1978–79 Yugoslav First League
| Season | 1978–79 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 12 August 1978 – 17 June 1979 |
| Champions | Hajduk Split (9th Yugoslav championship) (7th Federal League title) |
| Relegated | NK Zagreb (17th) OFK Beograd (18th) |
| European Cup | Hajduk Split |
| Cup Winners' Cup | Rijeka |
| UEFA Cup | Dinamo Zagreb Red Star |
| Matches played | 272 |
| Goals scored | 761 (2.8 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Dušan Savić (24) |
← 1977–78 1979–80 → | |
The 1978–79 Yugoslav First League season was the 33rd season of the First Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna liga), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. Hajduk Split won the league title.
A total of 18 teams competed in the league, with the defending champions Partizan nearly relegated, finishing the season in 15th place, one point above the relegation zone. Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb both finished the season equal on 50 points, but Hajduk won the championship due to better goal difference.
The season began on 12 August 1978 and concluded on 17 June 1979. This was the third and last national title win for Hajduk under the guidance of manager Tomislav Ivić, who previously led the club to four consecutive Yugoslav Cup wins in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1976 (not contested in 1975). Striker Dušan Savić of Red Star won the Golden Boot with 24 goals scored, his second, having previously topped the scoring table four years earlier in the 1974–75 season.
Rijeka, which finished 10th in the league, defeated Partizan in the final of the 1978–79 Marshal Tito Cup under the guidance of Marijan Brnčić, and qualified for the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup.
Other standout players this season were Hajduk's Vedran Rožić, Mišo Krstičević, and Slaviša Žungul, Dinamo Zagreb's forwards Snješko Cerin and Zlatko Kranjčar, Sarajevo's attacking midfielders Safet Sušić and Srebrenko Repčić, the Velež stalwart Vahid Halilhodžić.
The season was marked by controversy after Rijeka's 2–1 win over Dinamo at Kantrida in the first round. Dinamo claimed that Rijeka's player Edmond Tomić, who had joined the club in pre-season from Lirija Prizren, should have served a one-match suspension for two yellow cards received while playing for his former club. They appealed to the Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ), which after two months of deliberation decided to award the match 3–0 to Dinamo. After more appeals and counter-appeals from both Rijeka and Dinamo, in the spring of 1979 FSJ ruled in favor of Rijeka. The case was then brought to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which four years later ruled Dinamo as champions.