The 2001–02 Croatian First Football League was the eleventh season of the

Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

since its establishment in 1992.

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian amateur football club based in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of ...

became champions for the first time, and were the first and until

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

only league winners from outside the Eternal Derby rivalry. The campaign began on 28 July 2001 and ended on 4 May 2002. The league expanded to 16 teams (from 12 in the previous season), and was contested by all the 12 teams who competed in the previous season plus four newly promoted ones from

Croatian Second Football League The Druga nogometna liga ( eng, Second football league), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL) is the third tier of the football league system. The league was established in 1991 following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Cro ...

. The first goal of the season was scored by

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

Dario Zahora Dario Zahora (born 21 March 1982 in Vukovar) is a Croatian football striker, who is currently a free agent. Zahora started his career from Croatian team Dinamo Zagreb. From there he was loaned out to Croatia Sesvete, Koper, Slaven Belupo, Domž ...

against newly promoted TŠK Topolovac in the 13th minute of the game on the opening day of the season on 28 July.

Miljenko Mumlek Miljenko Mumlek (born 21 November 1972 in Varaždin) is a Croatian former football (soccer), footballer who played as a midfielder (association football), midfielder until being sentenced to prison for match fixing. He later returned as a footba ...

of Varteks scored the first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

of the season against

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

, two of them from penalty kicks, at

Poljud Gradski stadion u Poljudu ( en, City Stadium in Poljud), better known as Stadion Poljud ( en, Poljud Stadium) or simply Poljud, is a multi-use stadium in Split, Croatia, which has been the home ground of Hajduk Split football club since 1979. Th ...

on 17 August 2001.

clinched their first ever title after they drew 0–0 against

Čakovec Čakovec (; hu, Csáktornya; la, Aquama; german: Tschakathurn) is a city in northern Croatia, located around north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital. Čakovec is both the county seat and the largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmost, sm ...

and their last competitor for the title

lost 1–0 to

Hrvatski Dragovoljac Nogometni klub Hrvatski dragovoljac ( en, Football Club Hrvatski dragovoljac), commonly referred to as NK Hrvatski dragovoljac or simply Hrvatski dragovoljac, is a Croatian football club based in the Novi Zagreb neighbourhood of the country's c ...

in the penultimate 29th round of the season which took place on 27 April 2002. It was the third

title for NK Zagreb manager

Zlatko Kranjčar Zlatko "Cico" Kranjčar (; 15 November 1956 – 1 March 2021) was a Croatian professional football manager and player. Kranjčar started his career as a player with Dinamo Zagreb where he won the Yugoslav First League in 1981–82, then Yugosl ...

, who thus became the first manager to have won the Prva HNL in charge of two different clubs (in 1996 and 1998 he clinched two championship titles with Croatia Zagreb, renamed Dinamo Zagreb in 2000). The top goalscorer of the season was

Ivica Olić Ivica Olić (; born 14 September 1979) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. During his career, he played for German Bundesliga clubs such as Hamburger SV, VfL Wolf ...

with 21 goals scored in 29 appearances for NK Zagreb.

Promotion and relegation

Since it had been decided that the league would expand to 16 teams for the 2001–02 season, only Marsonia were in danger of relegation, having finished last the previous season. Marsonia then played second level side

Solin Solin (Latin and it, Salona; grc, Σαλώνα ) is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea and the river Jadro. Solin developed on the location of ancient city of ''Salona'', which was the ca ...

in a two-legged promotion/relegation playoff on 3 and 10 June 2001. The aggregate score was 5–5, but Marsonia won the tie on away goals rule, so no team were relegated. Teams promoted from

2000–01 Croatian Second Football League The 2000–01 Druga HNL was the 10th season of Druga HNL, the second level league in Croatian football. The format of the league was unchanged from the 1999–2000 season. A total of 18 clubs competed in Druga HNL this season, in a double round- ...

: * Winners: Kamen Ingrad * Second place: Pomorac * Fourth place:

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

* Fifth place: TŠK Topolovac (Agreed to host home matches at Gradski stadion in the nearby town of

Sisak Sisak (; hu, Sziszek ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavin ...

as their own ground was deemed unfit for first-league football.)

Summaries

The following is an overview of teams which competed in the 2001–02 Prva HNL. The list of managers is correct as of 27 July 2001, the first day of the season.

Managerial changes

League table

Relegation play-offs

First legs were held on 15 May and second legs on 19 May, 2002.

Results

Top goalscorers

Source
1.hnl.net

References

External links

Season statistics at HRNogomet
at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:2001-02 Prva HNL Croatian Football League seasons Cro Prva Hnl, 2001-02