FK Rudar Prijedor
Encyclopedia
FK Rudar is a football club from the city of Prijedor
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
. The club competes in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
as of 2009/2010 season.
, a defeat by 0-10, and it was played so the club could formally join the regional federation and start competing. In 1925 another club was formed in the town FK Građanski, and in 1925 the first field with tribunes for spectators was built.
More clubs were being formed in the decade of 1920s. FK Borac was created in 1925 with its field in Lukavica, FK Rudar Ljubija in 1928 and still before the beginning of World War II, the clubs of FK Hajduk in Prijedor, and FK Zmaj from Kozarac, were formed.
The predecessor of today's Rudar Prijedor is FK Rudar Ljubija that was formed on May 3, 1928, in the mining town of Ljubija
.
After the end of the war, much help for the development of football in Prijedor was provided by the local paper factory and the iron mining company "Ljubija" from neighbouring Ljubija
. The clubs of Grmeč, Željezničar, Jedinstvo and Mladost were formed. In 1954 FK Celuloza was formed, followed by the merger with Mladost and its renaming into FK Radnički in 1958. FK Željezničar merged with FK Radnički, forming OFK Prijedor
in 1965. During the following decades great cooperation existed between OFK Prijedor and FK Rudar Ljubić, resulting in a merger between these two clubs in 2005 and subsequent creation of today's FK Rudar Prijedor.
The first official match that Rudar Ljubija played was against local Hajduk in 1929. The match ended with a 2-1 victory for Rudar, and the players in that match were Branko Bjekić, Sadik Burazerović, Milan Prerad, Ivan Sedlaček, Toni Hribar, Drago Nedić, Poldek Mastinjak, Jovo Gvozden, Tone Vikić, Josip Brečević i Božidar Veslić. Among the best players from that early period are also worth mentioning: Ivica Sedlaček, Božo Jelisić i Nikola Lukić.
FK Rudar Ljubija established close ties with many other working-class clubs, especially from the region of Bosnian Krajina, but even further, with clubs as: FK Borac Banja Luka, FK Mladost Prijedor, NK Jedinstvo Bihać
, FK Sloboda Bosanski Novi, FK Borac Drvar, FK Borac Bosanska Dubica, FK Velež Mostar
, RNK Split
, FK Borac Čačak
, FK Radnički Kragujevac
, among others.
The club didn't compete during the economical crisis between 1931 and 1933 when the mine was almost shut down, with many miners being left without work and in hard living conditions. The economical situation was only improved by 1934 and 1935, and the first match after this economic depression was played July 26, 1936 against FK Zmaj from Kozarci, a win 6-1. In this period it is worthwhile to mention the special contribution and financial support provided to the club and its players by Mr. Dr. Mladen Stojanović, a longtime medical doctor in the mine, a humanist and afterwards a leader of the Partisans from Kozara during WWII. Most players participated in the miners strike in August and September of 1940. With the beginning of the war, the club ceased its activities, and most of the club staff joined the partisans in their struggle to liberate the country, many having lost their lives during this period.
. In 1948 a new stadium was built, and in that same year the club started competing in the Yugoslav Cup
.
The first success was achieved in 1952 when the club qualified to the regional Bosnia and Herzegovina republic League. A decade later, in 1962, the club achieved further promotion, but it was only in 1967, and after three unsuccessful attempts, that Rudar managed to achieve promotion to the national rang, and qualify to the Yugoslav Second League group West. To achieve this the club had to win NK Slaven Živinice and NK GOŠK Dubrovnik
. The players that made this possible were: Izetagić, Bevandić, Baškot, Mustedanagić, Miljević, Radinović, Dervić, Bećarević, Bekan, Porobić and Gombović.
In this period the mining activity was having a major growth, with new mines being opened in other parts of Prijedor's municipality. Prijedor had become the center of production of iron mining, and the direction of the mines moved into the town in 1967. The club also followed, and the direction moved as well to Prijedor, where a new and bigger stadium was available for the club that was now competing at national level and had a growing mass of supporters.
In 1970 Rudar reached the 1/16 final of the Yugoslav Cup playing in its first ever TV-transmitted match, against top league OFK Belgrade. Rudar lost 0-2 and the players that played that match were: Janković, Omerbašić, Porobić, Talić, Milijević, Okanović, Ličina, Damjanović, Torić, Bevandić i Gombović.
In the season 1970/71 Rudar qualified for the knock-out stage for the qualifications for the Yugoslav First League
. The opponent was FK Spartak Subotica. In Subotica Rudar displayed a strong exhibition, ending the match with a 2-2 draw. The second hand match played in Prijedor in front of a 10,000 spectators crowd, the team aware of the importance of the match has tremble and ended up losing by 1-3. In this generation are found players like: Janković, Hidić, Vukelja, A. Bašić, Porobić, Škondro, Gombović, Vidović, Ličina, Mandić, Bevandić, Damjanović and Crnkić. The coach was Radoslav Zubanović.
The defeat against Spartak had obvious consequences, and the club finished bottom of the league in 1971/72 and returned to regional republic league. However, in 1974 the club reached the 1/4 finals of the Yugoslav Cup. In 1976 the club returned to the Yugoslav Second League group West, finishing 13th, in 1977/78 was 6th but in 1978/79 was relegated. In December 1979 an entire generation of footballers that provided much success for the club played their fairaway match Miroslav Janković, Ivo Baškarada, Omer Bašić, Kemal Porobić, Ante Gombović, Nikola Bevandić, Simo Damjanović, Slobodan Ličina, Aki Bašić, Nemsko Ramulić and Ivo Okanović.
In 1981 the club was even further relegated, and the recovery only began in 1983. In the season 1983/84 Rudar returned to the Second League, and the players that earned this promotion were: Sead Rešić, Vitomir Samardžija, Muhamed Cerić, Sabid Sadiković, Vinko Škondro, Mladen Parhamov, Vinko Samardžija, Goran Pekija, Zoran Vuković, Mirzet Bejzurić, Zlatko Abdulović, Fahrudin Bihorac, Edin Begović, Mladen Ćulum, Ilija Marin, Žarko Mandić, Bajram Zgog, Novo Bešević, reserves Panić, Hrvat, Duratović, and the coach Nikola Bevandić.
In 1987/88 the club missed just one point and didn't qualify for the newly formed unified Yugoslav Second League by a goal difference. It achieved that in the following season, 1988/89, by finishing first in the Inter-republics League West, thus qualifying to the Second League.
In 1990 Rudar reached the semi-finals of the Yugoslav Cup, eliminating in its way two top-league clubs, FK Vardar
and FK Vojvodina
, and playing against another top-league club, FK Velež Mostar
in the semis. The first match played in Mostar ended with a minimal 1-0 win for Velež, with the goal being scored by a disputed penalty. The second hand, played in Prijedor in front of a 6,000-spectator crowd, ended up with Rudar winning by same result, 1-0, Bijaljac being the scorer of the lone goal. In the subsequent penalty shoot-out, Velež won. The players of this last match were Rešić, Madžo, Drljača, Lukić, Bihorac, Kevrić, Mušić, substitute Karaman, Vojkić, Kaltak, substitute Zdjelar, and Bjeljac. The coach was Radoslav Zubanović.
and the break-up of Yugoslavia, the club ceased its activities in 1992. Even in this difficult period, the passion for football was such that the players of FK Rudar Ljubija and OFK Prijedor joined and formed FK Rudar Prijedor. With the end of the war, the club began competing again, and reached the Republika Srpska Cup
final in 1995.
Since 1995 the club played 12 times in the First League of Republika Srpska and twice in the Second League. In the season 2008/09 the club finished first and qualified to the 2002-created Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
. The following players managed this promotion: Kondić, Despotović, Dobrijević, Muzgonja, Ilinčić, Kovačević, Brkić, Stijepić, Kantar, Golić, Kecman, Dašić and Kotoran. The coach was Darko Nestorović, the Sposts Director was Mladen Zgonjanim, the President of the Direction was Branislav Riokvić, and the President of the club's Assembly was Božo Grbić.
After the qualification to the Premier League the reconstruction of the stadium began, with the participation of the Prijedor municipality.
Prijedor
Prijedor is a city and municipality in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the Bosanska Krajina region....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. The club competes in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the top football league in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the country's most prestigious level of football competition currently contested by 16 clubs with last two teams relegated at the end of every season....
as of 2009/2010 season.
Early years
The first football was brought to Prijedor in 1918 by Sveto Radetić, Stevan Mitrinović and Pero Čanak, who bought the ball to Austria. In 1919 the first football club was formed by the name of "PNK - Prijedorski nogometni klub" and in 1925 renamed into "Slavija". The first official match was played against FK Sloboda Bosanski NoviFK Sloboda Novi Grad
FK Sloboda is a football club from the town of Novi Grad, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club competes in the First League of the Republika Srpska.-External sources:* at Transfermarkt.* at BiHsoccer....
, a defeat by 0-10, and it was played so the club could formally join the regional federation and start competing. In 1925 another club was formed in the town FK Građanski, and in 1925 the first field with tribunes for spectators was built.
More clubs were being formed in the decade of 1920s. FK Borac was created in 1925 with its field in Lukavica, FK Rudar Ljubija in 1928 and still before the beginning of World War II, the clubs of FK Hajduk in Prijedor, and FK Zmaj from Kozarac, were formed.
The predecessor of today's Rudar Prijedor is FK Rudar Ljubija that was formed on May 3, 1928, in the mining town of Ljubija
Ljubija
Ljubija may refer to:*Ljubija , a small town in the municipality of Prijedor, Bosnia-Herzegovina.*Ljubija river, a river in Slovenia.Ljubija, a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina is situated in North-West part of Bosnia, in the Bosanska Krajina region...
.
After the end of the war, much help for the development of football in Prijedor was provided by the local paper factory and the iron mining company "Ljubija" from neighbouring Ljubija
Ljubija
Ljubija may refer to:*Ljubija , a small town in the municipality of Prijedor, Bosnia-Herzegovina.*Ljubija river, a river in Slovenia.Ljubija, a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina is situated in North-West part of Bosnia, in the Bosanska Krajina region...
. The clubs of Grmeč, Željezničar, Jedinstvo and Mladost were formed. In 1954 FK Celuloza was formed, followed by the merger with Mladost and its renaming into FK Radnički in 1958. FK Željezničar merged with FK Radnički, forming OFK Prijedor
OFK Prijedor
OFK Prijedor is a football club based in city of Prijedor, Republika Srpska, Bosnia-Herzegovina.-History:The club was founded in 1919 and is the among the oldest sport collectives in Prijedor, and in Bosnia...
in 1965. During the following decades great cooperation existed between OFK Prijedor and FK Rudar Ljubić, resulting in a merger between these two clubs in 2005 and subsequent creation of today's FK Rudar Prijedor.
The first official match that Rudar Ljubija played was against local Hajduk in 1929. The match ended with a 2-1 victory for Rudar, and the players in that match were Branko Bjekić, Sadik Burazerović, Milan Prerad, Ivan Sedlaček, Toni Hribar, Drago Nedić, Poldek Mastinjak, Jovo Gvozden, Tone Vikić, Josip Brečević i Božidar Veslić. Among the best players from that early period are also worth mentioning: Ivica Sedlaček, Božo Jelisić i Nikola Lukić.
FK Rudar Ljubija established close ties with many other working-class clubs, especially from the region of Bosnian Krajina, but even further, with clubs as: FK Borac Banja Luka, FK Mladost Prijedor, NK Jedinstvo Bihać
NK Jedinstvo Bihac
NK Jedinstvo is a football club from Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the city of Bihać. NK Jedinstvo was founded in 1919. The club's stadium is called Pod Borićima Stadion and it can seat 8,000...
, FK Sloboda Bosanski Novi, FK Borac Drvar, FK Borac Bosanska Dubica, FK Velež Mostar
FK Velež Mostar
FK Velež , successor of RŠD Velež, is a football club from Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the city of Mostar, founded on June 22, 1922....
, RNK Split
RNK Split
RNK Split is a Croatian football club based in the city of Split.-History:Radnički nogometni klub means "Workers' football club".The club was known as workers' club. The club had a strong fanbase in the Split's shipyard...
, FK Borac Čačak
FK Borac Cacak
Fudbalski klub Borac Čačak is a professional football club based in Čačak, Serbia.It was founded in 1926. Borac plays at the Čačak Stadium which has a capacity of 5,000....
, FK Radnički Kragujevac
FK Radnicki Kragujevac
Fudbalski Klub Radnički 1923 is a professional football club from Kragujevac, Serbia....
, among others.
The club didn't compete during the economical crisis between 1931 and 1933 when the mine was almost shut down, with many miners being left without work and in hard living conditions. The economical situation was only improved by 1934 and 1935, and the first match after this economic depression was played July 26, 1936 against FK Zmaj from Kozarci, a win 6-1. In this period it is worthwhile to mention the special contribution and financial support provided to the club and its players by Mr. Dr. Mladen Stojanović, a longtime medical doctor in the mine, a humanist and afterwards a leader of the Partisans from Kozara during WWII. Most players participated in the miners strike in August and September of 1940. With the beginning of the war, the club ceased its activities, and most of the club staff joined the partisans in their struggle to liberate the country, many having lost their lives during this period.
(1945–1992)
The region of Ljubija and Prijedor was liberated on September 7, 1944, and the first match was played in July 1945 against Partsans unit team. During 1945 and 1946 many friendly matches were played, and those served as a base for the new Rudar team that would compete in the post-war Yugoslavia. In 1947 Rudar joined the Association of Banja LukaBanja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...
. In 1948 a new stadium was built, and in that same year the club started competing in the Yugoslav Cup
Yugoslav Cup
The Yugoslav Cup, officially the Marshal Tito Cup, was one of two major football competitions in the former Yugoslavia, the other one being the Yugoslav League Championship. The Yugoslav Cup took place after the league championships when every competitive league in Yugoslavia had finished, in order...
.
The first success was achieved in 1952 when the club qualified to the regional Bosnia and Herzegovina republic League. A decade later, in 1962, the club achieved further promotion, but it was only in 1967, and after three unsuccessful attempts, that Rudar managed to achieve promotion to the national rang, and qualify to the Yugoslav Second League group West. To achieve this the club had to win NK Slaven Živinice and NK GOŠK Dubrovnik
NK GOŠK Dubrovnik
NK GOŠK Dubrovnik is a Croatian football club based in the city of Dubrovnik. It takes its name from the Gruž neighbourhood of the city .-Team:...
. The players that made this possible were: Izetagić, Bevandić, Baškot, Mustedanagić, Miljević, Radinović, Dervić, Bećarević, Bekan, Porobić and Gombović.
In this period the mining activity was having a major growth, with new mines being opened in other parts of Prijedor's municipality. Prijedor had become the center of production of iron mining, and the direction of the mines moved into the town in 1967. The club also followed, and the direction moved as well to Prijedor, where a new and bigger stadium was available for the club that was now competing at national level and had a growing mass of supporters.
In 1970 Rudar reached the 1/16 final of the Yugoslav Cup playing in its first ever TV-transmitted match, against top league OFK Belgrade. Rudar lost 0-2 and the players that played that match were: Janković, Omerbašić, Porobić, Talić, Milijević, Okanović, Ličina, Damjanović, Torić, Bevandić i Gombović.
In the season 1970/71 Rudar qualified for the knock-out stage for the qualifications for the Yugoslav First League
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...
. The opponent was FK Spartak Subotica. In Subotica Rudar displayed a strong exhibition, ending the match with a 2-2 draw. The second hand match played in Prijedor in front of a 10,000 spectators crowd, the team aware of the importance of the match has tremble and ended up losing by 1-3. In this generation are found players like: Janković, Hidić, Vukelja, A. Bašić, Porobić, Škondro, Gombović, Vidović, Ličina, Mandić, Bevandić, Damjanović and Crnkić. The coach was Radoslav Zubanović.
The defeat against Spartak had obvious consequences, and the club finished bottom of the league in 1971/72 and returned to regional republic league. However, in 1974 the club reached the 1/4 finals of the Yugoslav Cup. In 1976 the club returned to the Yugoslav Second League group West, finishing 13th, in 1977/78 was 6th but in 1978/79 was relegated. In December 1979 an entire generation of footballers that provided much success for the club played their fairaway match Miroslav Janković, Ivo Baškarada, Omer Bašić, Kemal Porobić, Ante Gombović, Nikola Bevandić, Simo Damjanović, Slobodan Ličina, Aki Bašić, Nemsko Ramulić and Ivo Okanović.
In 1981 the club was even further relegated, and the recovery only began in 1983. In the season 1983/84 Rudar returned to the Second League, and the players that earned this promotion were: Sead Rešić, Vitomir Samardžija, Muhamed Cerić, Sabid Sadiković, Vinko Škondro, Mladen Parhamov, Vinko Samardžija, Goran Pekija, Zoran Vuković, Mirzet Bejzurić, Zlatko Abdulović, Fahrudin Bihorac, Edin Begović, Mladen Ćulum, Ilija Marin, Žarko Mandić, Bajram Zgog, Novo Bešević, reserves Panić, Hrvat, Duratović, and the coach Nikola Bevandić.
In 1987/88 the club missed just one point and didn't qualify for the newly formed unified Yugoslav Second League by a goal difference. It achieved that in the following season, 1988/89, by finishing first in the Inter-republics League West, thus qualifying to the Second League.
In 1990 Rudar reached the semi-finals of the Yugoslav Cup, eliminating in its way two top-league clubs, FK Vardar
FK Vardar
FK Vardar Skopje is a Macedonian football club based in the capital city of Skopje. FK Vardar is currently a member of the 1-MFL. FK Vardar is the most popular and renowned Macedonian football club both domestically and abroad, having won 6 national championships and 6 national cups...
and FK Vojvodina
FK Vojvodina
FK Vojvodina is a football club from Novi Sad, Serbia. The club currently competes in the Serbian SuperLiga. FK Vojvodina is the third oldest football club in Serbia's SuperLiga, after OFK Beograd which was founded in 1911 and FK Javor which was founded in 1912.-History:FK Vojvodina was founded...
, and playing against another top-league club, FK Velež Mostar
FK Velež Mostar
FK Velež , successor of RŠD Velež, is a football club from Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the city of Mostar, founded on June 22, 1922....
in the semis. The first match played in Mostar ended with a minimal 1-0 win for Velež, with the goal being scored by a disputed penalty. The second hand, played in Prijedor in front of a 6,000-spectator crowd, ended up with Rudar winning by same result, 1-0, Bijaljac being the scorer of the lone goal. In the subsequent penalty shoot-out, Velež won. The players of this last match were Rešić, Madžo, Drljača, Lukić, Bihorac, Kevrić, Mušić, substitute Karaman, Vojkić, Kaltak, substitute Zdjelar, and Bjeljac. The coach was Radoslav Zubanović.
Recent years
With the beginning of the Bosnian WarBosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
and the break-up of Yugoslavia, the club ceased its activities in 1992. Even in this difficult period, the passion for football was such that the players of FK Rudar Ljubija and OFK Prijedor joined and formed FK Rudar Prijedor. With the end of the war, the club began competing again, and reached the Republika Srpska Cup
Republika Srpska Cup
The Football Cup of Republika Srpska is a knock-out football competition contested annually by clubs from Republika Srpska in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is run by the Football Association of Republika Srpska.-Football Cup Finals of Republika Srpska:- External links :*...
final in 1995.
Since 1995 the club played 12 times in the First League of Republika Srpska and twice in the Second League. In the season 2008/09 the club finished first and qualified to the 2002-created Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the top football league in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the country's most prestigious level of football competition currently contested by 16 clubs with last two teams relegated at the end of every season....
. The following players managed this promotion: Kondić, Despotović, Dobrijević, Muzgonja, Ilinčić, Kovačević, Brkić, Stijepić, Kantar, Golić, Kecman, Dašić and Kotoran. The coach was Darko Nestorović, the Sposts Director was Mladen Zgonjanim, the President of the Direction was Branislav Riokvić, and the President of the club's Assembly was Božo Grbić.
After the qualification to the Premier League the reconstruction of the stadium began, with the participation of the Prijedor municipality.
Honours
First League of Republika Srpska (x1):- 2008/09First League of the Republika Srpska 2008–09The 2008-09 First League of the Republika Srpska season was the fourteenth since its establishment.-Clubs and stadiums:-League standings:-See also:*First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2008–09...
Squad
As of first half of 2010/11 season:External links
- Official Website
- Club page at Transfermarkt.
- Club profile, squad and transfers at Sportal.