The 2017–18 Croatian First Football League (also known as 1. HNL; officially styled Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th 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 14 July 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018. Rijeka were the defending champions, who have won their first Croatian league title and ended Dinamo Zagreb's consecutive 11-season reign the previous season. Dinamo Zagreb ultimately reclaimed the title by May 2018, their 19th since the league's inception, with Rijeka ending close second.
The league was contested by 10 teams.
Teams On 21 April 2017, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2017–18 season was complete. For the 2017–18 Prva HNL, only seven clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Inter Zaprešić, Lokomotiva, Osijek, Rijeka and Slaven Belupo. All of these clubs except Inter Zaprešić were also issued a license for participating in UEFA competitions. In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage can appeal on the decision. On 23 May 2017, it was announced that all remaining Prva HNL clubs except RNK Split were granted top level license. Four teams from Druga HNL acquired the top level license: Gorica, Rudeš, Solin and NK Zagreb.
Stadia and locations TeamCityStadiumCapacityRef. Cibalia Vinkovci Stadion HNK Cibalia 9,958 Dinamo Zagreb Zagreb Maksimir 35,123 Hajduk Split Split Poljud 35,000 Inter Zaprešić Zaprešić ŠRC Zaprešić 5,228 Istra 1961 Pula Aldo Drosina 10,000 Lokomotiva Zagreb Kranjčevićeva1 8,850 Osijek Osijek Gradski vrt 22,050 Rijeka Rijeka Rujevica 8,191 Rudeš Zagreb Kranjčevićeva1 8,850 Slaven Belupo Koprivnica Gradski stadion 3,205 1 Lokomotiva and Rudeš host their home matches at Stadion Kranjčevićeva as their own grounds failed to get license for top level football. The stadium was originally the home ground of third-level side NK Zagreb.
Teams by county
Rank Counties of Croatia Number of teams Club(s)1 City of Zagreb3Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva, and Rudeš2 Istria1Istra 1961 Koprivnica-KriževciSlaven Osijek-BaranjaOsijek Primorje-Gorski KotarRijeka Split-DalmatiaHajduk Split Vukovar-SrijemCibalia Zagreb CountyInter Zaprešić
Personnel and kits Club Chairman Manager Captain Kit manufacturer SponsorsCibalia Josip Kuterovac Jako DOBRODinamo Zagreb Mirko Barišić adidas Hajduk Split Ivan Kos Macron TommyInter Zaprešić Branko Laljak Joma Veleučilište Baltazar ZaprešićIstra 1961 Vacant Nike Croatia OsiguranjeLokomotiva Tin Dolički Nike CroduxOsijek Ivan Meštrović Nike DOBRORijeka Damir Mišković Jako Sava OsiguranjeRudeš Ivan Knežević Kelme Slaven Belupo Hrvoje Kolarić adidas Belupo
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Istra 1961 Sacked Darko Raić-Sudar Pre-season Rudeš Signed by Olimpija Pre-season Dinamo Zagreb Sacked Pre-season Slaven Belupo Resigned 7th Hajduk Split Sacked (caretaker) 4th Hajduk Split (caretaker) Signing of Kopić - 4th Lokomotiva Removed from position (caretaker) 6th Rudeš Removed from position 10th Lokomotiva (caretaker) Signing of Tomić 6th Dinamo Zagreb Resigned 1st Rudeš Sacked José Manuel Aira 10th Cibalia Sacked Davor Rupnik 9th Dinamo Zagreb Sacked 1st Rudeš José Manuel Aira Signed by Sochaux 8th
League table
Results Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.
Positions by round
Relegation play-offs At the end of the season, ninth placed team Istra 1961 will contest a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Varaždin, runners-up of the 2017–18 Croatian Second Football League.
First leg
Second leg
Istra 1961 won 3–2 on aggregate.
Statistics Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 El Arabi Hillel SoudaniDinamo Zagreb172 HéberRijeka163 Mario GavranovićRijeka (7), Dinamo Zagreb (8)15 Mirko IvanovskiSlaven Belupo5 Mario BudimirRudeš (13), Dinamo Zagreb (1)146 Jakov PuljićInter Zaprešić (4), Rijeka (8)127 Lovro MajerLokomotiva11 Said Ahmed SaidHajduk Split9 Ante ErcegHajduk Split9 Haris HajradinovićOsijek Franck OhandzaHajduk Split
Awards Annual awards AwardWinner ClubPlayer of the Season Hillal SoudaniDinamo ZagrebManager of the Season Matjaž KekRijekaYoung Player of the Season Lovro MajerLokomotiva Team of the YearGoalkeeper Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb)Defence Josip Juranović (Hajduk Split) Zoran Nižić (Hajduk Split) Filip Benković (Dinamo Zagreb)Midfield Hillal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb) Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) Filip Bradarić (Rijeka) Borna Sosa (Dinamo Zagreb)Lovro Majer (Lokomotiva)Attack Mario Gavranović (Dinamo Zagreb) Héber (Rijeka)
Attendances
# Club Average Change Highest 1 Hajduk Split 11,999 43.9% 31,751 2 Rijeka 4,836 1.7% 7,134 3 Dinamo Zagreb 4,108 -8.3% 13,500 4 Osijek 3,214 3.1% 8,054 5 Cibalia 1,331 -23.4% 3,196 6 Istra 1,286 -25.0% 3,119 7 Slaven Belupo 971 -11.4% 2,403 8 Lokomotiva 701 8.9% 2,293 9 Inter Zaprešić 572 -32.8% 2,169 10 Rudeš 461 22.5% 2,102
References
External links Official website Croatian First League at UEFA.com