Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Croatian Handball Premier League | |
Sport | Handball |
---|---|
Founded | 1991 |
No. of teams | 16 |
Country | Croatia |
Confederation | EHF |
Most recent champion(s) | RK Zagreb (2023–24) |
International cup(s) | EHF Champions League EHF European League EHF European Cup SEHA League |
Official website | www |
The Croatian Handball Premier League (Croatian : Hrvatska rukometna premijer liga) is the highest men's handball league in Croatia. It is organized by the Croatian Handball Federation (Hrvatski rukometni savez). The league comprises 16 teams.
The league was formed in 1991 with the dissolution of the Yugoslav leagues.
In the first phase, eight teams from two groups compete in a home-and-away round-robin series. All teams advance from the regular season to one of two postseason stages, depending on their league position. The top four teams from the regular season play in the Championship Round, while the bottom four teams play in the Relegation Round. At the end of the season, the bottom finisher is automatically relegated to the second league.
Club | Titles | Year | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | RK Zagreb | 32 | 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002*, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
The following data indicates Croatian coefficient rankings between European handball leagues.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
EHF League Ranking for 2018/19 season: [1]
|
EHF Club Ranking as of 3 March 2019: [2]
|
Ivano Balić is a Croatian former professional handballer who is currently part of the coaching staff at RK Split. Renowned for his speed, creativity, movement and charisma as a player, Balić won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and thirteen titles playing for clubs in Croatia, Spain and Germany. He also earned two World Championship silver medals, two European Championship silver medals and one bronze medal, and one Olympic bronze medal (2012) with the national team.
Valter Matošević is a former Croatian team handball player who was at the goalkeeper position. He played for professional teams in Croatia, Germany, Spain, Denmark and Italy. He is current handball coach.
Mirza Džomba is a Croatian former professional handball player, World champion in 2003 and Olympic champion in 2004.
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.
The Montenegrin Men's Handball First League is the top men's team handball league in Montenegro. It is organized by the Handball Federation of Montenegro.
The Croatian Handball Cup is a national team handball competition in Croatia operated by the Croatian Handball Federation. It has been held annually since Croatian independence in 1991 and succeeded the former Yugoslavian Handball Cup.
Zdravko Zovko is a retired Croatian handball player.
Mirko Bašić is a Croatian former handball player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1984 Summer Olympics and in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He has also played six EHF Champions League finals winning two in 1984–85 and 1985–86 as part of the famous RK Metaloplastika which dominated European handball in the 1980s.
Alvaro Načinović is a former Croatian handball player who competed for Yugoslavia and Croatia respectively.
Zlatan "Zlatko" Saračević was a Croatian professional handball player and coach who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics for Yugoslavia and in the 1996 Summer Olympics for Croatia.
Lino Červar is a Croatian retired handball coach. In 2003 he guided Croatia men's national handball team to gold in the 2003 World Championship as well as to gold at the 2004 Olympics.
Igor Vori is a Croatian handball coach and former player who is currently the coach of Croatian club MRK Sesvete. Regarded as one of the best line players in handball history and renowned for his defensive and attacking abilities, Vori won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and over thirty club titles playing for RK Zagreb, FC Barcelona, HSV Hamburg and Paris Saint-Germain. He holds the record for most appearances for the Croatian national team with 246 caps.
Patrik Ćavar is a retired Croatian handball player. The legendary left wing played in Croatia for Mehanika Metković, Badel 1862 Zagreb and Agram Medveščak, in Bosnia and Herzegovina for Borac Banja Luka, in Spain for FC Barcelona, BM Granollers, and in France for Saint-Marcel Vernon.
Luka Mrakovčić is a Croatian handball player who plays for RK Zamet and the Croatia national team.
Željko Babić is a Croatian retired handball player and current coach of Olympiacos.
Damir Čavlović is a former Croatian handball player.
Robert Savković is a retired Croatian handball player. He last played for RK Crikvenica and he also played for Croatian national team U-21.
Kasim Kamenica is a Bosnian handball coach and former professional player.
Vinko Kandija was a Croatian handball player and coach. Kandija won over 40 titles and trophies in the game with male and female teams.
The 2021–22 Croatian Handball Premier League was the 30th season of the Premier League, Croatian premier handball league. It ran from 10 September 2021 to 29 May 2022.