1987–88 Yugoslav First League
# 1987–88 Yugoslav First League

The 1987–88 Yugoslav First League season was the 42nd season of the First Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna liga), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The season began on 2 August 1987 and ended on 12 June 1988. Red Star led by Velibor Vasović won their 16th title with a single points ahead of previous season's champions Partizan.

## Teams

A total of eighteen teams contested the league, including sixteen sides from the 1986–87 season and two sides promoted from the 1986–87 Yugoslav Second League (YSL) as winners of the two second level groups East and West. The league was contested in a double round robin format, with each club playing every other club twice, for a total of 34 rounds. Two points were awarded for wins and one point for draws.

Dinamo Vinkovci and Spartak were relegated from the 1986–87 Yugoslav First League after finishing the season in bottom two places of the league table. The two clubs promoted to top level were Vojvodina and Rad.

| Team | Location | Federal Republic | Position in 1986–87 |
| - | - | - | - |
| Budućnost | Titograd | SR Montenegro | 0077th |
| Čelik | Zenica | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 01212th |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Zagreb | SR Croatia | 0066th |
| Hajduk Split | Split | SR Croatia | 0088th |
| Osijek | Osijek | SR Croatia | 01111th |
| Partizan | Belgrade | SR Serbia | 0011st |
| Priština | Pristina | SR Serbia | 01414th |
| Rad | Belgrade | SR Serbia | — |
| Radnički Niš | Niš | SR Serbia | 01616th |
| Red Star | Belgrade | SR Serbia | 0033rd |
| Rijeka | Rijeka | SR Croatia | 0044th |
| Sarajevo | Sarajevo | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 01313th |
| Sloboda | Tuzla | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 01515th |
| Sutjeska | Nikšić | SR Montenegro | 01010th |
| Vardar | Skopje | SR Macedonia | 0055th |
| Velež | Mostar | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0022nd |
| Vojvodina | Novi Sad | SR Serbia | — |
| Željezničar | Sarajevo | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0099th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Red Star Belgrade (C) | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 66 | 39 | +27 | 45 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Partizan | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 62 | 37 | +25 | 44 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Velež | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 61 | 34 | +27 | 42 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Dinamo Zagreb | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 55 | 36 | +19 | 42 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Sloboda Tuzla | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 38 | |
| 6 | Vardar | 34 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 40 | −3 | 37 | |
| 7 | Radnički Niš | 34 | 14 | 4 | 16 | 48 | 46 | +2 | 32 | Qualification for Balkans Cup |
| 8 | Rijeka | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 32 | |
| 9 | Budućnost | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 32 | |
| 10 | Vojvodina | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 40 | 51 | −11 | 32 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup |
| 11 | Osijek | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 44 | 61 | −17 | 31 | |
| 12 | Željezničar | 34 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 44 | −6 | 30 | |
| 13 | Hajduk Split | 34 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 40 | 50 | −10 | 30 | |
| 14 | Sarajevo | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 37 | 47 | −10 | 30 | |
| 15 | Rad | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 44 | 56 | −12 | 30 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup |
| 16 | Čelik | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 39 | 45 | −6 | 29 | |
| 17 | Sutjeska Nikšić (R) | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 42 | 49 | −7 | 29 | Relegation to Yugoslav Second League |
| 18 | Prishtina (R) | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 43 | 59 | −16 | 27 | Relegation to Yugoslav Second League |

## Results

| Home \ Away | BUD | ČEL | DIN | HAJ | OSI | PAR | PRI | RAD | RNI | RSB | RIJ | SAR | SLO | SUT | VAR | VEL | VOJ | ŽEL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Budućnost | | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Čelik | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 3–0 |
| Hajduk Split | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Osijek | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 4–1 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Partizan | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 6–1 | | 3–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Prishtina | 4–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Rad | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Radnički Niš | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 5–1 | 1–0 |
| Red Star | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 7–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | | 2–3 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| Rijeka | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Sarajevo | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 |
| Sloboda Tuzla | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| Sutjeska | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Vardar | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Velež | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 5–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Vojvodina | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 2–1 |
| Željezničar | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | |

## Winning squad

Champions: Red Star Belgrade :

| Player | League | League |
| - | - | - |
| Player | Matches | Goals |
| Žarko Đurović | 34 | 5 |
| Goran Milojević | 33 | 3 |
| Bora Cvetković | 32 | 9 |
| Slobodan Marović | 30 | 1 |
| Miodrag Krivokapić | 30 | 0 |
| Dragan "Piksi" Stojković | 28 | 15 |
| Dragiša Binić | 27 | 13 |
| Slavko Radovanović | 25 | 5 |
| Robert Prosinečki | 23 | 4 |
| Goran Jurić | 23 | 0 |
| Stevan Stojanović (goalkeeper) | 23 | 0 |
| Dejan Joksimović | 17 | 3 |
| Zlatko Krdžević | 17 | 0 |
| Dragić Komadina | 16 | 1 |
| Husref Musemić | 15 | 4 |
| Dragan Punišić | 11 | 1 |
| Branko Davidović (goalkeeper) | 11 | 0 |
| Refik Šabanadžović | 10 | 1 |
| Jovica Nikolić | 10 | 0 |
| Mitar Mrkela | 5 | 0 |
| Vladan Lukić | 2 | 1 |
| Slavoljub Janković | 2 | 0 |
| Head coach: Velibor Vasović |||

## Top scorers

The top goalscorers in the 1987–88 Yugoslav First League were as follows:

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Duško Milinković | Rad | 16 |
| 2 | Mirko Mihić | Sloboda | 15 |
| 2 | Dragan Stojković | Red Star | 15 |
| 2 | Kujtim Shala | Priština | 15 |
| 5 | Haris Škoro | Dinamo Zagreb | 14 |
| 6 | Dragiša Binić | Red Star | 13 |
| 6 | Semir Tuce | Velež | 13 |
| 6 | Zvonimir Boban | Dinamo Zagreb | 13 |
| 6 | Darko Pančev | Vardar | 13 |
| 10 | Radmilo Mihajlović | Željezničar | 12 |
| 10 | Dragan Jakovljević | Sarajevo | 12 |
| 10 | Vladislav Đukić | Priština (6) / Partizan (6) | 12 |
