The 2024/2025 season, which will be remembered for HŠK Zrinjski’s ninth national championship title, will also go down in the history of Bosnian club football as the final season in which the WWin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina featured twelve clubs.
After fourteen seasons with a 16-team league, the top tier shifted to a 12-club format for the last nine seasons. Starting from the 2025/2026 season, a new era begins with the introduction of a 10-team league operating on a quadruple round-robin point system.
Over the nine seasons of the 12-team format, a total of 22 clubs featured at least once, but only four clubs were ever-present: Zrinjski, Sarajevo, Željezničar, and Široki Brijeg—coincidentally the same four clubs that have never been relegated from the top flight. Among them, Zrinjski has been the most successful, winning five league titles, while Sarajevo and Borac have each won two.
The first two seasons of this era were played under a split format (Championship and Relegation Groups), and Zrinjski claimed both titles. One season went down in history as never officially completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Sarajevo being declared champions.
Zrinjski played 284 matches across those nine seasons, recording:
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188 wins
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51 draws
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45 losses
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Goal difference: 528:198 (+330)
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Total points: 615
This makes Zrinjski the most successful club in the era of the 12-team league.
The teams Zrinjski faced most often were:
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Sarajevo (28 matches: 14W–6D–8L)
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Željezničar (28: 16W–4D–8L)
Other frequent opponents included: -
Široki Brijeg (26: 12W–9D–5L)
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Sloboda (23: 20W–3D–0L)
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Borac (19: 8W–6D–5L)
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Radnik (22: 13W–5D–4L)
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Velež (17: 12W–2D–3L)
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Tuzla City (17: 12W–3D–2L)
Across those nine seasons, Zrinjski was led by a series of managers:
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Vinko Marinović (18 matches: 11W–5D–2L)
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Ivica Barbarić (4: 2W–1D–1L)
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Blaž Slišković (71: 43W–18D–10L across two stints)
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Ante Miše (4: 2W–0D–2L)
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Hari Vukas (15: 7W–2D–6L)
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Mladen Žižović (23: 13W–5D–5L)
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Sergej Jakirović (65: 46W–12D–7L)
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Krunoslav Rendulić (28: 21W–2D–5L)
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Željko Petrović (15: 12W–2D–1L)
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Mario Ivanković (38: 30W–4D–4L, including five matches as interim manager)
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Nenad Gagro (1 match between Vukas and Žižović)
A total of 183 players featured in the league for Zrinjski during this period, but only two played in all nine seasons:
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Nemanja Bilbija (221 league appearances)
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Slobodan Jakovljević (209)
They are followed by:
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Hrvoje Barišić (156)
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Josip Ćorluka (132)
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Mario Tičinović (115)
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Damir Zlomislić (105)
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Matija Malekinušić (103)
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Ognjen Todorović (101)
At the top of the scoring charts stands Nemanja Bilbija, who scored in every single season, amassing a remarkable 146 goals during the 12-club league era.
As the format changes, one era ends—but the legacy of Zrinjski’s dominance during the League 12 years is firmly written in Bosnian football history.
