Yugoslav First Basketball League

Yugoslav Basketball League

Sport	Basketball
Founded	1945
Ceased	1992
Countries	Yugoslavia
Continent	FIBA Europe (Europe)
Last champion(s)	Partizan (5th title)
Most titles	Crvena zvezda (12 titles)
Level on pyramid	1st Tier (Yugoslavia)
Relegation to	Yugoslav 1. B League
Related competitions	Yugoslav Basketball Cup

The Yugoslav First Basketball League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna košarkaška liga) was the name of the top-tier level professional basketball league that was played in SFR Yugoslavia, from 1945 to 1991–92. The First Federal League was the top-tier level league in Yugoslavia, and the Second Federal League was the second-tier level league in Yugoslavia. With a total of 16 European-wide trophy winners and 11 finalists, the Yugoslav First Basketball League was one of the strongest European national domestic basketball leagues of all time.

Although all of the former Yugoslavian countries that were founded after the breakup of Yugoslavia, each now have their own national domestic leagues, each of the six nations also now take part in the ABA League (commonly known as the Adriatic League), which was founded in 2001; and which is, the closest basketball league in existence today, that is similar to the former Yugoslav Basketball League.

History

After the end of Second World War in Yugoslavia in 1945, there arose a need for athletic development in the fledgling nation. Post-WW2 Yugoslavia was (with the exception of major cities such as Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Sarajevo) for the most part lacking in competitive opportunities in sports. In response to this, 1945 and 1946 saw an explosion of new clubs and leagues for every sport, the basketball league being part of this phenomenon.

The very first competition under the newly formed Yugoslav Basketball League in 1945, drawing parallel to the Yugoslav First League (of football), was more or less a nationwide affirmation of unity. Instead of individual clubs competing in the usual fashion, there were only eight teams. Six representing each state within Yugoslavia, one representing the province of Vojvodina, and the last representing the Yugoslav People's Army.

Only in the 1970s did the basketball culture of Yugoslavia truly come to enjoy recognition as the top nation in basketball. Breaking away from the dominance of the Soviet Union, the Yugoslav league gave rise to stars that would go on to win multiple Basketball World Championships and European Basketball Championships. After a decade of dominance, the 1980s saw a disappointing slump of talent in the Yugoslav Basketball League.

Once again the world witnessed a sleeping giant come awake in the early 90s as Yugoslavia won two straight European Basketball Championships and a World Basketball Championship. This momentum was swiftly halted by the ethnic strife which broke out in 1991. Clubs from SR Slovenia and SR Croatia withdrew from the league so that the 1991–92 season, the competition's last, was contested without them. The country got divided into five successor republics, each founding their own basketball federations with the exception of Serbia and Montenegro, which retained the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the YUBA League.

Despite all these changes, the joint league of clubs from the former Yugoslavia proved to be a winning league format formula, so on July 3, 2001, the Adriatic League was founded. It features teams from all the former Yugoslav states, and it exists alongside scaled-down versions of the individual national domestic leagues of each of the former Yugoslav states.

Title holders

Performance by club

Titles	Club	Years
12	Crvena zvezda	1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1968–69, 1971–72
6	Olimpija	1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1969–70
	Zadar	1965, 1967, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1985–86
	Split	1970–71, 1976–77, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91
5	Partizan	1975–76, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1986–87, 1991–92
4	OKK Beograd	1958, 1960, 1963, 1964
3	Bosna	1977–78, 1979–80, 1982–83
	Cibona	1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85
1	Yugoslav Army	1945
	Proleter Zrenjanin	1956
	Radnički Belgrade	1972–73

Performance by Republic 1946–1992

Titles	Republic
23	Serbia
15	Croatia
6	Slovenia
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina

Play-off Finals

Playoffs as a way of determining the Yugoslav First Basketball League champion following the regular season got instituted in 1981 ahead of the 1981–82 season.

Source: official website archive^[3]

Yugoslav basketball clubs in European-wide competitions 1958–1992

FIBA European Champions Cup

Split has made 3 EuroLeague Final Four appearances (with 3 top 4 place finishes), has played in the EuroLeague Final 4 times, and has won the EuroLeague championship 3 times. Cibona has played in the EuroLeague Final 2 times, and has won the EuroLeague championship two times. Bosna has played in the EuroLeague Final 1 time, and has won the EuroLeague championship once. Partizan has made 2 EuroLeague Final Four appearances, has played in the EuroLeague Final once, and has won the EuroLeague championship 1 time.

Club	Champions	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarterfinalist
Split	1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91	1971–72		1977–78*
Cibona	1984–85, 1985–86			1982–83*
Partizan	1991–92		1987–88	1979–80*, 1981–82*
Bosna	1978–79			1979–80*, 1980–81*, 1983–84*
OKK Beograd			1958–59, 1963–64, 1964–65
Olimpija			1961–62, 1966–67	1959–60, 1962–63, 1970–71
Zadar			1967–68, 1974–75	1965–66, 1968–69, 1986–87*
Crvena zvezda			1972–73	1969–70
Radnički Belgrade			1973–74

* Top 6 (semifinal group stage)

FIBA Saporta Cup

• Yugoslav clubs that finished in the top 2 places of the now defunct Saporta Cup (1966–67 to 2001–02), which was the second-tier European-wide continental competition:

Club	Champions	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarterfinalist
Cibona	1981–82, 1986–87		1980–81, 1983–84, 1988–89	1969–70
Crvena zvezda	1973–74	1971–72, 1974–75		1990–91
Split		1972–73		1985–86
Radnički Belgrade		1976–77		1978–79
Olimpija			1968–69, 1982–83	1967–68
Rabotnički			1975–76
Partizan				1966–67, 1989–90
Zadar				1970–71, 1979–80
Kvarner				1977–78
IMT				1987–88

FIBA Korać Cup

• Yugoslav clubs that finished in the top 2 places of the now defunct Korać Cup (1971–72 to 2001–02), which was the third-tier European-wide continental competition:

Club	Champions	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarterfinalist
Partizan	1977–78, 1978–79, 1988–89	1973–74	1974–75
Split	1975–76, 1976–77		1978–79, 1979–80
Cibona	1972	1979–80, 1987–88		1990–91
Šibenka		1981–82, 1982–83
Crvena zvezda		1983–84	1980–81, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1987–88
Bosna		1977–78	1989–90
OKK Beograd		1972
Zadar			1981–82, 1982–83, 1988–89	1990–91

Notable players

See also

• Yugoslav 1. B Federal Basketball League
• Yugoslav Basketball Cup
• YUBA League
• Radivoj Korać Cup
• Adriatic League
• Basketball League of Croatia
• Basketball League of Montenegro
• Basketball League of Serbia
• Basketball League of Slovenia

Notes

References

Basketball in Yugoslavia
Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia
National teams	Men Yugoslavia U20 & U21 U18 & U19 U16 & U17 University Women Yugoslavia U20 & U21 U18 & U19 U16 & U17 University
League competitions	Men Yugoslav First Basketball League Yugoslav 1. B Basketball League Women Yugoslav Women's Basketball League Yugoslav Women's Second Basketball League
Cup competitions	Men Yugoslav Basketball Cup Women Yugoslav Women's Basketball Cup

Yugoslav basketball clubs in European and worldwide competitions
Bosna Cibona Crvena zvezda OKK Beograd Olimpija Partizan Radnički Belgrade Šibenik Split Zadar