Top tier association football league, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Football league
The
Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
(
Bosnian
:
Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine
;
Croatian
:
Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine
;
Serbian Cyrillic
:
Преми?ер лига Босне и Херцеговине
), officially known as the
Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
for
sponsorship purposes
, is the top tier
football
league
in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
, and is operated by the
Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina
. As the country's most prestigious level of football competition, the league changed format in the
2016?17
season and is contested by 12 clubs with the last two teams relegated at the end of every season.
As of the
2024?25
season, the league is represented by four clubs in European competition. The winner of the Premier League starts from the
UEFA Champions League
first qualifying round. The winner of the
Bosnian Cup
as well as the runner-up and third placed team on the table starts from the first qualifying round of the
UEFA Europa Conference League
.
The bottom two teams are relegated at the end of the season, while the winners of the
First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
and the
First League of the Republika Srpska
are promoted to the Premier League.
History
[
edit
]
War period (1992?1996)
[
edit
]
After the
breakup of Yugoslavia
, and following proclamation of independence in late winter 1992, many clubs from
Bosnia and Herzegovina
left the
Yugoslav First League
. In April 1992, the
N/FSBiH
applied for membership with
FIFA
and
UEFA
.
[1]
Meanwhile, due to the outbreak of the
Bosnian War
in April 1992, no games were played in the 1992?93 season. In late 1993 some parts of the country re-launched football competitions with reduced scope. But just as the country was divided along ethnic lines, so was football.
In 1993,
Bosnian Croats
launched the
Football Federation of Herzeg-Bosnia
and its
First League of Herzeg-Bosnia
, in which only Croat clubs competed on parochial scale within the limits of
West Herzegovina
and a few other enclaves. In the same year
Bosnian Serbs
also organized their own
First League of the Republika Srpska
, on a territory held by
Republika Srpska
at the time. Only football on a territory under the control of the then
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
institutions and auspices of N/FSBiH, at the time consequently with
Bosniak
majority, apart from a brief competition for the
1994?95
season (won by
?elik Zenica
), came to a standstill. Competition under auspices of the N/FSBiH did not resume until the
1995?96
season when the
First League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
was launched.
[1]
Post-war period (1996?2000)
[
edit
]
These three separate football leagues were operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina until 1998, and 2000. Since FIFA and UEFA showed support only for the association operating under patronage of the official and internationally recognized state institutions, during the war and prior to the
Dayton Agreement
, as well as after its signage, they endorsed unification of all three organizations as the N/FSBiH. This also came as a consequence of FIFA's decision to recognize the N/FSBiH already in July 1996, while in the same year UEFA admitted the N/FSBiH as an adjacent member until 1998 when they recognized its full membership. This meant that only N/FSBiH clubs and its
national team
could compete at the international and official level.
[1]
Final unification was preceded by several stages. At first, a
play-off
was created where clubs were playing for the title under N/FSBiH auspices. The idea was that a play-off under unified N/FSBiH auspices should bring together clubs competing under three separate organizations for the first time but was rejected by the Serb association, leaving clubs from the Croat football association and the N/FSBiH participating the play-off for the seasons
1997?98
and
1999?00
, while the
1998?99
play-off was canceled due to the Croat's association hesitation on the decision on which stadiums games should be played. Next season the play-off was resumed for the last time prior to the full and final agreement on a unified N/FSBiH and its competition, the Bosnian Premier League
(Premijer Liga)
, in the fall of 2000.
Premier League creation (2000)
[
edit
]
The first
2000?01
season saw clubs from the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
entity only, while clubs from the Republika Srpska entity continued to compete in their own separate league as their entity association still refused to join the agreed unified N/FSBiH and its new competition. However, UEFA and FIFA never intended to recognize this separate organization nor its competition, which meant clubs could not compete outside the territory of the entity and would not compete internationally. This situation forced clubs to insist that their organization also join the N/FSBiH, and two years later they became part of the competition for the
2002?03
season. Ever since the year 2000 the Premier League is the top tier of Bosnia and Herzegovina football, with two entity-based leagues, the First League of Republika Srpska and the
First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
, being pushed to the second tier of the
Bosnian football pyramid
and serve as feeder leagues to the Premier League.
[1]
Liga 12 (2016?present)
[
edit
]
During the seasons
2016?17
and the
2017?18
, the league had entirely changed its format, reducing the number of clubs from 16 to 12, thus sometimes referred to as
"Liga 12"
(League 12), with the calendar also modified accordingly, reintroducing the play-offs (also known as the
"title playoffs"
) and introducing the play out.
The number of matches was played by each club during the regular season after which, according to their position, they entered to the play-offs or the play out. The play-offs were contested by the top six clubs in the regular season, with each club playing each other twice for the title, which guaranteed
Champions League
qualifications, while second and third place guaranteed
Europa League
qualifications berths. The play out was contested by the bottom six clubs to avoid relegation, with the last two teams being relegated.
Since the
2018?19
season, after all the 12 clubs have played against each other two times, once home and once away, they play against each other one more time, playing either home or away depending on how the schedule is made. With that, the league season has 33 full rounds, instead of the 22 rounds and an additional 10 rounds in the relegation and championship games in the 2016?17 and 2017?18 seasons.
[2]
Liga 10
[
edit
]
In May 2024, the N/FSBiH decided that the number of teams competing in the Premier League will be reduced to ten, starting from the 2025?26 season.
[3]
On 31 July 2012, the
Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina
signed a two-year deal with
BH Telecom
regarding the sponsorship of the league, effectively renaming the league
BH Telecom Premier League
.
[4]
The deal was extended once more before the start of 2014?15 season. On 24 July 2020, it was announced that
Mtel
had become the new league sponsor for the next three years with an estimate 23 Million
BAM
worth,
[5]
renaming the league
m:tel Premier League
.
On 9 February 2024, a five-year deal with
gambling
company Wwin was signed by the Bosnian FA, officially changing the league's name to the
Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
.
[6]
Clubs
[
edit
]
Forty clubs have played in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina from its inception in 2000, up to and including the
2024?25
season.
?eljezni?ar
,
Sarajevo
,
Zrinjski Mostar
and
?iroki Brijeg
are the only clubs in the Premier League to have never been relegated.
[7]
Champions
[
edit
]
Club
|
Winners
|
Runners-up
|
Winning seasons
|
Zrinjski
|
8
|
2
|
2004?05
,
2008?09
,
2013?14
,
2015?16
,
2016?17
,
2017?18
,
2021?22
,
2022?23
|
?eljezni?ar
|
5
|
7
|
2000?01
,
2001?02
,
2009?10
,
2011?12
,
2012?13
|
Sarajevo
|
4
|
4
|
2006?07
,
2014?15
,
2018?19
,
2019?20
|
Borac
|
3
|
1
|
2010?11
,
2020?21
,
2023?24
|
?iroki Brijeg
|
2
|
5
|
2003?04
,
2005?06
|
Modri?a
|
1
|
0
|
2007?08
|
Leotar
|
1
|
0
|
2002?03
|
2024?25 season
[
edit
]
Twelve clubs are competing in the
2024?25
season ? top ten from the
previous season
and two promoted from each of the second-level leagues.
Locations of the 2024?25 Premier League of BiH clubs
Team
|
Location
|
Stadium
|
Capacity
[8]
|
Borac Banja Luka
|
Banja Luka
|
Banja Luka City Stadium
|
10,030
|
GO?K Gabela
|
Gabela
|
Perica-Pero Pavlovi?
|
3,000
|
Igman Konjic
|
Konjic
|
Konjic City Stadium
|
5,000
|
Posu?je
|
Posu?je
|
Mokri Dolac Stadium
|
8,000
|
Radnik Bijeljina
|
Bijeljina
|
Bijeljina City Stadium
|
6,000
|
Sarajevo
|
Sarajevo
|
Asim Ferhatovi? Hase
|
34,500
|
Sloboda Tuzla
|
Tuzla
|
Tu?anj
|
7,200
|
Sloga Meridian
|
Doboj
|
Luke Stadium
|
3,000
|
?iroki Brijeg
|
?iroki Brijeg
|
Pecara
|
7,000
|
Vele? Mostar
|
Mostar
|
Rođeni Stadium
|
7,000
|
Zrinjski Mostar
|
Mostar
|
Bijeli Brijeg
|
9,000
|
?eljezni?ar
|
Sarajevo
|
Grbavica
|
13,146
|
International competitions
[
edit
]
In the qualifiers for the
2002?03 UEFA Champions League
,
?eljezni?ar
gained the first big success in Bosnian post-war club-football, going all the way to the last qualifying round for the most important club competition in Europe. After big wins over
IA Akraness
and
Lillestrøm
, however, they were held by
Newcastle United
. In the first match, held in Sarajevo, Newcastle won 0?1 with English team defeating ?eljezni?ar 4?0 in England.
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 Maltese
Marsaxlokk
and Belgian side
Genk
.
Another remarkable season for Bosnian clubs in Europe was 2009?10. The most memorable performances were marked by Sarajevo and
Slavija
. While Slavija surprisingly beat
Aalborg
in the second qualifying round but could not overcome
MFK Ko?ice
in the third round, Sarajevo was able to reach the
Play-offs
for the Group Stage of the newly formed
UEFA Europa League
after beating
Spartak Trnava
and
Helsingborg
. However, they lost there unhappily 3?2 on aggregate to
CFR Cluj
. Sarajevo made it again in the
2014?15 UEFA Europa League
, playing all the way to the play-off round where they lost to
Borussia Monchengladbach
. In the
2020?21 UEFA Europa League
season, Sarajevo once again played in the
play-off round
, this time losing to
Celtic
.
After getting eliminated from the
2022?23 UEFA Champions League
first qualifying round,
Zrinjski Mostar
made it to the
2022?23 UEFA Europa Conference League
play-off round, where they got eliminated by Slovak club
Slovan Bratislava
following a
penalty shoot-out
, missing out on a chance to play in the
group stage
.
[9]
In August 2023, Zrinjski became the first ever club from Bosnia and Herzegovina to reach the group stages of a
European club competition
after eliminating Icelandic club
Breiðablik
in the
2023?24 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round
, which assured Zrinjski of a group stage spot in the
UEFA Europa Conference League
as a minimum.
[10]
After losing to
LASK
in the
Europa League play-off round
, Zrinjski dropped into the
Conference League group stage
, where they were drawn into
Group E
alongside
Aston Villa
,
AZ
and
Legia Warsaw
.
[11]
On matchday one, Zrinjski pulled off an astonishing comeback against AZ. Trailing 3?0 at half time, the team made history and came back to win 4?3.
[12]
This result also meant that they became the first ever Bosnian side to win a game in a UEFA club competition group stage.
[13]
The team lost their next four games in the group, before ending their European campaign with a home draw against Aston Villa on 14 December 2023.
[14]
Rankings
[
edit
]
Ranking
|
Member association
(L: League, C: Cup, LC: League Cup)
|
Coefficient
|
Teams
[x 1]
|
Places in 2025?26 season
|
2024
|
2023
|
Mvmt
|
2019?20
|
2020?21
|
2021?22
|
2022?23
|
2023?24
|
Total
|
UCL
[x 2]
|
UEL
|
UECL
|
Total
|
36
|
39
|
+3
|
Armenia
(
L
,
C
)
|
2.750
|
1.375
|
1.875
|
2.375
|
2.250
|
10.625
|
0/4
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
37
|
35
|
?2
|
Latvia
(
L
,
C
)
|
2.250
|
1.375
|
2.625
|
2.750
|
1.625
|
10.625
|
0/4
|
38
|
43
|
+5
|
Faroe Islands
(
L
,
C
)
|
1.125
|
2.750
|
1.500
|
2.250
|
2.750
|
10.375
|
0/4
|
39
|
41
|
+2
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina
(
L
,
C
)
|
1.500
|
2.625
|
1.625
|
2.000
|
2.250
|
10.000
|
0/4
|
40
|
34
|
?6
|
Liechtenstein
(
C
)
[x 3]
|
2.500
|
0.500
|
0.000
|
6.500
|
0.500
|
10.000
|
0/1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
41
|
48
|
+7
|
Iceland
(
L
,
C
)
|
0.625
|
0.625
|
1.500
|
3.000
|
3.833
|
9.583
|
0/3
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
42
|
44
|
+2
|
Northern Ireland
(
L
,
C
)
|
2.375
|
2.833
|
1.625
|
1.250
|
1.125
|
9.208
|
0/4
|
All time table
[
edit
]
Counting only since the
2002?03
season, the season the league became a unified country-wide league.
As of the end of the
2023?24
season.
Teams in
bold
are part of the
2024?25
season.
Ssn = Number of seasons; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; HF = Highest finish
1
In the
2004?05
season,
Borac
were deducted 1 point (
Slavija
were awarded 3?0 vs Borac in week 11).
2
In the
2006?07
season,
Zrinjski
were deducted 1 point (
Ora?je
were awarded 3?0 vs Zrinjski).
3
In the
2013?14
season, Slavija were deducted 3 points.
4
In the
2019?20
season,
?elik
were deducted 3 points (
?eljezni?ar
were awarded 3?0 vs ?elik).
5
In the
2021?22
season,
Vele?
were deducted 3 points (Borac were awarded 3?0 vs Vele?).
6
In the
2023?24
season,
Sarajevo
were deducted 3 points.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
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2024?25
teams
| |
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Former teams
| |
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Associated competitions
| |
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Seasons
| |
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|
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Current
| |
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Defunct
| |
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Liechtenstein
is the only UEFA member association without a national league.
|