NK Osijek

Osijek

Full name	Nogometni klub Osijek
Nickname(s)	Bijelo-plavi (The White-blues)
Founded	27 February 1947
Ground	Stadion Gradski vrt
Capacity	22,050
Chairman	Miroslav Kos
Manager	Zoran Zekić
League	Croatian First League
2014–15	8th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

NK Osijek is a football club from Osijek in eastern Croatia. Founded in 1947, it was the club from Slavonia with most seasons in the Yugoslav First League, and, after the independence of Croatia in 1992, it is part of the four clubs that were never relegated from the Croatian First League, the others being Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split and Rijeka.

History

NK Osijek's early roots are found in club called NK Udarnik that was formed in 1945 under FPR Yugoslavia's new communist authorities after the dissolution of HŠK Slavija. Slavija was founded in 1916 and competed in several editions of the national league of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1923 and 1940.

In 1946, NK Udarnik and another local club NK Jedinstvo, merged to form a new entity – NK Slavonija. On 2 February 1947, NK Slavonija merged with NK Bratstvo, again creating a new club, NK Proleter, a date that marks the formation of the present club NK Osijek. The club's colours were red and blue, which in the 1970s were changed to white and blue.

The club entered the Yugoslav First League for the first time in 1953. On 1 September 1962, NK Proleter merged with the Boxing and Athletic Club Mladost and formed a multi-sport organisation called Sportsko društvo Slavonija (Slavonija Sporting Society). The football club started competing under the name NK Slavonija.

Until the 1980s, the club played mostly in the Yugoslav Second League. In 1973, Osijek played Zagreb in a play-off for promotion to the First Division. In the second leg in Zagreb, Osijek lost on penalties in front of a record 64,000 attendance. In 1977, the club were promoted to the top division, where with the exception of one season, they remained until the collapse of Yugoslavia. Their best league position was sixth place in 1984.^[1]

In 1992, in the first season of the new Croatian league, Prva HNL, Osijek finished third. The next two seasons saw weaker results, but in 1994–95, Osijek's Robert Spehar was the league's top scorer as the club finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time. They were eliminated in the first round by Slovan Bratislava, and failed to qualify for Europe again for the next two seasons, before they again finished third, in the 1997–98 season. They were eliminated from the UEFA Cup on away goals by Anderlecht, after winning 3–1 at home and losing 2–0 in Brussels. The same season, led by Jurica Vranjes, Osijek won their first national trophy, the Croatian Cup, beating Cibalia in the final after extra time. Cibalia led 1–0 until Mitu equalized in injury time, and in extra-time Davor Lasić scored a golden goal to win the cup for Osijek. The following season, Osijek lost 6–1 on aggregate to West Ham United in the UEFA Cup and finished in the third place in the league.

In the 2000–01 UEFA Cup, Osijek beat the Danish club Brøndby (2–1 on aggregate) and Rapid Wien (4–1 on aggregate) but were eliminated by Slavia Prague in the third round, when they won 2–0 but were beaten 5–1 in Prague. In 2000, Osijek were the Croatian league's autumn champions, but finished the championship in third place. They equaled their best league finish in the 2007–08 season, finishing third for the sixth time.

The club's most famous former player is Croatia's Davor Šuker, who won the Golden Boot at the 1998 World Cup.

Stadium

NK Osijek host domestic matches at Stadion Gradski vrt which has a capacity of 22,050.

Supporters

The team's fans are known as Kohorta.

Rivalries

Slavonian derby match between the two largest Croatia Football Club from eastern Croatia, Osijek and Cibalia. Each new match these two great rivals, means a great match on the field, but also in the stands where the overruling of Kohorta from Osijek and Ultrasi from Vinkovci.

Kit manufacturers

Period	Kit manufacturer
1997–06	Macron
2006–08	Kappa
2008–10	Legea
2010–11	Kappa
2011–present	Jako

Honours

In the following table, defunct competitions are listed in italics.

Honours	No.	Years
League
Yugoslav Second League Winners	5	1952–53, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1980–81
Domestic cups
Croatian Cup Winners	1	1998–99
Croatian Cup Runners-up	1	2011–12
Best European results
UEFA Cup Third round	1	2000–01
UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round	1	2006
Mitropa Cup Third place	1	1981–82

Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	European competitions		Top goalscorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos				Player	Goals
1992	1. HNL	22	12	3	7	33	28	27	3rd	QF			Robert Špehar	9
1992–93	1. HNL	30	11	7	12	40	42	29	6th	QF			Alen Petrović	10
1993–94	1. HNL	34	12	11	11	56	58	35	8th	R2			Antun Labak	16
1994–95	1. HNL	30	16	11	3	65	30	59	3rd	SF			Robert Špehar	23
1995–96	1. A HNL	32	16	4	12	51	32	52	4th	QF	UEFA Cup	QR	Igor Pamić	17
1996–97	1. A HNL	30	12	5	13	40	38	41	8th	SF			Dumitru Mitu	10
1997–98	1. HNL	32	14	6	12	42	38	48	3rd	R1			Petar Krpan	10
1998–99	1. HNL	32	14	6	12	51	39	48	4th	W	UEFA Cup	QR2	Stanko Bubalo	10
1999–00	1. HNL	33	15	8	10	55	49	53	3rd	QF	UEFA Cup	R1	Stanko Bubalo	13
2000–01	1. HNL	32	17	6	9	61	47	57	3rd	SF	UEFA Cup	R3	Nenad Bjelica, Marijan Vuka	9
2001–02	1. HNL	30	11	4	15	45	48	37	8th	SF	UEFA Cup	R2	Milan Pavličić	9
2002–03	1. HNL	32	10	9	13	32	51	39	8th	QF			Milan Pavličić	11
2003–04	1. HNL	32	11	6	15	50	57	39	4th	QF			Robert Špehar	18
2004–05	1. HNL	32	9	14	9	41	45	41	8th	SF			Karlo Primorac	11
2005–06	1. HNL	32	13	5	14	31	48	44	4th	QF			Josip Balatinac	6
2006–07	1. HNL	33	11	10	12	42	45	43	6th	R2	Intertoto Cup	R2	Stjepan Jukić	9
2007–08	1. HNL	33	16	6	11	43	34	54	3rd	R2			Vedran Nikšić	8
2008–09	1. HNL	33	10	11	12	40	41	41	7th	R1			Josip Barišić	8
2009–10	1. HNL	30	13	8	9	49	36	47	5th	QF			Josip Barišić, Ivan Miličević, Vedran Nikšić	8
2010–11	1. HNL	30	9	12	9	31	29	39	8th	QF			Ivan Miličević	5
2011–12	1. HNL	30	11	10	9	45	38	43	8th	RU			Antonio Perošević	7
2012–13	1. HNL	33	9	12	12	25	33	39	7th	QF	Europa League	QR2	Antonio Perošević, Zoran Kvržić	4
2013–14	1. HNL	36	8	9	19	38	64	33	8th	QF			Josip Barišić	6
2014–15	1. HNL	36	10	6	20	42	59	36	8th	R2			Antonio Perošević, Aljoša Vojnović	6

Key

League: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; Pts = Points won; Pos = Final position;

Cup / Europe: PR = Preliminary round; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; QF = Quarter-final; SF = Semi-final; RU = Runner-up; W = Competition won;

European competitions

Summary

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Last season played
UEFA Cup UEFA Europa League	22	10	1	11	26	37	2012–13
UEFA Intertoto Cup	2	0	2	0	2	2	2006
Total	24	10	3	11	28	39

Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 26 July 2012
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

By season

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1995–96	UEFA Cup	QR	Slovan Bratislava	0–2	0–4	0–6
1998–99	UEFA Cup	QR2	Anderlecht	3–1	0–2	3–3 (a)
1999–00	UEFA Cup	R1	West Ham United	1–3	0–3	1–6
2000–01	UEFA Cup	R1	Brøndby	0–0	2–1	2–1
		R2	Rapid Wien	2–1	2–0	4–1
		R3	Slavia Prague	2–0	1–5	3–5
2001–02	UEFA Cup	QR	Dinaburg	1–0	1–2	2–2 (a)
		R1	Gorica	1–0	2–1	3–1
		R2	AEK Athens	1–2	2–3	3–5
2006	UEFA Intertoto Cup	R2	Ethnikos Achna	2–2	0–0	2–2 (a)
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	QR1	FC Santa Coloma	3–1	1–0	4–1
		QR2	Kalmar FF	1–3	0–3	1–6

Last updated on 26 July 2012

Player records

• Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 17 appearances^[2]
  • Bakir Beširević
• Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: 3 goals^[2]
  • Nenad Bjelica
  • Almir Turković

First-team squad

As of 6 January 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Zvonimir Mikulić 4 MF Hrvoje Kurtović 5 MF Benedik Mioč 6 DF Ivica Džolan 7 DF Matija Spicic 8 MF Aljosa Vojnovic 9 FW Nikola Mandić 10 FW Antonio Perosevic 11 FW Goran Roce 12 GK Borna Žitnjak 13 GK Marko Malenica 15 DF Zoran Arsenić 16 MF Tomislav Radotić

No. Position Player 18 FW Tomislav Štrkalj 19 MF Zoran Lesjak 20 DF Lovro Anić 21 MF Mile Škorić 22 MF Tomislav Šorša 23 FW Alen Grgić 24 MF Tomislav Šarić 26 DF Nikola Matas 27 MF Tomislav Čuljak 28 DF Andrej Lukić 30 MF Josip Knezevic 77 MF Josip Spoljaric -- DF Mislav Leko

Out on loan

As of 6 January 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player TBA DF Andrej Šimunec (on loan at Višnjevac) TBA MF Matej Bekavac (on loan at Višnjevac)

No. Position Player TBA MF Matija Čakalić (on loan at Višnjevac)

Youth academy

NK Osijek Academy are the youth team of NK Osijek. There are a total of six age categories within the academy, the oldest being the Junior Team and youngest being the Limači Team. Among notable academy graduates are Dino Špehar and Domagoj Vida.

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have:

• Played at least 150 league games for the club;
• Scored at least 50 league goals for the club; or
• Played at least one international match for their national or olympic team while playing for NK Osijek.

Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.

Franjo Rupnik (1947–51) Jasmin Džeko (1980–84), (1985–89) Davor Šuker (1984–89) Robert Špehar (1988–92), (1994–95), (2002–04)[3] Miroslav Bičanić (1989–92), (1994–96)[4] Bakir Beširević (1992–94), (1994–02)[5] Nenad Bjelica (1992–93), (1999–01) Davor Rupnik (1992–98)[6] Damir Vuica (1992–94), (1997–02), (2005–08)[7] Petar Krpan (1993–98), (2001)[8] Mario Galinović (1993–02)[9] Ivo Ergović (1994–01)[10] Ronald Grnja (1994–04)[11] Ivica Beljan (1994–96), (1997–00)[12]

Igor Pamić (1995–96)[13] Nermin Šabić (1996–97) Dumitru Mitu (1996–02)[14] Jurica Vranješ (1997–00)[15] Josip Balatinac (1997–06)[16] Stanko Bubalo (1998–00)[17] Mato Neretljak (2000–02)[18] Marin Skender (2003–09)[19] Valentin Babić (2004–09), (2013–14)[20] Ivo Smoje (2005–09), (2010–13)[21] Josip Barišić (2005–11), (2013–)[22] Domagoj Vida (2006–10)[23] Zoran Kvržić (2010–13)

Former managers

incomplete list

Viktor Šter Blagoje Marjanović Franjo Glaser Bernard Hügl Sima Milovanov Zorko Hlavač Mato Kasač Gustav Lechner (1945–49) Milan Antolković (1972–73) Miljenko Mihić (1978–79) Milan Đuričić (1979) Andrija Vekić (1981) Josip Duvančić (1982) Milan Đuričić (1984–85) Ljupko Petrović (1985–87) Milan Đuričić (1987) Stjepan Čordaš (1989) Tonko Vukušić (1990)

Šaban Jasenica (1990) Ivica Grnja (1991) Stjepan Čordaš (1992–93) Vlado Bilić (1993) Ivica Grnja (1993–94) Ivo Šušak (1993–95) Ivica Matković (1995–96) Ante Čačić (1995–96) Ivan Katalinić (1995–96) Goran Popović (1996–97) Luka Bonačić (1996–97) Milan Đuričić (1996–99), (2002–03) Stanko Poklepović (1998–00), (2002–03) Pavo Strugačevac (1999–00) Stanko Mršić (1999–01) Vlado Bilić (2000–02) Vjekoslav Lokica (2001–02) Miroslav Blažević (2001–02)

Nenad Gračan (2002–03) Branko Karačić (2003–04) Stjepan Čordaš (2004–05) Ivo Šušak (July 1, 2005 – Nov 13, 2006) Miroslav Žitnjak (2006–07) Ilija Lončarević (Nov 14, 2006 – Sept 26, 2008) Tomislav Steinbrückner (Sept 26, 2008 – Aug 16, 2010) Branko Karačić (Aug 16, 2010 – May 2, 2011) Vlado Bilić (May 3, 2011 – March 31, 2012) Stanko Mršić (March 31, 2012 – May 13, 2013) Miroslav Žitnjak (interim) (May 13, 2013 – June 4, 2013) Tomislav Steinbrückner (June 4, 2013 – Aug 18, 2013) Davor Rupnik (Aug 19, 2013 – Oct 21, 2013) Ivica Kulešević (Oct 21, 2013 – Feb 27, 2014) Tomislav Rukavina (Feb 27, 2014 – Feb 11, 2015) Ivo Šušak (Feb 11, 2015 – June 1, 2015) Dražen Besek (June 14, 2015 – Sept 1, 2015) Zoran Zekić (Sept 1, 2015–)

References

1. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesj/joeghist.html
2. "Osijek profile". UEFA.com. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
3. "Robert Špehar CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
4. "Miroslav Bičanić CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
5. "Bakir Beširević CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
6. "Davor Rupnik CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
7. "Damir Vuica CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
8. "Petar Krpan CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
9. "Mario Galinović CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
10. "Ivo Ergović CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
11. "Ronald Grnja CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
12. "Ivica Beljan CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
13. "Igor Pamić CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
14. "Dumitru Mitu CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
15. "Jurica Vranješ CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
16. "Josip Balatinac CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
17. "Stanko Bubalo CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
18. "Mato Neretljak CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
19. "Marin Skender CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
20. "Valentin Babić CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
21. "Ivo Smoje CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
22. "Josip Barišić CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
23. "Domagoj Vida CFS Profile". Croatian Football Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2014.

External links

• Official website (Croatian)
• NK Osijek profile at UEFA.com
• NK Osijek profile at Sportnet.hr (Croatian)
• NK Osijek profile at Nogometni magazin (Croatian)
• Bijelo-plavi.com unofficial website (Croatian)
• Kohorta.net official supporters' website (Croatian)