Yugoslav Handball Championship

The Yugoslav Handball Championship was the highest level competition in men's team handball in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, played regularly for almost four decades between 1953 and 1991, before being abandoned due to the breakup of Yugoslavia.

The first five editions from 1953 to 1957 were decided via a finals play-off tournament contested by clubs who had qualified in regional competitions, before a regular round-robin league format was introduced for the 1957–58 season. The league featured clubs from all of Yugoslavia's federal subjects, with the most successful being RK Bjelovar with 9 titles, followed by RK Borac and RK Metaloplastika with 7 titles each.

Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the competition was eventually succeeded by the following handball leagues:

Winning clubs 1953–91

Season	Republic	Winning club
1953	CRO	RK Medveščak (1)
1954	CRO	RK Medveščak (2)
1955	SRB	RK Crvena Zvezda (1)
1956	SRB	RK Crvena Zvezda (2)
1957	CRO	RK Zagreb (1)
1957–58	CRO	RK Bjelovar (1)
1958–59	BIH	RK Borac (1)
1959–60	BIH	RK Borac (2)
1960–61	CRO	RK Bjelovar (2)
1961–62	CRO	RK Zagreb (2)
1962–63	CRO	RK Zagreb (3)
1963–64	CRO	RK Medveščak (3)
1964–65	CRO	RK Zagreb (4)
1965–66	CRO	RK Medveščak (4)
1966–67	CRO	RK Bjelovar (3)
1967–68	CRO	RK Bjelovar (4)
1968–69	SRB	RK Crvenka (1)
1969–70	CRO	RK Bjelovar (5)
1970–71	CRO	RK Bjelovar (6)
1971–72	CRO	RK Bjelovar (7)
1972–73	BIH	RK Borac (3)
1973–74	BIH	RK Borac (4)
1974–75	BIH	RK Borac (5)
1975–76	BIH	RK Borac (6)
1976–77	CRO	RK Bjelovar (8)
1977–78	BIH	RK Željezničar (1)
1978–79	CRO	RK Bjelovar (9)
1979–80	SLO	RD Slovan (1)
1980–81	BIH	RK Borac (7)
1981–82	SRB	RK Metaloplastika (1)
1982–83	SRB	RK Metaloplastika (2)
1983–84	SRB	RK Metaloplastika (3)
1984–85	SRB	RK Metaloplastika (4)
1985–86	SRB	RK Metaloplastika (5)
1986–87	SRB	RK Metaloplastika (6)
1987–88	SRB	RK Metaloplastika (7)
1988–89	CRO	RK Zagreb (5)
1989–90	SRB	RK Proleter (1)
1990–91	CRO	RK Zagreb (6)

Championships by club

Titles	Club	City	Republic	Notes
9	RK Bjelovar	Bjelovar	CRO	Formerly known as "RK Partizan" 1955–1991
7	RK Borac	Banja Luka	BIH
7	RK Metaloplastika	Šabac	SRB
6	RK Zagreb	Zagreb	CRO
4	RK Medveščak	Zagreb	CRO	Formerly known as "RK Prvomajska" 1952–1963
2	RK Crvena Zvezda	Belgrade	SRB
1	RK Crvenka	Crvenka	SRB
1	RK Željezničar	Sarajevo	BIH
1	RD Slovan	Ljubljana	SLO
1	RK Proleter	Zrenjanin	SRB

European success

Traditionally one of the strongest handball leagues in Europe, several Yugoslav clubs went on to compete with considerable success in the European Cup (present-day EHF Champions League), the premier continental handball competition. Prior to the breakup of Yugoslavia, six Yugoslav clubs had managed to reach the European finals 11 times, winning four titles.

Club	W	RU	SF	Years won	Years runners-up	Years semi-finalists
Metaloplastika	2	1	3	1984–85, 1985–86	1983–84	1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88
Bjelovar	1	2	2	1971–72	1961–62, 1972–73	1967–68, 1970–71
Borac Banja Luka	1	1	—	1975–76	1974–75
Medveščak	—	1	—		1964–65
Slovan	—	1	—		1980–81
Proleter	—	1	—		1990–91
Crvenka	—	—	1			1969–70