Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Countries	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1992
Number of teams	16
Relegation to	First League of FBiH, First League of RS
Domestic cup(s)	Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup
International cup(s)	Champions League, Europa League
Current champions	HŠK Zrinjski Mostar (2008–09)
Most championships	FK Željezničar (3)
Website	BH Premier League
Premier League 2009-10

The Premier League^[1] BiH (Bosnian) (Latin script): Premijer Liga BiH) is the top football league in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The league is composed of 16 teams. Two teams are relegated at the end of every season. The winner of the Premier League is seeded into the Champions League. The winner of the Football Cup of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Premier League runners up just as well as the third placed team are seeded into UEFA Europa League.

At the end of the season last two teams are relegated, and winners of First League of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and First League of Republika Srpska are promoted to Premier League.

The league is operated by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2002-2003 the Premier League is played in the whole country. Before there were a Bosniak, Serbian and Croat League. From 1997 to 2002 the Champion was determined in a Play-Off between Bosniak and Croat clubs.

[edit] Overview

Club	Manager	Stadium	City	Capacity
FK Sarajevo	Mehmed Janjoš	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium	Sarajevo	35,500
Zrinjski	Dragan Jović	Bijeli Brijeg Stadium	Mostar	25,000
FK Željezničar	Amar Osim	Grbavica Stadium	Sarajevo	12,000
Čelik	Omer Kopić	Bilino Polje	Zenica	15,600
Sloboda	Nermin Hadžiahmetović	Tušanj Stadium	Tuzla	8,444
Borac	Vlado Jagodić	City Stadium of Banja Luka	Banja Luka	12,000
NK Široki Brijeg	Toni Karačić	Pecara Stadium	Široki Brijeg	10,162
FK Laktaši	Vlado Jagodić	Gradski Stadion (Laktaši)	Laktaši	5,000
Leotar	Bor­če Sre­do­je­vič	Police Stadium	Trebinje	8,550
FK Modriča	Slaviša Božičić	Stadium "Dr. Milan Jelić"	Modriča	4,000
FK Velež Mostar	Abdullah Ibraković	Vrapčići Stadium	Mostar	7,000
FK Slavija	Milomir Odović	Gradski SRC Slavija Stadium	Sarajevo	6,000
Olimpik	Vlatko Glavaš	Otoka Stadium	Sarajevo	5,000
Zvijezda	Ratko Ninković	Banja Ilidža	Gradačac	5,000
NK Travnik	Osman Bajrić	Stadion Pirota	Travnik	3,000
Rudar	Mladen Zgonjanin	Gradski Stadion Prijedor	Prijedor	2,000

[edit] UEFA Ranking

UEFA Country Ranking^[2] for league participation in 2009 European football season (Previous year rank in italics)

• 30 (35) FAI League of Ireland
• 31 (31) Virslīga
• 32 (29) PrvaLiga
• 33 (40) Vysshaya Liga
• 34 (32) Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 35 (26) Nemzeti Bajnokság I.
• 36 (37) The Pepsi League
• 37 (34) Divizia Naţională

[edit] Premier League Champions

[edit] Cities

The following table lists the Bosnia-Herzegovian Premier League champions by cities.

[edit] Notable Performances in Europe

In the Qualifyers for the Uefa Champions League Season 2002/2003 FK Željezničar Sarajevo gained the greatest success in Bosnian post-war club-football so far, going all the way to the last Qulifying round for the most important club competition in Europe. After big wins over ÍA Akraness and Lillestrøm SK it was Newcastle United who prevented the Bosnian Champion to pull into the Group Stage.

The second time a Bosnian club moved into the last Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League was FK Sarajevo in 2007/08 when they lost to Dynamo Kyiv 0-4 on aggregate, after going over Maltesian Marsaxlokk F.C. and Belgian side K.R.C. Genk.

Another remarkable season for Bosnian clubs in Europe was 2009/10. The most memorable performances were marked by FK Sarajevo and FK Slavija. While FK Slavija surprisingly beat Aalborg BK in the Second Qualifying Round but couldn't overcome MFK Košice in the third round, FK Sarajevo was able to reach the Play-Offs for the Group Stage of the newly formed UEFA Europa League after beating FC Spartak Trnava and Helsingborgs IF. However there they lost unhappily 3-2 on aggregate to CFR Cluj.

[edit] See also

• Kup Bosne i Hercegovine

[edit] External links

• BiH League on LiveScore (Results) (Bosnian)
• BiH soccer (Bosnian)
• Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina official site (Bosnian)
• uefa.com

[edit] References