1997–98 Macedonian First Football League

The 1997–98 Macedonian First League was the 6th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. The first matches of the season were played on 10 August 1997 and the last on 31 May 1998.^[1] Sileks defended their championship title, having won their third title in a row.

Macedonian First League

Season	1997–98
Dates	10 August 1997 – 31 May 1998^[1]
Champions	Sileks 3rd domestic title
Relegated	Belasica Bregalnica
Champions League	Sileks
Cup Winners' Cup	Vardar
UEFA Cup	Sloga Jugomagnat
Intertoto Cup	Makedonija
Matches played	169
Goals scored	382 (2.26 per match)
Top goalscorer	Vancho Atanasov (12 goals)
Biggest home win	Makedonija 7–1 Bregalnica
Biggest away win	Belasica 0–4 Sileks
Highest scoring	Makedonija 7–1 Bregalnica
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Promotion and relegation

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

At the end of the 1997–98 season Promoted from 1997–98 Second League Rabotnichki Kometal (Winners; West) Osogovo (Winners; East) Relegated to 1998–99 Second League Belasica (13th) Bregalnica Shtip (14th)^1

1 Bregalnica Shtip was removed from the league after the round 19, due to the absence in a match against Sloga Jugomagnat. Their matches from round 14 were annulled.

Participating teams

 

 

Skopje

 

Borec

 

Pelister

 

Pobeda

 

Bregalnica

 

Sasa

 

Belasica

 

Sileks

 

Tikvesh

 

Skopje clubs:

 

Balkan
Cementarnica
Makedonija
Skopje
Sloga
Vardar

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Location of teams in 1997–98 Macedonian First League

Club	City	Stadium
Balkan BISI	Skopje	Chair Stadium
Belasica	Strumica	Stadion Mladost
Borec MHK	Veles	Gradski stadion Veles
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
Sasa	Makedonska Kamenica	Gradski stadion Makedonska Kamenica
Sileks	Kratovo	Stadion Sileks
Skopje	Skopje	Stadion Zhelezarnica
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)	25	15	3	7	40	21	+19	48	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Sloga Jugomagnat	25	12	7	6	25	16	+9	43	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Makedonija	25	12	6	7	34	21	+13	42	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round
4	Vardar	25	12	5	8	34	25	+9	41	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
5	Pobeda	25	11	6	8	29	21	+8	39
6	Pelister	25	10	7	8	31	24	+7	37
7	Borec	25	9	6	10	28	30	−2	33
8	Balkan	25	8	7	10	20	21	−1	31
9	Cementarnica 55	25	9	3	13	28	32	−4	30
10	Skopje	25	9	3	13	31	45	−14	30
11	Tikvesh	25	7	8	10	23	27	−4	29
12	Sasa	25	8	5	12	21	32	−11	29
13	Belasica (R)	25	8	4	13	25	35	−10	28	Relegation to the Macedonian Second League
14	Bregalnica Shtip^[a] (R)	13	4	0	9	13	32	−19	12

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. Bregalnica Shtip were withdraw from First League after 18th round due to unknown reasons. Their matches from 14th round onwards were annulled.

Results

Home \ Away	BAL	BEL	BOR	BRE	CEM	MGP	PEL	POB	SAS	SIL	SKO	SLO	TIK	VAR
Balkan	—	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	0–1
Belasica	0–0	—	1–1	—	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	0–4	4–1	0–2	0–1	2–1
Borec	2–0	2–1	—	3–1	0–0	3–0	3–1	3–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–0
Bregalnica Shtip	—	3–1	—	—	1–2	1–0^[a]	0–2	1–0	—	0–3^[a]	0–3	—	2–1	—
Cementarnica 55	2–1	3–2	3–0	3–0^[a]	—	2–2	2–3	0–2	1–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	4–1	3–0
Makedonija	2–0	1–0	0–2	7–1	1–0	—	0–0	3–0	3–1	1–0	3–0	1–2	2–0	0–0
Pelister	1–1	3–0	4–0	4–0^[a]	0–3	0–1	—	2–0	2–0	1–3	3–0	0–0	1–0	3–2
Pobeda	3–0	2–1	3–0	—	2–0	1–0	0–0	—	0–0	1–2	5–2	3–0	2–1	2–0
Sasa	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–0^[a]	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	—	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–0
Sileks	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	3–1	2–1	0–1	2–0	—	2–3	3–0	4–2	2–0
Skopje	1–0	3–2	3–2	—	3–0	1–4	2–1	0–0	4–1	0–2	—	0–1	2–1	1–3
Sloga Jugomagnat	1–0	2–0	2–0	5–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	—	0–0	0–0
Tikvesh	1–1	0–0	2–0	—	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	2–1	0–0	3–0	0–0	—	3–2
Vardar	2–1	2–0	1–0	4–1	4–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	5–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	—

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. Matches annulled after a withdrawn of Bregalnica Štip.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Vancho Atanasov	Belasica	12
2	Vlado Trifunov	Makedonija	11
3	Ilcho Borov	Pobeda	10
	Fernando Jefferson	Pelister

Source: Top15goalscorers.blogspot.com

See also

• 1997–98 Macedonian Football Cup
• 1997–98 Macedonian Second Football League

References

1. "First League 1997/1998". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 December 2017.

External links

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