{{Short description|Sports competition in Yugoslavia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} 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: *{{flagicon|BIH}} Handball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina *{{flagicon|CRO}} Croatian Handball Premier League *{{flagicon|MKD}} Macedonian Handball Super League *{{flagicon|MNE}} Montenegrin Men's Handball First League *{{flagicon|SRB}} Serbian Handball Super League *{{flagicon|SLO}} Slovenian First League
==Title holders== {{div col|colwidth=22em}}<ref>{{cite web |language=sr |url=https://rss.org.rs/files/Drzavni_prvaci.pdf |title=Historique des championnats de Yougoslavie, de RF Yougoslavie, de Serbie-et-Monténégro et de Serbie (1953-2004) |publisher=Handball Federation of Serbia |access-date=26 October 2024}}</ref> * .....1953 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Prvomajska * .....1954 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Prvomajska * .....1955 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Crvena zvezda * .....1956 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Crvena zvezda * .....1957 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Zagreb * 1957–58 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1958–59 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} Borac Banja Luka * 1959–60 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} Borac Banja Luka * 1960–61 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1961–62 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Zagreb * 1962–63 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Zagreb * 1963–64 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Prvomajska/Medveščak * 1964–65 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Zagreb * 1965–66 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Medveščak * 1966–67 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1967–68 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1968–69 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Crvenka * 1969–70 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1970–71 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1971–72 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1972–73 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} Borac Banja Luka * 1973–74 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} Borac Banja Luka * 1974–75 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} Borac Banja Luka * 1975–76 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} Borac Banja Luka * 1976–77 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1977–78 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} Željezničar Sarajevo * 1978–79 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Partizan Bjelovar * 1979–80 {{flagicon|SR Slovenia}} Slovan * 1980–81 {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} Borac Banja Luka * 1981–82 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Metaloplastika * 1982–83 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Metaloplastika * 1983–84 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Metaloplastika * 1984–85 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Metaloplastika * 1985–86 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Metaloplastika * 1986–87 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Metaloplastika * 1987–88 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Metaloplastika * 1988–89 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Zagreb * 1989–90 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Proleter * 1990–91 {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} Zagreb * 1991–92 {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} Proleter {{div col end}}
===Championships by club=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! Titles ! width=120|Club ! width=80|City ! Republic |- |align=center| 9 | Partizan Bjelovar | Bjelovar | {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} CRO |- |align=center| 7 | Borac Banja Luka | Banja Luka | {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} BIH |- |align=center| 7 | Metaloplastika | Šabac | {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} SRB |- |align=center| 6 | Zagreb | Zagreb | {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} CRO |- |align=center| 4 | Medveščak | Zagreb | {{flagicon|SR Croatia}} CRO |- |align=center| 2 | Crvena zvezda | Belgrade | {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} SRB |- |align=center| 2 | Proleter | Zrenjanin | {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} SRB |- |align=center| 1 | Crvenka | Crvenka | {{flagicon|SR Serbia}} SRB |- |align=center| 1 | Željezničar | Sarajevo | {{flagicon|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} BIH |- |align=center| 1 | Slovan | Ljubljana | {{flagicon|SR Slovenia}} SLO |- |}
==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.
{| class="wikitable" |- !Club !width=50|{{Tooltip|W|Winners}} !width=50|{{Tooltip|RU|Runners-up}} !width=50|{{Tooltip|SF|Losing semi-finalists}} !class="unsortable" width=165|Years won !class="unsortable" width=165|Years runners-up !class="unsortable" width=165|Years semi-finalists |- | {{flagicon|YUG}} Metaloplastika|| style="text-align:center"|2 || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|3 ||1984–85, 1985–86 || 1983–84 ||1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88 |- |{{flagicon|YUG}} Partizan Bjelovar|| style="text-align:center"|1 || style="text-align:center"|2 ||style="text-align:center"|2 ||1971–72 || 1961–62, 1972–73 ||1967–68, 1970–71 |- |{{flagicon|YUG}} Borac Banja Luka|| style="text-align:center"|1 || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|— ||1975–76 || 1974–75 || |- |{{flagicon|YUG}} Medveščak|| style="text-align:center"|— || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|— || || 1964–65 || |- |{{flagicon|YUG}} Slovan|| style="text-align:center"|— || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|— || || 1980–81|| |- |{{flagicon|YUG}} Proleter|| style="text-align:center"|— || style="text-align:center"|1 ||style="text-align:center"|— || || 1990–91|| |- |{{flagicon|YUG}} Crvenka|| style="text-align:center"|— || style="text-align:center"|— ||style="text-align:center"|1 || || ||1969–70 |- |}
===Notable clubs=== (at least 10 top-flight seasons or at least one title) {| |valign="top"| ;{{flag|SR Bosnia and Herzegovina}} *Borac, Banja Luka *Željezničar, Sarajevo *Krivaja, Zavidovići *Bosna, Sarajevo *Sloga, Doboj
;{{flag|SR Croatia}} *Medveščak, Zagreb *Partizan, Bjelovar *RK Zagreb, Zagreb
;{{flag|SR Macedonia}} *Pelister, Bitola |
;{{flag|SR Montenegro}}
;{{flag|SR Serbia}} *Crvena zvezda, Belgrade *Crvenka, Crvenka *Dubočica, Leskovac *Dinamo, Pančevo *Železničar, Niš *Metaloplastika, Šabac *Proleter, Zrenjanin *Partizan, Belgrade
;{{flag|SR Slovenia}} *Slovan, Ljubljana |}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Sports leagues of Yugoslavia}} {{Men's Global Handball Leagues}} {{EHF leagues}}
Cham Handball Category:1953 establishments in Yugoslavia Category:1992 disestablishments in Yugoslavia Category:Sports leagues established in 1953 Category:Sports leagues disestablished in 1992