Yugoslav First Federal Basketball League

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Yugoslav Basketball League
Sport Basketball
Founded 1945
Countries Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia SFR Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro
Continent FIBA Europe (Europe)
Ceased 1992 (SFR Yugoslavia)
2003 (FR Yugoslavia)
2006 (Serbia and Montenegro)
Related competitions Yugoslav Basketball Cup
Level on pyramid 1st Tier
(SFR Yugoslavia, FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro)

The Yugoslav First Federal Basketball League consisted of two successive national basketball leagues in the former nations of SFR Yugoslavia, from 1945 to 1992, and FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro, from 1992 to 2006. The First Federal League was the top-tier league in Yugoslavia, and the Second Federal League was the second-tier league in Yugoslavia.

The name YUBA League (Yugoslav Basketball League) was used in Serbia and Montenegro until 2005. It consisted of the first-tier "First League", and the second-tier "Super League", with each having their own men's and women's divisions. The league was also named Winston YUBA League, Frikom YUBA League, Efes Pils YUBA League, Atlas Pils YUBA League, and Sinalco First League, for sponsorship reasons. For past league sponsorship names, see the list below.

Although all countries founded after the breakup of Yugoslavia each now have their own national domestic leagues, each of the six nations now take part in the Adriatic League, which was founded in 2001; and which is today the closest league in existence similar to the former Yugoslav Basketball League.

History

After the formation of Yugoslavia in 1945, there arose a need for athletic development in the fledgling nation. Post-WW2 Yugoslavia was (with the exception of major cities such as Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Sarajevo) for the most part lacking in competitive opportunities in sports. In response to this, 1945 and 1946 saw an explosion of new clubs and leagues for every sport, the basketball league being part of this phenomenon.

The very first competition under the newly formed Yugoslav Basketball League in 1945, drawing parallel to the Yugoslav First League (of football), was more or less a nationwide affirmation of unity. Instead of individual clubs competing in the usual fashion, there were only eight teams. Six representing each state within Yugoslavia, one representing the province of Vojvodina, and the last representing the Yugoslav People's Army.

Only in the 1970s did the basketball culture of Yugoslavia truly come to enjoy recognition as the top nation in basketball. Breaking away from the dominance of the Soviet Union, the Yugoslav league gave rise to stars that would go on to win multiple Basketball World Championships and European Basketball Championships. After a decade of dominance, the 1980s saw a disappointing slump of talent in the Yugoslav Basketball League.

Once again the world witnessed a sleeping giant come awake in the early 90s as Yugoslavia won two straight European Basketball Championships and a World Basketball Championship. This momentum was swiftly halted by the ethnic strife which broke out in 1991, and divided the nation into five successor republics, each founding their own basketball federations with the exception of Serbia and Montenegro, which retained the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the YUBA League.

When Serbia and Montenegro peacefully separated in 2006, the YUBA League ceased to exist and was re-branded as the Basketball League of Serbia a Serbia-only organization, with Montenegro forming its own federation.

Despite all these changes, the joint league of clubs from the former Yugoslavia proved to be a winning league format formula, so on July 3, 2001, the Adriatic League was founded. It features teams from all the former Yugoslav states, and it exists alongside scaled-down versions of the individual national domestic leagues of each of the former Yugoslav states.

Competition format 2003–2006

Both the Super League and First League used a double round-robin style qualification round, where each team played every other team both at home and away. Even the quarters, semis, and finals were played at home and away, including a tie-breaker if necessary with the home advantage awarded to the better qualifying team.

The Super League men's contained eight clubs, while women's contained six. Immediately after the qualification round were the semi finals, in which the top four qualifying teams competed in. While the two leagues worked exactly the same, the First League however, contained almost twice as many clubs as the Super League, fourteen and twelve for men's and women's respectively and therefore included quarter finals.

Champions 1945–1992

Yugoslav League Champions:

(As SFR Yugoslavia)

(Championship Format Change)

Source: official website archive[1]

Performance by club 1945-1992

Club Champions Winning years
Socialist Republic of Serbia Crvena Zvezda
12
 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1969, 1972
Socialist Republic of Slovenia Olimpija
6
 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1970
Socialist Republic of Croatia Zadar
6
 1965, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1986
Socialist Republic of Croatia Split
6
 1971, 1977, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991
Socialist Republic of Serbia Partizan
5
 1976, 1979, 1981, 1987, 1992
Socialist Republic of Serbia OKK Beograd
4
 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964
Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosna
3
 1978, 1980, 1983
Socialist Republic of Croatia Cibona
3
 1982, 1984, 1985
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Jugoslovenska Armija
1
 1945
Socialist Republic of Serbia Proleter Zrenjanin
1
 1956
Socialist Republic of Serbia Radnički Belgrade
1
 1973

Champions 1992–2006

(As FR Yugoslavia)

(As Serbia and Montenegro)

Source: official website archive[2]

Performance by club 1992-2006

Club Champions Winning years
Serbia Partizan
8
 1995, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Montenegro Budućnost
3
 1999, 2000, 2001
Serbia Crvena Zvezda
3
 1993, 1994, 1998

Yugoslav basketball clubs in European-wide competitions 1958-1992

Yugoslav basketball clubs in the Euroleague

Split has made 3 Euroleague Final Four appearances (with 3 top 4 place finishes), has played in the Euroleague Final 4 times, and has won the Euroleague championship 3 times. Cibona has played in the Euroleague Final 2 times, and has won the Euroleague championship two times. Bosna has played in the Euroleague Final 1 time, and has won the Euroleague championship once. Partizan has made 2 Euroleague Final Four appearances, has played in the Euroleague Final once, and has won the Euroleague championship 1 time.

Team Finish
Champion Finalist 3rd Place 4th Place
Split 1989, 1990, 1991 1972 — —
Cibona 1985, 1986 — — —
Partizan 1992 — 1988 —
Bosna 1979 — — —

Yugoslav basketball clubs in the Saporta Cup

  • Yugoslav clubs that finished in the top 2 places of the now defunct Saporta Cup (1966-67 to 2001-02), which was the second-tier European-wide continental competition:
Team Finish
Champion Finalist
Cibona 1982, 1987 —
Crvena Zvezda 1974 1972, 1975
Split — 1973
Radnički Belgrade — 1977

Yugoslav basketball clubs in the Korać Cup

  • Yugoslav clubs that finished in the top 2 places of the now defunct Korać Cup (1971-72 to 2001-02), which was the third-tier European-wide continental competition:
Team Finish
Champion Finalist
Partizan 1978, 1979, 1989 1974
Split 1976, 1977 —
Cibona 1972 1980, 1988
Šibenka — 1982, 1983
OKK Beograd — 1972
Bosna — 1978
Crvena Zvezda — 1984

Notable teams

Notable players

Sponsorship names

Through the years, sometimes due to sponsorship deals, the league was variously known as:

  • Yugoslav First Federal League: 1945–1992
  • Winston YUBA League: 1992–2002
  • Frikom YUBA League: 2002–2003
  • Efes Pils YUBA League: 2003–2004
  • Atlas Pils YUBA League: 2004–2005
  • Sinalco First League: 2005–2006

Notes

  1. ↑ On 9 April 1983, Šibenka and Bosna played the final game that was decided in the last second: Bosna's Hadžić fouled Šibenka's Petrović, who proceeded to score two free throws that won the game. The next morning, the presidency of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia voided the result and ordered a rematch in Novi Sad. Šibenka decided to boycott it, and the title was awarded to Bosna.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Istorijat Državnih prvenstava 1945 - 1991 (archive copy at the Wayback Machine)". Basketball League of Serbia. 2008-06-05. Retrieved 2010-12-02. 
  2. ↑ "Tabele državnih prvenstava od sezone 1991/92 (archive copy at the Wayback Machine)". Basketball League of Serbia. 2008-06-05. Retrieved 2010-12-02. 
International men's basketball
Africa
Americas
Asia
Europe
Oceania
Other
tournaments
  • Note: The Under-21 Championship is no longer held.

See also

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