2023–24 Macedonian First Football League Explained

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 seasonPromoted 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) 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)

At the end of the 2023–24 seasonPromoted from 2023–24 Second League Besa (DD) (winners, promoted for the first time in their history)[5] [6] Pelister (runners-up, promoted after a 2 season absence) 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		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.	<			--CLUBS-->	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	Giovanni Valenti	Marko Alchevski	Sportika SA	Mozzart
Bregalnica	Goran Zdravkov	Halid Lwaliwa	Hummel	Superior
Gostivar	Murat Daban	Xhelil Abdulla	Nike
Makedonija G.P.	Goran Simov		Joma	Zlatna Kopacka, Tesla
Rabotnički	Milan Ilievski		Joma
Shkendija	Jeton Beqiri		Macron	Ecolog
Shkupi	Mladen Žižović	Artan Iljazi	Reaction	Alagoz Holding
Sileks	Aleksandar Vasoski		Jako	Sileks
Struga	Shpetim Duro		Macron	Trim & Lum
Tikvesh	Gjorgji Mojsov		Joma	Klimi.mk, Sinalco
Vardar	Gorazd Mihajlov		Joma
Voska Sport		Hadis Velii	Joma	Nefi Ik

League table

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.

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.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Aleksa Marušić	Voska Sport	17
2	Besart Ibraimi	Struga	15
	Marjan Radeski
4	Almir Aganspahić	Shkëndija	12
	Lanre Kehinde	Gostivar
6	Ediz Spahiu	Tikvesh & Gostivar	10
7	Marko Gjorgjievski	Sileks	9
	Antonio Kalanoski
9	Alen Jasharoski	Voska Sport	8
	Adenis Shala	Shkëndija

See also

• 2023–24 Macedonian Football Cup
• 2023–24 Macedonian Second Football League

External links

• Football Federation of Macedonia
• MacedonianFootball.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1.MFL 2022/23 Final Standings. MacedonianFootball.com. 15 May 2023.
2. Web site: First League - North Macedonia - 2022/2023. Soccerway.com. 15 May 2023.
3. Web site: 2.MFL 2022/23 Final Standings. MacedonianFootball.com. 15 May 2023.
4. Web site: Second League - Macedonia - 2022/2023. Soccerway.com. 15 May 2023.
5. Web site: 2.MFL 2023/24 Final Standings. MacedonianFootball.com. 6 May 2024.
6. Web site: Second League - Macedonia - 2023/2024. Soccerway.com. 6 May 2024.