2023–24 Macedonian First Football League

Macedonian First League
Season2023–24
Dates6 August 2023 –
18 May 2024
ChampionsStruga
2nd domestic title
RelegatedMakedonija G.P.
Bregalnica
Champions LeagueStruga
Conference LeagueShkendija
Tikvesh
Matches played198
Goals scored446 (2.25 per match)
Top goalscorerAleksa Marušić
(17 goals)
Longest winning run4 games
AP Brera
Struga
Shkendija
Voska Sport
Longest unbeaten run17 games
Gostivar
Longest winless run9 games
AP Brera
Longest losing run7 games
Makedonija G.P.
All statistics correct as of 10 March 2024.

The 2023–24 Macedonian First League was the 32nd season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of North Macedonia. It began on 6 August 2023 and ended on 18 May 2024. Struga were the defending champions, having won their first title in 2022–23.[1][2]

The winners (Struga, their second consecutive title win) qualified for the Champions League first qualifying round. The second-placed team (Shkendija) and 2023–24 Macedonian Football Cup winners (Tikvesh) qualified for the Conference League first qualifying round. The tenth-placed team (Vardar) qualified for the Macedonian First Football League play-off. The bottom two teams (Bregalnica and Makedonija G.P.) were relegated to the 2024–25 Macedonian Second Football League.

Promotion and relegation

At the end of the 2022–23 season

Promoted from 2022–23 Second League

  • Voska Sport (winners, promoted for the first time in their history)[3][4]
  • Gostivar (runners-up, promoted after a 10 season absence)[3][4]
  • Vardar (Third placed; won play-off, promoted after a 2 season absence)

Relegated to 2023–24 Second League

  • Skopje (10th; lost play-off, relegated after a 2 seasons spell in top flight)
  • Pobeda (11th, relegated after a single season spell in top flight)[1][2]
At the end of the 2023–24 season

Promoted from 2023–24 Second League

Relegated to 2024–25 Second League

  • Makedonija G.P. (11th, relegated after a 6 seasons spell in top flight)
  • Bregalnica (12th, relegated after a 3 seasons spell in top flight)

Participating teams

Bregalnica AP Brera Shkendija Rabotnichki Sileks
Gradski stadion Štip Blagoj Istatov Stadium
UEFA 		Gradski Stadion Tetovo National Toše Proeski Arena
UEFA 		City Stadium Kratovo
Capacity: 4,000 Capacity: 9,200 Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 36,460 Capacity: 6,000
|
Makedonija G.P.
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2023–24 Macedonian First League
 Struga
Gjorče Petrov Stadium City Beach Stadium
Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 3,000
Voska Sport Tikvesh Vardar Shkupi Gostivar
SRC Biljanini Izvori Kavadarci City Stadium Boris Trajkovski Stadium Meadow Stadium Gostivar City Stadium
Capacity: 4,500 Capacity: 9,500 Capacity: 3,500 Capacity: 6,000 Capacity: 2,500

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
AP Brera Italy Giovanni Valenti North Macedonia Marko Alchevski Sportika SA Mozzart
Bregalnica North Macedonia Goran Zdravkov Uganda Halid Lwaliwa Hummel Superior
Gostivar Turkey Murat Daban North Macedonia Xhelil Abdulla Nike
Makedonija G.P. North Macedonia Goran Simov North Macedonia Filip Mishevski Joma Zlatna Kopacka, Tesla
Rabotnički North Macedonia Milan Ilievski North Macedonia Egzon Belica Joma
Shkendija North Macedonia Jeton Beqiri North Macedonia Ennur Totre Macron Ecolog
Shkupi Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Žižović North Macedonia Artan Iljazi Reaction Alagoz Holding
Sileks North Macedonia Aleksandar Vasoski North Macedonia Daniel Bozhinovski Jako Sileks
Struga Albania Shpetim Duro North Macedonia Bunjamin Shabani Macron Trim & Lum
Tikvesh North Macedonia Gjorgji Mojsov North Macedonia Aleksandar Varelovski Joma Klimi.mk, Sinalco
Vardar North Macedonia Gorazd Mihajlov North Macedonia Darko Micevski Joma
Voska Sport Montenegro Miljan Radović North Macedonia Hadis Velii Joma Nefi Ik

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Struga (C) 33 20 4 9 56 33 +23 64[a] Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Shkëndija 33 18 10 5 55 27 +28 64[a] Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round
3 Shkupi 33 17 11 5 42 23 +19 62
4 Tikvesh 33 12 8 13 41 40 +1 44 Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round[b]
5 Sileks 33 10 13 10 36 40 −4 43
6 Gostivar 33 9 15 9 32 38 −6 42[c]
7 AP Brera 33 11 9 13 34 33 +1 42[c]
8 Rabotnički 33 12 6 15 29 34 −5 42[c]
9 Voska Sport 33 10 12 11 37 41 −4 42[c]
10 Vardar (O) 33 10 7 16 28 43 −15 37 Qualification for the Macedonian First Football League play-off
11 Makedonija G.P. (R) 33 8 5 20 29 44 −15 29 Relegation to the Macedonian Second Football League
12 Bregalnica (R) 33 6 10 17 27 50 −23 28
Source: MacedonianFootball.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head away goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw; 8) Play-off.[7]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Struga 6, Shkëndija 3.
  2. ^ Tikvesh qualified for the Conference League first qualifying round by winning the 2023–24 Macedonian Football Cup.
  3. ^ a b c d Head-to-head points: Gostivar 15, AP Brera 12, Rabotnički 10, Voska Sport 8.


Results

For matches 1–22, each team plays every other team twice (home and away). For matches 23–33, each team plays every other team for the third time (either at home or away). The league standings after matches 22 are used to determine the games for the last 11 matchdays.

Home \ Away APB BRE GOS MGP RAB SKE SKU SIL STR TIK VAR VOS APB BRE GOS MGP RAB SKE SKU SIL STR TIK VAR VOS
AP Brera — 1–1 0–1 3–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 — 1–1 — 5–3 2–1 — — — — — 2–0 1–0
Bregalnica 1–0 — 2–1 2–3 2–1 2–2 0–0 2–1 1–3 2–1 0–0 2–2 — — 0–0 — 0–1 — 1–0 1–1 — — 0–3 —
Gostivar 2–0 1–0 — 1–0 2–0 2–2 0–0 1–2 2–1 0–3 1–1 1–1 1–1 — — 1–4 0–0 — 2–0 — — 2–1 0–0 —
Makedonija G.P. 1–0 1–0 3–0 — 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–3 1–1 0–1 1–2 — 2–1 — — — 1–1 — — 0–1 1–0 — 0–2
Rabotnički 1–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 — 1–2 3–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 — — — 1–1 — 0–2 — — 1–2 3–1 2–0 —
Shkëndija 1–1 2–0 2–2 1–0 2–0 — 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 3–2 4–1 4–1 — — — — 6–1 0–2 — — 0–0
Shkupi 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–0 3–0 1–0 — 1–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 0–0 — — 3–1 3–2 0–2 — — — 3–2 3–0 —
Sileks 0–1 0–0 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 2–1 — 0–0 1–0 3–2 4–2 2–1 — 0–0 1–0 0–1 — 0–0 — — — 1–1 —
Struga 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 — 3–1 4–0 1–0 3–1 2–2 1–0 — — — 1–2 2–3 — — — 3–1
Tikvesh 1–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–3 — 1–0 1–1 3–1 2–1 — — — 2–1 — 1–1 3–2 — — 0–0
Vardar 1–0 2–0 0–2 2–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 2–2 1–3 2–0 — 1–2 — — — 1–0 — 1–1 — — 1–0 2–2 — 0–1
Voska Sport 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 3–2 0–1 2–3 0–0 0–1 0–3 3–2 — — 4–0 1–1 — 1–1 — 0–0 2–1 — — — —
Source: MacedonianFootball.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Macedonian First Football League play-off

The tenth-placed club (Vardar) faced the third-placed club from the 2023–24 Macedonian Second Football League (Detonit Plachkovica) for the final place in the following season's Macedonian First Football League.

Vardar2–0Detonit Plachkovica
  • Đurić 42'
  • Šušnjara 45+1'

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 20 May 2024.
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Montenegro Aleksa Marušić Voska Sport 17
2 North Macedonia Besart Ibraimi Struga 15
North Macedonia Marjan Radeski
4 Bosnia and Herzegovina Almir Aganspahić Shkëndija 12
Nigeria Lanre Kehinde Gostivar
6 North Macedonia Ediz Spahiu Tikvesh & Gostivar 10
7 North Macedonia Marko Gjorgjievski Sileks 9
North Macedonia Antonio Kalanoski
9 North Macedonia Alen Jasharoski Voska Sport 8
Kosovo Adenis Shala Shkëndija

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "1.MFL 2022/23 Final Standings". MacedonianFootball.com. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b "First League - North Macedonia - 2022/2023". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b "2.MFL 2022/23 Final Standings". MacedonianFootball.com. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Second League - Macedonia - 2022/2023". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b "2.MFL 2023/24 Final Standings". MacedonianFootball.com. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Second League - Macedonia - 2023/2024". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Пропозиции за натпреварување во Втора МФЛ Исток и Втора МФЛ Запад" (PDF). FFM.mk. Retrieved 7 August 2017.