State Champions 1981.

In the 1980/81 season, Crvena Zvezda defended the title of champion and became the champion of Yugoslavia for the 15th time. Symbolically, on June 14, the 36th post-war championship ended, but with one round left (June 10), due to a ten-goal better goal difference than the first runner-up Hajduk, practically everything was decided. The triumph of the red and whites was deserved and pure as a tear. The main reasons for such an assessment are: continuous work over many years, exceptional cohesive strength, great mobility in decisive moments, as well as the most standard form during 34 rounds, exceptional motivation, fighting spirit and collective action of the entire team, as well as traditional vitality. This last factor, as a natural consequence of the others, was decisive in the fight for the title.

Coach Branko Stanković admitted that there were oscillations, but that they were less pronounced in Red Star than in other teams. Red Star won 44 points (two more than Hajduk and three more than Radnički from Niš), scored the most goals - 62, and conceded the fewest - 31. This clearly shows that the red and whites had the most even pace, the most deadly attack and the most reliable defense.

However, there were also serious difficulties, and the injury of the team's spiritual leader Vladimir Petrović coincided with a decline in form at the end of the autumn part of the championship and significant spring matches, such as the one against Hajduk. The same applies to the absences of two other key players: goalkeeper Ljukovčan and the unstoppable dribbler Šestić at the time. In addition, Milovanović and Dušan Savić were missing from the start due to their time in the army, and they were later joined by Rajković, Blagojević and Milosavljević. The returnees from the Yugoslav People's Army - goalkeeper Stojanović, Jelikić, Muslin, and even Radomir Savić - could not be counted on either.

- When all this is added up and weighed fairly - said Stanković - it turns out that in the past three years, since I have been at the helm of the coaching staff, two lineups have changed! Something like that would disrupt even the biggest European teams. Do we need a better example than Partizan, which has not been able to recover for a long time, or Hajduk, which was easily vulnerable until the very end? How can I not be satisfied with the performance of my boys who, deprived of the cooperation of 12 comrades, stood in the lead for 30 rounds and in the end - triumphed.

Only Rajko Janjanin played all the championship matches, and Zvjezda's top scorer was Zdravko Borovnica with 12 goals.