NK Maribor - last updated on 2 August 2008
(Courtesy of Johnny Beaufays)
Club name: Nogometni Klub Maribor
Foundation: December 12th 1960
City: Maribor
Colours: Purple and yellow
Website: www.nkmaribor.com
Honours:
PrvaLiga - 7 (1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03)
Pokal Hervis - 5 (1991-92, 1993-94, 1996-97, 1998-99, 2003-04)
A bit of history:
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). Among those who helped preparing the pitch were also the club players.
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).
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 goaless 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.
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 avarage 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).
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.
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).
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).
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.
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.
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.
Club crests: (roll on the crest to get more informations)
NK Maribor - Since 2006
