State Champions 1984.

In the most uncertain post-war Yugoslav championship in the 1983/84 season, the outcome of which was not known until the last moment, Crvena Zvezda Despite many adversities, they heroically crossed the finish line first. From a serious crisis, they eventually reached triumph and a total of 16 championship titles, thanks to all the club structures: management, coaching staff, fans and especially the players. It was the most demanding championship cycle for the red and whites.

In three weeks they had to play seven difficult matches. And not regular first league or cup matches, but seven derby matches, in which fate was decided. Even for the best prepared professional team, this would have represented an extraordinary physical effort and a Sisyphean nervous burden. For the decimated red and whites, deprived of the help of four to six regular first team players (Stojanović, Banković, Janković, Mrkela, the brothers Boško and Milko Đurovski) during those three weeks, it represented psychophysical torture - real agony!

Despite all the adversities, the red and whites resisted and deservedly became champions. Clearly, the championship was not won in the last five rounds of May, but during a grueling marathon battle over 34 rounds. Its general characteristic was the great equality of the teams, greater than ever, which can also explain the minimum harvest of points by the champion team - 44. Another characteristic, important for the red and whites, was the deceptive form and the two different faces that coach Gojko Zec's players displayed.

During the autumn, things were pretty sloppy, and five points were unexpectedly lost at home to potential victims (Osijek, Željezničar, Priština). The first part of the championship, Zvezda finished only in sixth place and everyone had already given up on them, but they were terribly wrong. The spring phase brought a big turnaround and a new, radically changed Zvezda. It was a homogeneous, playful, maximally motivated and fighting team, full of strength and will and ultimately very deadly. A strong start followed in the first four spring rounds, with a fantastic goal difference of 14:2. Points were also diligently collected after the triumph over the direct rival for the trophy, Željezničar at Grbavica (3:1), in the 26th round, Crvena Zvezda topped the table for the first time.

The third and most difficult phase was the final phase of the championship. The team had to withstand fierce attacks from everyone on the leader, without half of the first team players, in the non-stop rhythm of a derby clash, every third day. Only a group of extremely physically fit players, with nerves of steel and enormous willpower could withstand such a "siege". That is why this phase was primarily a struggle, and its competitors - true heroes. After a hard winter's work, Crvena Zvezda had a much more prepared team than the others, and Gojko Zec put the team together in a 4-4-2 formation, in which the most forward players were Miloš Šestić and Milko Đurovski.

Goalkeeper Tomislav Ivković was the record holder for the number of games played - 34 in all. In the back row, the most composed was the defense conductor Marko Elzner, and the "hidden striker" Boško Đurovski stood out, as did Jovica Nikolić, the scorer of eight goals. Captain Šestić was unstoppable, and the most forward striker Milko Đurovski had a good goal-scoring performance. Despite suffering seven defeats, Crvena Zvezda reached its 16th title with a heroic fight, with two points more than Partizan, Željezničar and Rijeka, five more than Hajduk...