The 2020–21 Croatian First Football League (officially Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 30th season of the

Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establishe ...

, the top national championship for men's

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 ...

teams in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 14 August 2020 and finished on 22 May 2021. The season began with games being played

behind closed doors Behind Closed Doors may refer to: Film, television and radio Film * ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1929 film), an early talkie starring Virginia Valli * Behind Closed Doors (1961 film), ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1961 film), an Italian comedy film by Dino ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Teams

On 20 May 2020, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2020–21 season was complete. For the 2020–21 Prva HNL, ten clubs were issued a top level license:

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

, Gorica,

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

, Istra 1961, Lokomotiva,

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, Slaven Belupo,

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

and

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

. All of these clubs except Šibenik and Varaždin were also issued a license for participating in

UEFA competitions UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. Th ...

. In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage could appeal on the decision. On 17 June 2020, Croatian Football Federation announced that the licensing procedure for 2020–21 season was complete. Inter Zaprešić and Orijent 1919 were also issued a top level license after appeal process.

Stadia and locations

* ¹ Lokomotiva host their home matches at

Stadion Kranjčevićeva Stadion u Kranjčevićevoj ulici (''Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević, Kranjčević Street Stadium''), also known as Stadion Concordije between 1921 and 1945, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Trešnjevka neighbourhood, in the Croatian capital ...

. The stadium is originally the home ground of third-level side

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

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

PrvaHNL.hr
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Awards

Annual awards

References

External links

Official website

Prva HNL
at UEFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Croatian First Football League, 2020-21 2020-21 1 2020–21 in European association football leagues