1946 Croatian Football Championship

The 1946 Croatian Football Championship was a two-stage competition for clubs from PR Croatia. It served as a qualifying tournament for the new post-war First League in communist Yugoslavia, and its inaugural 1946–47 edition. Croatia, one of six republics in the newly formed Yugoslavia, was given two places in the new national league. Eight clubs earned a spot in the final stage through a series of regional preliminaries and playoffs. In this stage, they played each other twice in a 14-round double round-robin format. Hajduk Split won the final stage on goal difference in front of runners-up Dinamo Zagreb. Both clubs qualified to play in the Yugoslav top level in the 1946–47 season. A third Croatian club, Lokomotiva, which had finished second in the Zagreb qualifying tournament, also earned a spot in the 1946–47 national league via additional inter-regional qualifiers, in which they reached the final and lost to Belgrade-based club Metalac. A separate qualifying tournament was organized for clubs from the newly acquired territories of Istria and the city of Rijeka (it Fiume). The newly established SD Kvarner (also known as "SCF Quarnero" in Italian) from Rijeka won a playoff against US Operaia from Pula to represent the military-administered Zone B, in the Julian March. A club from Trieste, representing Zone A, Ponziana, was also later added directly to the Yugoslav national league. Regional qualifiers were played early in the year, and the final stage was played between May and August. The three Croatian clubs thus joined the first 12-club season of the Yugoslav league championship, which kicked off in late August 1946. (Kvarner and Ponziana were two additional clubs which joined mid-season, in October 1946, after five rounds had already been played.) City of Zagreb preliminaries "A" main WDL Q 2 LOK FD Lokomotiva Zagreb NAR Narodna obrana TEK FD Tekstilac Zagreb 32D 32 divizija POS FD Poštar Zagreb JED FD Jedinstvo Zagreb SLA Slaven Kustošija MIL FD Milicija Zagreb 6 0 1 20 4 5 1 1 23 9 4 1 2 31 8 4 1 2 21 7 3 2 2 16 11 2 1 4 13 20 1 0 6 5 24 0 0 7 0 46 complete rsssf.org City of Zagreb preliminaries "B" main WDL Q 2 DZ FD Dinamo MET FD Metalac ARM II armija DUB FD Dubrava ELE FD Element AMA FD Amater GRF FD Grafičar GRD FD Građevinar 7 0 0 40 5 6 0 1 19 6 5 0 2 39 6 3 1 3 16 11 2 1 4 14 16 2 1 4 14 29 1 0 6 2 37 0 1 6 4 38 complete rsssf.org City of Zagreb championship main WDL Q 2 DZ FD Dinamo LOK FD Lokomotiva MET FD Metalac AMA FD Amater TEK FD Tekstilac ELE FD Element POS FD Poštar JED FD Jedinstvo 6 0 1 41 8 6 0 1 16 12 4 1 2 15 8 3 1 3 14 17 3 0 4 10 12 2 1 4 10 27 2 1 4 5 14 0 0 7 10 23 complete rsssf.org Zagreb Provincial championship Borac Zagreb 0–1; 1-8 FD Dubrava Zagreb City of Osijek championship 1: FD Jedinstvo Osijek 2: FD Udarnik Osijek 3: FD Tipograf Osijek 4: FD Sloga Osijek 5: FD Bratstvo Osijek Region of Banija championship SFD Sloboda Sisak 8–1; 3-0 OFD Turkulin Petrinja District of Karlovac championship Udarnik Karlovac qualified for the play-offs. District of Primorsko-goranska championship FD Jedinstvo Sušak qualified for the play-offs. Also played FD Crikvenica, Omladinac Senj, Plavi Jadran Pag, NK Naprijed Hreljin Region of Slavonia championship Semifinals Sloga Vinkovci 5–1; 1–5; 0-3 FD Proleter Belišće SFD Naprijed Sisak 2–0; 1-0 FD Jedinstvo Osijek Final SFD Naprijed Sisak 2–0; 0-3 FD Proleter Belišće District of Varaždin championship main WDL Q 2 VAR RSD Tekstilac Varaždin JED Jedinstvo Čakovec SLO Sloboda Varaždin 3 1 0 13 4 2 0 2 12 6 0 1 3 1 16 complete rsssf.org District of Bjelovar championship Bjelovar qualified for the play-offs. Region of Dalmatia championship Preliminary round Zadar 1–0; 1-2 Šibenik Final RSD Split 0–2; 1-6 FD Hajduk Split Play-offs RSD Split 4-0 Dubrovnik Šibenik 1–2; 0-4 RSD Split Play-offs Round 1 Bjelovar 1–5; 1-2 RSD Tekstilac Varaždin Udarnik Karlovac 4–2; 1-3 FD Dubrava Zagreb SFD Naprijed Sisak 2–1; 4-1 FD Amater Zagreb FD Metalac Zagreb 8–0; 3-1 FD Jedinstvo Sušak Round 2 FD Dubrava Zagreb 3–2; 1-3 RSD Tekstilac Varaždin FD Jedinstvo Sušak 6–0; 2-4 SFD Naprijed Sisak Additional play-off Lokomotiva Zagreb 1–0; 3-0 FD Dubrava Zagreb Final Stage main WDL Q 2 HSP FD Hajduk Split DZ FD Dinamo Zagreb LOK FD Lokomotiva Zagreb VAR RSD Tekstilac Varaždin BEL FD Proleter Belišće MET FD Metalac Zagreb RSP RSD Split JED FD Jedinstvo Sušak 10 2 2 51 11 10 2 2 40 12 6 5 3 28 13 6 3 5 24 27 6 3 5 18 28 4 5 5 20 20 3 0 11 14 42 0 2 12 7 49 complete rsssf.org City of Rijeka championship main WDL Q 2 MAG Magazzini generali Rijeka CAN Cantieri Rijeka LIG Lignum Rijeka TOR Torpedo Rijeka ROM ROMSA Rijeka POR Portuale Rijeka ASP ASPM Rijeka MET Metallurgica Rijeka DIN Dinamo Rijeka 12 3 1 59 19 10 3 3 66 23 10 3 3 60 32 8 3 5 48 18 8 2 6 48 38 5 2 9 30 39 3 3 10 37 51 4 1 11 31 75 2 0 14 18 102 complete rsssf.org Rijeka/Istria Final SD Kvarner Rijeka 1-2 ; 4-1 US Operaia Pula References rsssf Category:Croatian First league seasons Croatia Croatia Croatia Croatia Football