The 1938–39 Yugoslav Football Championship, officially called State Championship (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

and Slovene: ''Državno prvenstvo''; sr-Cyrl, Државно првенство) was the 16th season of the main

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. The championship was played in a round-robin league format, featuring 12 clubs which qualified either directly or through playoffs organized by various regional football associations. Five out of the previous six national champions took part in this season (with only

Concordia Zagreb Concordia (mythology) is the Roman goddess who embodies agreement in marriage and society. Concordia may also refer to: Businesses and organizations Educational institutions * Concordia University (disambiguation), for Concordia University, ...

missing). The defending champions were

HAŠK HAŠK (full name Hrvatski akademski športski klub, ) was a Croatian football club established in Zagreb in 1903. The club was one of the most successful sides in Zagreb and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the period between the two World Wars. The ...

, who finished fifth. First place was won by

BSK BSK is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Sports * OFK Beograd, Serbian football club * FK BSK Borča, Serbian football club * FK BSK Batajnica, Serbian football club * FK BSK Banja Luka, Bosnian-Herzegovinian football club * FK BSK ...

from

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, who won their fifth Yugoslav title with 5 points ahead of runners-up Građanski Zagreb. This was BSK's fifth national title, having previously won four in the period from 1931 to 1936, and it proved to be their last before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Top scorer was

August Lešnik August Lešnik (; 16 July 1914 – 24 February 1992) was a Croatian footballer. Lešnik played most of his club football for Građanski Zagreb. In 1941 he was the Croatian First League's top scorer while playing for Građanski, and performed th ...

, then a 24-year-old seasoned forward for Građanski Zagreb, who scored 22 goals in 19 appearances, including five in a home game against

Slavija Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Slavija Sarajevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Славија Сарајево) is a professional association football club from the city of Istočno Sarajevo, Republika Srpska that is situated in Bosnia and Herzeg ...

in April 1939.

Teams

The national league was expanded from 10 to 12 clubs for the 1938–39 season. The previous season's last place finisher,

HŠK Concordia HŠK Concordia was a Croatian football club formed in Zagreb. The club was founded as the Srednjoškolski športski klub in 1906. By the end of the First World War the club had played many matches with both domestic and foreign clubs. After the w ...

, were relegated, while the other top nine clubs earned an automatic spot in this year's edition. The remaining three spots were filled with winners of three zonal qualifying playoffs. At the time, football in Yugoslavia was governed by 14 regional sub-federations, usually centered around a major city and named after it. Most of these organized a local championship, with winners entering the qualifying playoff. *Zone I – Zagreb, Split, Ljubljana, and Banja Luka federations; won by Slavija Varaždin *Zone II – Osijek, Subotica, Belgrade, Petrovgrad, and

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

federations; won by Sparta Zemun *Zone III –

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

, Sarajevo, Niš, and Kragujevac federations; won by

Građanski Skopje Gragjanski Skopje (, , ) was a football club from Skoplje, Yugoslavia (now Skopje, North Macedonia). The club's major achievements were the two participations in the Royal League during the period from 1923 to 1940, and playing in the Bulgarian ...

''As of April 1939 and end of season'' ;Managerial changes during season: *BSK –

Sándor Nemes Sándor Nemes (25 September 1899 – 27 October 1977), also known as Alexander Neufeld and Aleksandar Nemeš, was a Hungarian football player and manager. He had a playing career in Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, United States and Yugoslavia, ...

replaced by István Mészáros *Gragjanski – Vladimir Kujundžić replaced by

Dušan Marković Dušan Marković may refer to: * Dušan Marković (footballer, born 1906) * Dušan Marković (footballer, born 1998) * Dušan Marković (water polo) {{hndis, Markovic, Dusan ...

*SK Zemun – Adolf Engel replaced by Hans Šnajder

League

Results

Winning squad

Champions:

BSK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK Beograd Mozzart ...

(manager:

; then István Mészáros) *GK – Anton Puhar (15) *GK – Srđan Mrkušić (7) *DF –

Ernest Dubac Ernest Dubac (15 February 1914 – 27 February 1985) was a Croatian and Yugoslav professional football player and football manager. Club career Born in Osijek, Dubac started his career with Hajduk Osijek before moving to JŠK Slavija Osijek. ...

(19/2) *DF –

Đorđe Stojiljković Djordje Stojiljkovic is a Serbian cinematographer and visual effects artist. Early life Born and raised in Vlasotince, Serbia, he developed an early interest in cinematography, by helping his father, who worked as an event photographer and cine ...

(19/0) *DF –

Predrag Radovanović Predrag Radovanović (; 27 March 1911 – 1 August 1964) was a Serbian footballer and coach. Biography Nicknamed ''Pegi'', he was born in Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was cr ...

(3/0) *DF –

Jovan Beleslin Jovan Beleslin (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Белеслин; born 1 October 1919) was a Hungarian footballer. Club career A strong full-back with excellent header, he started playing with ŽAK Subotica when he got registered for the senior t ...

(2/0) *DF – Milorad Rančić (2/0) *MF –

Gustav Lechner Gustav Lechner (17 February 1913 – 5 February 1987) was a football player and coach. At international level he represented both the Yugoslavian and Croatian national sides. Club career Born in Osijek, Austria-Hungary and nicknamed ''Lembika ...

(22/0) *MF –

Prvoslav Dragićević Prvoslav Dragićević (Serbian Cyrillic: Првослав Драгићевић; 4 March 1914 – 27 December 1974) was a Serbian football manager and player. Playing career Club career Dragićević played at SK Jedinstvo Beograd and BSK Beogr ...

(15/0) *MF – Bruno Knežević (7/0) *MF –

Ivan Stevović Ivan Stevović (6 September 1910 – 4 February 1999) was a Yugoslav footballer. He played in five matches for the Yugoslavia national football team from 1933 to 1939. He was also named in Yugoslavia's squad for the Group 3 qualification to ...

(5/0) *FW –

Svetislav Glišović Svetislav Glišović (Serbian Cyrillic: Светислав Глишовић; 17 September 1913 – 10 March 1988) was a Yugoslav international football player and manager. Club career Glišović played in the youth team of SK Soko before beco ...

(22/11) *FW –

Đorđe Vujadinović Đorđe Vujadinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђорђе Вујадиновић; 29 November 1909 – 5 October 1990) was a Yugoslav international football player and manager. Club career He was born in Kolari, a suburb of Smederevo, but still very yo ...

(21/12) *FW – Petar Manola (16/0) *FW –

Svetislav Valjarević Svetislav Valjarević (; 9 July 1911 – 22 September 1996) was a Serbian footballer. Career He started playing in the youth team of BSK Belgrade, however when he graduated the Military Academy, he was sent to service to Zagreb in 1930 where he ...

(15/10) *FW –

Vojin Božović Vojin "Škoba" Božović (Cyrillic: Војин Божовић; 1 January 1913 – 19 April 1983) was a Yugoslav and Montenegrin football player and manager. Playing career Club He was among the best players in the history of Montenegro and one ...

(14/9) *FW –

Dobrivoje Zečević Dobrivoje (Cyrillic script: Добривоје) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin. Notable people with the name include: *Dobrivoje Božić (1885–1967), Serbian inventor *Dobrivoje Marković (born 1986), Serbian handballer *Dobrivoje Tri ...

(13/9) *FW –

Ján Podhradský Ján Podhradský (31 August 1917 – 15 December 1998) was a footballer who represented both Yugoslavia and Slovakia internationally. Club career He was born during World War I in the town of Kisač,

(12/9) *FW – Milorad Nikolić (10/4) *FW –

Blagoje Marjanović Blagoje "Moša" Marjanović ( sr-Cyrl, Благоје "Моша" Марјановић, ; 9 September 1907 – 1 October 1984) was a Serbian football player and manager. Early life Born to merchant father Dimitrije and housewife mother Sofija, yo ...

(3/0)

Top scorers

Final goalscoring position, number of goals, player/players and club. *22 goals –

(Građanski Zagreb) *19 goals –

Frane Matošić Frane Matošić (25 November 1918 – 29 October 2007) was a Croatian football player and coach who played as a striker. He is regarded as one of Hajduk Split's greatest players and he is the club's all-time leading goalscorer. Playing career ...

(Hajduk Split) *15 goals – Aleksandar Petrović (Jugoslavija) *13 goals –

Jozo Matošić Jozo Matošić (27 January 1913 – 1 March 1999) was a Yugoslav football coach and player. He was captain of the famous Hajduk Split side during World War II. He was also the older brother of Frane Matošić, Hajduk's best goalscorer of al ...

(Hajduk Split),

Ratko Kacian Ratko Kacian (; 18 January 1917 – 18 June 1949; spelled Kacijan in some sources) was a Croatian and Yugoslav footballer. He played internationally for the wartime Independent State of Croatia team from 1940 to 1943 and for the Yugoslavia natio ...

(HAŠK), Manojlo Živković (Jedinstvo) *12 goals –

(BSK) *11 goals –

(BSK), Milan Rajlić (Slavija Sarajevo),

Slavko Pavletić Slavko Pavletić (; 15 April 1914– 27 May 1945) was a Croatian footballer who played as a midfielder for Meteor Zagreb and Concordia Zagreb. International career He made his debut for Croatia under the flag of the Independent State of Croati ...

(Slavija Varaždin)

References

External links

Yugoslavia Domestic Football Full Tables
{{DEFAULTSORT:1938-39 Yugoslav Football Championship Yugoslav Football Championship

Yugo Yugo (), also known as the Zastava Yugo, Zastava Koral (, sr-Cyrl, Застава Корал) and Yugo Koral, was a subcompact car, subcompact hatchback manufactured by Zastava Automobiles from 1980 until 2008, originally a Socialist Federal R ...

1938–39 in Yugoslav football