The Yugoslav Handball Championship was the highest level competition in men's team handball in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, played regularly for almost four decades between 1953 and 1992, before being abandoned due to the breakup of Yugoslavia.

History

The first five editions from 1953 to 1957 were decided via a finals play-off tournament contested by clubs who had qualified in regional competitions, before a regular round-robin league format was introduced for the 1957–58 season. The league featured clubs from all of Yugoslavia's federal subjects, with the most successful being RK Bjelovar with 9 titles, followed by RK Borac Banja Luka and RK Metaloplastika with 7 titles each.

Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the competition was eventually succeeded by the following handball leagues:

• Handball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Croatian Handball Premier League

• Macedonian Handball Super League

• Montenegrin Men's Handball First League

• Serbian Handball Super League

• Slovenian First League

Title holders

• .....1953 Prvomajska

• .....1954 Prvomajska

• .....1955 Crvena zvezda

• .....1956 Crvena zvezda

• .....1957 Zagreb

• 1957–58 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1958–59 Borac Banja Luka

• 1959–60 Borac Banja Luka

• 1960–61 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1961–62 Zagreb

• 1962–63 Zagreb

• 1963–64 Prvomajska/Medveščak

• 1964–65 Zagreb

• 1965–66 Medveščak

• 1966–67 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1967–68 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1968–69 Crvenka

• 1969–70 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1970–71 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1971–72 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1972–73 Borac Banja Luka

• 1973–74 Borac Banja Luka

• 1974–75 Borac Banja Luka

• 1975–76 Borac Banja Luka

• 1976–77 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1977–78 Željezničar Sarajevo

• 1978–79 Partizan Bjelovar

• 1979–80 Slovan

• 1980–81 Borac Banja Luka

• 1981–82 Metaloplastika

• 1982–83 Metaloplastika

• 1983–84 Metaloplastika

• 1984–85 Metaloplastika

• 1985–86 Metaloplastika

• 1986–87 Metaloplastika

• 1987–88 Metaloplastika

• 1988–89 Zagreb

• 1989–90 Proleter

• 1990–91 Zagreb

• 1991–92 Proleter

Championships by club

European success

Traditionally one of the strongest handball leagues in Europe, several Yugoslav clubs went on to compete with considerable success in the European Cup (present-day EHF Champions League), the premier continental handball competition. Prior to the breakup of Yugoslavia, six Yugoslav clubs had managed to reach the European finals 11 times, winning four titles.

Notable clubs

(at least 10 top-flight seasons or at least one title)

• Medveščak, Zagreb

• Partizan, Bjelovar

• RK Zagreb, Zagreb

• Pelister, Bitola

  Crvena zvezda, Belgrade

Crvenka, Crvenka Dubočica, Leskovac Dinamo, Pančevo Železničar, Niš Metaloplastika, Šabac Proleter, Zrenjanin Partizan, Belgrade

• Slovan, Ljubljana

References