The First League of the Republika Srpska (; ; ) is a football league in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Together with the First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it forms the second level of football in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The league champion is promoted to the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Relegated teams fall to the Second League of the Republika Srpska.
History Separate and second tier league Since there were three different football championships in the country, organized on ethnic principles, the "First League of the Republika Srpska" was the top flight in the Republika Srpska before 2002. However, the champions of this League were not recognized by UEFA. In 2002, the top clubs from the Republika Srpska joined the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the First League was kept as one of two second level divisions. It is still run by the Football Association of Republika Srpska, and has ended its boycott of Bosnian football on a federal level.
New format and expansion The league changed format in the 2014–15 season and was split into two stages, the regular season and the playoffs. Each of the 12 competitors in the First League hosts every other team once in the regular season, for a total of 22 matches. A playoff phase is then played from April to May. The point system in the championship playoff is the same as during the regular season, except that each team starts with half of the points they won in the regular season, rounded up to the nearest integer. The points gained by rounding are deducted in the case of a tie. Similar systems are also used in the Belgian First Division A and the Polish Ekstraklasa.
The top six teams from the regular season enter the championship playoff, with the first-placed team winning the First League and teams ranked from 7 to 12 after the regular season enter the relegation playoffs. Each team plays their opponents once. The League champion is promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season, and the bottom clubs are relegated to the Second League of the Republika Srpska (third level). The number of relegated teams depends on how many clubs are entering the league. Those are the winners of the two third level league groups, the winner of the relegation play-off, and Republika Srpska clubs relegated from the Premier League. So, sometimes two clubs get relegated, and sometimes three or even four.
On 12 June 2020, it was confirmed that the league will be expanded from 10 to 16 teams in the 2020–21 season. On 13 June 2022, it was confirmed that the league will be expanded from 16 to 18 teams in the 2022–23 season.
Member clubs for 2024–25 Team Last season Zvijezda 09 Relegated Laktaši 2. Rudar Prijedor 3. Leotar 4. Željezničar Banja Luka 5. Famos Vojkovići 6. Kozara Gradiška 7. Sloboda Mrkonjić Grad 8. Slavija Sarajevo 9. Sutjeska Foča 10. Ljubić Prnjavor 11. Velež Nevesinje 12. BSK Banja Luka 13. Drina Zvornik 14. Borac Kozarska Dubica 15. Romanija Pale 16. Drina HE Višegrad Promoted Sloboda Novi Grad Promoted
League champions Previous champions and winners of the league are: Season Champion Runners Up Top Goalscorer Club Goals1995–96 Boksit Milići Rudar Prijedor Siniša Đurić Zoran Majstorović Kozara GradiškaBoksit Milići 16 Goals16 Goals1996–97 Rudar Ugljevik Sloga Trn Mladen Zgonjanin Marić Sloga Trn Glasinac Sokolac 14 Goals 14 Goals1997–98 Rudar Ugljevik Borac Banja Luka Nikola Bala Rudar Ugljevik 31 Goals1998–99 Radnik Bijeljina Rudar Ugljevik Mladen Zgonjanin Sloga Trn 23 Goals1999–2000 Boksit Milići Rudar Ugljevik Nedo Zdjelar Sloboda Novi Grad 29 Goals2000–01 Borac Banja Luka Sloboda Novi Grad Milanko Đerić Boksit Milići 26 Goals2001–02 Leotar Kozara Gradiška Pavle Delibašić Siniša Jovanović Leotar Glasinac Sokolac 21 Goals 21 Goals
Since the 2002–03 season, it became a second national level competition. The league champion gets direct promotion to the Bosnian Premier League.
Season Champion2002–03Modriča2003–04Slavija Sarajevo2004–05Radnik Bijeljina2005–06Borac Banja Luka2006–07Laktaši2007–08Borac Banja Luka2008–09Rudar Prijedor2009–10Drina Zvornik2010–11Kozara Gradiška2011–12Radnik Bijeljina2012–13Mladost Velika Obarska2013–14Drina Zvornik2014–15Rudar Prijedor2015–16Krupa2016–17Borac Banja Luka2017–18Zvijezda 092018–19Borac Banja Luka2019–20Krupa2020–21Rudar Prijedor2021–22Krupa2022–23Krupa2023–24Radnik Bijeljina2024–25Laktaši2025–26BSK Banja Luka
Performance by club Club Winners Winning years Borac Banja Luka 2001, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2019 Krupa 2016, 2020, 2022, 2023 Radnik Bijeljina 1999, 2005, 2012, 2024 Rudar Prijedor 2009, 2015, 2021 Rudar Ugljevik 1997, 1998 Boksit Milići 1996, 2000 Drina Zvornik 2010, 2014 Laktaši 2007, 2025 Leotar 2002 Alfa Modriča 2003 Slavija Sarajevo 2004 Kozara Gradiška 2011 Mladost Velika Obarska 2013 Zvijezda 09 2018 BSK Banja Luka 2026
References
External links Football Association of Republika Srpska