FK Bežanija

Bežanija

Full name	FK Bežanija
Nickname(s)	Lavovi (The Lions)
Founded	1921;103 years ago (1921)
Ground	Stadion FK Bežanija
Capacity	5,000 [1]
President	Jovan Rusić
League	Belgrade Zone League
2023–24	Belgrade First League – Group A, 1st of 14 (promoted)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

FK Bežanija (Serbian Cyrillic : ФК Бежанија) is a football club based in Bežanija, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Belgrade Zone League, the fourth tier of the national league system.

History

Founded in 1921, the club changed its name several times in its early stages, being known as Soko, BSK and finally HŠK (during the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia). ^[2] They adopted the new name Jedinstvo following the end of World War II in 1946, becoming a member of the Novi Sad Football Association. ^[2] After competing in the Srem League for six years, the club joined the Belgrade Football Association in 1952. ^[2] They would change their name to Bežanija ahead of the 1955–56 season. ^[2]

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the club won the Serbian League Belgrade in 2000 and took promotion to the Second League of FR Yugoslavia, reaching the second tier for the first time ever. They competed in Group North for two seasons, finishing bottom of the table in 2002. ^[3] However, the club instantly won the Serbian League Belgrade to earn promotion back to the second tier in 2003. ^[3]

In the 2005–06 campaign, the club finished as Serbian First League champions and earned promotion to the newly formed Serbian SuperLiga. They became the biggest surprise of the competition's inaugural 2006–07 season (despite playing their home games at Železnik), placing fourth and securing a spot in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. However, the club was eliminated in the first qualifying round by Albanian side Besa Kavajë on the away goals rule (2–2 on aggregate), ^[4] without losing a game. ^[5]

After suffering relegation in the 2007–08 Serbian SuperLiga, the club went on to spend 11 consecutive seasons in the Serbian First League, finishing in fourth place on three occasions during this time. They were forced to withdraw from the league due to financial difficulties following the conclusion of the 2018–19 season, ^[6] finding themselves in the Belgrade Intermunicipal League, the sixth tier of Serbian football. In June 2021, the club marked its 100th anniversary. ^[7]

Honours

Serbian First League (Tier 2)

• 2005–06

Serbian League Belgrade (Tier 3)

• 1999–2000, 2002–03

Belgrade First League (Tier 5)

• 2023–24 (Group A)

Seasons

Season	League									Cup	Continental
	Division	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Pos
Serbia and Montenegro
1998–99	3 – Belgrade	17 [lower-alpha 1]	–	–	–	–	–	19	11th	—	—
1999–2000	3 – Belgrade	34	23	8	3	68	28	77	1st	—
2000–01	2 – North	34	13	4	17	45	58	43	10th	—
2001–02	2 – North	34	4	6	24	24	76	18	18th	—
2002–03	3 – Belgrade	34	22	6	6	65	28	72	1st	—
2003–04	2 – North	36	21	5	10	72	49	68	4th	—
2004–05	2 – Serbia	38	17	7	14	59	53	58	5th	—
2005–06	2 – Serbia	38	25	7	6	70	25	82	1st	—
Serbia
2006–07	1	32	12	12	8	36	31	48	4th	Quarter-finals	—
2007–08	1	33	5	4	24	31	58	17 [lower-alpha 2]	12th	Round of 16	UEFA Cup – First qualifying round
2008–09	2	34	8	13	13	34	40	37	15th	Round of 16	—
2009–10	2	34	14	11	9	34	28	53	4th	Round of 32
2010–11	2	34	11	7	16	26	28	40	12th	Round of 32
2011–12	2	34	11	19	4	33	15	52	4th	Preliminary round
2012–13	2	34	11	11	12	41	32	44	8th	Round of 32
2013–14	2	30	11	12	7	34	26	45	4th	Round of 32
2014–15	2	30	11	7	12	25	27	40	9th	Round of 32
2015–16	2	30	11	10	9	35	27	43	5th	Round of 16
2016–17	2	30	12	12	6	36	22	47 [lower-alpha 3]	5th	Round of 32
2017–18	2	30	11	11	8	35	32	44	7th	Round of 32
2018–19	2	37	15	5	17	48	50	28	7th [lower-alpha 4]	Round of 32

1. The season was cut short due to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
2. The club was docked two points.
3. The club was docked one point.
4. The club withdrew from the league due to financial problems.

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Score	Aggregate
2007–08	UEFA Cup	First qualifying round	Besa Kavajë	2–2 (H), 0–0 (A)	2–2

Notable players

This is a list of players who have played at full international level. ^[8]

• Samir Memišević
• Ibrahim Somé Salombo
• Viktor Kelm
• Darko Božović
• Đorđije Ćetković
• Dejan Damjanović
• Milan Purović
• Marko Simić
• Hong Yong-jo
• Mario Đurovski
• Nikola Gligorov
• Bojan Markoski
• Perica Stančeski
• Milan Biševac
• Aleksandar Busnić
• Nenad Lukić
• Filip Manojlović
• Marko Mijailović
• Milovan Milović
• Antonio Rukavina
• Bojan Šaranov
• Lazar Tufegdžić
• Ivan Dudić
• Miloš Kolaković

For a list of all FK Bežanija players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:FK Bežanija players .

Managerial history

Period Name Miroslav Helc Slaviša Božičić Stanislav Karasi Miroslav Helc 2005–2006 Čedomir Đoinčević 2006 Branko Smiljanić 2006–2007 Dragoljub Bekvalac 2007 Ratko Dostanić 2007 Miloljub Ostojić 2007 Ratko Dostanić

Period Name 2007–2008 Ljubiša Stamenković 2008–2009 Slaviša Božičić 2009 Dušan Kljajić 2009–2011 Aleksandar Janjić 2011 Ivica Šimičić 2011–2012 Saša Nikolić 2012 Ivica Šimičić 2012 Aleksandar Janjić 2012–2013 Gordan Petrić 2013–2014 Dušan Kljajić

Period Name 2014 Saša Štrbac 2014–2015 Vanja Radinović 2015 Nenad Vanić 2015–2016 Srđan Blagojević 2017 Milija Žižić 2017 Dušan Đorđević 2017 Srđan Blagojević 2017–2018 Aleksandar Stanković 2018–2019 Goran Dragoljić

References

1. "Stadion" (in Serbian). fcbezanija.com. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
2. "Klub" (in Serbian). fcbezanija.com. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
3. "SISTEM TAKMIČENJA 2000.-2006" (in Serbian). fsgzrenjanin.com. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
4. "Vojvodina lead the way for Serbia". uefa.com. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
5. "Who has never lost a UEFA club competition game?". uefa.com. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
6. "Kolubara prvoligaš, Bežanija ide u najniži rang" (in Serbian). mozzartsport.com. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
7. "Bežanija slavi jubilej za ponos: "Tek prvih 100 godina!"" (in Serbian). vesti-online.com. 20 June 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
8. "FK Bežanija". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 6 July 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Club page at Srbijasport