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Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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"Premijer liga" redirects here. For for the Croatian basketball league, see Premijer liga (Croatian basketball).
Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Organising bodyN/FSBiH
Founded2000; 24 years ago (2000)
First season2000–01
Country Bosnia and Herzegovina
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams12
Level on pyramid1
Relegation to
Domestic cup(s)
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Conference League
Current championsBorac (3rd title)
(2023–24)
Most championshipsZrinjski (8 titles)
Most appearancesJosip Barišić (382)
Top goalscorerNemanja Bilbija (171)
TV partnersArena Sport
Websitenfsbih.ba
Current: 2024–25 Premier League

The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine; Croatian: Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine; Serbian Cyrillic: Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football league in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is operated by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the country's most prestigious level of football competition, the league changed format in the 2016–17 season and is contested by 12 clubs with the last two teams relegated at the end of every season.

As of the 2024–25 season, the league is represented by four clubs in European competition. The winner of the Premier League starts from the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. The winner of the Bosnian Cup as well as the runner-up and third placed team on the table starts from the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.

The bottom two teams are relegated at the end of the season, while the winners of the First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the First League of the Republika Srpska are promoted to the Premier League.

History

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War period (1992–1996)

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After the breakup of Yugoslavia, and following proclamation of independence in late winter 1992, many clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina left the Yugoslav First League. In April 1992, the N/FSBiH applied for membership with FIFA and UEFA.[1] Meanwhile, due to the outbreak of the Bosnian War in April 1992, no games were played in the 1992–93 season. In late 1993 some parts of the country re-launched football competitions with reduced scope. But just as the country was divided along ethnic lines, so was football.

In 1993, Bosnian Croats launched the Football Federation of Herzeg-Bosnia and its First League of Herzeg-Bosnia, in which only Croat clubs competed on parochial scale within the limits of West Herzegovina and a few other enclaves. In the same year Bosnian Serbs also organized their own First League of the Republika Srpska, on a territory held by Republika Srpska at the time. Only football on a territory under the control of the then Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina institutions and auspices of N/FSBiH, at the time consequently with Bosniak majority, apart from a brief competition for the 1994–95 season (won by Čelik Zenica), came to a standstill. Competition under auspices of the N/FSBiH did not resume until the 1995–96 season when the First League of Bosnia and Herzegovina was launched.[1]

Post-war period (1996–2000)

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These three separate football leagues were operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina until 1998, and 2000. Since FIFA and UEFA showed support only for the association operating under patronage of the official and internationally recognized state institutions, during the war and prior to the Dayton Agreement, as well as after its signage, they endorsed unification of all three organizations as the N/FSBiH. This also came as a consequence of FIFA's decision to recognize the N/FSBiH already in July 1996, while in the same year UEFA admitted the N/FSBiH as an adjacent member until 1998 when they recognized its full membership. This meant that only N/FSBiH clubs and its national team could compete at the international and official level.[1]

Final unification was preceded by several stages. At first, a play-off was created where clubs were playing for the title under N/FSBiH auspices. The idea was that a play-off under unified N/FSBiH auspices should bring together clubs competing under three separate organizations for the first time but was rejected by the Serb association, leaving clubs from the Croat football association and the N/FSBiH participating the play-off for the seasons 1997–98 and 1999–00, while the 1998–99 play-off was canceled due to the Croat's association hesitation on the decision on which stadiums games should be played. Next season the play-off was resumed for the last time prior to the full and final agreement on a unified N/FSBiH and its competition, the Bosnian Premier League (Premijer Liga), in the fall of 2000.

Premier League creation (2000)

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The first 2000–01 season saw clubs from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity only, while clubs from the Republika Srpska entity continued to compete in their own separate league as their entity association still refused to join the agreed unified N/FSBiH and its new competition. However, UEFA and FIFA never intended to recognize this separate organization nor its competition, which meant clubs could not compete outside the territory of the entity and would not compete internationally. This situation forced clubs to insist that their organization also join the N/FSBiH, and two years later they became part of the competition for the 2002–03 season. Ever since the year 2000 the Premier League is the top tier of Bosnia and Herzegovina football, with two entity-based leagues, the First League of Republika Srpska and the First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, being pushed to the second tier of the Bosnian football pyramid and serve as feeder leagues to the Premier League.[1]

Liga 12 (2016–present)

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During the seasons 2016–17 and the 2017–18, the league had entirely changed its format, reducing the number of clubs from 16 to 12, thus sometimes referred to as "Liga 12" (League 12), with the calendar also modified accordingly, reintroducing the play-offs (also known as the "title playoffs") and introducing the play out.

The number of matches was played by each club during the regular season after which, according to their position, they entered to the play-offs or the play out. The play-offs were contested by the top six clubs in the regular season, with each club playing each other twice for the title, which guaranteed Champions League qualifications, while second and third place guaranteed Europa League qualifications berths. The play out was contested by the bottom six clubs to avoid relegation, with the last two teams being relegated.

Since the 2018–19 season, after all the 12 clubs have played against each other two times, once home and once away, they play against each other one more time, playing either home or away depending on how the schedule is made. With that, the league season has 33 full rounds, instead of the 22 rounds and an additional 10 rounds in the relegation and championship games in the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons.[2]

Liga 10

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In May 2024, the N/FSBiH decided that the number of teams competing in the Premier League will be reduced to ten, starting from the 2025–26 season.[3]

Sponsorship

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On 31 July 2012, the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina signed a two-year deal with BH Telecom regarding the sponsorship of the league, effectively renaming the league BH Telecom Premier League.[4] The deal was extended once more before the start of 2014–15 season. On 24 July 2020, it was announced that Mtel had become the new league sponsor for the next three years with an estimate 23 Million BAM worth,[5] renaming the league m:tel Premier League.

On 9 February 2024, a five-year deal with gambling company Wwin was signed by the Bosnian FA, officially changing the league's name to the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[6]

Clubs

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Forty clubs have played in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina from its inception in 2000, up to and including the 2024–25 season. Željezničar, Sarajevo, Zrinjski Mostar and Široki Brijeg are the only clubs in the Premier League to have never been relegated.[7]

Champions

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Main article: List of Bosnia and Herzegovina football champions
Club Winners Runners-up Winning seasons
Zrinjski 8 2 2004–05, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2021–22, 2022–23
Željezničar 5 7 2000–01, 2001–02, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13
Sarajevo 4 4 2006–07, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20
Borac 3 1 2010–11, 2020–21, 2023–24
Široki Brijeg 2 5 2003–04, 2005–06
Modriča 1 0 2007–08
Leotar 1 0 2002–03

2024–25 season

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Main article: 2024–25 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Twelve clubs are competing in the 2024–25 season – top ten from the previous season and two promoted from each of the second-level leagues.

class=notpageimage|
Locations of the 2024–25 Premier League of BiH clubs
Team Location Stadium Capacity[8]
Borac Banja Luka Banja Luka Banja Luka City Stadium 10,030
GOŠK Gabela Gabela Perica-Pero Pavlović 3,000
Igman Konjic Konjic Konjic City Stadium 5,000
Posušje Posušje Mokri Dolac Stadium 8,000
Radnik Bijeljina Bijeljina Bijeljina City Stadium 6,000
Sarajevo Sarajevo Asim Ferhatović Hase 34,500
Sloboda Tuzla Tuzla Tušanj 7,200
Sloga Meridian Doboj Luke Stadium 3,000
Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg Pecara 7,000
Velež Mostar Mostar Rođeni Stadium 7,000
Zrinjski Mostar Mostar Bijeli Brijeg 9,000
Željezničar Sarajevo Grbavica 13,146

International competitions

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Main article: Bosnia and Herzegovina football clubs in European competitions

In the qualifiers for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League, Željezničar gained the first big success in Bosnian post-war club-football, going all the way to the last qualifying round for the most important club competition in Europe. After big wins over ÍA Akraness and Lillestrøm, however, they were held by Newcastle United. In the first match, held in Sarajevo, Newcastle won 0–1 with English team defeating Željezničar 4–0 in England.

The second time a Bosnian club moved into the last qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League was FK Sarajevo in 2007–08, when they lost to Dynamo Kyiv 0–4 on aggregate, after going over Maltese Marsaxlokk and Belgian side Genk.

Another remarkable season for Bosnian clubs in Europe was 2009–10. The most memorable performances were marked by Sarajevo and Slavija. While Slavija surprisingly beat Aalborg in the second qualifying round but could not overcome MFK Košice in the third round, Sarajevo was able to reach the Play-offs for the Group Stage of the newly formed UEFA Europa League after beating Spartak Trnava and Helsingborg. However, they lost there unhappily 3–2 on aggregate to CFR Cluj. Sarajevo made it again in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, playing all the way to the play-off round where they lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League season, Sarajevo once again played in the play-off round, this time losing to Celtic.

After getting eliminated from the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, Zrinjski Mostar made it to the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round, where they got eliminated by Slovak club Slovan Bratislava following a penalty shoot-out, missing out on a chance to play in the group stage.[9]

In August 2023, Zrinjski became the first ever club from Bosnia and Herzegovina to reach the group stages of a European club competition after eliminating Icelandic club Breiðablik in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, which assured Zrinjski of a group stage spot in the UEFA Europa Conference League as a minimum.[10] After losing to LASK in the Europa League play-off round, Zrinjski dropped into the Conference League group stage, where they were drawn into Group E alongside Aston Villa, AZ and Legia Warsaw.[11] On matchday one, Zrinjski pulled off an astonishing comeback against AZ. Trailing 3–0 at half time, the team made history and came back to win 4–3.[12] This result also meant that they became the first ever Bosnian side to win a game in a UEFA club competition group stage.[13] The team lost their next four games in the group, before ending their European campaign with a home draw against Aston Villa on 14 December 2023.[14]

Rankings

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Ranking Member association
(L: League, C: Cup, LC: League Cup) 		Coefficient Teams[x 1] Regular places in 2026–27 season[x 2]
2025 2024 Mvmt 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 Total CL EL CO Total
35 41 6 +6 Iceland Iceland (L, C) 0.625 1.500 3.000 3.833 2.875 11.833 1/4
36 37 1 +1 Latvia Latvia (L, C) 1.375 2.625 2.750 1.625 3.125 11.500 1/4
37 34 -3 –3 Finland Finland (L, C) 1.375 3.750 2.625 1.750 2.000 11.500 1/4
38 39 1 +1 Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina (L, C) 2.625 1.625 2.000 2.250 2.500 11.000 1/4
39 38 -1 –1 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands (L, C) 2.750 1.500 2.250 2.750 1.500 10.750 0/4
40 33 -7 –7 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan (L, C) 1.000 2.875 1.125 3.125 2.500 10.625 1/4
41 45 4 +4 Malta Malta (L, C) 1.500 1.875 2.625 1.500 1.000 8.500 0/4
  1. ^ Number of teams still active from association in UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League.
  2. ^ European Performance Spots: The two associations with the highest one-year coefficient in the most recent season are awarded an additional berth in the Champions League league phase.

All time table

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Counting only since the 2002–03 season, the season the league became a unified country-wide league.
As of the end of the 2023–24 season. Teams in bold are part of the 2024–25 season.

Ssn = Number of seasons; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; HF = Highest finish

Rank
Club
Town
Ssn
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
HF
1 Zrinjski Mostar 22 679 382 120 177 1,117 662 +455 1,265 (-1) 1
2 Sarajevo Sarajevo 22 679 358 161 160 1,118 609 +509 1,232 (-3) 1
3 Željezničar Sarajevo 22 679 347 151 181 1,018 627 +391 1,192 1
4 Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg 22 679 323 165 191 1,016 673 +343 1,134 1
5 Borac Banja Luka 18 554 268 102 184 729 566 +163 906 (-1) 1
6 Sloboda Tuzla 19 586 216 127 243 622 673 −51 775 2
7 Čelik Zenica 18 547 195 134 218 609 669 −60 716 (-3) 3
8 Velež Mostar 16 492 182 114 196 592 603 −11 657 (-3) 3
9 Leotar Trebinje 14 434 167 65 202 504 617 −113 566 1
10 Slavija Istočno Sarajevo 12 360 137 65 158 416 493 −77 476 (-3) 2
11 Travnik Travnik 12 360 122 64 174 422 538 −116 430 5
12 Radnik Bijeljina 12 365 109 98 158 372 478 −106 425 5
13 Posušje Posušje 10 317 113 63 141 360 473 −113 402 5
14 Olimpik Sarajevo 9 275 100 67 108 309 333 −24 367 5
15 Modriča Modriča 7 210 87 34 89 298 290 +8 295 1
16 Orašje Orašje 7 218 85 33 100 307 325 −18 288 7
17 Zvijezda Gradačac 7 210 70 49 91 248 304 −56 259 7
18 Tuzla City Tuzla 6 187 64 48 75 232 259 −27 240 2
19 Rudar (P) Prijedor 7 213 57 56 100 207 286 −79 227 10
20 Žepče Žepče 6 188 62 32 94 192 274 −82 218 8
21 Mladost (DK) Doboj, Kakanj 6 182 53 50 79 196 265 −69 209 6
22 Jedinstvo Bihać 4 128 53 14 61 171 203 −32 173 7
23 GOŠK Gabela 5 158 41 42 75 148 239 −91 165 7
24 Vitez Vitez 5 154 39 34 81 126 210 −84 151 9
25 Krupa Krupa na Vrbasu 4 130 37 36 57 141 170 −29 147 4
26 Budućnost Banovići 4 128 39 21 68 139 199 −60 138 8
27 Laktaši Laktaši 3 90 35 14 41 122 125 −3 119 8
28 Rudar (U) Ugljevik 3 98 34 14 50 118 143 −25 116 9
29 Glasinac Sokolac 2 68 25 10 33 71 103 −32 85 14
30 Sloga Doboj 2 66 23 10 33 77 105 −28 79 7
31 Drina Zvornik 3 90 20 12 58 68 159 −91 72 13
32 Brotnjo Čitluk 2 68 19 14 35 76 114 −38 71 13
33 Igman Konjic 2 66 18 16 32 82 115 −33 70 8
34 Kozara Gradiška 2 68 19 13 36 74 107 −33 70 15
35 Zvijezda 09 Ugljevik 3 88 16 19 53 78 168 −90 67 9
36 Mladost (VO) Velika Obarska 2 60 14 17 29 42 82 −40 59 11
37 Mladost (G) Gacko 1 38 11 6 21 40 65 −25 39 18
38 Metalleghe Jajce 1 32 7 11 14 25 34 −9 32 11
39 Bosna Visoko 1 38 4 1 33 28 107 −79 13 20
40 Gradina Srebrenik 1 30 1 6 23 17 57 −40 9 16
2024–25 Bosnian Premier League
2024–25 First League of FBiH or 2024–25 First League of RS
2024–25 third or lower degree of competition
Dissolved

1 In the 2004–05 season, Borac were deducted 1 point (Slavija were awarded 3–0 vs Borac in week 11).
2 In the 2006–07 season, Zrinjski were deducted 1 point (Orašje were awarded 3–0 vs Zrinjski).
3 In the 2013–14 season, Slavija were deducted 3 points.
4 In the 2019–20 season, Čelik were deducted 3 points (Željezničar were awarded 3–0 vs Čelik).
5 In the 2021–22 season, Velež were deducted 3 points (Borac were awarded 3–0 vs Velež).
6 In the 2023–24 season, Sarajevo were deducted 3 points.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "N/FSBiH History". www.nfsbih.ba. N/FSBiH. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  2. ^ E.B. (19 June 2018). "Premijer liga BiH se igra u trokružnom formatu, broj stranih igrača smanjen na četiri" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. ^ E.K. (27 May 2024). "Nogometni savez BiH odlučio: Liga se i zvanično smanjuje na 10 klubova" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  4. ^ "BH Telecom the first ever sponsor of the Premier League, signing a two year deal!" (in Bosnian). SportSport.ba. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  5. ^ E. Škorić (24 July 2020). "NFSBiH i zvanično dobio novog sponzora!" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Wwin novi sponzor fudbalske lige Bosne i Hercegovine". nfsbih.ba (in Bosnian). 9 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Samo četiri nogometna kluba u BiH nikada nisu ispadali iz Premijer lige BiH u niži rang takmičenja!". sportskevijesti.com (in Bosnian). 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Capacity of stadiums of the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  9. ^ M. Šljivak (25 August 2022). "Tragedija HŠK Zrinjski u Bratislavi!". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  10. ^ H.H. (17 August 2023). "Zrinjski postao prvi klub iz BiH koji se plasirao u grupnu fazu evropskih takmičenja" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Zrinjski u grupi sa Aston Villom, AZ Alkmaarom i Legiom". vijesti.ba (in Bosnian). 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  12. ^ "Zrinjski 4–3 AZ Alkmaar". uefa.com. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  13. ^ H. Zilić (22 September 2023). "Pobjeda Zrinjskog od velikog značaja za bh. koeficijent: U igri smo da dobijemo klub u Evropa ligi" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  14. ^ E.K. (14 December 2023). "Zrinjski izborio veliki remi protiv Aston Ville u Mostaru" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
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