HNL) is the 22nd season of Croatia's second level football competition since its establishment in 1992.
The season started on 18 August 2012 and is expected to end on 1 June 2013.
[1] NK Dugopolje were league champions and earned a place in Croatia's first division, but were unable to complete all the requirement necessary for top league license.
But only Lučko and Šibenik fulfilled all the requirements necessary for the second level license, while Karlovac was relegated to Treća HNL.
A fourth team, the financially troubled Varaždin, was suspended from the 2011–12 Prva HNL mid-season for not paying its players, and was immediately relegated to the lowest football level possible of the Croatian football league system, being the seventh-tier Third County League.