| Season | 1952–53 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Red Star (2nd title) |
| Relegated | Velež Napredak Kruševac |
| Matches played | 132 |
| Goals scored | 452 (3.42 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Todor Živanović (17) |
← 1952 1953–54 → | |
Two clubs relegated at the end of the previous season were Rabotnički and Mačva. Teams promoted to the 1952–53 Yugoslav First League were Velež and Spartak.
| Team | Location | Federal Republic | Position in1952 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSK Belgrade | Belgrade |  SR Serbia
|
0055th |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Zagreb |  SR Croatia
|
0044th |
| Hajduk Split | Split | SR Croatia
|
0011st |
| Lokomotiva | Zagreb | SR Croatia
|
0033rd |
| Partizan | Belgrade | SR Serbia
|
0066th |
| Red Star | Belgrade | SR Serbia
|
0022nd |
| Sarajevo | Sarajevo |  SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
0099th |
| Spartak | Subotica | SR Serbia
|
— |
| Vardar | Skopje |  SR Macedonia
|
0077th |
| Velež | Mostar | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
— |
| Vojvodina | Novi Sad | SR Serbia
|
0088th |
| NK Zagreb | Zagreb | SR Croatia
|
01010th |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Star Belgrade (C) | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 47 | 27 | +20 | 31 | |
| 2 | Hajduk Split | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 29 | |
| 3 | Partizan | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 58 | 36 | +22 | 25 | |
| 4 | Vojvodina | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 37 | 36 | +1 | 24 | |
| 5 | BSK Belgrade | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 23 | |
| 6 | Sarajevo | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 22 | |
| 7 | Dinamo Zagreb | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 22 | |
| 8 | Lokomotiva | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 33 | 40 | −7 | 21 | |
| 9 | Vardar | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 37 | 46 | −9 | 19 | |
| 10 | Spartak Subotica | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 33 | 44 | −11 | 19 | |
| 11 | Velež (R) | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 30 | 51 | −21 | 15 | Relegation to Yugoslav Second League |
| 12 | NK Zagreb (R) | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 37 | −14 | 14 |
| Home \ Away | BSK | DIN | HAJ | LOK | PAR | RSB | SAR | SPA | VAR | VEL | VOJ | ZAG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BSK Belgrade | 1–0 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 3–0 | |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 1–1 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | |
| Hajduk Split | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 6–1 | 6–3 | |
| Lokomotiva | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–4 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | |
| Partizan | 5–1 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 6–2 | 9–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | |
| Red Star | 5–3 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | |
| Sarajevo | 2–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 7–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
| Spartak Subotica | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | |
| Vardar | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
| Velež | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–5 | 2–0 | |
| Vojvodina | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 5–3 | 0–2 | |
| NK Zagreb | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 |
Champions:
players (league matches/league goals):
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Todor Živanović
|
Red Star | 17 |
| 2 | Zdravko Rajkov
|
Vojvodina | 16 |
| 3 | Todor Veselinović
|
Partizan | 15 |
| Marko Valok
|
Partizan | ||
| 5 | Bernard Vukas
|
Hajduk Split | 12 |
| Vladimir Firm
|
Lokomotiva | ||
| 7 | Frane Matošić
|
Hajduk Split | 11 |
| Božo Broketa
|
Hajduk Split | ||
| 9 | Vladimir Zelenika
|
Velež | 10 |
| Dobrivoje Živkov
|
Sarajevo | ||
| Đorđe Cincijevski
|
Vardar |
|
| |
|---|---|
« 1951–52 1953–54 » | |
| Domestic leagues |
|
| Domestic cups |
|
| League cups |
|
