FK Borac Banja Luka

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Borac Banja Luka

Full name	Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka
Nickname(s)	Crveno-plavi (The Red-Blues) Velikan iz Platonove (Giant from Platon St) Krajiški ponos (Pride of Krajina)
Founded	4 July 1926; 95 years ago (1926-07-04)
Ground	Banja Luka City Stadium
Capacity	10,030
President	Stojan Malbašić
Manager	Nemanja Miljanović
League	Premier League BH
2020–21	Premier League BH, 1st
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Active sport clubs of Borac Banja Luka
Football Basketball (Men's) Volleyball Athletics Handball (Men's) Tennis Handball (Women's) Swimming

Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, pronounced [bǒːrat͡s]) is a professional association football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it is the major part of the Borac Banja Luka Sports Society. Borac Banja Luka is the most successful club in Republika Srpska, and one of the most popular football clubs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name Borac means "Fighter".

Currently, Borac is a part of the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina and plays its home matches at the Banja Luka City Stadium, which has a capacity of 10,030 seats.

History[]

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Early years (1926–1953)[]

The football club Borac Banja Luka was founded on 4 July 1926. Originally it was named Radnički sportski klub Borac, which means Labour Sports Club Borac, Borac meaning "Fighter", and its roots come from the relation the club had with local labour movements during the first half of the 20th century. The club was founded by a group of football enthusiasts including the writer, activist and People's Hero of Yugoslavia Veselin Masleša, Rudolf "Rudi" Hiter, Savo Novaković, Nikola Pucar, Brane Pucar, Mustafa Softić, Nikola Kuković, Žarko Vranješević, Mile Stefanović, Brane Stefanović among others. They financed the club believing that by backing and supporting it that they would directly help promote the labour movements struggle that were under way. The name "Borac" (English: fighter) was given by Masleša who said: "If you are going to fight for workers rights, why don't you give the club name Borac?".^[1][2]

The club's first president was Rudolf Hiter, and Savo Novaković was named vice president, with supervisory board headed by Đoko Jovanović. As football attracted more and more attention in the city on the Vrbas river, and Banja Luka got the right to organise its own subassociation gathering the clubs of the entire Krajina region, a new, bigger and modern stadium was built. The opening ceremony took place on September 5, 1937, on the ground of the present-day Banja Luka City Stadium.

The club's first success in this early period came in 1928, when RSK Borac won a tournament played in Sarajevo. Before World War II, the major club in Banja Luka was ŠK Krajišnik, however, after 1945, it was disbanded, and Borac replaced Krajišnik as city´s main club. Borac played conference leagues in order to qualify for the reestablished Yugoslav First League where defeated Sloboda Novi Grad 14–3 on aggregate, FK Kozara from Banja Luka with 8–4 on aggregate and Borac Kozarska Dubica 7–0 on aggregate and became Banja Luka district champions. In 1945, RSK Borac was renamed in FK Borac Banja Luka and played for two years in the Yugoslav Third League, before it was promoted to the Yugoslav Second League in 1953.

Decades of success in the first and second league (1960–1992)[]

In 1961, Borac was promoted to the Yugoslav First League for the first time, but was promptly dropped back down at the end of the season. The club had to wait for almost a decade for the return to top flight. It was in the 1970/71 season, and the club stayed in the top league for four consecutive seasons. In this period, precisely in 1974, Borac achieved the Yugoslav Cup final. They were defeated by Hajduk Split in Belgrade, and as the runner-up, they have provided placement for the 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup season. In the first round of Cup Winners' Cup, Borac played against US Rumelange from Luxembourg. The first leg was played in Banja Luka where Borac recorded a record win in European competitions by a 9–0.^[3]

The second leg was won by Borac by 1–5, meaning 14–1 on aggregate, and played in the second round against R.S.C. Anderlecht. The "Red-Blues" won the home match but it was 1–3 on aggregate at the end for the Belgians, who became winners of the European Cup Winners' Cup that season. Borac Banja Luka was the only team who beat R.S.C Anderlecht in one match (at home by 1–0) during the cup season. In the 1974–75 season, Borac played in the second league, but the club achieved a quick promotion and thus ensured the beginning of a new 5-year first league period that lasted until 1980. The following nine seasons, Borac spent in the second League, before a final top league period between 1989 and 1992. Borac's best placement in the first League was in 1992, when it finished the season as 4th. In total, Borac played 487 matches in Yugoslav First League during a 46 years long period.^[4]

Memorable years (1988–1992)[]

Yugoslav Cup winner (1988)[]

From 1988 to 1992, Borac enjoyed the best period in its long history. In 1988, Borac achieved its biggest success. Under coach Husnija Fazlić team won the Yugoslav Cup, the second major football competition in the former Yugoslav football and became the only second league club that ever achieved this. In the final, Borac defeated Yugoslav football giant Red Star by 0–1 at JNA stadium in Belgrade.^[5][6][7][8] The historic goal was scored by Senad Lupić, one of the Borac's legends. At the ceremony, president of Yugoslav Football Association Antun Čilić gave the golden plaques to Borac players and head coach. The next day, tens of thousands of Borac supporters gathered at Krajina square in Banja Luka and gave their team a hero's welcome.

First European title (1992)[]

In 1992, Borac won its first international trophy, the Mitropa Cup.^{[9][10][11][12]} The club won the cup in the Italian city Foggia.

At that time there was an ongoing civil war in Yugoslavia, but despite that, they travelled to Italy in hope to write history. After the elimination of U.S. Foggia in front of 30,000 spectators, Borac met in the final BVSC Budapest at Pino Zaccheria Stadium. Filipović scored but gave only temporary advantage to Borac because the Hungarians equalized by Tuboly. That was the result of regular time, so the winner was decided by penalties. Borac won 5–3 from the white spot and got the trophy. Sašivarević, Stavljanin, Filipović, Bilbija, and Simeunović scored for Borac, and goalkeeper Simeunović saved his goal twice. Borac head coach was Smilevski, who was recently named as the member of Borac's "Best Eleven" squad in its history. Borac played a total of twelve games in UEFA competitions and has never lost a European match at its home ground. Also, seven Borac players have participated in the Yugoslav national football team in its history.

Recent years (2001–present)[]

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The First League of the Republika Srpska was the top flight of the Republika Srpska before 2002. Borac won the Republika Srpska championship three times (2001, 2006 and 2008). Their 2008 title was won dominantly with 14 points ahead of Sloga Doboj. Borac has won five Republika Srpska Cups, in 1995 against Rudar Prijedor, 1996 against Jedinstvo Brčko, 2009 against Radnik Bijeljina, 2011 again against the club from Bijeljina and in 2012 against Sloboda Mrkonjić Grad. In 2002, the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina was created as three national competitions were merged in one.

It became the country's most prestigious level of football competition. Also, since 2002, the clubs from entire country are competing in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup. In 2010, Borac won the Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup and finished as third the national championship. During the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League season, they played in the second round against FC Lausanne-Sport, but were knocked out in front of sold-out Banja Luka City Stadium with 1–2 on aggregate for the Swiss club. In 2011, Borac became the football champion of Bosnia and Herzegovina with only 4 defeats and 15 conceded goals during 30 matches. The club won also the Republika Srpska Cup. In the following 2011–12 UEFA Champions League season, Borac start the qualifying matches against Maccabi Haifa. First match was played in Haifa, where Borac got the lead by the goal from Raspudić, a goal that surprised Maccabi Haifa as they were controlling the game. A minute into the first half's extra time, Amasha equalized for Maccabi Haifa. But then, an inexplicable black hole^{[clarification needed]} occurred at Borac performance and they conceded three goals in only three minutes and Borac lost by 5–1. In the second leg, Borac showed great performance and won 3–2 by two goals from Krunić and one from Vidaković, however, the tournament was over for them. In 2012, Borac finished the national championship as third and qualified for the European football competition season. The draw for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was held in Nion and Borac got Čelik Nikšić from Montenegro as their opponent. Borac was knocked out by away goal rule (3-3a).

Colours and crest[]

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Colours[]

Borac Banja Luka's traditional home colors are red and blue with white socks (colours that are contained on the Yugoslav flag). Borac has maintained the red-blue shirt for its home kit throughout the history of the club. Its traditional away colours are all blue or all red. The club's kit is after long-standing Serbian sports clothing company NAAI, currently new manufactured by Diadora, an Italian sports clothing company.

Crest[]

Borac Banja Luka's present crest contains name of the club and the name of the City of Banja Luka on the background formed from the sections that are colored as Serbian flag. On the top of the crest the year of club foundation is located. In addition, the whole crest is framed with gold color.

• 

  Borac's crest during the former Yugoslavia

• 

  Borac's present crest

Stadium[]

The home field of Borac is the Banja Luka City Stadium. It has 10,030 seats and is one of the most modern stadiums in the country. The stadium was built in 1937 and its main donator was Bogoljub Kujundžić, the ban of the Vrbas banovina. Since then, the stadium underwent several expansions and reconstructions in the years 1973, 1981, 2010 and 2012. In 2010, the stadium underwent complete reconstruction. New seats were installed on east and west stands, locker rooms were renovated, a completely new VIP lounge and room for media was built, new lighting, sound systems and video surveillance were installed, and trophy and technical rooms were renovated. In 2012, new north stand was built with a capacity of 2,492 seats, which increased the total capacity of the stadium to 9,730. According to recent plans, the east stand will be covered by a roof in the upcoming years. The construction of the south stand began, which will increase the total capacity to approximately 13,000 seats.

New Stadium[]

In 2008, expert committee has chosen the concept of building a new stadium. The new stadium will have 30,000 seats, and whole complex will cover 205,000 square meters. It will include two additional football fields, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts. The cost of the whole project is estimated to be €50 million and it will meet the highest FIFA an UEFA demands.^{[citation needed]}

Supporters[]

As one of the most successful football club in country, Borac always had considerable number of supporters. The organized supporters of FK Borac are known as Lešinari^[13] (Serbian Cyrillic: Лешинари) and they are the oldest organized supporter group in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were established in 1987. The gathering point of the club's most loyal and passionate fans was the East stand of Banja Luka City Stadium until 2017, when it was changed to the North stand. Borac have big strong and loyal brotherhood with Vojvodina fans Firma and friendship with fans of Genoa.

Rivalries[]

Željezničar-Borac Banja Luka rivalry[]

Since the season 2008–09, the time when Borac started to be standard in the Bosnian Premier League once again, a great rivalry started to develop between them and FK Željezničar. Starting from the 2009–10 season the two teams mainly competed against each other for one of the titles (the league title or national cup) and even the attendance almost got on pair with the acclaimed Sarajevo derby. The rivalry also has a root in the fact that Sarajevo and Banja Luka are, by a good margin, the two biggest cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the first being also the capital of the whole country while the second takes the role as the de facto capital of Republika Srpska entity. Since independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina the teams met each other 22 times (6 of which are in national cup), although they played the first time against each other in 1947 Yugoslav Cup. In those 22 matches, Željezničar won 12 times, while Borac managed to win 7 times, with 3 matches ending in a draw. The goal difference is 31:19 in favor of Željezničar (Not including results from 2015 to 2016 season).

Honours[]

Domestic[]

League[]

• Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
  • Winners (2): 2010–11, 2020–21
• First League of Republika Srpska:
  • Winners (5): 2000–01, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2016–17, 2018–19 (record)
  • Runners-up (1): 1997–98

Cups[]

• Yugoslav Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1987–88
  • Runners-up (1): 1974
• Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup:
  • Winners (1): 2009–10
  • Runners-up (2): 2003–04, 2020–21
• Republika Srpska Cup:
  • Winners (5): 1994–95, 1995–96, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12

European[]

• Mitropa Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1992

Recent seasons[]

Season	League									CupRS	Cup	European competitions		Top goalscorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos					Player	Goals
1992–93	1st YU↓	36	6	11	19	35	64	23	19th	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
1993–94	2nd YU	38						33	15th	N/A	1/16 YU	N/A	N/A
1994–95	2nd YU↓	38						39	16th	W	N/A	N/A	N/A
In summer 1995 Borac left the Football Association of Yugoslavia to join to First League of the Republika Srpska
1995–96	RS W	20	14	6	0	50	13	48	2nd	W	N/A	N/A	N/A
1996–97	RS W	22	11	6	5	32	16	39	2nd		N/A	N/A	N/A
1997–98	RS	34	18	4	12	58	34	58	2nd		N/A	N/A	N/A
1998–99	RS	34	13	6	15	44	39	45	15th		N/A	N/A	N/A
1999–00	RS	38	16	11	11	70	40	59	8th		N/A	N/A	N/A
2000–01	RS	30	20	3	7	66	22	63	1st		N/A	N/A	N/A
2001–02	RS↑	30	16	7	7	45	25	55	3rd	1/8	1/16	N/A	N/A
2002–03	Prem	38	16	6	16	50	49	54	7th	1/16	QF	N/A	N/A
2003–04	Prem	30	11	6	13	40	42	39	7th	1/8	Run	N/A	N/A
2004–05	Prem↓	30	13	2	15	36	39	40*	15th	1/8	1/8	N/A	N/A
2005–06	RS↑	30	19	5	6	50	19	62	1st	SF	1/8	N/A	N/A
2006–07	Prem↓	30	13	0	17	42	47	39	15th	1/8	QF	N/A	N/A
2007–08	RS↑	30	21	4	5	62	29	67	1st	Run	1/16	N/A	N/A
2008–09	Prem	30	15	4	11	45	26	49	5th	W	1/16	N/A	N/A	Stojan Vranješ	5
2009–10	Prem	30	17	2	11	37	29	53	3rd	1/8	W	N/A	N/A	Nemanja Bilbija	6
2010–11	Prem	30	19	7	4	37	15	64	1st	W	1/8	Europa League	QR2	Stevo Nikolić	10
2011–12	Prem	30	17	4	9	46	26	55	3rd	W	SF	Champions League	QR2	Saša Kajkut	9
2012–13	Prem	30	14	9	7	43	25	51	3rd	Run	1/16	Europa League	QR1	Joco Stokić	12
2013–14	Prem	30	13	6	11	39	32	45	6th	1/16	1/8	N/A	N/A	Joco Stokić	10
2014–15	Prem	30	14	7	9	26	26	49	5th	1/8	SF	N/A	N/A	Joco Stokić	10
2015–16	Prem↓	30	10	6	14	27	33	36	11th	1/8	QF	N/A	N/A	Toni Jović	6
2016–17	RS↑	32	25	6	1	61	47	81	1st	QF	1/16	N/A	N/A	Ivan Delić	12
2017–18	Prem↓	32	10	8	14	22	31	38	9th	1/8	1/8	N/A	N/A	Petar Kunić	12
2018–19	RS↑	32	25	5	2	60	14	80	1st	QF	QF	N/A	N/A	Saša Kajkut	13
2019–20[nb 1]	Prem	22	10	6	6	29	23	36	4th	1/8	QF	N/A	N/A	Stojan Vranješ	12
2020–21	Prem	33	21	4	8	59	31	67	1st	1/16	Run	Europa League	QR2	Stojan Vranješ	15

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 / Europe: PR = Preliminary round; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; Group = Group stage; QF = Quarter-final; SF = Semi-final; RU = Runner-up; W = Competition won;

European record[]

As of 29 July 2021

Competition	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	GF	GA	GD	Win%
UEFA Champions League	4	2	0	2	7	11	−4	050.00
UEFA Europa League	6	1	3	2	5	7	−2	016.67
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	6	4	0	2	17	8	+9	066.67
UEFA Europa Conference League	2	0	1	1	0	4	−4	000.00
Mitropa Cup	2	0	2	0	3	3	+0	000.00
Total	20	7	6	7	32	33	−1	035.00

Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.

List of matches[]

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1975–76	Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Rumelange	9–0	5–1	14–1
		2R	Anderlecht	1–0	0–3	1–3
1988–89	Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Metalist Kharkov	2–0	0–4	2–4
1991–92	Mitropa Cup	SF	Foggia	2–2 (4–2 p)
		Final	BVSC Budapest	1–1 (5–3 p)
2010–11	Europa League	2Q	Lausanne-Sport	1–1	0–1	1–2
2011–12	Champions League	2Q	Maccabi Haifa	3–2	1–5	4–7
2012–13	Europa League	1Q	Čelik Nikšić	2–2	1–1	3–3 (a)
2020–21	Europa League	1Q	Sutjeska Nikšić	1–0	—	—
		2Q	Rio Ave	0−2	—	—
2021–22	Champions League	1Q	CFR Cluj	2–1 (a.e.t.)	1−3	3–4
	Europa Conference League	2Q	Linfield	0–0	0−4	0–4

Club ranking[]

UEFA coefficient[]

2020–21 season[]

Rank	Team	Points
372	Differdange 03	1.650
373	Union Titus Pétange	1.650
374	Racing-Union	1.650
375	Borac	1.600
376	Radnik	1.600
377	Sloboda	1.600
378	Bohemians	1.575

As of 17 December 2020. Source

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 9 September 2021^[15]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SRB Bojan Pavlović 3 DF  BIH Marko Kujundžić 5 DF  SRB Marko Jovanović (Vice-captain) 7 DF  BIH Dino Ćorić 8 MF  BIH Amar Begić 15 MF  CMR Donald Molls 16 MF  BIH Aleksandar Vojnović 17 MF  BIH Nikola Dujaković 18 DF  BIH Aleksandar Subić 19 FW  BIH Jovo Lukić 21 GK  BIH Nikola Ćetković 22 MF  BIH David Čavić

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  BIH Stojan Vranješ (Captain) 24 MF  SRB Dejan Meleg 25 GK  BIH Nikola Lakić 27 MF  BIH Enver Kulašin 28 DF  BIH Đorđe Milojević 32 FW  CRO Ante Živković 33 MF  SRB Nemanja Vukmanović 45 FW  GRE Panagiotis Moraitis 77 MF  MNE Milan Vušurović 99 MF  BIH Goran Zakarić — DF  SRB Strahinja Bošnjak — MF  SRB Dejan Gajić

Out on loan[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  BIH Maksimilijan Milovanović (at Modriča) — DF  BIH Miloš Borovčanin (at Ljubić Prnjavor) — DF  BIH Filip Račić (at Željezničar Banja Luka) — MF  BIH Luka Bobić (at Kozara Gradiška) — MF  BIH Branko Božić (at Ljubić Prnjavor) — MF  BIH Dejan Bosančić (at Leotar)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  BIH Amar Tahrić (at Radnik Bijeljina) — MF  BIH Amar Cerić (at Ljubić Prnjavor) — FW  BIH Milan Šikanjić (at Kozara Gradiška) — FW  BIH Bojan Marković (at Radnik Bijeljina) — FW  BIH Dejan Javorac (at Ljubić Prnjavor)

Players with multiple nationalities[]

• Bojan Pavlović
• Dino Ćorić
• Nikola Ćetković
• Stojan Vranješ
• Nikola Lakić
• Strahinja Bošnjak
• Dejan Gajić

Technical staff[]

Current staff

Head Coach: Nemanja Miljanović Assistant: Boris Raspudić Coach: Zoran Dragišić Coach: Čedomir Ćulum Fitness Coach: Predrag Božić Goalkeeping Coach: Radovan Gajić Doctor: Nemanja Tomić Head Physiotherapist: Vladimir Pilipović Physiotherapist: Darko Dejanović Physiotherapist: Nikola Vučenović Kit manager: Milovan Maksić

Club management[]

Current board

President: Stojan Malbašić Director: Dejan Lukendić Director of Football: Bogoljub Zeljković General Secretary: Aleksandar Gaćanović Head of Youth Development: Igor Janković Chief Scout: Saša Kajkut Secretary Coordinator Director: Danijela Knežević Marketing Director: Jelena Trninić Milićević Portparol: Jelena Tučić Board members: Stojan Malbašić (president) Mladen Jovićević (vice president) Stanislav Koleška (vice president) Branko Kovačević Viktor Latinović Ljubo Tomić Bogoljub Zeljković

Former players[]

World Cup players[]

2014 FIFA World Cup

• Asmir Avdukić

Managerial history[]

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FK Borac Banja Luka.

• Official website (in Serbian)
• Sport association Borac (in Serbian)
• Official supporters' website (in Serbian)
• Borac Banja Luka at UEFA.com