2019–20 Croatian First Football League


The 2019–20 Croatian First Football League was the 29th season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 19 July 2019. It was temporarily postponed from 12 March to 5 June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league was contested by ten teams.

Teams

On 23 April 2019, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2019–20 season was complete. For the 2019–20 Prva HNL, only nine clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Gorica, Hajduk Split, Inter Zaprešić, Istra 1961, Osijek, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo and Varaždin. All of these clubs except Varaždin, who were newly promoted to the Prva HNL as champions of the 2018–19 Croatian Second Football League, were also issued a license for participating in UEFA competitions. In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage could appeal on the decision.

Stadia and locations

TeamCityStadiumCapacityRef.
Dinamo ZagrebZagrebMaksimir35,423
GoricaVelika GoricaGradski stadion Velika Gorica5,000
Hajduk SplitSplitPoljud34,198
Inter ZaprešićZaprešićStadion ŠRC Zaprešić5,228
Istra 1961PulaStadion Aldo Drosina9,800
LokomotivaZagrebKranjčevićeva15,350
OsijekOsijekGradski vrt17,061
RijekaRijekaRujevica8,279
Slaven BelupoKoprivnicaStadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš3,205
VaraždinVaraždinStadion Varteks8,850
1 Lokomotiva hosted their home matches at Stadion Kranjčevićeva. The stadium was originally the home ground of third-level side NK Zagreb.
RankCounties of CroatiaNumber of teamsClub
1 City of Zagreb2Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva
2 Zagreb County2Gorica, Inter Zaprešić
3 Istria1Istra 1961
3 Koprivnica-Križevci1Slaven Belupo
3 Osijek-Baranja1Osijek
3 Primorje-Gorski Kotar1Rijeka
3 Split-Dalmatia1Hajduk Split
3 Varaždin1Varaždin

League table


Results

Each team played home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.

Relegation play-offs

At the end of the season, Istra 1961 contested a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Orijent 1919, the third-placed team of the 2019–20 Croatian Second Football League, since runners-up Croatia Zmijavci failed to apply for a top level license.

Second leg

''Istra 1961 won 3–1 on aggregate.''