1973–74 Yugoslav First League

1973–74 Yugoslav First League competition was the 46th top league season since 1923 in various incarnations of Yugoslavia. It was won by Hajduk Split by the tightest of margins over second placed [FK FK Velež Mostar|Velež Mostar|Velež]. The two teams were tied on points at the end of the season, so the goal difference decided the title.
Had the current three-points-for-a-win system been in use instead of the standard two-points-for-a-win that was used at the time, Velež Mostar would have been champions with 64 points, while Hajduk would have been be second with 63.
This was Hajduk's 7th league title overall.

Teams

A total of eighteen teams contested the league, including sixteen sides from the 1972–73 season and two sides promoted from the 1972–73 Yugoslav Second League as winners of the two second level divisions East and West. The league was contested in a double round robin format, with each club playing every other club twice, for a total of 34 rounds. Two points were awarded for wins and one point for draws.
Spartak Subotica and Sutjeska Nikšić were relegated from the 1972–73 Yugoslav First League after finishing the season in bottom two places of the league table. The two clubs promoted to top level were Proleter Zrenjanin and NK Zagreb.

Team

Location

Federal Republic

Position
in 1972–73

Bor

SR Serbia

League table

Match-fixing allegations

FK Velež player Vahid Halilhodžić, whose team spent the spring of 1974 in a tight league title race with Hajduk Split, alleged in a 2023 interview that Hajduk fixed its last 1973-74 league match away at OFK Beograd while further insinuating that the approach took place through OFK goalkeeper Petar Borota.