The 2007–08 Croatian First Football League (also known as 1. HNL; officially styled as T-Com Prva HNL for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 20 July 2007 and ended on 10 May 2008. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their eleventh championship title the previous season, and they defended the title again, after a win against Međimurje on 12 April 2008.
Promotion and relegation Kamen Ingrad were automatically relegated to Druga HNL as they finished last in the previous season, while Inter Zaprešić were automatically promoted from Druga HNL after winning the 2006–07 title. In a two-legged playoff between Zadar and Pula, Zadar were promoted to Prva HNL by beating Pula with 6–2 on aggregate (3–0, 3–2).
Teams
Stadia and personnel TeamManager1LocationStadiumCapacityCibalia Srećko LušićVinkovci Stadion HNK Cibalia 10,000Dinamo Zagreb Zvonimir SoldoZagrebStadion Maksimir 37,168Hajduk Split Robert JarniSplitStadion Poljud 35,000Inter Zaprešić Milivoj BračunZagrebStadion ŠRC Zaprešić 5,000Međimurje Miljenko DovečerČakovecStadion SRC Mladost 8,000Osijek Ilija LončarevićOsijekStadion Gradski vrt 19,500Rijeka Zlatko DalićRijekaStadion Kantrida 10,275Slaven Belupo Krunoslav JurčićKoprivnicaGradski stadion u Koprivnici 4,000Šibenik Ivica KalinićŠibenikStadion Šubićevac 8,000Varteks Dražen BesekVaraždinStadion Varteks 10,800Zadar Dalibor ZebićZadarStadion Stanovi 5,860NK Zagreb Miroslav BlaževićZagrebStadion Kranjčevićeva 8,850 1 On final match day of the season, played on 10 May 2008.
League table
Results The schedule consisted of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.
Relegation play-off Following the end of season, a home-and-away relegation/promotion play-off was contested between Inter Zaprešić (11th placed team in the First League) and Hrvatski Dragovoljac (2nd placed team in the 2007–08 Second Football League). Matches were played on 17 and 21 May 2008, with Inter Zaprešić retaining their top level status by beating Hrvatski Dragovoljac 2–0 on aggregate.
First leg
Second leg
Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Želimir Terkeš Zadar212 Radomir Đalović Rijeka183 Nikola Kalinić Hajduk Split174 Krunoslav Lovrek NK Zagreb145 Luka Modrić Dinamo Zagreb136 Senijad Ibričić NK Zagreb12 Željko Malčić Cibalia Mario Mandžukić Dinamo Zagreb9 Boško Balaban Dinamo Zagreb11 Anas Sharbini Rijeka Josip Tadić Dinamo Zagreb Ognjen Vukojević Dinamo Zagreb
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Dinamo Zagreb 7,165 2 Hajduk 5,088 3 Rijeka 3,294 4 Zadar 3,288 5 Osijek 2,518 6 Varteks 2,406 7 Šibenik 2,375 8 Cibalia 1,906 9 Slaven 1,829 10 Zagreb 1,394 11 Međimurje 1,288 12 Zaprešić 1,244Source:
See also 2007–08 Croatian Football Cup 2007–08 Croatian Second Football League
References
External links Season statistics at HRNogomet 2007–08 in Croatian Football at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation