By Alex ConnorDisappointment and agonisingly fine margins have become a familiar tale for Hajduk. A previously successful force has become Croatia’s perennial bridesmaid. Since their previous league title win, Hajduk have finished either HNL runners-up or in third place a combined 14 times. In the last three campaigns, they’ve placed second once and third twice.Always the bridesmaidIn the 2023/24 season, Hajduk were top at the winter break, but lost four consecutive games in the spring, including a home defeat to arch-rivals and eventual title winners Dinamo. Last season, Hajduk finished two points behind Rijeka, who ended Dinamo’s streak of seven successive league titles. Across April and May 2025, Hajduk suffered another season-defining collapse, enduring a six-match winless run that dramatically cost them top spot. On 8th March, in their next league fixture, Hajduk host Dinamo in a do-or-die encounter at Poljud Stadium in Split. The mood will be tense after Hajduk’s chaotic 3-2 defeat to Rijeka in the Croatian Cup quarter-final on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, Dinamo breezed into the semis and have momentum. An HNL loss for Hajduk would almost certainly eradicate any title aspirations. A draw doesn’t change the landscape. Three points are the only option.Meetings between Hajduk and Dinamo are known as Croatia’s ‘Eternal Derby.’ The rivalry transcends what happens on the pitch and the intricacies of a title race. It’s a stormy political and ideological minefield, steeped in history and characterised by violence.This season’s title raceIn all countries, football and fan sentiment are a microcosm of society. Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 90s, the derby was a fierce clash and a patriotic celebration. Other Balkan giants, Red Star and Partizan from Belgrade in Serbia, formed the ‘Big Four’ of Yugoslavian football, and they were Croatia’s clear enemies. The Serbian clubs symbolised Yugoslav authority, and Croatians were united in their resistance.Following Croatian independence in 1991, the HNL was founded in 1992, and the rivalry between Hajduk and Dinamo escalated. As the capital, Zagreb emerged as the hub of centralist power, with political and economic advantages, which irritated Hajduk and reminded Split of the Yugoslavian regime.Hajduk is a proud club which has always demonstrated unwavering loyalty to Croatia. In the Second World War, it was occupied by the Italians, who offered Hajduk a spot in Serie A, but it declined. Split was swiftly reoccupied by the Nazis and granted to the Independent State of Croatia in Zagreb. Hajduk’s players rallied, teamed up with the Partisans on the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea. After the war, the Communists asked Hajduk to relocate to Belgrade and become Yugoslavia’s army club. However, it bravely refused because it couldn’t be detached from its Dalmatian spirit in Southern Croatia. Instead, the Yugoslav People’s Army established FK Partizan. Hajduk’s anti-establishment standing resurfaced when the nation’s first president, Franjo Tuđman, renamed Dinamo as ‘Croatia Zagreb.’ Dinamo fans and the Bad Blue Boys ultras felt their identity had been stripped, prompting huge protests, while Hajduk viewed it as further evidence of their rivals’ political favourability. This unpopular decision was reversed in 2000. Hajduk’s resentment reached a new level of toxicity during Zdravko Mamic’s spell as Dinamo’s executive director. Appointed in 2003, the club scooped every league title between 2005/06 and 2015/16. However, in 2018, a Croatian court sentenced Mamic to six-and-a-half years in prison for tax evasion and siphoning off profits from player transfers. To avoid prison, he fled to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he holds citizenship.In 2013, the Torcida, Hajduk’s Ultras and the oldest supporters’ club in Europe, united alongside the Bad Blue Boys and gathered on the same terrace to appeal against corruption in Croatian football. Nevertheless, over the last 30 years, this derby has been marred by violence. In April 2024, more than 50 people were arrested when Hajduk fans invaded their pitch and fought Dinamo supporters following their side’s 1-0 loss in Split. In May 2025, Croatian police detained over 140 fans from both clubs due to more barbaric scenes. It’s a complicated rivalry, underlined by constant tension and brutality. Ultimately, the relationship has always been worsened by those above. Fans can’t throw fists at the people in charge, so they direct the violence at each other. The upcoming Eternal Derby meeting in Split is unquestionably massive for Hajduk, and they boast the resources to hurt their opponents. The most well-known member of the current squad is former AC Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt man Ante Rebić, who was born in Split and will be desperate to make his city proud. Hajduk also possess the American-born Lithuanian playmaker Rokas Pukštas. The 21-year-old joined in 2022 and, in the following year, helped Hajduk reach its first UEFA Youth League final. Now, with six goals in 16 league starts, Pukštas is one of the club’s most important players. Michele Šego is another key part of Hajduk’s attack and is the HNL’s second-highest scorer with 10 goals. Despite the gap to Dinamo at the top, Hajduk haven’t given up hope and last month, they recruited uncompromising Austrian centre-back Dario Maresic from fellow Croatian side Istra 1961 to tighten up their defence. The provincial club is the nucleus of its adoring city, whose wait to be renamed as Croatia’s champions cruelly continues. On Sunday, Hajduk will undoubtedly give it everything in yet another make-or-break derby. (Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from Croatian football with FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.