NK Osijek entered the into 2008-09 Season defending third position, which is equal to their best position in Prva HNL won six times since Croatian independence. The team decided not to participate in the UEFA Intertoto Cup which would make preparations for the new season harder than usual, as happened two years ago.
To prepare for the Season, NK Osijek played a few friendly matches against 1. FC Kaiserslautern and FC Fehérvár to name a few. The new season will start with the same manager as last year, and with just Milan Pavličić sold from last years starting eleven. As the club's youth academy is one of the best in this part of Europe, several young players are drafted into the first team squad.
Fans and board of directors are hoping that this season can repeat last one, to put NK Osijek into UEFA cups next season.
Nenad Bjelica is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who last coached Süper Lig club Trabzonspor.
Nogometni klub Osijek, commonly referred to as NK Osijek or simply Osijek, is a Croatian professional football club from Osijek. Founded in 1947, it was the club from Slavonia with the most seasons in the Yugoslav First League and, after the independence of Croatia in 1992, it is one of the four clubs that have never been relegated from the Croatian First League, the others being Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split and Rijeka.
Nogometni klub Zagreb, commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb, is a Croatian amateur football club based in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of Croatian football league system, Četvrta nogometna liga Središte Zagreb podskupina A in Croatian since the 2021–22 season and the revision of league in preparation for structure reorganization in a men's league system of Croatian football league system starting from 2022–23 which also led to labeling changes for the league levels.
Hrvatski nogometni klub Cibalia, commonly known as Cibalia Vinkovci or simply Cibalia, is a Croatian football club from the town of Vinkovci in eastern Croatia. Cibalia currently play in the Prva NL, Croatia's second tier league. Their stadium is located in the south part of their home town and can hold 10,000 spectators. The name Cibalia comes from the Roman settlement called Colonia Aurelia Cibalae which was the precursor of the present-day town of Vinkovci. In the period from 1945 to 1990 the club was called NK Dinamo Vinkovci.
Robert Špehar is a Croatian football coach and a former international footballer who played as a striker. During his 18 years long senior career he played for Croatian Prva HNL teams NK Zagreb and NK Osijek in three occasions. In Belgium he played for Club Brugge with whom he won Belgian First Division and Belgian Cup. He also played for AS Monaco reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, Verona, Sporting, Galatasaray, Standard Liège, before ending his career at Omonia with Cypriot Cup title. At international level he represented Croatia gaining eight caps over a five-year period, between 1992–1996 and was a member of their 1996 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament winning squad. He is the father of a footballer Dino Špehar who just like him started his professional career at NK Osijek, at the same time that Robert was in office as club's president. Robert's father and Dino's grandfather was a well-known football goalkeeper of NK Osijek in the 1960s. Most recently he coached Croatian lower-league side NK Višnjevac with whom he achieved promotion to Treća HNL division East.
Davor Vugrinec is a Croatian former professional footballer. He primarily played as a striker, but also operated as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He is all-time top scorer of the Croatian First Football League with 146 goals he has scored for five different clubs and also the oldest player to score a goal in the league, netting for Slaven Belupo 10 days before his 40th birthday.
The 1992 Croatian First Football League was the first season of the top Croatian football league. It was the inaugural season of the league established following Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia. Affected by the political and social upheavals stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia and the early stages of the 1991–95 war, the season was drastically shortened and played over the course of less than four months, from 29 February to 13 June.
Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb, commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 1914, the club's only period of success came in the late 1940s and early 1950s before spending most of the following five decades in lower-level leagues.
Dumitru Mitu is a Romanian former footballer who played as a left winger or striker.
The 2008–09 season was the 98th season in Hajduk Split's history and their eighteenth in the Prva HNL. Their 5th-place finish in the 2007–08 season meant it was their 18th successive season playing in the Prva HNL.
Zoran Zekić is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of NK Osijek in the Croatian Football League.
The 2009–10 season was the 99th season in Hajduk Split’s history and their nineteenth in the Prva HNL. Their 2nd place finish in the 2008–09 season meant it was their 19th successive season playing in the Prva HNL.
The 2011–12 season was the 101st season in Hajduk Split’s history and their twenty-first in the Croatian First Football League. Their 2nd place finish in the 2010–11 season means it was their 21st successive season playing in the Prva HNL.
Ádám Gyurcsó is a Hungarian professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for AEK Larnaca.
The 2004–05 season was the 94th season in Hajduk Split’s history and their fourteenth in the Prva HNL. Their 1st place finish in the 2003–04 season meant it was their 14th successive season playing in the Prva HNL.
The 2003–04 season was the 93rd season in Hajduk Split’s history and their 13th in the Prva HNL. Their second place finish in the 2002–03 season meant it was their 13th successive season playing in the Prva HNL.
The 2007–08 season was the 97th season in Hajduk Split’s history and their seventeenth in the Prva HNL. Their 2nd place finish in the 2006–07 season meant it was their 17th successive season playing in the Prva HNL.
The 2015–16 season was the 105th season in Hajduk Split’s history and their twenty-fifth in the Prva HNL. Their 3rd place finish in the 2014–15 season means it was their 25th successive season playing in the Prva HNL.
The 2015–16 season was the 70th season in HNK Rijeka’s history. It was their 25th successive season in the Prva HNL, and 42nd successive top tier season.
The 2017–18 season was the 72nd season in HNK Rijeka’s history. It was their 27th successive season in the Croatian First Football League, and 44th successive top tier season.
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