The Yugoslav football clubs of the First National League and partly of the Second National League were affected in the 1970s by the process of commercialization indicated through the relations within ...the club and with other organisations, which were dedicated to only one goal – how and in what manner to provide sufficient funds for financing costs. By adopting the Associated Labour Act, there was also an attempt to introduce self-governing into the football clubs of the First National League. However, the transformation of football professionals in the associated labour had been slow and most often had not been realised at all, in reality it was a matter of decision by the “technocratic-bureaucratic” and managerial structures in the clubs, which were takingup very important social positions. At the same time, the senior political and football officials had constantly emphasized the need to introduce more rapid process of self-governing transformation and clearing of football negativities. Based on all the above, it can be concluded that the self-governing model of the 1970s, or the “the mastering of workers by expanded reproduction” had essentially been unattainable because it was not adapted to the real relations in society, and its application to the relations in the professional football proved to be utopian.
Klubove jugoslavenske nogometne Prve savezne lige, a dijelom i Druge savezne lige, sedamdesetih godina XX. stoljeća zahvatila je komercijalizacija, koja se očitovala tako da su svi odnosi unutar ...kluba kao i odnosi s drugim organizacijama bili podređeni osnovnom cilju: kako osigurati dovoljno sredstava za financiranje troškova. Stručni i pedagoški rad u klubu bio je prepušten nekolicini stručnjaka. Sve ostale, poglavito društvene radnike u klubu, zaokupljalo je kako prikupiti dovoljno sredstava za financiranje kluba. Uglavnom se vodila briga o različitim dopunskim djelatnostima u klubu, a manje o radu i problemima nogometnoga sporta. Takvo je stanje poticalo razvijanje najamnih odnosa, kupoprodaju nogometaša, a samoupravljanje u klubu svodilo se na formalno potvrđivanje zaključaka prihvaćenih u uskim skupinama. Donošenjem Zakona o udruženom radu nastojalo se samoupravne odnose uvesti i u nogometne klubove Prve savezne lige.
