FK Željezničar Sarajevo in European football

Fudbalski klub Željezničar Sarajevo (English: Football Club Željezničar Sarajevo) is a professional football club based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The first ever involvement of the team in European competitions was in the 1963 Mitropa Cup.

A brief history[]

FK Željezničar Sarajevo is a professional football club based in Grbavica in Novo Sarajevo; a municipality in the capital city Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club's first ever European match was against Austria Wien in the 1963 Mitropa Cup. Željezničar is most famous for becoming the first Bosnian football team to reach both the UEFA Cup (now UEFA Europa League) semi-finals during the 1984–85 season and the quarter-finals during the 1971–72 season, and one of the first few teams ever to do so from the former Yugoslavia.^[1]

In modern times, the clubs best finish in European competitions was reaching the 2002–03 Champions League third qualifying round, losing to Newcastle United.^[2]

From 1998 to 2015, Željezničar played its home European matches at the nation's largest Olympic stadium, Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium (also known as the Koševo Stadium), as their traditional home stadium, Grbavica Stadium, did not meet UEFA requirements. Since recent renovations at Grbavica, the club has been playing its home matches back at their home ground since July 2017.

European record[]

As of 9 September 2020^[3]

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goals difference. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

Best results in European competitions

Season	Achievement	Notes
UEFA Cup
1971–72	Quarter-final	eliminated on penalties by Ferencváros 2–1 in Budapest, 1–2 in Sarajevo
1984–85	Semi-final	eliminated by Videoton 2–1 in Sarajevo, 1–3 in Fehérvár
Mitropa Cup
1963–64	Semi-final	eliminated by MTK Budapest 1–1 in Sarajevo, 0–1 in Budapest
1968–69	Semi-final	eliminated by Sklo Union Teplice 1–1 in Sarajevo, 1–2 in Teplice

List of matches[]

1960s–1990[]

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1963	Mitropa Cup	QF	Austria Wien	4–1	0–2	4–3
		SF	MTK	1–1	0–1	1–2
1964	Mitropa Cup	QF	Slovan Bratislava	2–1	1–3	3–4
1965–66	International Football Cup (UEFA Intertoto Cup)	Group B3	Gwardia Warszawa	2–1	1–2	N/A
			Baník Ostrava	3–1	1–1
			Lokomotive Leipzig	2–2	0–0
1967–68	Mitropa Cup	1R	Jednota Trenčín	1–0	0–0	1–0
		QF	Spartak Trnava	2–2	1–2	3–4
1968–69	Mitropa Cup	1R	Budapesti Honvéd SE	1–0	1–0	2–0
		QF	Baník Ostrava	4–0	1–1	5–1
		SF	Sklo Union Teplice	1–1	1–2	2–3
1970–71	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Anderlecht	3–4	4–5	7–9
1971–72	UEFA Cup	1R	Club Brugge	3–0	1–3	4–3
		2R	Bologna	1–1	2–2	3–3(a)
		3R	St. Johnstone	5–1	0–1	5–2
		QF	Ferencváros	1–2	2–1	3–3(p)
1972–73	European Cup	1R	Derby County	1–2	0–2	1–4
1984–85	UEFA Cup	1R	Sliven	5–1	0–1	5–2
		2R	Sion	2–1	1–1	3–2
		3R	Universitatea Craiova	4–0	0–2	4–2
		QF	Dinamo Minsk	2–0	1–1	3–1
		SF	Videoton	2–1	1–3	3–4

1990–present[]

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1998–99	UEFA Cup	1Q	Kilmarnock	1–1	0–1	1–2
2000–01	UEFA Cup	QR	Wisła Kraków	0–0	1–3	1–3
2001–02	UEFA Champions League	1Q	Levski Sofia	0–0	0–4	0–4
2002–03	UEFA Champions League	1Q	Akranes	3–0	1–0	4–0
		2Q	Lillestrøm	1–0	1–0	2–0
		3Q	Newcastle United	0–1	0–4	0–5
	UEFA Cup	1R	Málaga	0–0	0–1	0–1
2003–04	UEFA Cup	QR	Anorthosis Famagusta	1–0	3–1	4–1
		1R	Heart of Midlothian	0–0	0–2	0–2
2004–05	UEFA Cup	1Q	Pennarossa	4–0	5–1	9–1
		2Q	Litex Lovech	1–2	0–7	1–9
2010–11	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Hapoel Tel Aviv	0–1	0–5	0–6
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Sheriff Tiraspol	1–0	0–0	1–0
		3Q	Maccabi Tel Aviv	0–2	0–6	0–8
2012–13	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Maribor	1–2	1–4	2–6
2013–14	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Viktoria Plzeň	1–2	3–4	4–6
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Lovćen Cetinje	0–0	1–0	1–0
		2Q	Metalurg Skopje	2–2	0–0	2–2(a)
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Balzan	1–0	2–0	3–0
		2Q	Ferencváros	2–0	1–0	3–0
		3Q	Standard Liège	0–1	1–2	1–3
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Zeta Golubovci	1–0	2–2	3–2
		2Q	AIK	0–0	0–2	0–2
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Narva Trans	3−1	2–0	5–1
		2Q	Apollon	1–2	1–3	2–5
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Maccabi Haifa	N/A	1–3	N/A

See also[]

• FK Željezničar Sarajevo
• Bosnian football clubs in European competitions
• Yugoslav First League - Best finish in Europe by club

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FK Željezničar.

• Official website (in Bosnian)
• Official supporters' website (in Bosnian)
• FK Željezničar UEFA results
• 1984–85 UEFA Cup Results at RSSSF.com