Football in Croatia

Football was played in Croatia in 1873 by English workers in the port city of Rijeka. The first official meeting was organized by English sailors in Zadar. In the following years more and more Croatian youth began under the guidance of Englishmen with the football game.

The first rules in Croatian were published in 1896 in Zagreb, the first club who carried the word football in the name of the first football and sports club Zagreb ( Croatian Abbr PNIŠK ) was.

The first major international successes were the runners-up Dinamo Zagreb in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1963 and 1967.

The Croatian Football Federation was founded in 1912.

National leagues

1 HNL

The First Croatian Football League ( 1 HNL) was created after the independence of the State of Croatia in 1991. Previously, there was during the Second World War from 1941 to 1945 ever an independent league with purely Croatian clubs. After this time the Croatian clubs played in the Yugoslavian league. By the end of the eighties, the clubs Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb have enjoyed considerable success internationally.

In the season 1994/95 Hajduk Split came up in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Dinamo Zagreb qualified in 1998/99, 1999/ 00 and 2011/2012 for the group stage of the Champions League.

The current weakness of the Croatian associations based on several causes. The relatively low number of audience of a total population of 4.5 million people, provides relatively little revenue through ticket sales and sponsors.

Dinamo Zagreb dominated the National League Championship plays the mostly among themselves.

Therefore, the clubs from Croatia are currently not internationally competitive. A variety of the best Croatian footballer playing in the German Bundesliga, in Spain and in Italy.

2 HNL

Also in the second division, the game system was changed frequently.

Since the season 2006/ 07, there is a single-track second division, consisting in the season 2009/10 of 14 clubs. The top three finishers rise directly to the first division. The four lowest ranked teams will be replaced by the masters of the three seasons of the third division and one runner-up this seasons, which is determined by play-offs. In the games of the second division at least two players must stand, which are a maximum of 22 years old in the starting lineup. Maximum of four foreigners permitted per game

3 HNL

Since the season 2006/ 07 respectively 18 teams play a total of four climbers in three seasons out in the second league. The last four teams in each season from rising. In the games of the third division at least three players must stand, which are a maximum of 22 years old in the starting lineup.

Overview of the league system

Since the 2009/10 season, the league system following applies:

• Highest Class: 1 HNL (16 teams)

• 2 HNL (14 teams)

• 3 HNL East ( 18 teams )
• 3 HNL West ( 18 teams )
• 3 HNL South ( 18 teams )

Licensing conditions

In 2006, the license terms for the Croatian leagues by the Association have been tightened by being adapted to the UEFA regulations and recommendations.

One of the current interests include:

• Stadium Facilities Minimum seating capacity 1 League: 5000 seats, of which min. 3000 seats, of which min. 1000 covered 2 League: 3000 seats, of which min. 1000 seats, of which min. 300 covered 3 League: 1000 seats, of which min. 100 covered seats
• Floodlights Illuminance min. 1200 lx in the first league, recommended in the 2nd League
• Electronic scoreboard in the first league
• Flagpoles
• Size of field
• Promotion of youth football
• Infrastructure and qualified personnel
• Number of teams and players in official competitions of the Association 1 League: 5 teams and 120 players 2 League: 5 teams and 100 players 3 League: 4 teams and 80 players

National

The Croatian national team holds the strongest of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, ahead of the national teams of Serbia and Slovenia.

Croatia was the host of the 1976 European Football Championship (as part of Yugoslavia )