2000–01 Croatian First Football League
# 2000–01 Croatian First Football League

The 2000–01 Croatian First Football League was the tenth season of the Croatian First Football League, Croatia's top association football league, since its establishment in 1992. It began on 30 July 2000 and ended on 27 May 2001. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their fifth consecutive title the previous season. The 2000–01 Prva HNL was contested by 12 teams and was won by Hajduk Split, who won their thirteenth title, after a win against Varteks on 27 May 2001, which was ended the Dinamo Zagreb (then Croatia Zagreb)'s five-year dominance.

## Teams

A total of twelve teams contested the league, including ten sides from the 1999–2000 season and two promoted teams from the 1999–2000 Croatian Second Football League, Čakovec and Marsonia. Marsonia had returned to top flight after one previous three-season spell in the Prva HNL between 1994 and 1997, while Čakovec saw its top flight debut after coming close to promotion in 1998 and 1999 (they lost the promotion play-offs on both occasions).

### Changes from last season

Teams promoted from 1999–2000 Croatian Second Football League

* Champions: Marsonia
* Runners-up: Čakovec

Teams relegated to 2000–01 Croatian Second Football League

* 11th placed: Istra Pula
* 12th placed: Vukovar '91

### Summaries

The following is an overview of teams which competed in the 2000–01 Prva HNL. The list of managers is correct as of 30 July 2000, the first day of the season.

| Team | Manager | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cibalia | Davor Mladina | Vinkovci | Stadion HNK Cibalia | 9,920 |
| Čakovec | Ilija Lončarević | Čakovec | Stadion SRC Mladost | 8,000 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Ilija Lončarević | Zagreb | Stadion Maksimir | 37,168 |
| Hajduk Split | Zoran Vulić | Split | Stadion Poljud | 35,000 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | Milivoj Bračun | Zagreb | Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić | 5,000 |
| Marsonia | Stjepan Deverić | Slavonski Brod | Gradski stadion uz Savu | 10,000 |
| Osijek | Stanko Mršić | Osijek | Stadion Gradski vrt | 19,500 |
| Rijeka | Nenad Gračan | Rijeka | Stadion Kantrida | 10,275 |
| Slaven Belupo | Mladen Frančić | Koprivnica | Gradski stadion | 4,000 |
| Šibenik | Milo Nižetić | Šibenik | Stadion Šubićevac | 8,000 |
| Varteks | Ivan Katalinić | Varaždin | Stadion Varteks | 10,800 |
| NK Zagreb | Branko Karačić | Zagreb | Stadion Kranjčevićeva | 8,850 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Čakovec | | | | Ilija Lončarević | | Pre-season |
| Varteks | | | | Ivan Katalinić | 24 May 2000 | Pre-season |
| Marsonia | Stjepan Deverić | Resigned | 21 August 2000 | Marijan Zovko | 21 August 2000 | 12th |
| Hajduk Split | Petar Nadoveza | Sacked | 21 August 2000 | Zoran Vulić | 21 August 2000 | 2nd |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | Milivoj Bračun | Sacked | 22 October 2000 | Predrag Jurić (p) | 22 October 2000 | 9th |
| Cibalia | Davor Mladina | Resigned | 15 October 2000 | Davor Čop | 15 October 2000 | 11th |
| Marsonia | Marijan Zovko | Resigned | 1 November 2000 | Zlatko Kranjčar | 3 November 2000 | 12th |
| Rijeka | Nenad Gračan | Sacked | 13 November 2000 | Boris Tičić (c) | 13 November | 9th |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Marijan Vlak | Removed from position | 20 November 2000 | Hrvoje Braović | 20 November 2000 | 2nd |
| Rijeka | Boris Tičić (c) | Removed from position | 15 December 2000 | Predrag Stilinović | 15 December 2000 | 9th |
| Čakovec | Ilija Lončarević | Resigned | 3 February 2001 | Rajko Magić | 4 February 2001 | 8th |
| Marsonia | Zlatko Kranjčar | | | Marijan Zovko | | |
| Šibenik | Milo Nižetić | Resigned | 28 February 2001 | Vjekoslav Lokica | 28 February 2001 | 8th |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Hrvoje Braović | Sacked | 3 April 2001 | Ilija Lončarević | 3 April 2001 | 1st |
| Osijek | Stanko Mršić | Sacked | 3 April 2001 | Vlado Bilić | 3 April 2001 | 2nd |
| NK Zagreb | Branko Karačić | Sacked | 16 April 2001 | Zlatko Kranjčar | 16 April 2001 | 6th |
| Varteks | Ivan Katalinić | Sacked | 1 May 2001 | Branko Janžek | 1 May 2001 | 5th |
| Rijeka | Predrag Stilinović | Sacked | 2 May 2001 | Ivan Katalinić | 15 December 2000 | 11th |

## First stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Dinamo Zagreb | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 49 | 23 | +26 | 46 | Qualification to championship group |
| 2 | Osijek | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 49 | 28 | +21 | 44 | Qualification to championship group |
| 3 | Hajduk Split | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 39 | 16 | +23 | 41 | Qualification to championship group |
| 4 | NK Zagreb | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 43 | 38 | +5 | 34 | Qualification to championship group |
| 5 | Varteks | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 32 | Qualification to championship group |
| 6 | Slaven Belupo | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 32 | Qualification to championship group |
| 7 | Čakovec | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 28 | −9 | 27 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 8 | Šibenik | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 30 | −9 | 26 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 9 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 28 | 45 | −17 | 23 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 10 | Cibalia | 22 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 23 | 38 | −15 | 20 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 11 | Rijeka | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 32 | −15 | 19 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 12 | Marsonia | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 28 | 49 | −21 | 16 | Qualification to relegation group |

### Rounds 1–22 results

| Home \ Away | CIB | ČAK | DIN | HAJ | HRD | MAR | OSI | RIJ | SLA | ŠIB | VAR | ZAG |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cibalia | | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Čakovec | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 6–1 | 3–0 | | 3–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 3–2 |
| Hajduk Split | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 1–3 | | 4–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 |
| Marsonia | 3–3 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–5 | 2–2 | | 2–5 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Osijek | 3–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 6–2 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 4–3 |
| Rijeka | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Slaven Belupo | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 7–1 | 1–0 |
| Šibenik | 3–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3–5 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Varteks | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 2–1 |
| NK Zagreb | 4–2 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 4–2 | |

## Championship group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hajduk Split (C) | 32 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 66 | 23 | +43 | 66 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Dinamo Zagreb | 32 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 70 | 36 | +34 | 65 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Osijek | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 61 | 47 | +14 | 57 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Varteks | 32 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 45 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 5 | Slaven Belupo | 32 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 37 | +2 | 44 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 6 | NK Zagreb | 32 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 51 | 58 | −7 | 38 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |

### Rounds 23–32 results

| Home \ Away | DIN | HAJ | OSI | SLA | VAR | ZAG |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Dinamo Zagreb | | 1–0 | 3–1 | 6–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Hajduk Split | 3–1 | | 4–0 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 4–2 |
| Osijek | 1–4 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Slaven Belupo | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Varteks | 3–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–0 |
| NK Zagreb | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–3 | |

## Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7 | Šibenik | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 43 | |
| 8 | Čakovec | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 39 | |
| 9 | Cibalia | 32 | 5 | 18 | 9 | 31 | 45 | −14 | 33 | |
| 10 | Rijeka | 32 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 30 | 44 | −14 | 33 | |
| 11 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 32 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 35 | 57 | −22 | 33 | |
| 12 | Marsonia (O) | 32 | 7 | 8 | 17 | 41 | 68 | −27 | 29 | Qualification to relegation play-off |

### Rounds 23–32 results

| Home \ Away | CIB | ČAK | HRD | MAR | RIJ | ŠIB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cibalia | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Čakovec | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 |
| Marsonia | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 1–3 | 2–2 |
| Rijeka | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 1–2 |
| Šibenik | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 6–1 | 3–0 | |

### Relegation play-off

Due to the expansion of Prva HNL to 16 clubs in the 2001–02 season, four clubs from the 2000–01 Druga HNL were automatically promoted. Those should have been top four clubs, but since third-placed Croatia Sesvete and sixth-placed Belišće had decided to step back from promotion, 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th placed second level teams were automatically promoted for the following season (Kamen Ingrad, Pomorac Kostrena, Zadar and TŠK Topolovac respectively). Therefore, the 12th placed Marsonia played a two-legged relegation play-off against the 7th placed team of Druga HNL, Solin. The tie ended in a 5–5 aggregate score and Marsonia won it on away goals, thereby staying in the Prva HNL for the following season.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tomislav Šokota | Dinamo Zagreb | 20 |
| 2 | Marijo Dodik | Slaven Belupo | $17^1$ |
| 3 | Ivica Olić | Marsonia | $16^2$ |
| 4 | Boško Balaban | Dinamo Zagreb | 14 |
| 4 | Stanko Bubalo | Hajduk Split | 14 |
| 6 | Ivan Leko | Hajduk Split | 13 |
| 7 | Paul Matas | Šibenik | 12 |
| 7 | Saša Bjelanović | Varteks | 12 |
| 9 | Zvonimir Deranja | Hajduk Split | 11 |
| 9 | Veldin Karić | Varteks | 11 |
| 9 | Krunoslav Lovrek | NK Zagreb | 11 |

### Notes

* $^1$ Including six goals scored in Slaven Belupo's 7–1 home win against Varteks on 22 October 2000, which is the record for most goals scored by a single player in a Prva HNL match.
* $^2$ Ivica Olić scored 11 goals during the regular Prva HNL season and this is the tally as recorded by official records kept by Prva HNL. However, he scored an additional 5 goals in Marsonia's two-legged relegation play-off against second level side Solin, and the total of 16 goals was included in top scoring tables published in the Croatian media at the end of the season.
