Football in Slovenia
Football in Slovenia i governed by the Football Association of Slovenia (Slovene: Nogometna zveza Slovenije). Slovenia has participated in international football as an independent nation since 1991, when the country gained independence from SFR Yugoslavia. The Slovenia national football team has qualified for three major tournaments (UEFA Euro 2000, 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup).
The three biggest clubs in Slovenia are Maribor, Mura and Olimpija.
History
Since being part of Austria-Hungary, football came to the territories that are today part of Slovenia in the late 19th century from Vienna. The first football club was founded in 1900 by the German minority in Ljubljana, the Laibacher Sportverein. They were soon followed by the Hungarian minority in Lendava (Nafta in 1903) and the German minority in Celje (Athletik SK in 1906). The game soon spread among Slovenian high school students, who formed their own teams in most of Slovenia's major cities, most notable being Hermes in Ljubljana and Jugoslavija in Gorizia. In 1911, the first Slovenian citizens football club, Ilirija, was founded in Ljubljana, followed by Slovan two years later.
After the end of World War I and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed to Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Football Association was formed, which was divided in regional subassociations. Football clubs Ilirija, Slovan and German teams from Maribor founded the Ljubljana Football Subassociation in 1920, which is the forerunner of today's Football Association of Slovenia. Ljubljana Subassociation covered the territory of Slovenia and was responsible for organizing the football activities within its territory. They formed the Slovenian national team, which played its first game against France in 1921. At club level they formed a league system with several levels which started being played in 1920. The Ljubljana Subssociation first league champions played along the champions of the other Yugoslav subassociations in the Yugoslav Championship. The most successful teams were Ilirija with twelve subassociation titles, followed by I. SSK Maribor with three titles, and Primorje, SK Ljubljana and Železničar Maribor with two each. Stanko Tavčar was the first Slovenian footballer to play for the Yugoslavia national team. Most of the competitions were suspended in 1941 due to outbreak of World War II.
In SFR Yugoslavia, the majority of Slovenian clubs played in the Yugoslav football league system, while the Slovenian national team continued playing as a regional amateur selection. The first post-war champions, Nafta, competed in the Yugoslav top division in the 1946–47 season, an achievement that was later repeated only by Olimpija and Maribor. Olimpija was the most successful Slovenian team in the period; they played 22 seasons in the Yugoslav top flight, reached the Yugoslav Cup final in 1970, and also competed in European competitions on three occasions. Most Slovenian clubs usually played in the third-tier Slovenian Republic League, where the most successful teams were Maribor and Ljubljana with five titles each. During the 1945–1990 period, only a handful of Slovenian players managed to get into the Yugoslavia national team, with Branko Oblak, Srečko Katanec and Danilo Popivoda being the famous three.
After Slovenia's independence in 1991, national league and cup competitions were formed on the basis of the old republic structures, with the first Slovenian PrvaLiga season therefore including 21 teams. In the same year, SR Slovenia regional selection reformed as the Slovenian national football team and played their first official match in 1992 against Estonia.
The Slovenian PrvaLiga (Slovene: Prva slovenska nogometna liga, pronounced [ˈpərʋa slɔˈʋeːnska nɔɡɔˈmɛtna ˈliːɡa]), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Slovenian Second League (2. SNL). Seasons typically run from July to May with each team playing 36 matches.
The competition was founded in 1991 after Slovenia became an independent country. From 1920 until the end of the 1990–91 season, the Slovenian Republic League was a lower division within the Yugoslav league system. The league is governed by the Football Association of Slovenia. Celje and Maribor are the only two founding clubs that have never been relegated from the league since its foundation in 1991.
45 clubs have competed since the inception of the PrvaLiga in 1991. Eight of them have won the title: Maribor (16), Gorica (4), Olimpija (4), Olimpija Ljubljana (3), Domžale (2), Koper (1), Celje (1) and Mura (1).
History
The Slovenian First League (1. SNL) was established after Slovenia's independence in 1991, and initially consisted of 21 clubs in the inaugural season. Prior to that, Slovenian teams competed in the Yugoslav football league system. Olimpija, Maribor and Nafta were the only Slovenian teams to play in the Yugoslav top division between 1945 and the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. While they were part of the Yugoslav football system, most Slovenian clubs competed for the title of regional champions in the Slovenian Republic League, the third tier of Yugoslav football.
In 1991, the Football Association of Slovenia separated from the Football Association of Yugoslavia and established its own competitions, where Slovenian clubs competed for the title of Slovenian national champions. As of 2023, Celje and Maribor remains the only two founding clubs that have never been relegated from the league since the inaugural 1991–92 edition. The competition format and the number of clubs in the league have changed over time, ranging from 21 clubs in the first season to 10 clubs in its present form.
Olimpija won the first title. They had a long tradition of playing in the Yugoslav First League and their squad was still composed of players from that era. Olimpija dominated the league and won a further three championships before Gorica won their first in the 1995–96 season. Following Gorica's success, Maribor won their first championship in 1997. This started a record-breaking streak of seven successive league championships which came to an end when Gorica won their second title in the 2003–04 season. The club from Nova Gorica went on to win an additional two titles, becoming the third club to win three consecutive championships. During the 2006–07 season, Domžale won their first title, a feat they repeated the following season. After the 2008–09 season, Maribor became the major force in Slovenian football for the second time, having won 9 out of 15 championships since then.
Maribor is the most successful club; they have won the championship 16 times. Seven of Maribor's titles came during the late 1990s and early 2000s when the club was led alternately by managers Bojan Prašnikar, Ivo Šušak and Matjaž Kek. Darko Milanič has led the club to four championships between 2009 and 2013. Olimpija have won four titles, all in successive years between 1992 and 1995. Tied with four championships is Gorica who won their first title in 1996 and an additional three in successive years between 2004 and 2006. Olimpija Ljubljana have won three titles, followed by Domžale with two titles. Koper, Celje and Mura have won one title each, in 2010, 2020 and 2021, respectively. Maribor have won the Slovenian version of the double the most; they have won the league and the cup four times in the same season.
Nogometni klub Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovene pronunciation: [nɔɡɔˈméːtni ˈklúːp ɔˈlìːmpija ljubˈljàːna]; English: Olimpija Ljubljana Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Olimpija Ljubljana or simply Olimpija, was a Slovenian association football club based in Ljubljana. The club was founded in 1945 under the name NK Enotnost and adopted the name Olimpija in 1962.
Since the mid-1940s Olimpija had competed in the Yugoslav football system and between the late 1960s and late 1980s Olimpija was a regular member of the Yugoslav First League. Following Slovenia's independence in 1991 they won four Slovenian Championships and four Slovenian Cup titles, and they had also appeared in European competitions such as the UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.
The club's home ground was Bežigrad Stadium, an 8,211 capacity stadium in Bežigrad District in Ljubljana. Olimpija's nicknames were The Dragons (Zmaji), as dragon is a symbol of Ljubljana, and The Green-Whites (Zeleno-beli), referring to their primary colours, green and white.
The club was dissolved in 2005 due to high financial debt. In the same year, a successor club was founded under the name NK Bežigrad, and currently competes in the Slovenian top flight under the name Olimpija Ljubljana.
History
Yugoslav years (1945–1991)
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2018)
In 1945, ŠD Tabor and ŠD Udarnik sports clubs merged and formed a new club called NK Enotnost, together with the players of the former SK Ljubljana.[1][8] In 1948, the club was initially renamed to NK Odred, and later to NK Triglav in December 1960, with the club's colours at the time being black and white. During the same season, the club renamed to Olimpija.
In 1970, Olimpija reached the final of the Yugoslav Cup, where it lost to Red Star Belgrade 3–2 on aggregate.
As a result of Slovenian independence in mid-1991 and the breakup of Yugoslavia, Olimpija agreed to join the newly formed Slovenian League. The inaugural 1991–92 season included a number of clubs from the lower tiers of the Yugoslav football league. The average attendance at Olimpija's matches dropped from 7,380 in 1989–90 to 1,075 in 1991–92. After finishing the first half of the season in second place three points behind Maribor, Olimpija had a string of good results after the winter break and ended the season with eleven consecutive wins which brought them their first Slovenian League title. The team for their final match included Robert Englaro, Aleš Čeh, Dejan Djuranovič and Sandi Valentinčič, and was coached by Lučjo Pertič.
The club went on to win three more consecutive titles, before Gorica won the 1995–96 edition, ending Olimpija's league domination.
Financial difficulties and dissolution (2003–2005)
In the 2003–04 UEFA Cup Olimpija beat Irish side Shelbourne in the qualifying round 4–2 on aggregate.[ In the next round they met Liverpool, and took the lead through captain Anton Žlogar's goal, the first leg at Bežigrad Stadium ending in a 1–1 draw as Michael Owen scored an eqaliser 12 minutes from time. Olimpija's last European season was then cut short as they were soundly beaten 3–0 through goals by Anthony Le Tallec, Emile Heskey and Harry Kewell in the away leg at Anfield.
Olimpija had a string of mixed results for the remainder of the season, getting knocked out in the round of 16 of the 2003–04 Slovenian Cup and finishing runners-up in the 2003–04 Slovenian PrvaLiga. However, most sponsors (including Schollmayer) decided to abandon the club at the end of the season which led to serious financial difficulties for the club. Following Schollmayer's exit, Olimpija were forced to sell almost all of their players. Although the club had started competing in the 2004–05 championship, the club had struggled on the pitch and failed to obtain competition licences issued by the Football Association of Slovenia, which led to its dissolution. Eventually the club, with a debt consisting of over 700 million Slovenian tolars (around €3 million in 2004 exchange rate), filed for bankruptcy in the middle of the 2004–05 season. However, the Football Association of Slovenia had exceptionally allowed the club to finish the 2004–05 season and, after finishing sixth in the national championship, Olimpija effectively ceased all operations.
In 2005, a successor club was established under the name NK Bežigrad, and currently competes in the Slovenian top flight under the name Olimpija Ljubljana. However, in spite of inheriting old Olimpija's supporters and colours, they are not legally considered to be successors to the original Olimpija and the two clubs' track records and honours are kept separate by the Football Association of Slovenia. However, some English-language sources regard the current Olimpija club as a continuation of the original club.
Amid political turmoil in the early 1990s, during the breakup of Yugoslavia, Olimpija began claiming direct lineage to Ilirija, an association football club established in 1911. It was during this time that Olimpija added the year 1911 on the official club crest for the first time in their history. Ilirija, a member of the Slovenian Second League at the time and the only Ljubljana based club the Football Association of Slovenia officially refers to as founded in 1911, have always criticized Olimpija actions and accused them of unilaterally appropriating their history.
Name changes
NK Enotnost (1945–1948; founded as a merger of the newly established ŠD Tabor and ŠD Udarnik sports clubs and joined by former SK Ljubljana players)
NK Odred (1948–1961)
NK Triglav (1961–1962)
NK Olimpija (1962–2005)
Honours
Olimpija Ljubljana had won four Slovenian Championships, four Slovenian Cups and one Slovenian Supercup in the period between the country's independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 until the club's dissolution in 2005. Although the club had spent 22 seasons in top flight during the Yugoslavia period (1945–1991), the club never won any silverware and the closest they came to winning a major domestic trophy was reaching the 1970 Yugoslav Cup final.
Internationally Olimpija had appeared in the UEFA Cup six times, in the UEFA Champions League twice, in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice and in the UEFA Intertoto Cup once,[5] in addition to two appearances in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Their best result in European football was reaching the round of 16 in the 1996–97 Cup Winners' Cup.
The three biggest clubs in Slovenia are Maribor, Mura and Olimpija.
History
Since being part of Austria-Hungary, football came to the territories that are today part of Slovenia in the late 19th century from Vienna. The first football club was founded in 1900 by the German minority in Ljubljana, the Laibacher Sportverein. They were soon followed by the Hungarian minority in Lendava (Nafta in 1903) and the German minority in Celje (Athletik SK in 1906). The game soon spread among Slovenian high school students, who formed their own teams in most of Slovenia's major cities, most notable being Hermes in Ljubljana and Jugoslavija in Gorizia. In 1911, the first Slovenian citizens football club, Ilirija, was founded in Ljubljana, followed by Slovan two years later.
After the end of World War I and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed to Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Football Association was formed, which was divided in regional subassociations. Football clubs Ilirija, Slovan and German teams from Maribor founded the Ljubljana Football Subassociation in 1920, which is the forerunner of today's Football Association of Slovenia. Ljubljana Subassociation covered the territory of Slovenia and was responsible for organizing the football activities within its territory. They formed the Slovenian national team, which played its first game against France in 1921. At club level they formed a league system with several levels which started being played in 1920. The Ljubljana Subssociation first league champions played along the champions of the other Yugoslav subassociations in the Yugoslav Championship. The most successful teams were Ilirija with twelve subassociation titles, followed by I. SSK Maribor with three titles, and Primorje, SK Ljubljana and Železničar Maribor with two each. Stanko Tavčar was the first Slovenian footballer to play for the Yugoslavia national team. Most of the competitions were suspended in 1941 due to outbreak of World War II.
In SFR Yugoslavia, the majority of Slovenian clubs played in the Yugoslav football league system, while the Slovenian national team continued playing as a regional amateur selection. The first post-war champions, Nafta, competed in the Yugoslav top division in the 1946–47 season, an achievement that was later repeated only by Olimpija and Maribor. Olimpija was the most successful Slovenian team in the period; they played 22 seasons in the Yugoslav top flight, reached the Yugoslav Cup final in 1970, and also competed in European competitions on three occasions. Most Slovenian clubs usually played in the third-tier Slovenian Republic League, where the most successful teams were Maribor and Ljubljana with five titles each. During the 1945–1990 period, only a handful of Slovenian players managed to get into the Yugoslavia national team, with Branko Oblak, Srečko Katanec and Danilo Popivoda being the famous three.
After Slovenia's independence in 1991, national league and cup competitions were formed on the basis of the old republic structures, with the first Slovenian PrvaLiga season therefore including 21 teams. In the same year, SR Slovenia regional selection reformed as the Slovenian national football team and played their first official match in 1992 against Estonia.
The Slovenian PrvaLiga (Slovene: Prva slovenska nogometna liga, pronounced [ˈpərʋa slɔˈʋeːnska nɔɡɔˈmɛtna ˈliːɡa]), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Slovenian Second League (2. SNL). Seasons typically run from July to May with each team playing 36 matches.
The competition was founded in 1991 after Slovenia became an independent country. From 1920 until the end of the 1990–91 season, the Slovenian Republic League was a lower division within the Yugoslav league system. The league is governed by the Football Association of Slovenia. Celje and Maribor are the only two founding clubs that have never been relegated from the league since its foundation in 1991.
45 clubs have competed since the inception of the PrvaLiga in 1991. Eight of them have won the title: Maribor (16), Gorica (4), Olimpija (4), Olimpija Ljubljana (3), Domžale (2), Koper (1), Celje (1) and Mura (1).
History
The Slovenian First League (1. SNL) was established after Slovenia's independence in 1991, and initially consisted of 21 clubs in the inaugural season. Prior to that, Slovenian teams competed in the Yugoslav football league system. Olimpija, Maribor and Nafta were the only Slovenian teams to play in the Yugoslav top division between 1945 and the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. While they were part of the Yugoslav football system, most Slovenian clubs competed for the title of regional champions in the Slovenian Republic League, the third tier of Yugoslav football.
In 1991, the Football Association of Slovenia separated from the Football Association of Yugoslavia and established its own competitions, where Slovenian clubs competed for the title of Slovenian national champions. As of 2023, Celje and Maribor remains the only two founding clubs that have never been relegated from the league since the inaugural 1991–92 edition. The competition format and the number of clubs in the league have changed over time, ranging from 21 clubs in the first season to 10 clubs in its present form.
Olimpija won the first title. They had a long tradition of playing in the Yugoslav First League and their squad was still composed of players from that era. Olimpija dominated the league and won a further three championships before Gorica won their first in the 1995–96 season. Following Gorica's success, Maribor won their first championship in 1997. This started a record-breaking streak of seven successive league championships which came to an end when Gorica won their second title in the 2003–04 season. The club from Nova Gorica went on to win an additional two titles, becoming the third club to win three consecutive championships. During the 2006–07 season, Domžale won their first title, a feat they repeated the following season. After the 2008–09 season, Maribor became the major force in Slovenian football for the second time, having won 9 out of 15 championships since then.
Maribor is the most successful club; they have won the championship 16 times. Seven of Maribor's titles came during the late 1990s and early 2000s when the club was led alternately by managers Bojan Prašnikar, Ivo Šušak and Matjaž Kek. Darko Milanič has led the club to four championships between 2009 and 2013. Olimpija have won four titles, all in successive years between 1992 and 1995. Tied with four championships is Gorica who won their first title in 1996 and an additional three in successive years between 2004 and 2006. Olimpija Ljubljana have won three titles, followed by Domžale with two titles. Koper, Celje and Mura have won one title each, in 2010, 2020 and 2021, respectively. Maribor have won the Slovenian version of the double the most; they have won the league and the cup four times in the same season.
Nogometni klub Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovene pronunciation: [nɔɡɔˈméːtni ˈklúːp ɔˈlìːmpija ljubˈljàːna]; English: Olimpija Ljubljana Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Olimpija Ljubljana or simply Olimpija, was a Slovenian association football club based in Ljubljana. The club was founded in 1945 under the name NK Enotnost and adopted the name Olimpija in 1962.
Since the mid-1940s Olimpija had competed in the Yugoslav football system and between the late 1960s and late 1980s Olimpija was a regular member of the Yugoslav First League. Following Slovenia's independence in 1991 they won four Slovenian Championships and four Slovenian Cup titles, and they had also appeared in European competitions such as the UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.
The club's home ground was Bežigrad Stadium, an 8,211 capacity stadium in Bežigrad District in Ljubljana. Olimpija's nicknames were The Dragons (Zmaji), as dragon is a symbol of Ljubljana, and The Green-Whites (Zeleno-beli), referring to their primary colours, green and white.
The club was dissolved in 2005 due to high financial debt. In the same year, a successor club was founded under the name NK Bežigrad, and currently competes in the Slovenian top flight under the name Olimpija Ljubljana.
History
Yugoslav years (1945–1991)
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2018)
In 1945, ŠD Tabor and ŠD Udarnik sports clubs merged and formed a new club called NK Enotnost, together with the players of the former SK Ljubljana.[1][8] In 1948, the club was initially renamed to NK Odred, and later to NK Triglav in December 1960, with the club's colours at the time being black and white. During the same season, the club renamed to Olimpija.
In 1970, Olimpija reached the final of the Yugoslav Cup, where it lost to Red Star Belgrade 3–2 on aggregate.
As a result of Slovenian independence in mid-1991 and the breakup of Yugoslavia, Olimpija agreed to join the newly formed Slovenian League. The inaugural 1991–92 season included a number of clubs from the lower tiers of the Yugoslav football league. The average attendance at Olimpija's matches dropped from 7,380 in 1989–90 to 1,075 in 1991–92. After finishing the first half of the season in second place three points behind Maribor, Olimpija had a string of good results after the winter break and ended the season with eleven consecutive wins which brought them their first Slovenian League title. The team for their final match included Robert Englaro, Aleš Čeh, Dejan Djuranovič and Sandi Valentinčič, and was coached by Lučjo Pertič.
The club went on to win three more consecutive titles, before Gorica won the 1995–96 edition, ending Olimpija's league domination.
Financial difficulties and dissolution (2003–2005)
In the 2003–04 UEFA Cup Olimpija beat Irish side Shelbourne in the qualifying round 4–2 on aggregate.[ In the next round they met Liverpool, and took the lead through captain Anton Žlogar's goal, the first leg at Bežigrad Stadium ending in a 1–1 draw as Michael Owen scored an eqaliser 12 minutes from time. Olimpija's last European season was then cut short as they were soundly beaten 3–0 through goals by Anthony Le Tallec, Emile Heskey and Harry Kewell in the away leg at Anfield.
Olimpija had a string of mixed results for the remainder of the season, getting knocked out in the round of 16 of the 2003–04 Slovenian Cup and finishing runners-up in the 2003–04 Slovenian PrvaLiga. However, most sponsors (including Schollmayer) decided to abandon the club at the end of the season which led to serious financial difficulties for the club. Following Schollmayer's exit, Olimpija were forced to sell almost all of their players. Although the club had started competing in the 2004–05 championship, the club had struggled on the pitch and failed to obtain competition licences issued by the Football Association of Slovenia, which led to its dissolution. Eventually the club, with a debt consisting of over 700 million Slovenian tolars (around €3 million in 2004 exchange rate), filed for bankruptcy in the middle of the 2004–05 season. However, the Football Association of Slovenia had exceptionally allowed the club to finish the 2004–05 season and, after finishing sixth in the national championship, Olimpija effectively ceased all operations.
In 2005, a successor club was established under the name NK Bežigrad, and currently competes in the Slovenian top flight under the name Olimpija Ljubljana. However, in spite of inheriting old Olimpija's supporters and colours, they are not legally considered to be successors to the original Olimpija and the two clubs' track records and honours are kept separate by the Football Association of Slovenia. However, some English-language sources regard the current Olimpija club as a continuation of the original club.
Amid political turmoil in the early 1990s, during the breakup of Yugoslavia, Olimpija began claiming direct lineage to Ilirija, an association football club established in 1911. It was during this time that Olimpija added the year 1911 on the official club crest for the first time in their history. Ilirija, a member of the Slovenian Second League at the time and the only Ljubljana based club the Football Association of Slovenia officially refers to as founded in 1911, have always criticized Olimpija actions and accused them of unilaterally appropriating their history.
Name changes
NK Enotnost (1945–1948; founded as a merger of the newly established ŠD Tabor and ŠD Udarnik sports clubs and joined by former SK Ljubljana players)
NK Odred (1948–1961)
NK Triglav (1961–1962)
NK Olimpija (1962–2005)
Honours
Olimpija Ljubljana had won four Slovenian Championships, four Slovenian Cups and one Slovenian Supercup in the period between the country's independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 until the club's dissolution in 2005. Although the club had spent 22 seasons in top flight during the Yugoslavia period (1945–1991), the club never won any silverware and the closest they came to winning a major domestic trophy was reaching the 1970 Yugoslav Cup final.
Internationally Olimpija had appeared in the UEFA Cup six times, in the UEFA Champions League twice, in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice and in the UEFA Intertoto Cup once,[5] in addition to two appearances in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Their best result in European football was reaching the round of 16 in the 1996–97 Cup Winners' Cup.
26-30, F