After reviewing the performances of First League players over the 2014-15 season, we came up with the starting 11.

In coming to the decision, we compiled stats such as games played, goals and clean sheets to determine which players deserved to be on the team. There were tough choices to be made on several positions, and we decided to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation that most teams use these days.

Keep in mind that we only considered players who appeared in at least half of the possible games.

Here is our starting 11, plus 12 bench players. The statistics are only from the First League, not cup encounters.

GK Filip Gachevski (Bregalnica) – M33 GC29 CS17 Y4 R0
The goalkeeper in the team of the season was a no-brainer. Bregalnica’s Filip Gachevski broke a domestic league record by going 912 minutes without conceding a goal. In total, he kept 17 clean sheets, leading to a call-up to the national team earlier this month. Gachevski transferred to Vardar this summer.

RB Hovhannes Hambardzumyan (Vardar) – M27 G3 Y6 R0
The Armenian national team player was a big reinforcement in the Macedonian league. His consistent performances at right back proved instrumental in Vardar winning the title. He also scored some clutch goals as he was clearly the best at his position.

CB Darko Velkovski (Rabotnichki) – M29 G6 Y5 R0
The talented and creative midfielder found himself playing at a different position, but he still handled himself well. He scored 6 goals and often took free kicks for his club. Velkovski is an offensive minded center-back with good ball control. After the season, Darko made a record transfer to Vardar.

CB Boban Grncharov (Vardar) – M30 G2 Y8 R0
Experienced, stable, physical, or simply a wall. The former national team player was a rock in Vardar’s defense, helping the club concede only 21 goals in 32 games.

LB Bojan Gjorgievski (Metalurg) – M32 G2 Y2 R1
The left back position was the hardest choice. Originally a right back, Gjorgievski was often used on the other side and did well. Darko Glishikj of Vardar started the season brightly, but then he broke his leg. His teammate Goran Popov performed fine, but he did not feature in enough games to be considered. So, it came down to Gjorgjievski or Mite Cikarski, both with similar style of play and form. Eventually, we decided to go with Gjorgievski.

DM Dushko Trajchevski (Rabotnichki) – M25 G0 Y11 R0
Trajchevski was the biggest revelation this season. Dule, as his teammates call him, came out of nowhere to become a regular and his play did not go unnoticed as he was summoned by two different managers to the national team.

DM Nikola Gligorov (Vardar) – M28 G1 Y7 R0
Gligorov brought stability to his team. His vision, passing and tracking back on defense were one of the reasons for Vardar’s dominance. He was an all-around consistent performer. Gligorov is not flashy, but just does his job.

RW Marjan Radeski (Metalurg) – M31 G10 Y3 R0
Our choice for “Best Young Player” had another great season. He scored 10 goals in leading the youngest team in the league to a 6th place finish.

AM Izair Emini (Renova) – M31 G20 Y8 R0
Emini was our selection for the “Best Player” this season. Played as both a striker and attacking midfielder and managed to score 20 goals to become top goalscorer. Definitely a dream season for the 29-year-old.

LW Marjan Altiparmakovski (Rabotnichki) – M32 G15 Y3 R0
Third best scorer in the league who also compiled several key assists. Scored the winning goal in the Macedonian Cup final, bringing Rabotnichki the title.

ST Bojan Vručina (Shkendija) – M31 G18 Y6 R0
If Shkendija underperformed this season, that was not the case with their Croatian striker. Bojan ended second in the league with 18 goals and kept on playing well despite heavy competition from Hristijan Kirovski and Mo Idrissou.

Bench:

GK Andreja Efremov (Rabotnichki) – M25 GC27 CS11 Y0 R1
He started the season with Metalurg and moved to Rabotnichki during the winter break. He was steady to earn a spot on the bench. We have to mention that national team starter Tome Pachovski wasn’t considered, despite his good form, due to not playing enough games.

RB Angelche Timovski (Sileks) – M29 G1 Y4 R0
The only player of Sileks to make the team. Timovski, an U21 national team player, was very good going forward and was Sileks’ best player, but the right-back at Vardar was too good this year.

CB Darko Stojanov (Bregalnica) – M25 G1 Y6 R1
The captain of Bregalnica, along with the entire defense, also deserves credit for their long streak without conceding a goal. Filip Gachevski said the same thing when we interviewed him. 25-years-old, but a true commander of the team, Darko deserved his place in this list.

CB Milan Ilievski (Rabotnichki) – M30 G0 Y3 R0
The former full-back did very well for Rabotnichki after being switched to central defense. Ilievski was paired with Velkovski to form a quality partnership.

CB Dean Mitrev (Bregalnica) – M28 G0 Y7 R0
Another member of the Bregalnica defense to make the team. Mitrev was always there to block a shot or stop an opponent with a sliding tackle.

LB Mite Cikarski (Rabotnichki) – M23 G2 Y5 R0
Cikarski was an option for the starting 11 as well due to his contribution with good crosses and running non-stop, but in the end Bojan Gjorgievski played 9 more games, so that’s why Cikarski settles for a spot on the bench.

CM Stephan Vujčić (Rabotnichki) – M28 G0 Y7 R0
The half-German, half-Croatian midfielder is one of the top players at his position. That’s nothing new as Stephan has shown his talent and professional work every time he was part of the Macedonian league. Similar to Gligorov of Vardar, everything goes through Stephan when it comes to Rabotnichki.

CM Milovan Petrovikj (Rabotnichki) – M29 G0 Y5 R2
The popular Miki proved to be one of the most versatile players this season. He featured at right back, central midfield, right midfield and even left back. His ability to play multiple positions is invaluable to Rabotnichki.

RW Vlatko Grozdanoski (Vardar) – M22 G3 Y3 R0
Grozdanoski dealt with several injuries this season, but he played in just enough games to quality. Vlatko was one of Vardar’s unsung heroes. Despite being a winger, he played several games at right-back and left-back where there were injuries there.

AM Artak Dashyan (Vardar) – M25 G4 Y1 R0
A second Armenian international to make our team. Dashyan did not make the starting 11 because his form went downhill in the last two months of the season. However, his play in the 1st half was rock solid.

LW Emran Ramadani (Renova) – M27 G5 Y8 R0
Ramadani had a decent season, mostly playing as a left winger. He was up and down, but he was the best option since Dejan Blazhevski only played 14 games for Vardar, while Shkendija’s Stênio Júnior too often changed positions. Ramadani showed determination and strong will to get better, unlike Stênio Júnior who often looked lost during long stretches of games.

ST Hristijan Kirovski (Shkendija) – M32 G14 Y4 R0
Kirovski was very productive for Shkendija as he scored 14 goals despite coming off the bench in half of his appearances this season.

Legend: M – matches played; GC – goals conceded; CS – clean sheet; G – goals scored; Y – yellow cards; R – red cards.