1996–97 Macedonian First Football League

The 1996–97 Macedonian First League was the 5th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. The first matches of the season were played on 16 August 1996 and the last on 1 June 1997.^[1] Sileks defended their championship title, having won their second title in a row.

Macedonian First League

Season	1996–97
Dates	16 August 1996 – 1 June 1997^[1]
Champions	Sileks 2nd domestic title
Relegated	Shkëndija Rudar
Champions League	Sileks
Cup Winners' Cup	Sloga Jugomagnat
UEFA Cup	Pobeda
Matches played	182
Goals scored	522 (2.87 per match)
Top goalscorer	Miroslav Gjokić (16 goals)
Biggest home win	Sileks 17–1 Rudar
Biggest away win	Rudar 1–7 Tikvesh
Highest scoring	Sileks 17–1 Rudar
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Promotion and relegation

At the start of the 1996–97 season Promoted from 1995–96 Second League Shkëndija (Winners; West) Bregalnica Shtip (Winners; East) Relegated to 1996–97 Second League Ohrid (13th) Osogovo (14th) Ljuboten (15th)

At the end of the 1996–97 season Promoted from 1996–97 Second League Skopje (Winners; West) Borec (Winners; East) Relegated to 1997–98 Second League Shkëndija (13th) Rudar Probishtip (14th)

Participating teams

 

 

Skopje

 

Pelister

 

Pobeda

 

Bregalnica

 

Rudar

 

Sasa

 

Belasica

 

Sileks

 

Tikvesh

 

Shkëndija

 

Skopje clubs:

 

Balkan
Cementarnica
Makedonija
Sloga Jugomagnat
Vardar

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Location of teams in 1996–97 Macedonian First League

Club	City	Stadium
Balkan BISI	Skopje	Chair Stadium
Belasica	Strumica	Stadion Mladost
Bregalnica	Shtip	Gradski stadion Shtip
Cementarnica 55	Skopje	Stadion Cementarnica
Makedonija	Skopje	Stadion Gjorche Petrov
Pelister	Bitola	Stadion Tumbe Kafe
Pobeda	Prilep	Stadion Goce Delchev
Rudar	Probishtip	Gradski stadion Probishtip
Sasa	Makedonska Kamenica	Gradski stadion Makedonska Kamenica
Shkëndija	Tetovo	Gradski stadion Tetovo
Sileks	Kratovo	Stadion Sileks
Sloga Jugomagnat	Skopje	Chair Stadium
Tikvesh	Kavadarci	Gradski stadion Kavadarci
Vardar	Skopje	Gradski stadion Skopje

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sileks (C)	26	19	5	2	83	23	+60	62	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Pobeda	26	17	3	6	55	26	+29	54	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Sloga Jugomagnat	26	13	7	6	42	25	+17	46	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round^[a]
4	Vardar^[b]	26	11	10	5	32	15	+17	40
5	Sasa	26	10	7	9	36	31	+5	37
6	Bregalnica Shtip	26	10	5	11	30	33	−3	35
7	Makedonija	26	10	4	12	38	30	+8	34
8	Balkan	26	8	9	9	31	26	+5	33
9	Pelister	26	9	6	11	36	35	+1	33
10	Belasica	26	9	6	11	32	41	−9	33
11	Tikvesh	26	8	8	10	33	39	−6	32
12	Cementarnica 55	26	8	5	13	32	39	−7	29^[c]
13	Shkëndija (R)	26	8	5	13	27	48	−21	29^[c]	Relegation to the Macedonian Second League
14	Rudar Probishtip (R)	26	1	2	23	15	111	−96	5

Source: MacedonianFootball.com, RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Draw; 9) Play-off. (Note: Criteria 2, 3 and 8 is only used if not deciding Champion, teams for UEFA competitions or relegation).
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since Sileks, winners of 1996–97 Macedonian Football Cup, was qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists Sloga Jugomagnat earned a spot in the qualifying round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
2. Vardar were deducted 3 points and fined 48,000 German marks for fielding a suspended player in the match against Sloga Jugomagnat in the 1st round.
3. Head-to-head record: Shkëndija–Cementarnica 55 2–1, Cementarnica 55–Shkëndija 3–1.

Results

Home \ Away	BAL	BEL	BRE	CEM	MGP	PEL	POB	RUD	SAS	SKE	SIL	SLO	TIK	VAR
Balkan	—	4–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	2–2	1–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	4–1	1–0	2–4	0–0
Belasica	2–1	—	1–1	3–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	4–0	1–0	3–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–0
Bregalnica Shtip	2–1	2–1	—	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	8–0	0–0	3–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	1–1
Cementarnica 55	1–1	1–0	2–0	—	1–1	1–2	1–3	3–2	1–0	3–1	2–4	0–0	3–1	0–1
Makedonija	1–1	0–1	2–0	3–1	—	3–0	3–1	7–0	2–0	2–0	1–2	2–2	3–0	0–0
Pelister	0–3	4–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	—	0–1	4–1	3–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	3–0	1–0
Pobeda	1–0	5–1	2–1	3–1	1–2	1–0	—	1–0	5–1	9–2	2–3	6–0	3–1	1–2
Rudar Probishtip	0–0	0–4	3–0^[a]	0–3	1–2	2–7	0–1	—	1–5	1–1	0–4	0–3	1–7	0–1
Sasa	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	3–2	2–2	6–0	—	2–0	0–0	0–2	1–0	0–0
Shkëndija	2–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	3–0	2–0	—	1–4	2–0	2–2	1–1
Sileks	2–0	7–2	3–0	2–1	4–1	5–0	2–0	17–1	6–2	6–2	—	2–0	0–0	1–0
Sloga Jugomagnat	0–0	2–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	7–1	2–0	2–0	2–1	—	6–1	3–0^[a]
Tikvesh	0–0	0–0	3–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	1–1	1–0	1–3	0–0	—	0–2
Vardar	1–0	3–0	0–0	1–1	3–0	0–0	0–0	7–0	1–1	3–1	0–3^[a]	1–0	4–0	—

Source: RSSSF.no
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. Match awarded

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Miroslav Gjokić	Sileks	16
2	Goran Stankovski	Sloga Jugomagnat	12
	Dragan Mučibabić	Makedonija
	Vancho Micevski	Pelister
5	Nexhat Shabani	Pobeda	11
	Rogério Oliveira	Pobeda
	Mario Petkov	Belasica
8	Dejan Ristevski	Cementarnica	11
	Toni Eftimov	Pelister
10	Sasho Krstev	Pobeda	9
	Iskender Jonuzi	Shkëndija

Source: Top15goalscorers.blogspot.com

See also

• 1996–97 Macedonian Football Cup
• 1996–97 Macedonian Second Football League

References

1. "Vardar's results from 1992 to 1997". Google Groups. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.

External links

• Macedonia - List of final tables (RSSSF)
• Football Federation of Macedonia