Slovenian First League (men's handball)

The Slovenian Handball First League (Slovene: 1. A državna rokometna liga), currently named Liga NLB due to sponsorship reasons, is the top team handball league in Slovenia. It is organized by the Handball Federation of Slovenia (Rokometna Zveza Slovenije). The league comprises twelve teams.

Slovenian First League
Current season, competition or edition:
2019–20 season
Countries Slovenia
ConfederationEHF
Founded1991
Number of teams14
Relegation toSlovenian Second League
Level on pyramidLevel 1
Domestic cup(s)Slovenian Handball Cup
International cup(s)Champions League
EHF Cup
Current championsCelje (2019–20)
Most championshipsCelje (24 titles)
WebsiteOfficial website

History

The Handball Federation of Slovenia was formed on 11 December 1949 under the former Handball federation of Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, the Slovenian clubs played in the Yugoslavian Handball Championship in I. and II. league, the interrepublic and the republic leagues. Slovan, Celje and Rudar Trbovlje were the only Slovenian teams that played in the Yugoslav First League. In the 1991–92 season, just after the Slovenian independence, the Handball Federarion of Slovenia was accepted to the European Handball Federation and the International Handball Federation and the first season in Europe for the Slovenian teams was played in the 1992–93 season.

Names

Since 1991, the league has been named after sponsors on several occasions, giving it the following names:

  • 1. SRL (1991–2002)
  • Liga Siol (2002–2004)
  • Liga Telekom (2004–2006)
  • MIK 1. Liga (2006–2010)
  • 1. NLB Leasing liga (2011–2016)
  • Liga NLB (2017–present)

Format

The league is conducted in two phases. In the first phase, 10 teams compete in a home-and-away round-robin series (18 games total) with the country's representative in the SEHA League, currently Celje and Gorenje, being exempt from this stage. All teams advance from the regular season to one of two postseason stages, depending on their league position. The top four teams from the regular season are joined by the SEHA League representatives in the second phase. These two teams start the second phase with the same number of points as the regular season winner. Each team plays a total of 10 games in this phase; as in the regular season, a home-and-away round-robin is used. The bottom six teams play a home-and-away round-robin series with one another; these teams' results from the regular season carry over to the second phase. At the end of the season, the bottom two finishers are automatically relegated to the second level of the Slovenian league system, the 1. B DRL.

Clubs

As of the 2020–21 season

List of seasons
Season Champions Runners-up Third placed
1991–92 Celje Slovan Jadran
1992–93 Celje Jadran Prevent
1993–94 Celje Gorenje Jadran
1994–95 Celje Jadran Gorenje
1995–96 Celje Gorenje Dobova
1996–97 Celje Prevent Prule 67
1997–98 Celje Prevent Trimo Trebnje
1998–99 Celje Prevent Trimo Trebnje
1999–2000 Celje Prule 67 Trimo Trebnje
2000–01 Celje Prule 67 Prevent
2001–02 Prule 67 Celje Gorenje
2002–03 Celje Prule 67 Gorenje
2003–04 Celje Gorenje Prevent
2004–05 Celje Gorenje Ormož
2005–06 Celje Gold Club Gorenje
2006–07 Celje Gorenje Koper
2007–08 Celje Koper Gorenje
2008–09 Gorenje Koper Trimo Trebnje
2009–10 Celje Gorenje Koper
2010–11 Koper Gorenje Celje
2011–12 Gorenje Celje Koper
2012–13 Gorenje Celje Koper
2013–14 Celje Gorenje Maribor Branik
2014–15 Celje Gorenje Maribor Branik
2015–16 Celje Gorenje Ribnica
2016–17 Celje Gorenje Ribnica
2017–18 Celje Ribnica Gorenje
2018–19 Celje Gorenje Ribnica
2019–20 Celje Ribnica Trimo Trebnje
Club Titles Years Won
Celje
24
 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Gorenje
3
 2009, 2012, 2013
Koper
1
 2011
Prule 67
1
 2002

EHF coefficient
See also: EHF coefficient rank

The table shows the position of Slovenian League, based on its EHF coefficient ranking.

Country ranking

EHF league ranking for the 2019–20 season[1]

References
  1. "2019/20 season ranking" (PDF). European Handball Federation. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
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