NK Opatija

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NK Opatija
NK Opatija Logo.svg
Full nameNogometni klub Opatija
Founded1911;114 years ago (1911)
GroundIgralište Opatije
Stadion Kantrida
Capacity2,000
ChairmanRobert Perčić
ManagerZoran Bogolin
League First Football League (Croatia)
2025–26 TBA
Website http://hr.nk-opatija.com/
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

NK Opatija is a Croatian association football club. It is based in Opatija and was founded in 1911, making it one of the oldest football clubs in Croatia. The team competes in the 1. NL, the second tier of the Croatian football league system.

Contents

History

The beginnings of organized football in Opatija date back to 1911, when the Opatija branch of the Croatian Sokol movement's football section was founded, under the name of "Football Section of the Croatian Sokol - Opatija-Volosko". [1] The initiative came from a group of students from a trade academy in Vienna, similarly to how Hajduk was founded in Split's by students who had returned from Prague that same year. [2]

Opatija played its first official match on May 14, 1911, in Sušak, competing against the football section of that town's Sokol. In 1912, the German residents of Opatija founded their own team called the German FC Opatija Vorwärts. The rivalry which immediately developed between the two clubs resulted in disagreements within the Croatian Sokol. At the suggestion of Ivan Matetić Ronjgov, a separate sports club was founded, bearing the name Slavenski Športski klub Opatija (Slavic Sport Club "Opatija").

The club changed its name once again in 1919 (to Hajduk) and back to Športski klub Opatija in 1921. At that time, the city was administered by the Kingdom of Italy and its authorities were pushing all local entities to dropping the "Slavic" prefix in their names. In, 1923 the club changed its name once more (to Olymp) but soon, most players moved to Concordia, a club playing in Rijeka. The mostly abandoned club Olymp was then put under more pressure by the Italian authorities and was finally renamed Virtus. In 1936, the Italian regime forced another name change to Abbazia.

In 1946, after World War II, the city fell under the administration of Yugoslavia. The new regime forced the club to become an all-round sports club (as most clubs in the country at the time), a model copied from Soviet Union. The club did not have a playground which made official performances impossible until October 31, 1948 when the first official match of the new club, NK Opatija, was played. For the next 43 years, Opatija mostly played in regional leagues.

In 1992, after Croatia became an independent nation, the club started competing in the Third Tier of the national league system. After 28 years in lower tiers, Opatija finally succeeded in moving up to the Second Tier in 2020. The club was relegated back to Third Tier in 2022, but bounced back to Second Tier in 2024 where it is playing in the current season 2025/26.

Recent seasons

SeasonLeague Cup Top goalscorer
DivisionPWDLFAPtsPosPlayerGoals
1992 3. HNL West 144462219126th
1992-93 3. HNL West 30111097046329th
1993-94 3. HNL West 32971641662512th
1994-95 3. HNL West N/A
1996-97 2. HNL West 30101010414030*6th
1997-98 2. HNL West 308101243393411th ↓
1998-99 3. HNL West 30117123438408th
1999-2000 3. HNL West 309101133353710th
2000-01 3. HNL West 30121175942474th
2001-02 3. HNL West 3021546625681st
2002-03 3. HNL West 3017584628563rd
2003-04 3. HNL West 309101130403711th
2004-05 3. HNL West 30109114042399th
2005-06 3. HNL West 307101349533013th ↓
2006-07 4. HNL West 28105124039367th
2007-08 4. HNL West 26931447473010th
2008-09 4. HNL West 2817385326543rd
2009-10 4. HNL West 2820446916631st ↑
2010–11 3. HNL West 341311105342507th R1 Alen Matovina13
2011–12 3. HNL West 34159103938544th R1 Ratko Kremenović9
2012–13 3. HNL West 30127115144435thDanijel Lazić, Damir Radomir7
2013–14 3. HNL West 2820446430641st ↓ PR Niko Vlatković15
2014–15 4. HNL Rijeka 3017675527572nd ↑ R2 Antun Dunković 13
2015–16 3. HNL West 30134133945439th R2 Ivan Brozović, Alen Matovina8
2016–17 3. HNL West 3014795851495th Aleksandar Šolić 7
2017–18 3. HNL West 3421675528692ndAlen Matovina18
2018–19 3. HNL West 34139125550488thBaltazar Anton Bogolin11
2019–20 3. HNL West 1610423413341st ↑ R2 Baltazar Anton Bogolin
Antonio Pejanović
7
2020–21 2. HNL 34121484242507thAntonio Pejanović9
2021–22 2. HNL 30671727472516th ↓Borna Bilobrk4
2022–23 2. NL 3012994842457th Edin Junuzović 9
2023–24 2. NL 3020464821641st ↑ Goodness Ajayi 16
2024–25 1. NL 33191134820682ndDominik Mulac13
2025–26 1. NL

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: PR = Preliminary round; R1 = First round; R2 = Round of 16; QF = Quarter-final; SF = Semi-final; RU = Runner-up; W = Competition won.

Honours

Current squad

As of 2 June 2025

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA David Nwolokor
2 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Duje Ušalj
3 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Peter Mathew
4 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Dominik Mulac
5 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Ivan Horvat
6 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO David Arapović
7 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Goodness Ajayi
8 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Luka Kožić
9 FW Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Val Bogolin
10 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO David Žabec
11 FW Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Nemanja Kašiković
12 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Ivor Weitzer
No.Pos.NationPlayer
14 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Antonio Pejanović
15 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Vanja Malinić
16 MF Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  SUI Florent Shehu
19 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Nikola Macolić
21 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Luka Marić
22 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Andro Babić
23 MF Flag of Slovenia.svg  SVN Sebastijan Lesjak
32 GK Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Dominik Pezelj
44 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Tomislav Glavan
45 FW Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Baltazar Anton Bogolin
55 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Ivan Graf
91 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Marin Grujević

References

  1. "POVIJEST". NK OPATIJA - nogometni klub. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  2. "Počinje proslava sto godina NK Opatija". PodUckun.net. 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2021-10-17.