| Season | 2016–17 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 July 2016 – 27 May 2017 |
| Champions | Rijeka |
| Relegated | RNK Split |
| Champions League | Rijeka |
| Europa League | Dinamo Zagreb Hajduk Split Osijek |
| Matches | 180 |
| Goals | 435 (2.42 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Márkó Futács (18) |
| Biggest home win | Dinamo Zagreb 6–0Cibalia Hajduk Split 6–0Inter Zaprešić |
| Biggest away win | Hajduk Split 0–4Dinamo Zagreb |
| Highest scoring | Rijeka 5–2Dinamo Zagreb Hajduk Split 6–1Cibalia Hajduk Split 5–2RNK Split Dinamo Zagreb 5–2Rijeka |
| Longest winning run | Dinamo Zagreb (8) |
| Longest unbeaten run | Rijeka (31) |
| Longest winless run | Inter Zaprešić (17) |
| Longest losing run | Cibalia (7) |
| Highest attendance | 29,109 Hajduk Split 0–4Dinamo Zagreb |
| Lowest attendance | 45 Hajduk Split 1–1Slaven Belupo Hajduk Split 3–0Cibalia |
| Total attendance | 494,941[1][2] |
| Average attendance | 2,750[1][2] |
2017–18 → All statistics correct as of 27 May 2017[2]. | |
The2016–17 Croatian First Football League (officiallyMAXtv Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men'sassociation football teams inCroatia, since its establishment in 1992. The fixtures were announced on 15 June 2016.[3] The season started on 15 July 2016 and finished on 27 May 2017.[4] The league was contested by 10 teams.Rijeka won their first ever title, which broke Dinamo Zagreb's dominance of eleven consecutive titles.
On 22 April 2016, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2016–17 season was complete. For the 2016–17 Prva HNL, only seven clubs were issued a top level license:Dinamo Zagreb,Hajduk Split,Istra 1961,Lokomotiva,Rijeka,Slaven Belupo andNK Zagreb. These clubs were also issued a license for participating inUEFA competitions.[5] In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage appealed the decision. On 23 May 2016, it was announced that all remaining Prva HNL clubs were granted top level license. Only two teams fromDruga HNL acquired the top level license:Cibalia andŠibenik.[6]
The following teams participated in the 2016–17 Prva HNL.
| Stadium | City | Home club | Licensed club(s) | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maksimir | Zagreb | Dinamo Zagreb | 38,079[7] | |
| Poljud | Split | Hajduk Split | 34,448[8] | |
| Gradski vrt | Osijek | Osijek | 22,050[9] | |
| Stadion HNK Cibalia | Vinkovci | Cibalia | 9,958[10] | |
| Aldo Drosina | Pula | Istra 1961 | 8,923[11] | |
| Kranjčevićeva | Zagreb | Zagreb | Lokomotiva | 8,850[12] |
| Rujevica | Rijeka | Rijeka | 6,134[13] | |
| ŠRC Zaprešić | Zaprešić | Inter Zaprešić | 5,228[14] | |
| Park Mladeži | Split | RNK Split | 4,075[15] | |
| Gradski stadion | Koprivnica | Slaven Belupo | 3,134[16] |
| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cibalia | Jako | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Puma | |||
| Hajduk Split | Macron | Tommy | ||
| Inter Zaprešić | Joma | Veleučilište Baltazar Zaprešić | ||
| Istra 1961 | Nike | Croatia Osiguranje | ||
| Lokomotiva | Nike | Crodux | ||
| Osijek | Nike | Osječko | ||
| Rijeka | Jako | Sava Osiguranje | ||
| Slaven Belupo | adidas | Belupo | ||
| RNK Split | Jako | Skladgradnja |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lokomotiva | Signed byPersepolis | 30 May 2016[17] | 30 May 2016[17] | Pre-season | ||
| Hajduk Split | Removed from position | 2 June 2016[18] | 2 June 2016[18] | Pre-season | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Signed byAl-Nassr | 20 June 2016[19] | 23 June 2016[20] | Pre-season | ||
| Lokomotiva | Removed from position | 6 July 2016[21] | – | Pre-season | ||
| Istra 1961 | Resigned | 18 July 2016[22] | 26 July 2016[23] | 6th | ||
| RNK Split | Resigned | 18 July 2016[24] | 20 July 2016[24] | 10th | ||
| Lokomotiva | Signing of Ivković | – | 23 July 2016[25] | 7th | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Resigned | 18 September 2016[26] | – | 3rd | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Signing of Petev | – | 29 September 2016[27] | 3rd | ||
| Lokomotiva | Signed byAl-Faisaly | 14 November 2016[28] | 14 November 2016[28] | 6th | ||
| Cibalia | Removed from position | 15 November 2016[29] | – | 9th | ||
| Istra 1961 | Signed byShenzhen | 29 November 2016[30] | – | 5th | ||
| Hajduk Split | Removed from position | 1 December 2016[31] | 5 December 2016[32] | 3rd | ||
| Istra 1961 | Signing of Tot | – | 30 December 2016[33] | 8th | ||
| Cibalia | Signing of Pacult | – | 7 January 2017[34] | 10th | ||
| RNK Split | Resigned | 9 February 2017[35] | 12 February 2017[36] | 9th | ||
| Cibalia | Resigned | 23 March 2017[37] | 27 March 2017[38] | 10th | ||
| Istra 1961 | Removed from position | 19 May 2017[39] | – | 7th |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rijeka(C) | 36 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 71 | 23 | +48 | 88 | Qualification toChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Dinamo Zagreb | 36 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 68 | 24 | +44 | 86 | Qualification toEuropa League third qualifying round[a] |
| 3 | Hajduk Split | 36 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 70 | 31 | +39 | 69 | Qualification toEuropa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Osijek | 36 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 52 | 37 | +15 | 66 | Qualification toEuropa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Lokomotiva | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 41 | 38 | +3 | 44 | |
| 6 | Istra 1961 | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 33 | 49 | −16 | 39 | |
| 7 | Slaven Belupo | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 38 | |
| 8 | Inter Zaprešić | 36 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 26 | 57 | −31 | 28 | |
| 9 | Cibalia(O) | 36 | 4 | 9 | 23 | 26 | 79 | −53 | 21 | Qualification toRelegation play-offs |
| 10 | RNK Split(R) | 36 | 3 | 9 | 24 | 12 | 52 | −40 | 18 | Relegation toCroatian Third Football League[40] |
Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.
| Home \ Away | CIB | DIN | HAJ | INT | IST | LOK | OSI | RIJ | SLA | SPL | CIB | DIN | HAJ | INT | IST | LOK | OSI | RIJ | SLA | SPL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cibalia | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 3–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 6–0 | — | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Hajduk Split | 6–1 | 0–4 | — | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 6–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 |
| Inter Zaprešić | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–3 | — | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Istra 1961 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Lokomotiva | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Osijek | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–3 | 3–0 | 4–0 |
| Rijeka | 2–0 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| Slaven Belupo | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 |
| RNK Split | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — |
At the end of the season, ninth placedCibalia qualified for a two-legged relegation play-off tie againstGorica, runners-up of the2016–17 Croatian Second Football League.
Cibalia won 5–1 on aggregate.
| Award[45] | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Season | Rijeka | |
| Manager of the Season | Rijeka | |
| Young Player of the Season | Lokomotiva |
| Team of the Year[46] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | |||||||
| Defence | |||||||
| Midfield | |||||||
| Attack |
| ||||||