History of Maribor

NK Maribor is a Slovenian football team, playing in the city of Maribor. They are the most famous, popular and celebrated Slovenian football club, as well as being the most successful Slovenian club with seven Slovenian League and five Slovenian Cup titles.

They are the only Slovenian club that participated in the UEFA Champions League and one of only four clubs from the SFR Yugoslavia region that has participated in UEFA Champions League since the breakup of the country in 1991.

The slogan of the club is En klub, ena čast (One club, one honour). _______________________________________________ HISTORY

Origins

Inter-war period

The first step in the establishment of NK Maribor as we know it today, was the creation of 1. Slovenski športni klub Maribor (1. SSK Maribor), on 28 June 1919 in a small tavern called Jadran on Partizanska cesta, Maribor. Their first match soon followed, when on 19 July 1. SSK Maribor lost against Herta (1-4). The club won their first match against a fellow Maribor based club called SK Aero on 7 September 1919 (7-5).

It wasn't until 1920 when the club acquired their very first pitch in Ljudski vrt (which later became famous and where the club still plays today). Club players also helped in preparing the pitch.

During the inter-war period the Slovenian football scene was dominated by clubs located in Ljubljana and therefore Maribor managed to win the title only three times (1931, 1933 and 1939).

[edit] Time after World War II and abolishment

After World War II FD Maribor (Fiskulturno društvo Maribor) stepped in as the successor of 1. SSK Maribor. In the first match after the war, on 23 September 1945, FD Maribor met local rivals FD Železničar. The match finished with a goalless draw (0-0).

In 1949, FD Maribor started to compete under the name Branik and three years later, on 12 July 1952, the club received a new pitch in Ljudski vrt where it still stands today. The club then played in the 2nd Yugoslav Division since 1953/54 season but was abolished in 1960 due to a food poisoning affair.

[edit] NK Maribor is born (December 1960)

NK Maribor football club, as we know it today, was founded on 12th of December in 1960. After elections Dr. Srečko Koren was appointed as the first club president, Andrija Pflander was appointed as the first head coach and Oto Blaznik as the first team captain.

The newly established club played its first match on 5 February 1961, when they defeated city rivals NK Kovinar Maribor by 2-1 (0-0), with Stefan Tolič scoring both goals. Despite heavy rain, 1,500 spectators came to see the match. It was clear by now that the local fans saw the newly established club as the successor of the club abolished a couple of months earlier.

The first league match was played on 12th of March in 1961 in Nova Gorica, when NK Maribor Branik played against a team based there and won by 2-0. In that year the club won the prestigious Slovene championship and gained a place in the Western group of the 2nd Yugoslav Division through qualifying phases (in the decisive matches NK Maribor defeated NK Uljanik from Pula, Croatia). After five seasons (during that time the average attendance of home matches was around 8,000 spectators) the club, under the guidance of coach Simunič, managed to reach the Yugoslav First League.

In 1962 the club received a new stadium called Ljudski vrt and on 2 September of the same year, football fans across Slovenia witnessed the birth of a new rivalry between NK Maribor and NK Olimpija. The first match between the two clubs was played in Ljubljana and ended with a draw (1-1).

Matches between these two clubs later became known in Slovenia as Večni derbi (Eternal derby).

[edit] Yugoslav First League period (1967-1972)

The club's first match in Yugoslav First League was in 1967 and was played against Vardar (1-1) in Skopje. The only goal for NK Maribor was scored by Maras. The first home match was played on 27th of August against FK Proleter Zrenjanin. NK Maribor won the match by 3-0. The goals were scored by Kranjc, Arnejčič and Binkovski. In the same season, football fans across Slovenia witnessed the first match in Yugoslav First League between two clubs from Slovenia. The first home match against the newly established rivals NK Olimpija was played in front of 13,000 spectators and finished with a goaless draw (0-0). All matches between the two clubs during this time were sold out, with crowd attendance sometimes reaching up to 20,000.

During the five years played in Yugoslav First League NK Maribor played a total of 166 matches and achieved 40 wins, 57 draws and 69 defeats, with a goal difference of 166-270.

The last home match was played in 1972, ironically, against NK Olimpija. This was also the last match of the season in the Yugoslav First League for the club. The rivals from Ljubljana won the match 3-6. NK Maribor was relegated and never played in the Yugoslav First League again.

[edit] 1973-1990 period

For the next three years, NK Maribor played in the Western group of the 2nd Yugoslav Division. In 1975, the club was relegated and had to spend one season in the Slovene League, but was promoted back in the 2nd Yugoslav Division only a year after.

From 1977 to 1981 NK Maribor played in the Western group of the 2nd Yugoslav Division, before being kicked out due to affair named Žoga (Ball).

After one year in the Republican league (Slovenian league) the club returned to 2nd Yugoslav Division. Later the club exchanged between 2nd Yugoslav Division and the Republican league until the break up of SFR Yugoslavia.

From the summer of 1989 to summer of 1991, the club which had joined MŠD Branik in 1988, competed by the name of NK Maribor Branik in the Western Group of the newly formed Inter-Republic League (clubs from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia).

[edit] New country - New league (1991-1996)

After the declared independence of Slovenia in 1991, Slovenia's best clubs were joined into the Slovenian League. In the first couple of seasons, NK Maribor's rivals NK Olimpija from Ljubljana, which had had a long tradition of playing in the Yugoslav First League and at the time still had their squad composed of players from that era, dominated the league.

Nevertheless NK Maribor managed to win the first Slovenian Cup. The final match was played in Ljubljana against NK Olimpija. The match ended as a goaless draw (0-0) and was won after a penalty shoot-out (4-3). This was the first major success for NK Maribor.

NK Olimpija won the first four consecutive championships, while NK Gorica won in the 1995/96 season. NK Maribor was runner up in the 1991/92, 1992/93 and 1994/95 seasons, while ending 3rd in 1993/94 and 4th in 1995/96 season.

During this period the club managed to win another Slovenian Cup in the 3rd season (1993/94), after NK Maribor defeated NK Mura from Murska Sobota in two matches (aggregate 3:2).

[edit] Total domination (1996-2004)

The season of 1996/97 was the turning point in history of NK Maribor. The club stormed the Slovenian League and became the national champion for the first time in history. In this season the average home attendance of NK Maribor's matches was 6,000, which is still a record in Slovenian League. The final match of the season was played against NK Beltinci and gathered a crowd of 14,000, which is another record of the Slovenian League.

In 1996/97 season NK Maribor also won the Slovenian Cup, thus winning the double crown, a feat also repeated in the 1998/99 season. The club was also very close to achieving the double crown in the 2003/04 season but was stopped in the final round of the Slovenian League by another rival NK Mura in Murska Sobota, which won the last match by 2-1 and prevented NK Maribor from winning their 8th consecutive title. The club finished 3rd with two points behind the new champions NK Gorica.

One of the most celebrated matches in Slovenian League history was played in the final round of 2000/01 season, when NK Olimpija met NK Maribor at their home stadium in Ljubljana. Both teams were competing for their 5th Slovenian League title. The home team needed a win for the title, while a draw was enough for NK Maribor. The atmosphere was electric days before the kick-off and the stadium with 9,000 seats was completely sold out. At the end, the match ended with a draw (1-1) and NK Maribor started to celebrate their 5th consecutive title in front of more than 1,500 violet fans that gathered in Ljubljana that day.

The club has won seven consecutive Slovenian League championships and three Slovenian Cup titles in eight seasons between 1996-2004 altogether.

In 1999/00 season, the club, under the guidance of Bojan Prašnikar, also defeated KRC Genk and Olympique Lyon and managed to qualify in the elite UEFA Champions league, winning four points (a win and a draw) in the group with Dynamo Kyiv, Bayer Leverkusen and SS Lazio.

[edit] Financial difficulties (2004-2008)

The Slovenian Cup in the 2003/04 season was the last trophy won by NK Maribor. Since then they have been struggling with financial difficulties and at one point the abolishment of the club was seriously considered. Luckily the club did not follow its rivals NK Olimpija and NK Mura on that path.

Due to a high financial debt, which at one point reached as high as 4 million Euros, the club could not buy new players. As a consequence, the first team consisted mostly of youth-team players together with a couple of foreign players brought to the club for free.

These facts make it even harder to believe that the club managed to defeat Villarreal CF, a club that had played in the semi-finals of the elite UEFA Champions League just a couple of months earlier, in the UEFA Intertoto Cup at the start of the 2006/07 season. With this victory NK Maribor managed to qualify into the UEFA Cup, where they were defeated after a dramatic second leg against FK Partizan.

During this period NK Maribor was never better then 3rd in the Slovenian League and was runner-up in the Slovenian Cup twice.

[edit] Recent times (2008/2009)

With recent appointments of Slovenian football legends, Zlatko Zahovič as sport director, together with Darko Milanič as head coach and club legend Ante Šimundža as assistant coach, the club and its supporters hope for better times.

At the start of 2008/09 season NK Maribor went into history as the first club that has won 1000 points in Slovenian League. This was achieved in the second round against NK Rudar Velenje in Velenje. NK Maribor won 2-1.

After 1/4 of the 2008/09 season (9 rounds) NK Maribor was second on the Slovenian League championship table with the same amount of points as NK Domžale. With five wins, three draws and one defeat and goal difference 22-16 this is the best league start for the club in the past five seasons. The club also managed to qualify in the Quarter-finals of the Slovenian Cup. In the Round of 16 the club defeated its old rivals NK Mura in Murska Sobota (3-1).

At the 1/2 of the 2008/2009 season NK Maribor is at the top of the Slovenian League championship table. The club has a record of 10W-6D-2L in their first 18 rounds, with a goal difference 39:23. With 36 points NK Maribor has six point advantage infront of NK Celje, which means that the club will also stay on top of the table during the winter break (first time in nine years). With the 2-0 home victory over NK Rudar Velenje the club also qualified for the Semi-final of the Slovenian Cup.

_______________________________________________ Social identity

Kit and colours

Throughout the entire history of the club, they have been represented by the colour of purple. At the beginning of the club some officials were favouring the red and white colours, while the traditional colours of MŠD Branik were black and white. Because of the fact that many football teams in SFR Yugoslavia wore red-white or black-white jerseys, most notably FK Crvena Zvezda and FK Partizan, NK Maribor officials decided for a new and fresh combination. They have decided to look upon ACF Fiorentina, which was at the time one of the most successful clubs in Europe, and their purple and white combination. Eventually they changed the secondary colour to yellow. Today NK Maribor plays its home matches in purple and away matches in yellow.

Badge

The badge of the club is probably the most recognizable sport symbol in Slovenia. It is based on the official emblem of the city of Maribor. _______________________________________________ Stadium Ljudski vrt

The Ljudski vrt stadium is the only stadium in Maribor that lies on the left bank of the river Drava. The stadium got its name Ljudski vrt (German: Volksgarten) after a public tree park in the area. The first football pitch in this area was built in 1920. The pitch on the present day area was built in 1952, while the stadium itself was not built until 1962. Since then the stadium went through four renovations. The most notable was the last one when the stadium was completely renovated and now holds a capacity of 12,435 covered seats. This number will be increased to a total of 13,000 seats in the next phase of the renovation.

Beside being the home ground of NK Maribor, the stadium also hosted some matches of the Slovenia national football team and will be the main venue for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifications. The record attendance from the SFR Yugoslavia era is around 20,000 spectators, while the record for the Slovenian League match is 14,000 spectators achieved at the last match of the 1996/97 season. This match is still the record holder for attendance at a football match in Slovenian League.

For local supporters, the stadium is known as Nogometni hram (Football temple) and the pitch itself as Sveta trava (Holy grass). This is most likely due to the tremendous success the club has had on this stadium, but perhaps also because a cemetery was located on the area before the stadium was built.