State Champions 2001.

The rain bathed Belgrade on June 21st, when Crvena Zvezda won the 23rd championship "star". Despite the bad weather, it was beautiful at Marakana, and the Delije celebrated another success of our most trophy-winning club in a spectacular way. Zvezda's championship journey began from the first round, and our club was not in the leading position for only a few rounds, when it occupied second place in the middle of the championship. The championship crown was secured in the penultimate round with a victory away in Železnik, while at the same time the main rival Partizan played a draw against Hajduk in Kula.

In the last, 34th round, Crvena Zvezda hosted Militsionar, and the championship team came to greet 25,000 red-and-white fans. Delije from Benkovac, Knin, Kotor, Arandjelovac, Zemun, Belgrade neighborhoods Konjarnik, Zvezdara... also came to our largest stadium. Zvezda won convincingly with 4:1, and the scorer of the fourth goal for the red-and-whites, Saša Zorić, after scoring a penalty goal in the 80th minute, fulfilled the promise made before the match and doused himself with a full bucket of water, which was the prelude to a big celebration, when referee Dušan Mrakić signaled the end of the match. In the end, Crvena Zvezda collected 88 points, two more than Partizan, while the other clubs had a large points gap.

- Everyone who is born must also leave. There is only one thing that was born and will never leave - Crvena Zvezda - said Zvezda's general manager Vladimir Cvetković.

Sinisa Djordjevic, a fan from Karavukovo, cycled 170 kilometers to attend the unforgettable fireworks display on the "north" of Marakana and celebrate the title.

- Only Zvezda can do this, and I would come on foot to see such a spectacle - said Đorđević.

Crvena Zvezda defended the title with coach Slavoljub Muslin, and the most games, 33 each, were played by Goran Bunjevčević and goalkeeper Aleksandar Kocić. Red Star's top scorer in the championship with 23 goals, Mihajlo Pjanović, said:

- We deservedly won the title, but our fans deserved it too. They cheered us on throughout the season, which had its ups and downs. But, all together we were the best when it mattered most - emphasized Pjanović.