The 2018–19 Croatian First Football League (also known as 1. HNL; officially styled Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 28th 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 27 July 2018 and finished on 26 May 2019.
The league was contested by ten teams.
Teams On 23 April 2018, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2018–19 season was complete. For the 2018–19 Prva HNL, only eight clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Gorica, Hajduk Split, Inter Zaprešić, Lokomotiva, Osijek, Rijeka and Slaven Belupo. All of these clubs except Gorica 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 could appeal on the decision.
Stadia and locations
Dinamo Zagreb Gorica Hajduk Split Inter Zaprešić Stadion Maksimir Gradski stadion Velika Gorica Stadion Poljud Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić Capacity: 35,123 Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 34,198 Capacity: 5,228 Istra 1961 Lokomotiva Stadion Aldo Drosina Stadion Kranjčevićeva Capacity: 9,800 Capacity: 8,850 Osijek Rijeka Rudeš Slaven Belupo Stadion Gradski vrt Stadion Rujevica Stadion Kranjčevićeva Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš Capacity: 18,856 Capacity: 8,279 Capacity: 8,850 Capacity: 3,205 TeamCityStadiumCapacityRef. Dinamo Zagreb Zagreb Stadion Maksimir 35,123 Gorica Velika Gorica Gradski stadion Velika Gorica 5,000 Hajduk Split Split Stadion Poljud 34,198 Inter Zaprešić Zaprešić Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić 5,228 Istra 1961 Pula Stadion Aldo Drosina 9,800 Lokomotiva Zagreb Stadion Kranjčevićeva1 8,850 Osijek Osijek Stadion Gradski vrt 18,856 Rijeka Rijeka Stadion Rujevica 8,279 Rudeš Zagreb Stadion Kranjčevićeva1 8,850 Slaven Belupo Koprivnica Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš 3,205 1 Lokomotiva and Rudeš host their home matches at Stadion Kranjčevićeva as their own ground failed to get license for top level football. The stadium is originally the home ground of third-level side NK Zagreb.
Rank Counties of Croatia Number of teams Club(s)1 City of Zagreb3Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva, and Rudeš2 Zagreb County2Gorica, Inter Zaprešić3 Istria1Istra 1961 Koprivnica-KriževciSlaven Belupo Osijek-BaranjaOsijek Primorje-Gorski KotarRijeka Split-DalmatiaHajduk Split
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsors Dinamo Zagreb AdidasLana grupa Gorica Alpas JAF J.u.A. Frischeis Hajduk Split Macron Tommy Inter Zaprešić Joma B2 Assets Istra 1961 Kelme Croatia Osiguranje Lokomotiva Nike Crodux Osijek Nike DOBRO Rijeka Joma Sava Osiguranje Rudeš Kelme Slaven Belupo Ivica Sertić Adidas Belupo
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Rudeš Signed by Sochaux Pre-season Gorica Ivan PrelecSigned by Legia Warsaw (assistant) Pre-season Istra 1961 Sacked Manolo Márquez Pre-season Hajduk Split Željko KopićSacked Zoran Vulić 8th Istra 1961 Manolo MárquezRemoved from position Curro Torres 9th Rudeš Ivan MatićRemoved from position Marko Lozo 10th Rijeka Matjaž KekResigned Igor Bišćan 5th Istra 1961 Curro TorresRemoved from position Krunoslav Rendulić 9th Slaven Belupo Tomislav IvkovićRemoved from position Ivica Sertić 7th Hajduk Split Zoran VulićSacked Siniša Oreščanin 6th Rudeš Marko LozoRemoved from position Darko Jozinović 10th Rudeš Darko JozinovićRemoved from position Tomislav Ivković 10th Istra 1961 Krunoslav RendulićSacked Igor Cvitanović 9th Osijek Zoran ZekićResigned Dino Skender 3rd
League table
Results Each team played home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.
Relegation play-offs At the end of the season, ninth-placed team Istra 1961 contested a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Šibenik, runners-up of the 2018–19 Croatian Second Football League.
First leg
Second leg
Istra 1961 won 3–1 on aggregate.
Statistics Top scorers RankPlayerClub(s)Goals1 Mijo CaktašHajduk Split192 Mirko MarićOsijek183 Jakov PuljićRijeka164 Komnen AndrićInter Zaprešić (10)Dinamo Zagreb (4)14 Łukasz ZwolińskiGorica6 JairoHajduk Split13 Ivan KrstanovićLokomotiva (6)Slaven Belupo (7)8 Antonio ČolakRijeka129 Kristijan LovrićGorica1010 Mario GavranovićDinamo Zagreb9 HéberRijeka Ramón MierezIstra 1961 Bruno PetkovićDinamo Zagreb Awards Annual awards AwardWinnerClubPlayer of the Season Dani OlmoDinamo ZagrebManager of the Season Nenad BjelicaDinamo ZagrebYoung Player of the Season Dani OlmoDinamo Zagreb Team of the YearGoalkeeper Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb)Defence Zoran Kvržić (Rijeka) Kévin Théophile-Catherine (Dinamo Zagreb) Emir Dilaver (Dinamo Zagreb) Domagoj Bradarić (Hajduk Split)Midfield Jairo (Hajduk Split) Luka Ivanušec (Lokomotiva) Dani Olmo (Dinamo Zagreb) Domagoj Pavičić (Rijeka) Jakov Puljić (Rijeka)Attack Bruno Petković (Dinamo Zagreb)
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Hajduk 8,651 2 Rijeka 4,526 3 Dinamo Zagreb 4,207 4 Osijek 2,534 5 Gorica 2,150 6 Istra 1,341 7 Slaven 1,035 8 Lokomotiva 1,000 9 Zaprešić 701 10 Rudeš 446 Source:
References
External links Official website Prva HNL at UEFA.com