The 1935–36 season finally provided a much sought breakthrough for Slavija as the club came within a hair of becoming the champion of Yugoslavia. The top league now featured 14 clubs, most ever in its history up to that point. Another change was that the home-and-away cup system was brought back. Led by Milan Rajlić and Slavko Zagorac on the pitch, and Risto Šošić from the bench, Slavija first came up against Cetinje's Crnogorac, beating them 5–4 on aggregate. Next up was Građanski from Skopje in the quarter-finals – after losing the first game 1–2, Slavija recorded a famous 10–1 win in the return leg. This momentum carried into the semi-finals against Novi Sad's NAK as Slavija progressed 4–2 on aggregate. That set the stage for the famous two-legged final against the powerhouse BSK team. First leg finished 1–1, but BSK prevailed 0–1 in return.