90 Proleter 1990–91 Zagreb 1991–92 Proleter
Championships by club TitlesClubCity Republic 9 Partizan Bjelovar Bjelovar CRO 7 Borac Banja Luka Banja Luka BIH 7 Metaloplastika Šabac SRB 6 Zagreb Zagreb CRO 4 Medveščak Zagreb CRO 2 Crvena zvezda Belgrade SRB 2 Proleter Zrenjanin SRB 1 Crvenka Crvenka SRB 1 Željezničar Sarajevo BIH 1 Slovan Ljubljana SLO
European success Traditionally one of the strongest handball leagues in Europe, several Yugoslav clubs went on to compete with considerable success in the European Cup (present-day EHF Champions League), the premier continental handball competition. Prior to the breakup of Yugoslavia, six Yugoslav clubs had managed to reach the European finals 11 times, winning four titles.
ClubYears wonYears runners-upYears semi-finalists Metaloplastika2 1 3 1984–85, 1985–86 1983–84 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88 Partizan Bjelovar1 2 2 1971–72 1961–62, 1972–73 1967–68, 1970–71 Borac Banja Luka1 1 — 1975–76 1974–75 Medveščak— 1 — 1964–65 Slovan— 1 — 1980–81 Proleter— 1 — 1990–91 Crvenka— — 1 1969–70
Notable clubs (at least 10 top-flight seasons or at least one title) Borac, Banja Luka Željezničar, Sarajevo Krivaja, Zavidovići Bosna, Sarajevo Sloga, Doboj
Medveščak, Zagreb Partizan, Bjelovar RK Zagreb, Zagreb
Pelister, Bitola Crvena zvezda, Belgrade Crvenka, Crvenka Dubočica, Leskovac Dinamo, Pančevo Železničar, Niš Metaloplastika, Šabac Proleter, Zrenjanin Partizan, Belgrade
Slovan, Ljubljana
References