2001–02 Croatian First Football League

The 2001–02 Croatian First Football League was the eleventh season of the Croatian First Football League since its establishment in 1992. NK Zagreb became champions for the first time, and were the first and until 2017 only league winners from outside the Eternal Derby rivalry. The campaign began on 28 July 2001 and ended on 4 May 2002. The league expanded to 16 teams (from 12 in the previous season), and was contested by all the 12 teams who competed in the previous season plus four newly promoted ones from Croatian Second Football League.

Croatian First Football League
Season2001–02
ChampionsNK Zagreb
1st Croatian title
Relegated
Champions LeagueNK Zagreb
UEFA Cup
Intertoto Cup
Matches played240
Goals scored680 (2.83 per match)
Top goalscorerIvica Olić (21)
Biggest home win
Biggest away winOsijek 1–6 Dinamo Z.
Highest scoring
Average attendance2,400

The first goal of the season was scored by Dinamo Zagreb's Dario Zahora against newly promoted TŠK Topolovac in the 13th minute of the game on the opening day of the season on 28 July.[1] Miljenko Mumlek of Varteks scored the first hat-trick of the season against Hajduk Split, two of them from penalty kicks, at Poljud on 17 August 2001.[2]

NK Zagreb clinched their first ever title after they drew 0–0 against Čakovec and their last competitor for the title Hajduk Split lost 1–0 to Hrvatski Dragovoljac in the penultimate 29th round of the season which took place on 27 April 2002. It was the third Croatian First Football League title for NK Zagreb manager Zlatko Kranjčar, who thus became the first manager to have won the Prva HNL in charge of two different clubs (in 1996 and 1998 he clinched two championship titles with Croatia Zagreb, renamed Dinamo Zagreb in 2000). The top goalscorer of the season was Ivica Olić with 21 goals scored in 29 appearances for NK Zagreb.

Promotion and relegation

Since it had been decided that the league would expand to 16 teams for the 2001–02 season, only Marsonia were in danger of relegation, having finished last the previous season. Marsonia then played second level side Solin in a two-legged promotion/relegation playoff on 3 and 10 June 2001. The aggregate score was 5–5, but Marsonia won the tie on away goals rule, so no team were relegated.

Teams promoted from 2000–01 Croatian Second Football League:

  • Winners: Kamen Ingrad
  • Second place: Pomorac
  • Fourth place: Zadar
  • Fifth place: TŠK Topolovac (Agreed to host home matches at Gradski stadion in the nearby town of Sisak as their own ground was deemed unfit for first-league football.)

Summaries

The following is an overview of teams which competed in the 2001–02 Prva HNL. The list of managers is correct as of 27 July 2001, the first day of the season.

Locations of teams in 2001–02 Prva HNL
Team Manager Home city Stadium Capacity
Cibalia Davor Čop Vinkovci Stadion HNK Cibalia 9,920
Čakovec Rajko Magić Čakovec Stadion SRC Mladost 8,000
Dinamo Zagreb Ilija Lončarević Zagreb Stadion Maksimir 37,168
Hajduk Split Nenad Gračan Split Stadion Poljud 35,000
Hrvatski Dragovoljac Luka Bonačić Zagreb Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić 5,000
Kamen Ingrad Tomislav Radić Velika Stadion Kamen Ingrad 8,000
Marsonia Milo Nižetić Slavonski Brod Gradski stadion uz Savu 10,000
Osijek Vlado Bilić Osijek Stadion Gradski vrt 19,500
Pomorac Predrag Stilinović Kostrena Stadion Žuknica 3,000
Rijeka Ivan Katalinić Rijeka Stadion Kantrida 10,275
Slaven Belupo Dražen Besek Koprivnica Gradski stadion 4,000
Šibenik Vjekoslav Lokica Šibenik Stadion Šubićevac 8,000
TŠK Topolovac Ivica Vidović Topolovac Gradski stadion 8,000
Varteks Branko Janžek Varaždin Stadion Varteks 10,800
Zadar Stanko Mršić Zadar Stadion Stanovi 5,860
NK Zagreb Zlatko Kranjčar Zagreb Stadion Kranjčevićeva 8,850

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Čakovec Rajko Magić
Sacked
 13 October 2001[3] Miljenko Dovečer 13 October 2001[3]
Kamen Ingrad Tomislav Radić Removed from position 23 December 2001[4] Rajko Magić 23 December 2001[4]
Dinamo Zagreb Ilija Lončarević Sacked 14 April 2002[5] Marijan Vlak (c) 14 April 2002[5]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 NK Zagreb (C) 30 20 7 3 71 24 +47 67 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Hajduk Split 30 20 5 5 61 28 +33 65 Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 Dinamo Zagreb 30 18 5 7 58 30 +28 59 Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
4 Varteks 30 17 6 7 58 40 +18 57 Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
5 Rijeka 30 15 6 9 46 37 +9 51 Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
6 Slaven Belupo 30 11 9 10 34 36 −2 42
7 Pomorac 30 12 4 14 36 41 −5 40
8 Osijek 30 11 4 15 45 48 −3 37
9 Zadar 30 9 9 12 43 47 −4 36
10 Cibalia 30 9 9 12 34 37 −3 36
11 Šibenik (O) 30 10 6 14 33 36 −3 36 Qualification to relegation play-offs
12 Kamen Ingrad (O) 30 9 8 13 28 46 −18 35
13 Hrvatski Dragovoljac (R) 30 9 7 14 34 45 −11 34 Relegation to Croatian Second Football League
14 Čakovec (R) 30 9 5 16 31 44 −13 32
15 Marsonia (R) 30 8 6 16 37 46 −9 30
16 TŠK Topolovac (R) 30 4 2 24 31 95 −64 14
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.

Relegation play-offs

First legs were held on 15 May and second legs on 19 May, 2002.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Vukovar '91 3–4 Šibenik 0–0 3–4
Istra Pula 1–3 Kamen Ingrad 0–1 1–2

Results
Home \ Away CIB ČAK DIN HAJ HRD KAM MAR OSI POM RIJ SLA ŠIB TŠK VAR ZAD ZAG
Cibalia 2–0 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 3–2 1–0 4–3 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–3 0–1 1–1 2–1
Čakovec 2–2 0–2 0–3 2–0 2–0 3–1 0–2 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 3–0 0–0
Dinamo Zagreb 2–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 4–0 3–1 2–1 4–0 2–3 4–1 2–0 3–2 5–0 0–0 3–3
Hajduk Split 1–0 3–0 2–1 1–1 5–0 0–0 2–2 3–0 4–1 4–1 1–0 4–0 1–5 1–0 0–2
Hrvatski Dragovoljac 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–2 5–1 3–0 1–1 0–4 3–2 1–3 1–0 0–1
Kamen Ingrad 1–1 3–2 1–0 1–3 0–0 2–4 2–4 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–0
Marsonia 2–1 1–2 1–2 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–4 1–1 1–2 3–0 1–1 2–3 1–2
Osijek 0–0 1–2 0–3 1–2 6–1 2–1 4–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 4–1 1–2 2–0 1–6
Pomorac 2–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 4–0 2–1 2–0 1–0
Rijeka 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–2 3–2 4–1 1–0 4–0 2–2 1–0 5–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–1
Slaven Belupo 0–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 4–1 1–0 2–0 3–0 2–2 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 2–2
Šibenik 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 3–0 8–0 1–0 2–0 2–3
TŠK Topolovac 0–3 1–3 2–4 2–5 0–4 1–1 0–5 1–3 1–3 2–3 4–1 1–1 4–1 2–1 0–2
Varteks 2–1 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 1–2 2–0 2–0 3–0 4–0 5–1 1–4
Zadar 1–0 4–1 1–2 1–5 2–0 0–0 2–2 4–3 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–2 7–1 3–4 0–0
NK Zagreb 3–0 4–0 2–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 4–3 3–0 2–0 3–0 8–0 5–2 1–1
Source: Sportnet.hr (in Croatian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Ivica Olić NK Zagreb 21
2 Saša Bjelanović Varteks 16
3 Admir Hasančić NK Zagreb 14
Dario Zahora Dinamo Zagreb
5 Tomislav Erceg Hajduk Split 13
Marin Lalić Hrvatski Dragovoljac
Natko Rački Rijeka
Zoran Zekić Zadar
9 Mate Dragičević Šibenik 12
10 Zvonimir Deranja Hajduk Split 11
Petar Krpan NK Zagreb

Source: 1.hnl.net (in Croatian)

See also

References
  1. Čop, Goran (30 July 2001). "Ilijini mladi lavovi" (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
  2. Cibilić, Ante (18 August 2001). "Petarda uzdrmala Poljud prije Mallorce" (in Croatian). Vjesnik. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
  3. Šantl, Dejan (16 October 2001). "Čakovec: Dovečer "do daljnjeg"!" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  4. Pilon, Bruno (23 December 2001). "Rajko Magić novi trener Kamen Ingrada" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  5. "Trenerska kronologija od Mamićevog povratka u Dinamo" (in Croatian). Nogometni magazin. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
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