to the top flight Yugoslav First League in the 1966–67 season. Yugoslav top division (1967–1972) Maribor played their first match in the Yugoslav top tier against Vardar in Skopje; Maras scored the only goal for Maribor in a 1–1 draw. Their first win came in August 1967, when Maribor defeated Proleter Zrenjanin 3–0 at home. During the season, the first ever match in the Yugoslav top flight involving two clubs from Slovenia was held, when Maribor hosted a goalless match against their rivals Olimpija from Ljubljana in front of 13,000 spectators. Each match between the two sides during this period attracted large crowds, with attendance sometimes as high as 20,000. Maribor finished their inaugural top division season in 12th place out of 16 teams. In the 1969–70 season, Maribor finished 10th out of 18 clubs, their highest ever ranking in Yugoslav football. Their last season in the top division was 1971–72, when the team finished dead last with just 20 points in 34 matches. Mladen Kranjc was Maribor's top scorer in each of the five Yugoslav top division seasons, scoring a total of 54 league goals, which eventually led to his transfer to one of the top Yugoslav clubs, Dinamo Zagreb. During their five-year stay in Yugoslav's top division, the club played a total of 166 league matches and achieved 40 wins, 57 draws and 69 defeats. Dark years and bribery scandal (1972–1991) In the 1972–73 season, Maribor were competing in the second tier. They finished the season in second place, only behind Zagreb, which meant that they qualified for the Yugoslav first division promotion play-offs. In the first qualifying round against Montenegrin side Budućnost, Maribor won on penalties and qualified for the decisive round against Proleter. The first leg was played at home on 8 July 1973, and is acknowledged as one of the most memorable matches in the history of Maribor, as it still holds the club's home attendance record. There were 20,000 spectators, 15,000 of whom were already present in the stands almost three hours before the start, eventually helping Maribor to win the game 3–1. However, the two-goal advantage proved to be insufficient as Proleter won the second leg 3–0 and was promoted. When the score was 1–0 for Proleter, Josip Ražić equalised in the 23rd minute, but the goal was not awarded by the referee. Later, the television replay showed that the ball had actually