2001–02 Macedonian First Football League

The 2001–02 Macedonian First League was the 10th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. The first matches of the season were played on 12 August 2001 and the last on 29 May 2002. Sloga Jugomagnat were the defending champions, having won their third title in a row. The 2001–02 champions were Vardar who had won their fourth title, first since 1995. That was the first season in which the league consisted of 12 teams and only season (until the 2014–15 season) which contained the league play-off/play-out system.

Macedonian First League

Season	2001–02
Dates	12 August 2001 – 29 May 2002
Champions	Vardar 4th Macedonian title 5th domestic title
Relegated	Makedonija G.P. Osogovo
Champions League	Vardar
UEFA Cup	Belasica Pobeda
Intertoto Cup	Cementarnica
Matches played	192
Goals scored	561 (2.92 per match)
Top goalscorer	Miroslav Gjokić (22 goals)
Biggest home win	Sileks 7–1 Napredok (19 August 2001) Sloga J. 7–1 Kumanovo (7 November 2001) Cementarnica 6–0 Kumanovo (2 December 2001)
Biggest away win	Sileks 0–7 Rabotnichki (3 March 2002)
Highest scoring	Pobeda 7–3 Cementarnica (29 May 2002)
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

Promotion and relegation

At the start of the 2001–02 season Promoted from 2000–01 Second League Kumanovo (winners) Napredok (runners-up) Relegated to 2001–02 Second League Sasa (11th) Shkëndija HB (12th) Borec MHK (13th) Tikvesh (14th)

At the end of the 2001–02 season Promoted from 2001–02 Second League Tikvesh (winners) Bregalnica Delchevo (runners-up) Relegated to 2002–03 Second League Makedonija G.P. (11th) Osogovo (12th)

Participating teams

Skopje

Pelister

Kumanovo

Napredok

Pobeda

Osogovo

Belasica

Sileks

Skopje clubs:

Cementarnica
Makedonija
Rabotnichki
Sloga Jugomagnat
Vardar

Location of teams in 2001–02 Macedonian First League

Club	City	Stadium
Belasica Geras Cunev	Strumica	Stadion Mladost
Cementarnica 55	Skopje	Stadion Cementarnica
Kumanovo	Kumanovo	Gradski stadion Kumanovo
Makedonija G.P.	Skopje	Stadion Gjorche Petrov
Napredok	Kichevo	Gradski stadion Kichevo
Osogovo	Kochani	Stadion Nikola Mantov
Pelister	Bitola	Stadion Tumbe Kafe
Pobeda	Prilep	Stadion Goce Delchev
Rabotnichki Kometal	Skopje	Gradski stadion Skopje
Sileks	Kratovo	Stadion Sileks
Sloga Jugomagnat	Skopje	Chair Stadium
Vardar	Skopje	Gradski stadion Skopje

Regular season

The first 22 Rounds comprise the first phase of the season, also called the Regular season. In the first phase, every team plays against every other team twice on a home-away basis. The table standings at the end of the Regular season determine the group in which each team is going to play in the Play-offs.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Pobeda	22	14	2	6	41	23	+18	44	Qualification for the championship round
2	Belasica	22	14	2	6	36	19	+17	44
3	Vardar	22	13	2	7	29	18	+11	41
4	Rabotnichki	22	12	3	7	40	25	+15	39
5	Cementarnica 55	22	10	5	7	32	19	+13	35
6	Sloga Jugomagnat	22	9	8	5	32	22	+10	35
7	Sileks	22	10	3	9	44	35	+9	33	Qualification for the relegation round
8	Kumanovo	22	10	2	10	27	42	−15	32
9	Napredok	22	7	3	12	17	33	−16	24
10	Pelister	22	5	4	13	24	40	−16	19
11	Osogovo	22	5	1	16	18	40	−22	16
12	Makedonija GP	22	4	3	15	14	38	−24	15

Source: MacedonianFootball.com, RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Draw; 9) Play-off. (Note: Criteria 2, 3 and 8 is only used if not deciding teams for championship or relegation round).

Results

Home \ Away	BEL	CEM	KUM	MGP	NAP	OSO	PEL	POB	RAB	SIL	SLO	VAR
Belasica	—	2–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	5–0	3–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	1–0
Cementarnica 55	2–2	—	6–0	3–0	0–0	2–0	3–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	1–2	1–0
Kumanovo	3–1	2–1	—	1–0	0–2	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	2–4	0–0	2–1
Makedonija	0–3	1–1	1–0	—	1–2	3–0	1–0	0–2	0–0	2–4	0–0	1–0
Napredok	0–2	2–0	2–1	2–1	—	1–0	3–1	1–3	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–1
Osogovo	1–2	0–0	3–4	2–0	3–0	—	3–1	3–4	0–1	1–0	2–0	0–1
Pelister	1–0	2–0	0–1	3–1	2–0	3–0	—	3–3	0–1	2–2	0–0	1–2
Pobeda	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2	1–0	2–0	5–0	—	3–1	1–0	0–0	1–0
Rabotnichki	2–3	0–1	4–0	1–0	1–0	4–0	2–1	3–2	—	2–1	4–2	2–3
Sileks	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–0	7–1	4–0	3–0	1–2	0–7	—	6–2	2–1
Sloga Jugomagnat	0–0	0–2	7–1	4–0	4–0	1–0	3–2	2–1	1–1	3–1	—	0–0
Vardar	3–0	2–1	2–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–2	2–1	1–0	—

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second phase

The second phase are the so-called Play-off Rounds which is divided in two groups: Championship and Relegation. The top 6 ranked teams on the table after the Regular Season qualify for the Championship group, while the bottom 6 advance to the Relegation group. The teams will keep only the head-to-head records with the teams which he entered.

Championship group

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Vardar (C)	20	11	4	5	28	16	+12	37	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Belasica	20	11	3	6	29	22	+7	36	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Cementarnica 55	20	8	3	9	33	34	−1	27	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round
4	Pobeda	20	7	4	9	28	28	0	25	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round[a]
5	Sloga Jugomagnat	20	6	5	9	18	25	−7	23
6	Rabotnichki	20	6	3	11	30	41	−11	21

Source: MacedonianFootball.com, RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Draw; 9) Play-off. (Note: Criteria 2, 3 and 8 is only used if not deciding Champion or teams for UEFA competitions).
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Pobeda qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round by winning the 2001–02 Macedonian Football Cup.

Results

Home \ Away	BEL	CEM	POB	RAB	SLO	VAR
Belasica	—	5–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–0
Cementarnica 55	3–1	—	1–1	5–0	3–1	0–0
Pobeda	3–2	7–3	—	3–1	0–0	1–2
Rabotnichki	2–0	2–1	2–2	—	3–1	2–2
Sloga Jugomagnat	0–2	3–1	3–0	1–0	—	0–2
Vardar	1–1	3–2	2–0	3–1	2–0	—

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation group

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
7	Sileks	20	11	2	7	48	35	+13	35
8	Napredok	20	11	2	7	34	33	+1	35
9	Kumanovo	20	10	2	8	35	36	−1	32
10	Pelister	20	8	3	9	37	35	+2	27
11	Makedonija G.P. (R)	20	7	3	10	29	28	+1	24	Relegation to the Macedonian Second League
12	Osogovo (R)	20	5	4	11	22	38	−16	19

Source: MacedonianFootball.com, RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Draw; 9) Play-off. (Note: Criteria 2, 3 and 8 is only used if not deciding teams for relegation).
(R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	KUM	MGP	NAP	OSO	PEL	SIL
Kumanovo	—	2–1	3–1	1–1	5–3	3–1
Makedonija	4–1	—	0–0	0–0	1–2	4–1
Napredok	3–0	2–1	—	4–1	2–0	2–1
Osogovo	1–2	0–2	1–1	—	1–1	3–2
Pelister	3–2	3–3	5–3	5–0	—	3–1
Sileks	4–2	2–3	3–2	3–2	1–0	—

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Miroslav Gjokić	Pobeda	22
2	Vancho Micevski	Pelister	19
3	Argjend Beqiri	Sloga Jugomagnat	15

See also

• 2001–02 Macedonian Football Cup
• 2001–02 Macedonian Second Football League

External links

• Macedonia – List of final tables (RSSSF)
• Football Federation of Macedonia