NK Opatija

Last updated
NK Opatija
NK Opatija Logo.svg
Full nameNogometni klub Opatija
Founded1911;113 years ago (1911)
GroundIgralište Opatije
Stadion Kantrida
Capacity1,500
10,600
ChairmanRobert Perčić
Manager Tomislav Čizmarević
League First Football League (Croatia) (II)
2024–25 TBA
Website http://hr.nk-opatija.com/
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

NK Opatija is a Croatian association football club founded in 1911 and based in Opatija. It is one of the oldest football clubs in Croatia. They compete in 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's branch of the Croatian Sokol movement's football section was founded, under the name of "football department of the Croatian Sokol Opatija - Volosko". [1] The initiative came from a group of students from the Trade Academy in Vienna, similarly to Split's "Hajduk" foundation by students in Prague in the same year. [2]

The first official match played by Opatija was on May 14, 1911, in Sušak, competing with the football section of that town's Sokol. In 1912 the Germans of Opatija founded their own team - the German football club Opatija Vorwärts. The rivalry that immediately developed between the two clubs resulted in disagreements within the Croatian Sokol, so at the suggestion of Ivan Matetić Ronjgov, later a famous composer, a separate sports club was founded from it, with the name Slavenski Športski klub Opatija (Slavic sport club "Opatija").[ citation needed ]

The club changes its name again in 1919 to Hajduk and back to Športski klub Opatija in 1921, the city being now part of the Kingdom of Italy and its authorities pushing for the dropping of the "Slavic" prefix. In 1923 the club changes its name once more to Olymp, and then most players access the already existing local club of Concordia, while with new pressures by the Italian authorities Olymp is renamed into Virtus. It was not until 1936 that the government's intention to name the club with the Italian name Abbazia would be fulfilled.[ citation needed ]

After World War II and the annexation of the town by communist Jugoslavia, in 1946 the new regime forces the club to become an all-round sports club like all clubs in the country, on a model copied by stalinist USSR. The lack of a playground made official performances impossible until October 31, 1948. when they play the first official match within the competition and group IV Rijeka. Since then, NK Opatija has played in the regional league, which has taken various forms and names, with more or less success.[ citation needed ]

In the 1950s and in the first half of the 1960s, Opatija competed in the sub-federal Jugoslav league. From 1965 it competed in the zonska liga, which after the reorganization of the competition in the 1980s became the regional league Rijeka-Pula. They won a place in the national Republican League in 1984 until 1990.[ citation needed ]

After the Croatian independence and since 1992, the club started competing in the III. HNL. Opatija played in the Croatian second division in the 96/97 and 97/98 seasons, when the system was different from today. [3] In 2002 it took part in the qualifications for the current II. HNL league but didn't qualify.

Opatija won the 2013–14 Treća HNL West group, but instead of promotion to the second division, they decided to play in the fourth division the next season due to not meeting the licensing requirements. [4]

It finally joined Druga HNL in 2020/21 and is playing in the league since. [5]

The club has been playing the second division games at Kantrida stadium in Rijeka but is looking into reconstructing their own stadium to allow them to play in Opatija the 2. HNL. [6] Currently, the stadium's pitch dimensions are only 100x64 meters, which do not meet the requirements for the second division. [7] However, the newly proposed stadium would only have dimensions of 90x60 meters, only good enough for the fifth division. [8] The new stadium is currently planned to be built in 2021. [9]

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

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 17 November 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. 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 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Peter Mathew
4 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Dominik Mulac
5 MF Flag of Slovenia.svg  SVN Sebastijan Lesjak
6 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO David Arapović
7 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Ivan Horvat
13 FW Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Baltazar Anton Bogolin
14 FW Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Antonio Pejanović
15 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Vanja Malinić
16 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Nikša Čulina
17 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Goodness Ajayi
No.Pos.NationPlayer
18 FW Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Tomislav Glavan
19 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Nikola Macolić
20 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO David Žabec
21 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Luka Marić
22 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Ivor Weitzer
23 FW Flag of Serbia.svg  SRB Nemanja Kašiković
24 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Marin Grujević
29 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Marijan Jukičić
32 GK Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Andrej Prskalo
33 MF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Luka Kožić
55 DF Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Ivan Graf
GK Flag of Croatia.svg  CRO Marin Grabar

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References

  1. "POVIJEST". NK OPATIJA - nogometni klub. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  2. "Počinje proslava sto godina NK Opatija". PodUckun.net. 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  3. "NK Opatija je već igrala drugu ligu". PodUckun.net. 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  4. Volarić, Ivan (26 September 2014). "Bogolin: Grad mora shvatiti da NK Opatija nije iz Bjelovara". Novi List.
  5. "Nogometaši Opatije izborili drugu ligu". www.rivijeranews.hr (in Croatian). 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  6. "OPATIJSKI STADION Parkiralište ispod pomoćnog igrališta". Novi list. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  7. Kirigin, Marina (3 October 2017). "NK Opatija želi igrati Drugu HNL, Grad im servira stadion za – petu". Novi List.
  8. Miličić, Dubravko (6 October 2017). "I danas se smijemo penalu koji je suđen za Dinamo". 24 Sata.
  9. Žic, Davor (December 2018). "NK Opatija požalio se na odgodu investicije u stadion – Svake godine početak radova planira se 'za dvije godine'".