Regional Water Polo League

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Regional Water Polo League
RWP logo 2019.png
Official logo
SportWater polo
Founded2008; 14 years ago (2008)
No. of teams12
CountryCroatia
Montenegro
Serbia
ContinentLEN (Europe)
Most recent
champion(s)		Radnički (1st title)
(2020–21)
Most titlesJug (4 titles)
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)No
Official websiteregionalnavaterpololiga.com

The Regional Water Polo League (abbr. RWP), commonly known as the Regional League or Adriatic League, is a regional water polo league in Southeast Europe. Originally, the league featured clubs from Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia. In later years, clubs from Serbia joined the league and in one season club from Italy participated in the league.

History[]

The league was established in 2008 as the "Adriatic Water Polo League" and the inaugural 2008–09 season consisted of clubs from Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia. Members of the inaugural season were Jug, Mladost, Primorje, POŠK, Jadran Split, Medveščak Zagreb, Šibenik, Mornar, Jadran, Primorac, Budva, and Koper. The first league champions were VK Jug.

In the 2009–10 season, Cattaro joined the league and the Final Four was introduced into the league. In the 2011–12 season, the Italian water polo club Pro Recco request to join the Adriatic League was granted and immediately in their first season they became champions, but left the league after the season. The Serbian clubs (Partizan, Crvena zvezda, Radnički and Vojvodina) joined the league in the 2014–15 season.[1]

Starting from the 2015–16 season, second-tier Regional League A2 was introduced.[2]

In February 2019, three team members of Serbian club Crvena zvezda were attacked in Split by Croatian ultra-nationalists, before regional league game against Mornar.[3] The incident was condemned by Croatian and Serbian public, and by many organizations and officials as well.[4] Following the incident, the Water Polo Federation of Serbia and Serbian clubs in competition sought to not play any further games in Split, and competition's Board of Directors made a decision to postpone any further games in Split in which Serbian clubs are included.[5]

Starting with the 2020–21 season, the league is played in different format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, having two groups (2020–21 season with host cities being Belgrade and Dubrovnik, and 2021–22 season with host cities Belgrade and Split) and final tournament (2020–21 host being Zagreb);[6] In 2020–21 season, the Serbian club Radnički eventually won their first championship, thus ending 8-year dominance of the Croatian clubs.

Current clubs[]

Location of clubs in the 2021–22 season.
Red pog.svg Red: Premier League Group A; Yellow pog.svg Yellow: Premier League Group B

Clubs that participate in the 2021–22 season:

Regional Water Polo Premier League Group A
Club City
Croatia Jug CO Dubrovnik
Croatia HAVK Mladost Zagreb
Montenegro Jadran Herceg Novi
Serbia Šabac Šabac
Montenegro Budva Budva
Serbia Novi Beograd Belgrade
Serbia Partizan Belgrade
Regional Water Polo Premier League Group B
Club City
Serbia Radnički Kragujevac
Croatia Jadran Split
Serbia Crvena zvezda Belgrade
Croatia Solaris Šibenik
Montenegro Primorac Kotor
Croatia Mornar Split

All-time participants[]

The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Regional Water Polo League at any time since its formation in 2008 to the current season. A total of 22 clubs from five countries have played in the Regional League (A1).

2D Played in A2 Division
1st Champions
2nd Runners-up
3rd Third place
SF Semi-finalists
R Regular season champions
y Clubs playing in 2021–22 season
Club 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Total
seasons 		Highest
finish
Slovenia Branik Maribor — — — — — 12th 15th — — — — — — — 2 12th
Montenegro Budva 5th 5th 5th 7th 4th 6th 11th — 7th 9th — 8th 12th y 12 4th
Montenegro Cattaro — 6th 12th — — — — — — — — — — — 2 6th
Serbia Crvena zvezda — — — — — — 8th 10th — — 7th 5th 5th y 6 5th
Croatia Jadran Split 9th 10th 10th 12th 7th 9th 12th — 8th SF SF SF 3rd y 13 3rd
Montenegro Jadran Herceg Novi 2nd 1st 1st 5th 8th SF 5th 4th 2nd SF SF SF 6th y 14 1st
Croatia Jug 1st 2ndR 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1stR 1stR 1stR 2nd 2nd 2ndR y 14 1st
Slovenia Koper 10th 13th 8th 11th — — — — — — — — — — 4 8th
Croatia Medveščak 11th 11th 9th 9th 10th 10th 14th — — — — — — — 7 9th
Croatia Mladost 4th 4th 4th 4th 3rd 3rd SF SF SF 2nd 1stR 1stR 4th y 14 1st
Croatia Mornar 8th 8th 7th 6th 5th 5th 7th 6th 6th 5th 6th 10th — y 13 5th
Serbia Novi Beograd — — — — — — — — — — — — — y 1 N/A
Serbia Partizan — — — — — — 6th 5th SF 6th 9th 9th 10th y 8 SF
Croatia POŠK 12th 12th 13th 8th 6th 8th 10th 9th — 7th 10th — — — 10 6th
Montenegro Primorac 3rd 3rd 6th 10th 9th 7th 13th — — 8th 8th 6th 9th y 12 3rd
Croatia Primorje 7th 7th 3rd 2nd 1st 1st 1stR 2nd 5th 10th — — 11th — 11 1st
Italy Pro Recco — — — 1st — — — — — — — — — — 1 1st
Serbia Radnički — — — — — — SF 7th — — — — 1st y 4 1st
Croatia Solaris — — — — — — — — — — — — 8th y 2 8th
Serbia Šabac — — — — — — — — — — 5th 7th 7th y 4 5th
Croatia Šibenik 6th 9th 11th 13th 12th 11th — — — — — — — – 6 6th
Slovenia Triglav Kranj — — — — 11th — — — — — — — — — 1 11th
Serbia Vojvodina — — — — — — 9th 8th 9th — — — — — 3 8th

Finals[]

Season Champions Runners-up Result 1st of Regular Season
2008–09
 Croatia Jug Montenegro Jadran
–note
 Croatia Jug
2009–10
 Montenegro Jadran Croatia Jug
11–8
 Croatia Jug
2010–11
 Montenegro Jadran Croatia Jug
9–7
 Montenegro Jadran
2011–12
 Italy Pro Recco Croatia Primorje
15–4
 Italy Pro Recco
2012–13
 Croatia Primorje Croatia Jug
9–8
 Croatia Primorje
2013–14
 Croatia Primorje Croatia Jug
8–7
 Croatia Primorje
2014–15
 Croatia Primorje Croatia Jug
15–9
 Croatia Primorje
2015–16
 Croatia Jug Croatia Primorje
9–5
 Croatia Jug
2016–17
 Croatia Jug Montenegro Jadran
15–3
 Croatia Jug
2017–18
 Croatia Jug Croatia Mladost
15–8
 Croatia Jug
2018–19
 Croatia Mladost Croatia Jug
13–12
 Croatia Mladost
2019–20
 Croatia Mladost Croatia Jug
15–11
 Croatia Jug
2020–21
 Serbia Radnički Croatia Jug
14–12
 Croatia Jug

note In 2008–09 season, the league was played in a round-robin tournament format.

Records and statistics[]

Performance by clubs[]

Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runners-up
Croatia Jug 4 8 2008–09, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21
Croatia Primorje 3 2 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 2011–12, 2015–16
Montenegro Jadran 2 2 2009–10, 2010–11 2008–09, 2016–17
Croatia Mladost 2 1 2018–19, 2019–20 2017–18
Italy Pro Recco 1 0 2011–12
Serbia Radnički 1 0 2020–21

By country[]

Club / Nation Won Runners-up
 Croatia
9
11
 Montenegro
2
2
 Italy
1
0
 Serbia
1
0

References[]

  1. ^ "Predstavljena nova regionalna vaterpolo liga". dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). 5 September 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Regionalna liga od 25.septembra". waterpoloserbia.org (in Serbian). 26 August 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Serbian water polo team attacked in Croatia". washingtonpost.com. Associated Press. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Srbi sazvali izvanrednu konferenciju zbog napada u Splitu, HVS i HOO najoštrije osudili izgred". dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). 9 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  5. ^ "ODRŽANA SEDNICA UO REGIONALNE LIGE: Mornar ne snosi odgovornost za napad, utakmice sa splitskim klubovima se odlažu do daljnjeg". novosti.rs (in Serbian). Tanjug. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Regionalna vaterpolo liga počinje u januaru: Beograd i Dubrovnik domaćini polufinalnih turnira". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 21 December 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2021.

External links[]

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