State Champions 1988.

Crvena Zvezda was the champion of Yugoslavia for the 1987/88 season, for the 17th time. No other club in the former Yugoslavia had such success. The competitive goal was achieved, and Crvena Zvezda recorded the most wins (17) and the fewest losses (six) in the championship. They were the most successful away team (five wins) and the most efficient team in the championship with 66 goals scored, thus winning the "Politika" newspaper trophy.

Dragan Stojković Pixi, Zvezda's fifth star, was the best player of the championship. He scored 15 goals and was the main creator of the red and whites' game. Stojković also appeared once in the world team in a match under the auspices of FIFA. Robert Prosinecki won the "Golden Ball", that is, he was named the best player of the World Youth Championship in Chile in 1987, in which the Yugoslav national team triumphed.

The road to the championship triumph was not easy. The final decision was made only in the last match. To confirm that there is no end - before the end. Against Sutjeska in Nikšić, a 2:2 draw was enough to win the title ahead of Partizan, who finished the championship race with a point behind. The championship campaign was also tortuous, full of problems that had to be overcome along the way. Crvena Zvezda had a smaller pool of players, and injuries, suspensions due to cards, individual player indiscipline in club work and relations, not always consistent criteria, not to mention the inflexibility in certain situations of the first coach Velibor Vasović - forced changes in the composition of the team. Hence the fact that only Žarko Đurović played all the matches.

The championship finish was decisive, starting with the match against Vardar in the 30th round, when the red and whites tied the then-leading Velež from Mostar on points. To the top position, Crvena Zvezda broke out in the next round, with a victory over Željezničar, and held on to it until the end. Komšijski Rad, at the "construction workers'" home ground in Banjica, was defeated 2:0 in a fierce battle for survival, and goalkeeper Branko Davidović was unbeatable in that match.

At the spring farewell to the Belgrade fans, our players showed a real rhapsody. The Red and Whites outclassed Osijek (6:1). It was a match in which the players gave their answer as best they could - in order to confirm the steadfastness of their will in the last match in Nikšić. In the championship team, in addition to Stojković as a leader on the field, Dragiša Binić, Borislav Cvetković, Robert Prosinecki also stood out... Velibor Vasović, the first our player to lift the European Champions Cup trophy, while playing for Ajax, definitely confirmed himself as a good coach. In the end, the final balance of Red Star: 34-17-11-6. 66:39, 45.