NK Železničar Maribor

Železničar Maribor
Full name Nogometni Klub Železničar Maribor
Nickname(s) Ajzenponarji (The Railroaders)
Modro-beli
(The Blue and Whites)
Founded 1927 (1927)[1]
Ground Tabor Sports Park,[2]
Maribor
Ground Capacity 1,000
President Damijan Petek[3]
Head Coach Elvis Šahmanović
League 2. MNZ League
2015–16 3. MNZ League, 2nd

Nogometni Klub Železničar Maribor (English: Železničar Maribor Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Železničar Maribor or simply Železničar, is a Slovenian football club from Maribor, which plays in the 2. MNZ Maribor League, the fifth level of the Slovenian football system. They qualified for the elite Slovenian PrvaLiga in the 1992–93 season, but were relegated in their first season, never returning to the top level. They were one of the most successful Slovenian clubs in the Yugoslav era, winning the Slovenian Republic League four times and the Slovenian Republic Cup twice.[4]

History

The club was established in 1927 as a football section of SK Železničar, railway workers sports club. They played their first match on 7 August the same year and won 5–1 against SK Merkur.[4] They joined Slovenian republic competitions, playing in the Maribor region, where they soon developed a fierce rivalry with I. SSK Maribor.[4]

Železničar finished at the second place in 1934, 1935 and 1936.[4] They finally won their first title in 1937 and played in qualifying for the Yugoslav First League, where they lost against SAŠK Sarajevo in the final.[4] They won another republic title in 1940, this time in knock-out system, beating their rivals I. SSK Maribor 2–1 in the final.[4][5] The club was refounded as SFD Železničar after the war in 1945 and had one of the best teams in SR Slovenia at the time. They have beaten Red Star Belgrade 3–2 in a friendly match in 1946 and finished second after Nafta Lendava in the first season of the Slovenian republic league, missing promotion to the Yugoslav League by only two points.

Železničar then stabilised as a midtable team in the next years, until the league system was changed in 1952.[4] They were located in the East group of the Republic League. They finished at the second place in 1953 and at the first place in 1954. They have defeated West group winners Piran (6–0 and 1–2) for the unofficial title and have qualified to the third level of the Slovene-Croatian league.[4] The team was renamed to ŽNK Maribor and finished 10th, missing out Branik Maribor and ninth spot by one point and relegated to Maribor-Varaždin-Celje zonal league. They won their first Slovenian Cup in 1957.[4] After three mediocre seasons the team returned to the unified Slovenian Republic League, which was reformed in 1958. They won another Slovenian Cup in 1960.[4]

In December 1960, due to a food poisoning affair of their rivals Branik Maribor, ŽNK Maribor, holding the first position on the league table, had to give up their place to a newly formed Maribor and started all over again from lowest league.[4] NK Maribor won the title with the squad formed mostly of players from the ŽNK. They instantly returned to republic level in 1962, renamed back to NK Železničar Maribor the same year.

NK Železničar Maribor vs HNK Šibenik in 1969, Yugoslav Second League

The results soon improved and the club won their third republic title in 1968–69 and qualified for Yugoslav Second League for the first time in history. They stayed there three seasons, scoring 7th, 11th and last 18th place.

They won another republic title in 1973, but failed in the Yugoslav Second League (West) play-ofs against Mercator Ljubljana.[4] Železničar then played several republic seasons without any notable success. In 1981, despite scoring only fourth position, Yugoslav federation offered them a place in the Yugoslav Second League, but the club declined promotion due to lack of funds. They were struggling against relegation in the next years, until they were finally relegated to the regional league for the first time in 1987. They stayed there until the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia. Železničar holds a record of 42 played seasons in the Slovenian Republic League.

Železničar was among founding members of Slovenian Second League in 1991.[4] They have immediately scored great success with a first place and a promotion to the first level in 1991–92, managed by ex-player Jože Karmel. They played in 1992–93 Slovenian PrvaLiga, but finished on 17th place and never returned to top flight again.[4] The team was close to return on several occasions, they refused promotion in 1996, lost the play-offs against Beltinci in the 1997–98 season and missed a second place by one point in the 1998–99 season. The club had various financial difficulties in the last decade, they were relegated from the second league, finishing dead last in 2003,[4] from the third league, having not fulfilled the licence documentation in 2007, from the fourth league in 2008 and even from the fifth league in 2014.

Stadium

They have built Ob Tržaški Cesti Stadium, a sports object referred to as one of the nicest in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia at the time, between 1932 and 1935.[4] After some mediocre seasons on temporary ground in Poljane (Železničar lost their traditional home ground due to a new bridge construction in 1963), they moved to the newly built Tabor Sports Park in 1967.[4] The stadium can seat 1,000 spectators, while the overall capacity of the stadium, including the standing area, is around 4,000.[2]

Colours

Crest
Železničar's former crest
Železničar's traditional kit

The traditional colours of the club are blue and white.

Honours

Yugoslavia

Winners (4): 1936–37, 1939–40, 1968–69, 1972–73
Runners-up (6): 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1940–41, 1946
Winners (2): 1957, 1960

Slovenia

Winners (1): 1991–92
Runners-up (1): 2009–10[6]
Runners-up (2): 2014–15, 2015–16
Runners-up (1): 2003–04[7]

Domestic league and cup results

In Yugoslavia

Season League Position Notes
1927–28 Slovenian League 4th in Maribor subdivision /
1928–29 Slovenian League 3rd in Maribor subdivision /
1929–30 Slovenian League 3rd in Maribor subdivision /
1930–31 Slovenian League 2nd in Maribor subdivision /
1931–32 Slovenian League 4th /
1932–33 Slovenian League 3rd /
1933–34 Slovenian League 2nd /
1934–35 Slovenian League 2nd /
1935–36 Slovenian League 2nd /
1936–37 Slovenian League 1st /
1937–38 Slovenian League 2nd /
1938–39 Slovenian League Quarter-final /
1939–40 Slovenian League Winners /
1940–41 Slovenian League 2nd /
1941–45 / / World War II
1946 Slovenian Republic League 2nd Lost in promotion play-offs for Yugoslav First Division
1946–47 Slovenian Republic League 6th /
1947–48 Slovenian Republic League 3rd /
1948–49 Slovenian Republic League 5th /
1950 Slovenian Republic League 6th /
1951 Slovenian Republic League 6th /
1952 Slovenian Republic League 7th /
1952–53 Slovenian Republic League 2nd in East group Lost in play-offs for Croatian-Slovenian League
1953–54 Slovenian Republic League 1st in East group Won in play-offs for Croatian-Slovenian League
1954–55 Croatian-Slovenian League 10th Relegated to Maribor-Varaždin-Celje League
1955–56 Maribor-Varaždin-Celje League 5th Slovenian Republic League didn't exist between 1955 and 1958
1956–57 Maribor-Varaždin-Celje League 4th /
1957–58 Maribor-Varaždin-Celje League 3rd Slovenian Republic League was reestablished after this season
1958–59 Slovenian Republic League 4th /
1959–60 Slovenian Republic League 3rd /
1960–61* Slovenian Republic League

Maribor subassociation league
1st

6th
[lower-alpha 1]
1961–62 Maribor subassociation league 1st Won play-offs for Slovenian Republic League
1962–63 Slovenian Republic League 7th /
1963–64 Slovenian Republic League 11th /
1964–65 Slovenian Republic League 3rd /
1965–66 Slovenian Republic League 6th /
1966–67 Slovenian Republic League 3rd /
1967–68 Slovenian Republic League 8th /
1968–69 Slovenian Republic League 1st Promoted to Yugoslav Second League
1969–70[8] Yugoslav Second League (West) 7th /
1970–71[9] Yugoslav Second League (West) 11th /
1971–72[10] Yugoslav Second League (West) 18th Relegated to Slovenian Republic League
1972–73 Slovenian Republic League 1st Lost play-offs for Yugoslav Second League
1973–74 Slovenian Republic League 4th /
1974–75 Slovenian Republic League 10th /
1975–76 Slovenian Republic League 4th /
1976–77 Slovenian Republic League 11th /
1977–78 Slovenian Republic League 9th /
1978–79 Slovenian Republic League 6th /
1979–80 Slovenian Republic League 4th /
1980–81 Slovenian Republic League 4th /
1981–82 Slovenian Republic League 7th /
1982–83 Slovenian Republic League 10th /
1983–84 Slovenian Republic League 6th /
1984–85 Slovenian Republic League 7th /
1985–86 Slovenian Republic League 11th /
1986–87 Slovenian Republic League 13th Relegated to Slovenian Regional League
1987–88 Slovenian Regional League (East) 7th /
1988–89[11] Slovenian Regional League (East) 6th /
1989–90[11] Slovenian Regional League (East) 4th /
1990–91[11] Slovenian Regional League (East) 3rd /
  1. Železničar finished first part of the season in first place. Immediately at the beginning of winter break, NK Maribor was formed, who took Železničar's points and place in the league. Almost all players transferred from Železničar to Maribor and Maribor went on to win the Republic League.
    Železničar (what was left of it) was transferred to the lowest league. When the leagues resumed in spring, Železničar started with zero points and 0–27 goal difference. Despite playing only second part of the season, they still managed to finish in sixth place with a 39–35 goal difference.[4]

In Slovenia

Season League Position Pts P W D L GF GA Cup
1991–92 2. SNL 1 36 26 14 8 4 38 19 Round of 64
1992–93 1. SNL 17 20 34 6 8 20 30 62 First round
1993–94 2. SNL 13 24 (−1) 30 10 5 15 36 50 First round
1994–95 2. SNL 10 31 30 13 5 12 43 47 x
1995–96 2. SNL 5 44 29 13 5 11 51 47 First round
1996–97 2. SNL 9 37 29 10 7 12 37 33 Round of 16
1997–98 2. SNL 4 51 30 14 9 7 52 39 Round of 16
1998–99 2. SNL 3 54 30 15 9 6 58 30 x
1999–2000 2. SNL 5 53 30 16 5 9 47 32 Round of 16
2000–01 2. SNL 10 37 29 10 7 12 40 49 First round
2001–02 2. SNL 10 39 30 11 6 13 37 44 Quarter-finals
2002–03 2. SNL 16 18 30 4 6 20 23 69 Round of 16
2003–04 3. SNL 5 43 26 13 4 9 60 41 First round
2004–05 3. SNL 11 30 26 8 6 12 35 45 Second round
2005–06 3. SNL 11 25 26 6 7 13 31 51 x
2006–07 3. SNL 12 29 26 9 2 15 32 50 x
2007–08[11] Styrian League (4th level) 13 21 26 7 0 19 38 87 x
2008–09[12] 1. MNZ (5th level) 3 45 26 13 6 7 60 38 x
2009–10[13] 1. MNZ (5th level) 2 55 26 17 4 5 90 26 First round
2010–11[14] 1. MNZ (5th level) 11 30 26 9 3 14 44 61 x
2011–12[15] 1. MNZ (5th level) 4 41 (−2) 26 14 1 11 64 50 x
2012–13[16] 1. MNZ (5th level) 7 40 26 12 4 10 61 63 x
2013–14[17] 1. MNZ (5th level) 14 10 26 2 4 20 23 102 x
2014–15 2. MNZ (6th level) 2 49 24 15 4 5 70 31 x
2015–16 3. MNZ (6th level) 2 39 16 13 0 3 67 15 x
2016–17 2. MNZ (5th level) x
Totals 1. SNL 0 Titles 20 34 6 8 20 30 62 0 Cups
*Best results are highlighted.
*x = Did not qualify

References

  1. "Klubi" [Clubs] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia official website. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Sportni park Tabor" (in Slovenian). stadioni.org. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  3. "O nas" [About us] (in Slovenian). NK Železničar Maribor official website. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "80 letnica društva" (PDF) (in Slovenian). Železničarsko Športno Društvo. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  5. "MNZ Maribor – 80 let nogometa v Mariboru". MNZ Maribor. 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  6. "1. članska 2009/10" (in Slovenian). MNZ Maribor. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  7. "Pokal člani 2003/04" (in Slovenian). MNZ Maribor. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  8. "Yugoslavia 1969/70". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  9. "Yugoslavia 1970/71". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  10. "Yugoslavia 1971/72". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "30 let MNZ Ptuj" (PDF). MNZ Ptuj. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  12. "1. članska 2008/09" (in Slovenian). MNZ Maribor. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  13. "1. članska 2009/10" (in Slovenian). MNZ Maribor. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  14. "1. članska 2010/11" (in Slovenian). MNZ Maribor. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  15. "1. članska 2011/12" (in Slovenian). MNZ Maribor. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  16. "1. članska 2012/13" (in Slovenian). MNZ Maribor. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  17. "1. članska 2013/14" (in Slovenian). MNZ Maribor. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
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