The 2009–10 Croatian First Football League (also known as 1. HNL; officially styled as T-Com Prva HNL for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. It began on 24 July 2009 and ended on 13 May 2010. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their eleventh championship title (and fourth consecutive title) the previous season, and they defended the title again, after a goalless draw with Hajduk Split on 1 May 2010.
The format was changed from previous season in that the league was expanded from 12 to 16 clubs.
Promotion and relegation from 2008–09 Due to the expansion, no teams were directly relegated following the 2008–09 season.
Four teams from 2008–09 Druga HNL earned direct promotion. These were champions Istra 1961, runners-up Karlovac, third-placed Lokomotiva and fifth-placed Međimurje. Fourth-placed team Slavonac CO had to step back from promotion after they were not able to find a suitable ground.
Croatia Sesvete as last-placed team had to compete in a two-legged play-off against the sixth-placed team from Druga HNL, Hrvatski Dragovoljac. After a scoreless first leg, Croatia Sesvete retained their Prva HNL status by winning the second leg, 2–1.
Overview
Teams TeamHead coachTeam captain2008–09 resultKitmakerShirt sponsor Stanko Mršić Boris LeutarJakoCroatia osiguranje Goran Jerković Saša MusDiadora Krunoslav Jurčić Igor BišćanDiadoraINA, Croatia osiguranje Stanko Poklepović Srđan AndrićUmbroINA Ilija Lončarević Tomislav ŠarićLegeaHidrocommerce Zoran Vulić Dalibor PauletićLegeaPuris, Favorit pivo Igor Pamić Matija ŠtefančićLegea Roy Ferenčina Željko SopićLegea Tomislav Ivković Mario DarmopilLegea Tomislav Steinbrückner Domagoj VidaLegeaCroatia osiguranje Nenad Gračan Fausto BudicinJakoCroatia osiguranje Zlatko Dalić Dalibor PoldrugačAdidasBelupo Branko Karačić Arijan AdemiJako Samir Toplak Miljenko MumlekLegeaCroatia osiguranje Dalibor Zebić Jakov SuraćJako Igor Štimac Ivan ParlovLegea
Stadia and locations Since most Druga HNL stadiums failed to meet the licensing requirements for top-level football, the Croatian Football Federation announced on 8 May 2008 that clubs who are likely to win promotion berths have agreed to lease stadiums approved for top-flight football. Below is the list of all the stadiums which are licensed to be used in the Prva HNL, along with their home clubs and the promoted clubs who secured rights to use them as "guests" until their own grounds have sufficiently been upgraded to host top-level matches.
StadiumCityHome clubLicensed club(s)Capacity Stadion HNK Cibalia Vinkovci Cibalia 9,920 ŠRC Zaprešić Zaprešić Inter Zaprešić 4,528 Kranjčevićeva Zagreb NK Zagreb Croatia Sesvete 8,850 Kantrida Rijeka Rijeka 10,275 Poljud Split Hajduk Split 35,000 Stadion Varteks Varaždin Varteks 10,800 Maksimir Zagreb Dinamo Zagreb Lokomotiva 37,168 Gradski vrt Osijek Osijek 19,500 Gradski stadion Koprivnica Slaven Belupo 4,000 Šubićevac Šibenik Šibenik 8,000 Stanovi Zadar Zadar 5,860 Branko Čavlović-Čavlek Karlovac Karlovac 12,000 SRC Mladost Čakovec Međimurje 8,000 Veruda Pula Istra 1961 3,000
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Slaven Belupo Mile Petković Milivoj Bračun Hajduk Split Ante Miše Ivica Kalinić Šibenik Ivica Kalinić Branko Karačić Slaven Belupo Milivoj Bračun Zlatko Dalić Hajduk Split Ivica Kalinić Edoardo Reja Croatia Sesvete Anto Petrović Nenad Gračan NK Zagreb Luka Pavlović Igor Štimac Rijeka Robert Rubčić Zoran Vulić Međimurje Mario Ćutuk Srećko Bogdan Istra 1961 Elvis Scoria Valdi Šumberac Rijeka Zoran Vulić Nenad Gračan Croatia Sesvete Nenad Gračan Anto Petrović Croatia Sesvete Anto Petrović Adolf Pinter Varteks Dražen Besek Damir Jagačić Hajduk Split Edoardo Reja Stanko Poklepović Istra 1961 Valdi Šumberac Zoran Vulić Croatia Sesvete Adolf Pinter Goran Jerković Varteks Damir Jagačić Samir Toplak Međimurje Srećko Bogdan Tomislav Ivković Inter Zaprešić Borimir Perković Ilija Lončarević
League table
Results
Top goalscorers As of 13 May 2010; Source: HRnogomet.com
Rank Player Club Goals1 Davor Vugrinec NK Zagreb182 Senijad Ibričić Hajduk Split173 Asim Šehić Istra 1961154 Nino Bule Lokomotiva14 Mario Mandžukić Dinamo Zagreb6 Bojan Golubović Međimurje13 Pedro Morales Dinamo Zagreb8 Milan Badelj Dinamo Zagreb11 Miljenko Mumlek Varteks Ermin Zec Šibenik
Transfers List of Croatian football transfers summer 2009 List of Croatian football transfers winter 2009–10
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Hajduk 4,667 2 Dinamo Zagreb 3,967 3 Cibalia 2,780 4 Karlovac 2,767 5 Osijek 2,667 6 Šibenik 2,133 7 Rijeka 2,093 8 Zadar 1,927 9 Slaven 1,620 10 Istra 1,450 11 Zagreb 1,413 12 Varteks 1,360 13 Međimurje 1,347 14 Zaprešić 1,140 15 Sesvete 603 16 Lokomotiva 460
Source:
See also 2009–10 Croatian Football Cup 2009–10 Croatian Second Football League
References
External links Season statistics at HRNogomet Official website Prva HNL at UEFA.com 2009–10 in Croatian Football at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation