1996–97 Croatian First Football League

Croatian First Football League
Season	1996–97
Champions	Croatia Zagreb; 3rd Croatian title; 7th domestic title
Relegated	Several clubs
Champions League	Croatia Zagreb
UEFA Cup	Hajduk Split
Cup Winners' Cup	NK Zagreb
Intertoto Cup	Hrvatski Dragovoljac
Matches	240
Goals	649 (2.7 per match)
Top goalscorer	Igor Cvitanović (20)
Biggest home win	Croatia Zagreb 7–0 Istra; Hajduk Split 7–0 Marsonia
Biggest away win	NK Zagreb 0–6 Croatia Zagreb; Marsonia 0–6 Croatia Zagreb
Highest scoring	Rijeka 5–3 Marsonia; Zadarkomerc 3–5 Varteks
Average attendance	2,903
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Croatian First Football League was the sixth season of the Croatian top-level football league since its establishment.

Season1996–97

ChampionsCroatia Zagreb
3rd Croatian title
7th domestic title

RelegatedSeveral clubs

Quick facts Season, Champions ...

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Team	Manager¹	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Cibalia	Tomislav Radić	Vinkovci
Croatia Zagreb	Otto Barić	Zagreb	Stadion Maksimir	37,168
Hajduk Split	Ivan Buljan	Split	Stadion Poljud	35,000
Hrvatski Dragovoljac	Blaž Slišković	Velika Gorica	Stadion Radnik	8,000
Inker Zaprešić	Đuro Bago	Zaprešić
Istra Pula	Ivica Šangulin	Pula
Marsonia	Miroslav Buljan	Slavonski Brod
Mladost 127	Zlatko Toth	Suhopolje	Stadion Park	5,000
Orijent	Ilija Lončarević	Rijeka	Stadion Krimeja	6,000
Osijek	Milan Đuričić	Osijek	Stadion Gradski vrt	19,500
Rijeka	Branko Ivanković	Rijeka	Stadion Kantrida	10,275
Segesta	Zlatko Kranjčar	Sisak
Šibenik	Vinko Begović	Šibenik	Stadion Šubićevac	8,000
Varteks	Ivan Marković	Varaždin	Stadion Varteks	10,800
Zadarkomerc	Ante Čačić	Zadar	Stadion Stanovi	5,860
NK Zagreb	Krešimir Ganjto	Zagreb	Stadion Kranjčevićeva	8,850

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Croatia Zagreb (C)	30	26	3	1	90	23	+67	81	Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2	Hajduk Split	30	18	6	6	53	22	+31	60	Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Hrvatski Dragovoljac	30	13	10	7	51	37	+14	49	Qualification to Intertoto Cup group stage
4	Rijeka	30	13	7	10	44	32	+12	46
5	NK Zagreb	30	13	6	11	43	39	+4	45	Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
6	Varteks	30	12	6	12	34	35	−1	42
7	Šibenik	30	11	8	11	35	30	+5	41
8	Osijek	30	12	5	13	40	38	+2	41
9	Mladost 127	30	10	10	10	37	36	+1	40
10	Zadarkomerc	30	11	7	12	39	45	−6	40
11	Segesta (R)	30	9	12	9	35	34	+1	39	Qualification to relegation play-offs
12	Marsonia (R)	30	11	5	14	38	50	−12	38
13	Cibalia (R)	30	11	0	19	35	56	−21	33
14	Orijent (R)	30	5	11	14	28	53	−25	26	Relegation to Croatian Second Football League
15	Istra Pula (R)	30	6	7	17	25	54	−29	25
16	Inker Zaprešić (R)	30	6	3	21	22	65	−43	21

Home \ Away	CIB	CZG	HAJ	HRD	INK	IST	MAR	MLA	ORI	OSI	RIJ	SEG	ŠIB	VAR	ZAD	ZAG
Cibalia		0–1	3–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0	3–0	0–3	1–2	1–4	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	0–2
Croatia Zagreb	3–0		2–1	2–1	5–1	7–0	4–2	2–3	3–2	3–2	3–0	3–3	4–0	6–1	2–0	4–1
Hajduk Split	4–0	1–2		0–0	4–0	2–3	7–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	5–1	1–0
Hrvatski Dragovoljac	2–1	0–3	0–0		4–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	3–2	5–1	4–1	0–0	3–1	4–2
Inker Zaprešić	2–1	1–2	0–2	1–0		1–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	0–0	0–2	0–3	2–1	1–4	0–1	1–2
Istra Pula	1–0	0–3	1–1	1–4	1–0		0–2	2–2	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–1	3–0	3–2
Marsonia	1–0	0–6	2–1	1–2	4–1	1–0		2–0	3–0	0–3	1–0	0–0	1–2	2–0	1–1	4–1
Mladost 127	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–4	3–2	3–1	2–0		5–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	3–0	3–0	0–0
Orijent	2–1	1–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1		2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–1
Osijek	1–2	0–4	0–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	5–1		4–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–2
Rijeka	3–0	1–2	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–0	5–3	0–0	4–0	2–0		2–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	3–0
Segesta	3–1	0–1	0–0	3–0	4–0	3–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–0		1–0	1–3	2–2	1–1
Šibenik	5–0	0–0	0–2	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–0	5–1	2–0	0–1	0–0		0–0	2–1	2–0
Varteks	2–0	0–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	4–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–2		1–0	1–1
Zadarkomerc	2–3	1–2	2–2	1–1	3–1	1–0	2–1	4–2	1–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	0–0	3–5		1–0
NK Zagreb	6–1	0–6	2–0	4–0	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–0	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Samobor (P)	30	22	6	2	70	21	+49	72	Qualification to relegation play-offs
2	Slaven Belupo (P)	30	16	6	8	51	26	+25	54
3	Dubrovnik (R)	30	15	8	7	54	33	+21	53
4	Slavonija Požega	30	16	5	9	44	30	+14	52	Relegation to Croatian Second Football League
5	Mosor	30	15	5	10	42	28	+14	50
6	Ponikve	30	14	3	13	50	47	+3	45
7	Belišće	30	12	8	10	41	35	+6	44
8	Čakovec	30	13	4	13	41	45	−4	43
9	Zagorec Krapina	30	12	6	12	51	42	+9	42
10	Primorac	30	13	2	15	32	49	−17	41
11	Uskok Klis	30	10	5	15	42	54	−12	35
12	Junak	30	9	8	13	29	46	−17	35
13	Graničar Županja	30	10	5	15	34	47	−13	35
14	Neretva	30	9	6	15	25	50	−25	33
15	Napredak Velika Mlaka	30	7	5	18	37	56	−19	26
16	Olimpija Osijek	30	3	6	21	27	61	−34	15

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Samobor	2	2	0	4	2	+2	6	Advanced to Croatian First Football League
2	Marsonia	2	1	1	5	2	+3	3	Relegation to Croatian Second Football League
3	Dubrovnik	2	0	2	1	6	−5	0	Relegation to Croatian Second Football League

Stadia and personnel

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Slaven Belupo	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2	4	Advanced to Croatian First Football League
2	Segesta	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	Relegation to Croatian Second Football League
3	Cibalia	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	1	Relegation to Croatian Second Football League

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Igor Cvitanović	Croatia Zagreb	20
2	Dragan Vukoja	Hrvatski Dragovoljac	19
3	Mark Viduka	Croatia Zagreb	18
4	Jurica Vučko	Hajduk Split	16
5	Silvio Marić	Croatia Zagreb	13
5	Davor Vugrinec	Varteks	13
7	Miljenko Mumlek	Varteks	12
8	Admir Hasančić	Rijeka	10
	Neno Katulić	Marsonia
	Dumitru Mitu	Osijek
	Josip Skoko	Hajduk Split