The Serbian First League ( sr, Прва лига Србије / Prva liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet First League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Прва лига / Mozzart Bet Prva liga) for sponsorship reasons, is the name for the second tier in professional

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

league. The league was formed in 2005, following a reshuffle of the second tier Serbo-Montenegrin divisions. It is operated by the

Football Association of Serbia The Football Association of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски савез Србије, ФСС / ) is the governing body of football in Serbia, based in Belgrade. It organizes Serbian football leagues, namely the Serbian Superliga, the Serbia ...

Format

The league is usually formed by 16 clubs which play all against one another twice, once at home, once away. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Football Association of Serbia completed a restructure of the league system, and in season 2020/2021 that meant 18 clubs would be competing in the Serbian First League, the number of clubs will go back to the usual 16 following the conclusion of the 2020-2021 season. The top two clubs are directly promoted to the

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

, Third team going into the playoff, and playing against 14 teams from the Super League, while the bottom are relegated to the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer ...

. The

announced that in the

2015–16 Serbian First League The Serbian First League (Serbian: Prva liga Srbije) is the second-highest football league in Serbia. The league is operated by the Serbian FA. 16 teams compete in the league for the 2015–16 season. Two teams were promoted to the Serbian SuperLi ...

4 clubs will be relegated.

History

The Serbian First League is the successor of the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

. With the break-up of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

in 1992, the clubs from the newly independent states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia joined to their own newly formed leagues, while Serbia and Montenegro remained united and renamed into

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 Yu ...

with the clubs from both republics kept competing in the league. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed to

Serbia and Montenegro 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 ...

and the football league followed suit. Finally, after Montenegrin independence in 2006, the Montenegrin clubs withdrew and formed their own league.

Serbia and Montenegro second tier

In 2005, a reshuffle of the second tier of the Serbo-Montenegrin football league system saw two parallel leagues set up, for each republic.

Serbian First League

After Montenegro's independence, the Serbian First League kept the name and single league format readopted in 2005.

2022–23 teams

Previous seasons

Relegated teams (from First League to Serbian League)

Relegated teams (from SuperLiga to First League)

Promoted teams (from Serbian League to First League)

All-time table 2005–2022

The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Serbian First League at any time since its formation in 2005 to the current season. Teams playing in the 2022–23 Serbian First League season are indicated in bold. A total of 73 teams have played in the Serbian First League.

Players

Top scorers

Most apps

Names of the competition

* 2022–2025: Mozzart Bet First League

References

External links

Official website

at

{{UEFA second leagues 2 Second level football leagues in Europe Professional sports leagues in Serbia