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1979–80 Yugoslav First League

Yugoslav First League
Season 1979–80
Champions Red Star (13th title)
Relegated Osijek
Čelik
European Cup Red Star
Cup Winners' Cup Dinamo Zagreb
UEFA Cup Sarajevo
Radnički Niš
Napredak Kruševac
Matches played 272
Top goalscorer Safet Sušić
Dragoljub Kostić
(17 goals each)

The 1979–80 Yugoslav First League was won by Red Star Belgrade.

A total of eighteen teams contested the league, including sixteen sides from the 1978–79 season and two sides promoted from the 1978–79 Yugoslav Second League (YSL) as winners of the two second level divisions East and West. The league was contested in a double round robin format, with each club playing every other club twice, for a total of 34 rounds. Two points were awarded for wins and one point for draws.

NK Zagreb and OFK Belgrade were relegated from the 1978–79 Yugoslav First League after finishing the season in bottom two places of the league table. The two clubs promoted to top level were Vardar and Čelik.

The season's week 25 derby match Hajduk vs. Red Star featured a mass display of public grief. Played on Sunday afternoon, 4 May 1980, the match was in the 41st minute when three men entered the Poljud Stadium's pitch, signalling the referee to stop the match. The mayor of Split Ante Skataretiko took the microphone and informed the 50,000+ crowd that Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito had died. What followed were sudden scenes of mass crying with even some players such as Zlatko Vujović collapsing down to the ground and weeping. The crowd then launched into a rendition of "Druže Tito, mi ti se kunemo", a popular personality cult song that professes loyalty and devotion to Comrade Tito. The match was halted and never resumed.

The decision was made to void the match and re-play it two and a half weeks later on Wednesday, 21 May at the same stadium. Red Star won the re-play 3-1.

While at Koševo Stadium during the game between Sarajevo and Osijek in the 43rd minute of the game the news broke out of death of the Yugoslav president Tito. The game was locked at 1-1. Later a song by local band Zabranjeno Pušenje dedicated a part of the song "Nedelja kad je otisao hase" to that sad event.


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