NK Osijek

The precursor to NK Osijek was founded on 27 February 1945 as NK Udarnik on the tradition of banned JŠK Slavija Osijek, which was founded in 1916 and played in the first jugoslav league 7 times between 1923 and 1941. Already in 1946, the club is merged with Jedinstvo, and changes its name to NK Slavonija. The conventional birthday of the club is considered to be the following year on the February 27, 1947, when NK Slavonija and Nk Bratstvo merge to form the FK Proleter.^[1] The first match played under that name comes the 16th of March of that same year, when Proleter beats city-rivals Mladost by five goals to nil. The first competition in which the club participated in was the Osječko Okružno Prvenstvo, along with four other teams. The club got into the second national league soon after. Proleter achieved placement into the Yugoslav First League in 1953, having won the so-called Croato-Slovenian League. The best players from that side were Andrija Vekić, Franjo Rupnik, Dionizije Dvornić and Franjo Majer. Proleter played in the First League for three seasons, but were then relegated to the second division.

Proleter moved to current Gradski vrt stadium in autumn 1958 and changed its name to Slavonija as part of the unifying process of the boxing, athletics and Olympic lifting club in a newly founded sports association in 1962. It still plays in the second league. Five years later the association is disbanded and the club took on the name NK Osijek. The then-colours red and blue were switched to current colours blue and white.

In 1970, Osijek wins the 2nd North League championship, however, Borac Banja Luka beat them in the promotion play-offs. A year later, Bijelo-plavi try for promotion again, winning in a penalty shoot-out against Rijeka, but end up being stopped by Vardar.

The next time Osijek reached the promotion play-offs was in 1973. NK Osijek made it to the final round, beating FC Prishtina. Following their victory, NK Osijek was set to meet NK Zagreb at Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb. A record-breaking 64,129 tickets were sold with approximately 20,000 of them going to Osijek supporters. NK Zagreb proved victorious on the day, winning via a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after 90 minutes, Osijek denied promotion for a third time in four years.

In 1977, NK Osijek finally secured its return to the top flight by taking out the league championship.

NK Osijek managed to stay competitive in the Yugoslav League up until the Croatian War of Independence, except for the season of 1979–80, when Osijek fought back into the premier league after failing to stay in it. The club was present in the second part of the First League ladder in the 80s, except for 1984, when the team placed 6th, headed by Davidović, Lulić, Džeko, Lepinjica, Rakela, Karačić and the team captain Kalinić. In 1989, the team placed 8th with Davor Šuker leading the line for the side scoring 18 goals, taking out the league's best goalscorer award. Šuker is the only player in NK Osijek history to take out the award. During the last season of the YFL, NK Osijek finished ninth.

After the dissolution of SFR Yugoslavia, the Croatian First Football League was formed and the first season was played in 1992. Due to the war, it was a shortened season played from February to June. NK Osijek was unable to play in Osijek due to the war, so they had to play in the cities of Đakovo, Donji Miholjac and Kutjevo. Osijek finished the 1992 Croatian First League season in 3rd placed, six points behind NK Zagreb and nine behind league champions Hajduk Split. Osijek's top goalscorer was Robert Špehar, who finished the season with nine goals.

NK Osijek quickly became one of the top 4 Croatian football teams. One of Osijek's best ever seasons came in the 1994–95. The Bijelo plavi finished in third place, only six points behind first-placed Hajduk. Špehar scored 23 goals to become the league's top goalscorer. The greats of NK Osijek during that time were–a part from Špehar–Žitnjak, Lulić, Beljan, Ergović, Rupnik, Beširević, Bičanić and Labak.

As a result of the third-placed finish, NK Osijek qualified for the 1995–96 UEFA Cup. Osijek faced Slovan Bratislava in the preliminary round, going down 6–0.

Osijek finished third in the 1997–98 Croatian First League, qualifying for the 1998–99 UEFA Cup. Osijek came up against Anderlecht. After a famous 3–1 victory at home in front of 15,000 supporters, Osijek lost 2–0 in Belgium and were knocked-out on away goals. In 1998–99, Osijek attained its first trophy, the Croatian Cup, following a victory over Cibalia 2–0. A year later, West Ham United was playing away in Gradski vrt, headed by Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Trevor Sinclair, Paolo Di Canio, Paulo Wanchope and Igor Štimac.

In the 2000–01 UEFA Cup, NK Osijek beat Brøndby 2–1 (2–1, 0–0) and Rapid Wien 4–1 (2–1, 2–0). In the 3rd round, Osijek beat Slavia Prague 2–0 at home, but lost 5–1 in Prague. Osijek finished third in the league once more. In the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, Osijek progressed past Dinaburg on away goals, beat Gorica in the first round, but then lost 3–5 to AEK Athens. In the 2003–04 HNL, Osijek had the first and second highest goalscorers in the division with Špehar scoring 18 and Goran Ljubojević scoring 16. The club then went through a long phase of mid-table finishes and mediocre results.

NK Osijek was almost relegated during the 2013–14 season. On the final match day, Josip Barišić managed to score and keep Osijek afloat against Hrvatski dragovoljac. Osijek changed coaches on four occasions throughout the season. The following season, Osijek once again finished one position above the relegation play-off spot, finishing one point ahead of Istra 1961.

In September 2015, Zoran Zekić was appointed as the first team head coach, replacing Dražen Besek.^[2]

With the club facing bankruptcy, Osijek went into private ownership for the first time in its history in February 2016 with Hungarian oligarch Lőrinc Mészáros and Croatian entrepreneur Ivan Meštrović buying a majority of shares in the club.^[3] The duo went about stabilizing the club, improving the squad and bringing back ambition to the city and supporters. Much of the debt was restructured and paid off, securing the short-term and long-term future of Osijek.^[4]

On 27 February 2017, the club celebrated its 70th anniversary in the Osijek theater.^[5] In the 2016–17 season, Osijek finished 4th, which was their highest league finish in nearly 10 years.^[6] The 4th-place finish led to Osijek participating in the qualifying phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League; with the club staging an extremely successful run to the play-off round, beating Santa Coloma, Luzern and PSV, the former champions of Europe, who won the 1987–88 edition.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]} The club's run was ended following a 1–2 home loss to Austria Wien, and despite the club winning the second leg 1–0, Osijek were eliminated on the away goals rule. Despite being eliminated, Osijek were praised and congratulated by Croatian press, fans and media for their historic run.^[13][14]

In the 2017–18 season, Osijek finished 4th again, securing a place in the UEFA competition. Osijek beat Petrocub Hîncești 2–1 at home after drawing the first leg in Moldova 1–1, and faced Rangers in the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League. Osijek lost the home leg 1–0.^[15]

After a bad start to the 2020–21 season, during which Osijek managed only a single point after the first three games of the season, manager Ivica Kulešević was sacked.^[16] On 5 September 2020, Osijek appointed Nenad Bjelica as the new club manager.^[17]

On 9 September 2020, it was announced that Lőrinc Mészáros was no longer the formal co-owner of the club, with the private investment fund BETA taking over his shares in NK OS d.o.o. The reason being that Mészáros was also the owner of Puskás Akadémia FC, and UEFA rules forbade two clubs owned by the same person from participating in European competitions, should they have both qualified.^[18]

NK Osijek plays its home games at Gradski vrt, where it played its first game on the 7 September 1958, against Sloboda. It was officially opened in 1980.

The current design was made in the year 1979. The upper western tribune is unfinished to this day. The current capacity lies at 18,856 spectator seats, with 980 of them being for standing audiences. Before the club had transferred to Gradski vrt, Osijek played on a pitch next to the river Drava.

In April 2018, NK Osijek president Ivan Meštrović released plans for the new Pampas Stadium.^[19] A new state of art stadium will be built at the Pampas neighbourhood in Osijek as part of the new NK Osijek training centre. The capacity of the new stadium will be 12,000, with all of the seats covered. The stadium will be UEFA category four and will be finished in June 2021. During the stadium construction, NK Osijek will play their home games at the current Gradski vrt stadium, which is in the future going to be used as the main stadium for the NK Osijek B squad.

 

The fan club of NK Osijek is called Kohorta (cohort, named after the Roman army unit composed of 360 soldiers). It was founded in 1972 under the name Šokci, and carries the name Kohorta since 1988. Kohorta is usually situated on the eastern tribune of Gradski vrt. Its seat is in the university street in Tvrđa, Osijek.^[20]

Osijek is the third most supported football club in Croatia with 5% of population supporting it.^[21]

The Slavonian derby match is between the two largest Croatian football clubs from eastern Croatia, Osijek and Cibalia. Each new match between these two great rivals, means a great match on the field, but also in the stands.

Osijek–Rijeka derby is the name given to matches between Osijek and HNK Rijeka. On Croatian First Football League all-time table Rijeka and Osijek are on the third and fourth place. Rijeka and Osijek are with Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split the only four clubs that have never been relegated from the Croatian First League. Osijek and Rijeka are third and fourth best supported football clubs in Croatia. Osijek is supported by 5% and Rijeka by 4% of population.^[21]

Osijek has won one Croatian Cup. In European competitions, the club has reached the third round of the UEFA Cup in 2000–01, the second round of the Intertoto Cup in 2006, the third place of the Mitropa Cup in 1981–82 and play-off round of the UEFA Europa League in 2017–18.

Croatian football league system

• Croatian First League
  • Runners-up (1): 2020–21
• Croatian Cup
  • Winner (1): 1998–99
  • Runners-up (1): 2011–12

Yugoslav football league system

• Yugoslav Second League
  • Winner (5): 1952–53, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1980–81

Season	Achievement	Notes
UEFA Cup / Europa League
2000–01	Third round	lost to   Slavia Prague 2–0 in Osijek, 1–5 in Prague
2017–18	Play-off round	lost to   Austria Wien 1–2 in Osijek, 1–0 in Sankt Pölten

Notable wins Season Match Score Europa League / UEFA Cup 1998–99 Osijek –   Anderlecht 3 – 1 2000–01 Osijek –   Rapid Wien 2 – 1 2000–01 Osijek –   Slavia Prague 2 – 0 2017–18 Osijek –   PSV 1 – 0

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;

Source:,^[25] Fully up to date on 15 August 2024.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

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)
1999–2000	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
2006–07	Intertoto Cup	R2	Ethnikos Achna	2–2	0–0	2–2 (a)
2012–13	Europa League	QR1	FC Santa Coloma	3–1	1–0	4–1
		QR2	Kalmar FF	1–3	0–3	1–6
2017–18	Europa League	QR1	UE Santa Coloma	4–0	2–0	6–0
		QR2	Luzern	2–0	1–2	3–2
		QR3	PSV Eindhoven	1–0	1–0	2–0
		PO	Austria Wien	1–2	1–0	2–2 (a)
2018–19	Europa League	QR1	Petrocub Hîncești	2–1	1–1	3–2
		QR2	Rangers	0–1	1–1	1–2
2019–20	Europa League	QR2	CSKA Sofia	1–0	0–1	1–1 (3–4 p)
2020–21	Europa League	QR2	Basel	1–2
2021–22	Europa Conference League	QR2	Pogoń Szczecin	1–0	0–0	1–0
		QR3	CSKA Sofia	1–1	2–4	3–5
2022–23	Europa Conference League	QR2	Kyzylzhar	0–2	2–1	2–3
2023–24	Europa Conference League	QR2	Zalaegerszeg	1–0	2–1	3−1
		QR3	Adana Demirspor	3–2	1–5	4–7
2024–25	Conference League	QR2	Levadia	5–1	1–0	6–1
		QR3	Zira	1–1	2–2	3–3 (1–2 p)

Last updated on 15 August 2024.

• Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 18 appearances^[26]
  • Petar Bočkaj, Mile Škorić
• Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: 4 goals^[26]
  • Ramón Miérez, Muzafer Ejupi, Petar Bočkaj

As of 5 October 2024^[27]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   CRO Nikola Čavlina (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb) 4 DF   CRO Krešimir Vrbanac 5 DF   ARM Styopa Mkrtchyan 7 MF   CRO Vedran Jugović 9 FW   SUI Kemal Ademi 10 MF   BRA Pedro Lima (on loan from Palmeiras) 11 FW   NED Ricuenio Kewal 13 DF   ITA Alessandro Tuia 14 MF   CRO Marko Soldo 15 GK   CRO Tin Sajko 17 FW   AUT Arnel Jakupović 20 MF   POR Tiago Dantas 22 DF   CRO Roko Jurišić

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 FW   CRO Filip Živković 26 DF   CRO Luka Jelenić 27 FW   POR Hernâni Fortes 31 GK   CRO Marko Malenica 33 DF   SWE Emin Hasić 34 FW   CRO Anton Matković 36 MF   BIH Nail Omerović 39 FW   CRO Domagoj Bukvić 42 DF   BRA Renan Guedes 55 DF   CRO Ivan Cvijanović 66 MF   SUI Petar Pušić 98 MF   CRO Šimun Mikolčić

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 37 FW   CRO Luka Branšteter

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 8 FW   CRO Kristian Fućak (at   Zalaegerszeg until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player 35 DF   CRO Luka Zebec (at   BSK Bijelo Brdo until 30 June 2025)

The football school of NK Osijek was founded in 1982 as the youth school. It was set in motion by Andrija Vekić, with the wish to recruit and create great players and coaches alike by creating a good and competitive atmosphere. Many players considered to be high-level were in that school.

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.

incomplete list

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to NK Osijek.

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