FK Spartak Subotica

Spartak Subotica

Full name	Fudbalski klub Spartak Subotica
Nickname(s)	Golubovi (The Pigeons)
Founded	21 April 1945; 76 years ago (1945-04-21)
Ground	Subotica City Stadium, Subotica
Capacity	13,000
President	Dragan Simović
Head coach	Vladimir Buač
League	Serbian SuperLiga
2020–21	Serbian Superliga, 9th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Active sport clubs of Spartak Subotica
Football (Men's) Basketball (Men's) Water Polo Football (Women's) Basketball (Women's) Ice Hockey

Fudbalski klub Spartak Subotica (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Спартак Суботица) is a professional football club from Subotica, Serbia, that plays in the Serbian SuperLiga.

The club was founded in 1945 and was named after Jovan Mikić Spartak, the leader of the Partisans in Subotica, who was a national hero and was killed in 1944.

The club was named Spartak Subotica until the end of the 2007–08 Serbian League Vojvodina season when it was merged with Zlatibor Voda who won promotion to the Serbian First League thus gaining the name Spartak Zlatibor Voda. In 2013, the board decided to return the original name of the club: "FK Spartak Subotica." However, the practice of adopting a sponsorship name returned in 2018 with the club accepting sponsorship from a vinary and renaming itself Spartak Ždrepčeva krv after the name of the popular wine brand produced in Serbia.

Some famous players to have represented the club over its history include: Nemanja Vidic who became a Manchester United legend, Nikola Zigic who played successfully in Spain and England, Ognjen Koroman who played for Serbia/Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and forged a successful career across Europe, Andrija Kaluđerović who played in many countries across the world and club legend Vidak Bratic who represented the club on numerous occasions.

History[]

Origins[]

Founded in 1945, FK Spartak Subotica is, after Vojvodina, the most successful club in northern Serbia. They participated in the first after-war club championship, in the 1946–47 Yugoslav First League and from then on, they played always in between the first and second national leagues. The biggest success of the club was achieved when the club played in the 1993–94 FR Yugoslavia Cup final against Partizan (1–6 loss).

However, football in Subotica has long tradition. During the pre-WWII period, the city was the seat of the Subotica Football Subassociation, one of the subassociations which existed within the Yugoslav Football Association, and which organised league competitions whose winners qualified for the Yugoslav championship where the national champion was decided. Subotica was home to 3 major clubs that made it to the Yugoslav championship before 1941: Bačka, SAND and ŽAK Subotica. Bačka has further more the record of being the oldest football club in the entire territory of former Yugoslavia.

When Second World War started in 1941 in Yugoslavia, Subotica was invaded by the Axis forces and incorporated into Hungary with its clubs being included in the Hungarian league system. At the end of the war Yugoslavia took control again of Subotica. Some clubs such as SAND were dissolved, others like Bačka kept existing although played a much lesser role from then on, and, some new were formed, like Radnički or Građanski. ŽAK Subotica kept being active for a while, however, their main sponsor, the Yugoslav Railways, decided to dissolve it and form a new club in its place which would be named "Spartak" which was the nickname of a legendary athlete from Subotica and World War II Yugoslav Partisans commander Jovan Mikić – Spartak. Besides the players, the stadium, the colors and the fans, Spartak also inherited from ŽAK the tradition of being backed by the Yugoslav Railways.^[1]

1946 to 2006[]

During the period of socialist Yugoslavia, Spartak was a regular participant either in Yugoslav First or Second leagues. Although never won thee national championship, they were a feared adversary known for both, producing good homeground players that archived quality careers domestically and abroad, and also bringing talented players from regions all around Yugoslavia. Spartak also contributed with a number of players for the national team. During this period, the highlight was their presence as losing finalist of the 1961–62 Yugoslav Cup.

Spartak was cup finalist again, in the 1993–94 FR Yugoslavia Cup. By then the old SFR Yugoslavia broke-up and FR Yugoslavia formed by Serbia and Montenegro took its place. Spartak was a regular participant of the First League of FR Yugoslavia all way until 1999–2000 season when they were relegated and a period of crisis started.

During the first decade of the new millennium the club went downhills all way until 2008 when they merged with FK Zlatibor Voda from neighbouring town of Horgoš. Playing under the name FK Spartak Zlatibor Voda, the club started recouvering finally reaching its come-back to top tier when they promoted to the 2009–10 Serbian SuperLiga.

2006 till nowadays[]

Spartak's biggest success since Serbia restored its name as country in 2006, came in the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. They first defeated Northern Irish club Coleraine F.C. in Round 1, then went on to achieve what is considered their brightest moment in club history defeating Czech powerhouse AC Sparta Prague over two legs. They were eventually eliminated from the UEFA Europa League in the 3rd qualifying round, losing to Danish club Brøndby IF over two leagues.^[2]

Supporters[]

Spartak's fans are known as Marinci (Marines), which were formed in early 1989.

Stadium[]

Subotica City Stadium (Gradski stadion^[3]) is a multi-use stadium in Subotica, Serbia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the club's home ground since 1945. The stadium holds 13,000 people. There is a football pitch and a registered track for athletics suitable for competitions. One part of the Stadium is covered. There are also two subsidiary football pitches.

Spartak in Europe[]

Mitropa Cup[]

The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, was one of the first really international major European football cups that the club participated in. After World War II, in 1951, a replacement tournament named Zentropa Cup was held to resume the rich tradition of this competition.

Season	Contest	Round	State	Club	Score	Place
1987	Mitropa Cup	semi-finals	Italy	Ascoli	1–2	Ascoli
		3./4. place	Hungary	Vasas	0–2	Porto Sant'Elpidio

UEFA competitions[]

• Qualified for Europe in 2 seasons

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2010–11	Europa League	QR2	Differdange 03	2–0	3–3	5–3
		QR3	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	2–1	0–2	2–3
2018–19	Europa League	QR1	Coleraine	1–1	2–0	3–1
		QR2	Sparta Prague	2–0	1–2	3–2
		QR3	Brøndby	0–2	1–2	1–4

Honours[]

National Championships – 1

• People's Republic of Serbia League (Vojvodina group)
  • Winners (1): 1945–46^[4]

Yugoslav Second League (4)

• 1952, 1971–72, 1985–86 (West), 1987–88 (West)

Yugoslav Cup:

• Runners-up (2): 1961–62, 1993–94

Players[]

For recent transfers, see .

Current squad[]

As of 18 March 2021^[5][6][7]

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  MNE Mišo Dubljanić 2 DF  SRB 3 DF  JPN Noboru Shimura 4 DF   SUI 5 DF  SRB Mihajlo Ivančević 6 MF  SRB Aleksa Đurasović 7 FW  SRB Nikola Srećković 9 FW  SRB Stefan Šormaz 10 DF  SRB Stefan Milošević 11 MF  MKD 13 GK  SRB Filip Manojlović 14 MF  SRB 15 DF  SRB 16 DF  SRB Aleksandar Bjelica 17 DF  SRB 18 MF  SRB

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  TAN 20 DF  SRB 21 FW  SRB 23 FW  SRB Mile Savković 25 MF  SRB 29 MF  SRB Lazar Tufegdžić 31 MF  SRB Milan Marčić 33 DF  BIH Aleksandar Vidović 34 DF  SRB 45 FW  SRB Andrej Bogićević 50 MF  SRB 70 MF  SRB Nemanja Mihajlović 77 FW  SRB 80 MF  SRB 99 GK  BIH Filip Dujmović — FW  SRB Nemanja Nikolić

Players with multiple nationalities[]

• 
• Aleksandar Vidović
• 

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 — FW  SRB Nikola Tripković (at Inđija)

Notable players[]

To appear in this section a player must have either:

• Played at least 80 games for the club.
• Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club.
• Played at least one international match for their national team at any time.

For the list of all current and former players with Wikipedia article, please see: Category:FK Spartak Subotica players.

Managers[]

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in Serbian)
• Blue Marines fans
• Club profile and squad at Srbijafudbal
• Club history at Sportski savez Subotice (in Serbian)
• Spartak Stats at Utakmica.rs