First Division. Because of the complications of the season, ending with 2 final tables, here only one will be given: the one at the actual end of the season, according to the Federation and its point-deductions. In brackets the later places will be given, according to the court decision in favour of the clubs and restoration of deducted points.
Spartak (Subotica) – very weak newcomers: last and relegated with 19 points. The court decision gave them 1 point more, but so what?
FK Sarajevo – 17th with 27 points. 6 points deducted. According to this table, they were relegated. After the court abolished the 6-point penalty, they climbed to safety – 13th in the table, according to the court decision.
Celik (Zenica) – 16th with 27 points, thanks to better goal-differnce than FK Sarajevo. After 6 points were restored to their record, they climbed to 12th position.
Dinamo (Vinkovci) – 15th with 28 points. Poor guys… they had 2 points added after the court decision and… sunk down to 17th place and relegated on worse goal-difference. Was it fair? Standing from left: Tanjga, Budincevic, Jerkan, Borovnica, Rucevic, Bogdan. Crouching: Zahirovic, Biogradlija, Cop, Bogdanovic, S. Lusic.
Radnicki (Nis) – 14th with 28 points. Also a team not penalized, but they were safe at the end: ended 14th with 30 points after the court ruling. And awarded with Kent cigarettes for that… From left to right:Vojinović, Gavrilović,Nikolić, Kitanoski, Mitrović, Ivanović, Vasilijević, Aleksić, Punišić, Gajić, Milošević.
Sloboda (Tuzla) – 13th with 28 points. After the court ruling: 15th with 30 points.
Sutjeska (Niksic) – 12th with 28 points. After the court decision: 10th with 34 points.
Zeljeznicar (Sarajevo) – 11th with 28 points. After the court decision: 9th with 34 points.
Pristina – 10th with 29 points. After the court decision: 14th with 30 points.
Buducnost (Titograd) – 9th with 31 points. After the court decision: 7th with 37 points.
Dinamo (Zagreb) – 8th with 31 points. After the court decision: 6th with 37 points.
NK Rijeka – 7th with 32 points. After the court decision: 4th with 38 points.
NK Osijek – 6th with 32 points. After the court decision: 11th with 34 points.
Crvena zvezda – 5th with 35 points. After the court decision – 3rd with 41 points.
Hajduk (Split) – 4th with 36 points. After the court decision: 8th with 36 points. Evidently, stupid to play by the Federation rules…
Velez (Mostar) – 3rd with 36 points. After the court decision – 2nd with 42 points. Going to play in the UEFA Cup, though – in their case, no matter by which final table. Top row from left: Sedin Tanovic, Josko Popovic, Zdenko Jedvaj, Vladimir Gudelj, Dzevad Rastoder, Zijad Repak, Vela Pudar.
Middle row: Avdo Kalajdzic, Mili-Toza Hadziabdic, Drazenko Prskalo, Vukasin Petranovic, Ivica Barbaric, Adnan Medjedovic.
Sitting: pok. Senad Glavovic, Anel Karabeg, Veselin Djurasovic, Vladimir Skocajic, Predrag Juric, Goran Juric, Sead Kajtaz, Semir Tuce.
Velez recovered from their relatively weak years, although this squad was never considered equal to the great team of the 1970s.
Partizan (Belgrade) – 2nd with 37 points. They were the prime movers and shakers of the court case and after the rulling they were proclaimed champions with full record of 43 points. How good or bad this team was is immaterial – the court made them champions. Their position according to the Federation gave them only UEFA Cup spot.
Vardar (Skopje) – 1st with 38 points. 15 wins, 8 ties, 11 losses, 40-39 goal-difference. Weak record, true, but according to the Federation they were champions. The photo was taken after the end of the fall half of the season, when they were first in the table. So far… fine. But the court ruling moved them down to 5th position, for they had no deducted points. Proclaimed champions, then the title was taken away and given to Partizan. Which was the strongest team, if there were no penalties…
Terrible… here it is, just after the end of the season – champions! And then they were not… but going to play in the European Champions Cup. For many – even today – they were the rightful champions. For many – even today – the real final table is the one the season ended with. It was good squad, having a big world-class star – Darko Pancev. It was one of the best ever selections the club had and this was its biggest success. But for a short time… Frankly, too bad they were stripped from the title.
And at the end… the country ended with 2 champions – Vardar and Partizan, neither truly convincing.