The Macedonian football champions are the annual winners of the Macedonian First Football League, North Macedonia's premier annual football league competition. The title has been contested since 1929 in varying forms of competition.
History In 1923, it was organised the first edition of leagues in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia where, beside the top-level national Yugoslav Football Championship, regional championships were also played. The clubs from the Vardarska Banovina, territorially similar to present-day Macedonia, played within the Belgrade Football Subassociation League until 1927,Sijić, pag. 135 when a separate Skoplje Football Subassociation League was formed.Milorad Sijić: "Football in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia", pag. 142 The champions of the Subassociation Leagues were granted a place in the qualifiers for the Yugoslav Championship, a top national level. Gragjanski Skopje became the only club to manage to participate in the national league, first in 1935–36 when the championship was played in a cup system,Sijić, pag. 99-100 and in 1938–39, when it was played in a normal league system with Gragjanski finishing 10th out of 12 teams.Sijić, pag. 111-116 In 1939, the Yugoslav league system was changed, with the creation of separate Serbian and Croato-Slovenian Leagues which would serve as qualifying leagues for the final phase of the Yugoslav Championship.Sijić, pag. 117 The clubs from the Skopje Subassociation played their qualifications to the Serbian League, however only Gragjanski managed to participate, doing so on both occasions, in 1939–40 (5th place)Sijić, pag. 120-121 and 1940–41 (8th place).Sijić, pag. 129 That was the last season before the beginning of the Second World War, during which the region Vardarska Banovina was invaded by Axis allies Albania and Bulgaria.
During the war period, 1941 to 1945, the region became part of Bulgaria, and most of the clubs were incorporated into the Bulgarian league system. Four seasons were played, in which FK Makedonija, a club from Skopje formed by the Bulgarian authorities by merging the previously existing clubs Gragjanski, SSK Skopje and ŽSK into one, became the most prominent.
After the liberation of Yugoslavia and the creation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia within the socialist Yugoslavia, Macedonian clubs participated in the Yugoslav League system that consisted of two or three, depending on time period, national leagues. Below the national leagues, the Republic Leagues were created in each one of the 6 Yugoslav Socialist Republics. The Republic League of SR Macedonia was played between 1945 and 1992, and the top placed teams had access to the Yugoslav national leagues. The most successful clubs from this period were FK Vardar, FK Rabotnički and FK Pobeda, which only don´t count more regional titles because they usually competed in higher national leagues. In 1992 Macedonia declared independence and formed its own league system.
Royal League
Royal District League 1922 - Vardar Skopje 1923 - Vardar Skopje 1924 - Napredok Skopje 1925 - SSK Skopje 1926 - SK Bitola 1927 - Pobeda Skopje Royal Subdivision League 1928 - Pobeda Skopje 1929 - Pobeda Skopje 1930 - Jug, SSK and Sparta, all clubs from Skopje, finished the season with eaqual number of points. 1931 - Not Finished. JUG Skopje 1932 - SSK Skopje 1933 - SSK Skopje 1934 - SSK Skopje 1935 - Not Finished. Slavija Skopje 1936 - Gragjanski Skopje 1937 - Not Finished. Gragjanski Skopje 1938 - Gragjanski Skopje 1939 - Gragjanski Skopje 1940 - SSK Skopje 1941 - SSK Skopje
WW2 Regional League During WWII Macedonia was occupied by German forces.
1942 Makedonija Skopje 1943 ZhSK Skopje 1944 ZhSK Skopje
Macedonian Republic Football League
1944–45 Makedonija 1945–46 Pobeda Skopje ( Vardar ) 1946–47 Makedonija Skopje ( Vardar ) 1947–48 Dinamo Skopje 1948–49 11 Oktomvri Kumanovo 1949–50 Rabotnik Bitola 1950–51 Rabotnik Bitola 1951–52 Rabotnicki Skopje 1952–53 Pobeda Prilep 1953–54 Pobeda Prilep 1954–55 Metalec Skopje 1955–56 Belasica Strumica 1956–57 Pelister Bitola 1957–58 FK Belasica 1958–59 Pobeda Prilep 1959–60 Pelister Bitola 1960–61 FK Pelister 1961–62 Pobeda Prilep 1962–63 Pobeda Prilep 1963–64 Bregalnica Štip 1964–65 Teteks Tetovo 1965–66 FK Rabotnički 1966–67 Bregalnica Štip 1967–68 Rabotnički Skopje 1968–69 Teteks Tetovo 1969–70 MIK Skopje 1970–71 Kumanovo 1971–72 Tikveš Kavadarci 1972–73 Rabotnički Skopje 1973–74 Teteks Tetovo 1974–75 Pelister Bitola 1975–76 Bregalnica Štip 1976–77 Rabotnički Skopje 1977–78 Tikveš Kavadarci 1978–79 Pobeda Prilep 1979–80 Rabotnički Skopje 1980–81 Pobeda Prilep 1981–82 Pelister Bitola 1982–83 Belasica Strumica 1983–84 FK Bregalnica Štip 1984–85 FK Teteks 1985–86 FK Pobeda 1986–87 Metalurg Skopje 1987–88 Belasica Strumica 1988–89 Borec Veles 1989–90 FK Balkan Skopje 1990-91 FK Makedonija G.P. 1991–92 FK Sasa Makedonska Kamenica
Macedonian First League In 1992 the Macedonian Republic League, joined by the Macedonian clubs that played in the Yugoslav First and Second League, formed the Macedonian First Football League, the first time Macedonia had its own top-level national championship.
Semi Professional league since 1992 SeasonWinnerRunner upThird placeTop scorer (club) (goals)1992–93VardarSileksBalkan Sasha Kirikj (Vardar) (36)1993–94VardarSileksBalkan Zoran Boshkovski (Sileks) (21)1994–95VardarSileksSloga Jugomagnat Sasha Kirikj (Vardar) (35)1995–96SileksSloga JugomagnatVardar Zoran Boshkovski (Sileks) (20)1996–97SileksPobedaSloga Jugomagnat Vancho Micevski (Sileks) (16) Miroslav Djokikj (Sileks) (16)1997–98SileksSloga JugomagnatMakedonija G.P. Vancho Atanasov (Belasica) (12)1998–99Sloga JugomagnatSileksPobeda Rogério Oliveira (Pobeda) (22)1999–2000Sloga JugomagnatPobedaRabotnichki Kometal Argjend Beqiri (Sloga Jugomagnat) (19)2000–01Sloga JugomagnatVardarPobeda Argjend Beqiri (Sloga Jugomagnat) (27)2001–02VardarBelasicaCementarnica 55 Miroslav Djokikj (Pobeda) (22)2002–03VardarBelasicaPobeda Ljubisha Savikj (Bregalnica Delčevo / Sloga Jugomagnat) (25)2003–04PobedaSileksVardar Dragan Dimitrovski (Pobeda) (25)2004–05Rabotnichki KometalVardarPobeda Aleksandar Stojanovski (Belasica) (26) Stevica Ristikj (Sileks) (26)2005–06Rabotnichki KometalMakedonija G.P.Vardar Stevica Ristikj (Sileks) (27)2006–07PobedaRabotnichki KometalMakedonija G.P. Boban Janchevski (Sloga-Bashkimi / Renova) (26)2007–08Rabotnichki KometalMilanoPelister Ivica Gligorovski (Milano) (15)2008–09Makedonija G.P.MilanoRenova Ivica Gligorovski (Milano) (14)2009–10RenovaRabotnichkiMetalurg Bobi Bozhinovski (Rabotnički) (15)2010–11Iskra /ShkëndijaMetalurgRenova Hristijan Kirovski (Skopje) (20)2011–12VardarMetalurgIskra/Shkëndija Filip Ivanovski (Vardar) (24)2012–13VardarMetalurgHorizont Turnovo Jovan Kostovski (Vardar) (22)2013–14RabotnichkiHorizont TurnovoMetalurg Dejan Blazhevski (Horizont Turnovo) (19)2014–15VardarRabotnichkiIskra/Shkëndija Izair Emini (Renova) (20)2015–16VardarIskra/ShkëndijaSileks Besart Ibraimi (Iskra/Shkëndija) (26)2016–17VardarIskra/ShkëndijaRabotnichki Besart Ibraimi (Iskra/Shkëndija) (20)2017–18Iskra/ShkëndijaVardarRabotnichki Ferhan Hasani (Iskra/Shkëndija) (22) Besart Ibraimi (Iskra/Shkëndija) (22)2018–19Iskra/ShkëndijaVardarAkademija Pandev Vlatko Stojanovski (Renova) (18)2019–20VardarSileksIskra/Shkëndija Daniel Avramovski (Vardar) (10)2020–21Iskra/ShkëndijaSkupiStruga Besart Ibraimi (Iskra/Shkëndija) (24)2021–22SkupiAkademija PandevIskra/Shkëndija Sunday Adetunji (Skupi) (20)2022–23StrugaSkupiIskra/Shkëndija Besart Ibraimi (Struga) (19)2023–24StrugaIskra/ShkëndijaSkupi Aleksa Marušić (Voska Sport) (17)2024–25Iskra/ShkëndijaSileksRabotnichki Marko Gjorgjievski (Sileks) (15) Besart Ibraimi (Iskra/Shkëndija) (15)2025–26VardarIskra/ShkëndijaStruga Bassirou Compaoré (Struga) (17)
Performances Most titles
The titles won by clubs since independence are shown in the following table:
ClubTitlesRunners-upWinning yearsVardar Skopje1221992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20, 2025–26Shkendija542010–11, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2024–25 Rabotnički Skopje432004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2013–14Sileks Kratovo361995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98FK Sloga Jugomagnat341998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01Pobeda Prilep222003–04, 2006–07Struga202022–23, 2023–24KF Shkupi122021–22Makedonija Gjorce Petrov112008–09Renova Djepchishte102009–10Metalurg Skopje-3Milano Kumanovo-2Belasica Strumica-2
Cities The following table lists the Macedonian football champions by city CityTitlesWinning Clubs Skopje21 Vardar (12), Sloga Jugomagnat / Shkupi (4), Rabotnichki (3), Makedonija G.P. (1) Tetovo5 Shkëndija (5) Kratovo3 Sileks (3) Prilep2 Pobeda (2) Struga2 Struga (2) Džepčište1 Renova (1)
References
External links Football Federation of Macedonia Official Site First League Current Stats MacedonianFootball.com