Macedonian First Football League
The Macedonian First Football League is the highest professional football competition in North Macedonia. It is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Macedonian football league system and has been operating since the 1992–1993 season. It is organized by the Football Federation of Macedonia.
Format
Throughout the 1. MFL history, the number of clubs competing at the top level has been gradually decreased. Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history:The league has 12 teams, and each team plays the other sides three times, for a total of 33 matches each.
Due to the UEFA Ranking coefficients ranking ; The winner of the league enters into the Qualifying Rounds of the Champions League, while the second and third placed teams are entered into the Qualifying Rounds of the Europa League along with the winner of the Macedonian Cup. At the end of the season, the bottom 2 teams are relegated to the Macedonian Second League while the eighth placed team enter a play-off with the winner of the tie between second placed teams of the two groups in the Macedonian Second League.
UEFA Rankings
UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2014–15 European football season- 37 Macedonian First League
- 38 Veikkausliiga
- 39 League of Ireland Premier Division
- 40 Bosnian Premier League
Current teams (2019–20)
| Club | Position in 2018–19 |
| Akademija Pandev | 3rd |
| Borec | 1st in 2. MFL - East |
| Makedonija GP | 6th |
| Rabotnički | 7th |
| Renova | 5th |
| Shkëndija | 1st |
| Shkupi | 4th |
| Sileks | 8th |
| Struga | 1st in 2. MFL - West |
| Vardar | 2nd |
History
In 1923 the first national Yugoslav Football Championship was held, and regional championships were also played. The clubs of the Vardarska Banovina, territorially similar to present day Macedonia, played within the Belgrade Football Subassociation League until 1927, when a separate Skoplje Football Subassociation League was formed. The champions of the Subassociation Leagues were granted a place in the qualifiers to the Yugoslav Championship. Gragjanski Skopje became the only Macedonian club to participate in the national league, first in 1935–36 when the championship was played in a cup format, and then in 1938–39, when it was played in a normal league system with Gragjanski finishing 10th out of 12 teams. In 1939 the Yugoslav league system was changed, with the creation of separate Serbian and Croato-Slovenian Leagues which served as qualifying leagues for the final phase of the Yugoslav Championship. The clubs from the Skopje Subassociation aimed to qualify to the Serbian League, however only Gragjanski managed to participate, in 1939–40 and 1940–41.List of seasons
Most titles
The titles won by clubs since independence are shown in the following table:| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Winning years |
| Vardar Skopje | 11 | 2 | 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20 |
| Rabotnički Skopje | 4 | 3 | 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2013–14 |
| Sileks Kratovo | 3 | 5 | 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98 |
| Shkëndija Tetovo | 3 | 2 | 2010–11, 2017–18, 2018–19 |
| Sloga Jugomagnat Skopje | 3 | 2 | 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01 |
| Pobeda Prilep | 2 | 2 | 2003–04, 2006–07 |
| Makedonija Skopje | 1 | 1 | 2008–09 |
| Renova Djepchishte | 1 | – | 2009–10 |
| Metalurg Skopje | – | 3 | – |
| Milano Kumanovo | – | 2 | – |
| Belasica Strumica | – | 2 | – |
| Horizont Turnovo | – | 1 | – |