The Montenegrin Volleyball League ( montenegrin: ''Odbojkaški savez Crne Gore'') is the highest level of men's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

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and it is organized by Montenegrin Volleyball Federation. In the Montenegrin Volleyball League currently competes 8 clubs.

History

Before independence

In the period before

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, Montenegrin volleyball clubs played in SFR Yugoslavia,

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...

and Serbia and Montenegro competitions. From the season 1980-81, OK Budućnost from

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd (Cyrillic: Титоград, ) between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro form ...

became a permanent member of Second Yugoslav League, where other Montenegrin teams also played one or few seasons (''Budvanska Rivijera, Rudar Pljevlja, Brskovo Mojkovac, Lovćen Cetinje''). First time when Montenegrin teams played in the top-tier was during the season 1991-92. During that edition, in Yugoslav First League debuted two clubs from Montenegro - OK Budućnost and OK Budvanska Rivijera (at that time ''OK Avala''). While Budućnost remained a member of top-tier all the time, Budvanska Rivijera was relegated after two consecutive seasons. Team from Budva made a comeback to the top-tier on season 1997-98.
From the end of nineties, in FR Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro, two clubs played important role, with four champion titles. First significant success made Budućnost on season 1997-98, as they participated in the playoff finals. Team from

didn't succeed to win the title, as they were defeated in the three-game series against

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

(''0-3'' in series).
The first national title for some Montenegrin team came on season 2000-01. In the playoff final series, Budvanska Rivijera held the title after four games against Milicionar (''3-1'' in series).
Next year, two Montenegrin teams played in the Yugoslav playoff finals. Budućnost won the final stage against Budvanska Rivijera (''3-1'' in series) and held the first trophy in the club's history. Their four games were remembered by big rivalry and the highest attendance in the history of final series (average 4,500 per game), while one of the games in Podgorica attended 7,500 spectators, which remained the all-time record attendance for Yugoslav volleyball championship.
During the next two seasons, Budvanska Rivijera played in the final series, but both times lost, 2002-03 against

Crvena Zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional Association football, foot ...

(''0-3'' in series) and 2003-04 against Vojvodina (''0-3'' in series).
On season 2004-05, Budućnost won their second title of national champion. In the final series, they dominated against Vojvodina (''3-0'' in series). Team from Podgorica defended the trophy on season 2005-06. Once again, their opponent in the playoff final was Vojvodina (''3-2'' in series).
From the beginning of the new century, Budućnost and Budvanska Rivijera started to play in

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

.
Below is the list of Budućnost and Budvanska Rivijera champion titles won in Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro Championship. Except that, from the nineties, Montenegrin clubs like ''Elektroprivreda'' (Nikšić), ''Luka Bar'' (Bar), ''Studentski centar'' (Podgorica) and ''Pljevlja'' often played in the Second Yugoslav League. Lowest-tier competition was Montenegrin Republic League, which existed from 1978 to 2006.

After independence

Soon after the Montenegrin independence referendum, Volleyball Federation of Montenegro founded its own competitions, with the First League as a top-tier competition. Since founded, Montenegrin First League had various number of participants: 2006/07 - ''7 clubs''; 2007/08 - ''8 clubs''; 2008/09 - ''8 clubs''; 2009/10 - ''8 clubs''; 2010/11 - ''6 clubs''; 2011/12 - ''8 clubs''; 2012/13 - ''4 clubs''; 2013/14 - ''8 clubs''; 2014/15 - ''6 clubs''; 2015/16 - ''6 clubs''; 2016-17 - ''6 clubs''; 2017-18 - ''6 clubs'', 2018-19 - ''5 clubs'', 2019-20 - ''5 clubs''.
During the first decade of Montenegrin championship, most successful club was OK Budvanska Rivijera, who held eight consecutive trophies from season 2008-09 to 2015-06. Other club which ever won a title of Montenegrin Volleyball League in period 2006-2016 is OK Budućnost, who did it during the first two editions of the championship.
On season 2016-17, champions title gained OK Jedinstvo from

Bijelo Polje Bijelo Polje ( cnr, Бијело Поље, ) is a town in northeastern Montenegro on the Lim River. It has an urban population of 15,400 (2011 census). It is the administrative, economic, cultural and educational centre of northern Montenegro. ...

, which became the first team from northern Montenegro who won the Championship. A year later, OK Jedinstvo won another title, but without OK Budvanska Rivijera in league, who was dissolved.
Edition 2017-18 is won by OK Budva, who became a successor of strong volleyball tradition in the city of Budva. In playoff finals, OK Budva won the series against OK Budućnost (3-0).
Season 2019-20 was interrupted after eight weeks, due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. Montenegrin volleyball federation decided that placement after the eight weeks was the final one, so OK Budva won their second trophy in the history.

Champions

From the inaugural season (2006/07), four different clubs were the champions of Montenegrin Volleyball League. OK Budvanska Rivijera won 8 titles, while OK Budućnost, OK Jedinstvo and OK Budva won 2 titles. Below is the list of top-placed teams by every single season.

Titles by seasons

Sources:

Titles by team

Montenegrin League

Below is a list of clubs with titles won in Montenegrin Volleyball League.

Overall

Below is an overall list, with titles won in both leagues - Montenegrin Volleyball League and FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro Championship.

Participants

All-time participants (2006-)

Since foundation, in Montenegrin Volleyball League participated 15 different clubs. OK Budućnost and OK Jedinstvo are the only two teams which participated in every single season. Below is a list of participants with number of seasons in the competition.

Current teams

Montenegrin Volleyball League 2019-20 have five participants. Below is the list of clubs in current season.

Montenegrin clubs in European volleyball competitions

Montenegrin volleyball clubs are participating in the CEV competitions since the season 1995-96.
First team which ever competed at the European cups was OK Budućnost Podgorica. Except them, in CEV competitions played also OK Budvanska Rivijera Budva, OK Sutjeska Nikšić, OK Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje and OK Studentski Centar Podgorica.
Among other competitions, OK Budućnost and OK Budvanska Rivijera played a numerous seasons in

, with few participations in the final phases of competition.
During the overall history, five different Montenegrin clubs played in CEV competitions. ''As of the end of CEV competitions 2019–20 season.''

References

External links

Volleyball Federation of Montenegro
{{Professional Men's Volleyball Leagues Volleyball in Montenegro