NK Svoboda Ljubljana

Svoboda Ljubljana
Full name	Nogometni klub Svoboda Ljubljana
Founded	1952; 70 years ago
Ground	Svoboda Sports Park
Capacity	800
President	Hajro Rizvić
League	3. SNL – West
2020–21	3. SNL – West, 7th
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours

Nogometni klub Svoboda Ljubljana (English: Svoboda Ljubljana Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Svoboda Ljubljana or simply Svoboda, is a Slovenian football club from Ljubljana which plays in the Slovenian Third League.

History[]

The club was formed as ŠD Svoboda in 1952 and was known as one of the best Slovenian clubs during the time of SFR Yugoslavia. It started in lower rangs, but then merged with Grafičar, took its place in Slovenian League and played under that name until 1962. The most successful years came in the seventies, when the club was playing in Yugoslav Second Division under the sponsorship of Mercator, national food market company. In 1971 they have won the Slovenian Republic League for the first time and earned a promotion to the Yugoslav Second Division West, where they played until 1982, with the exception of three triumphal republic seasons.

Year	Postiton	Year	Postiton
1971	1st	1977	17th
1972	13th	1978	1st
1973	8th	1979	16th
1974	18th	1980	1st
1975	1st	1981	8th
1976	12th	1982	16th

During this period they have also won two cup titles in 1976 and 1978. Therefore, they participated in the Yugoslav Cup in the next two seasons, in the latter they were eliminated by Borac Banja Luka in the Round of 16. After the independence of Slovenia in 1991, Svoboda played in the Slovenian PrvaLiga for three seasons, finishing in 11th, 6th, and 13th place. In 1994 the club was replaced by Slavija with many players leaving from them to Vevče. Svoboda then played several seasons in lower divisions, before returning to the scene in 2003, when they were promoted to the Slovenian Second League. They have played there for three seasons, scoring the best result in the 2004–05 season with third place, which was not enough to secure promotion, due to Slovenian First League being decreased to ten teams. In the next two seasons Svoboda was relegated from the second and third division, having serious financial troubles. The club was taken over by NK Interblock in 2008 to become their feeder team for youth selections, but this collaboration lasted only one season. Svoboda started on their own again in 2009. In 2018, Svoboda returned to the Slovenian Third League after they won a promotion play-off against Žiri.

Managers[]

Manager	Period
Sanel Konjević	2009–2010
Vanja Starčević	2011
Suad Beširević	2011–2012
Željko Mitraković	2012
Zoran Pejović	2012–2016
Damir Vrabac	2016–2017
Damir Šabotić	2017
Damir Vrabac	2018
Jedinko Perica	2018–2021
Željko Filipović	2021

Honours[]

League

Slovenian Republic League

1970–71, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1979–80

Slovenian Third League

2002–03

Slovenian Fourth Division

2010–11, 2017–18

Slovenian Fifth Division

1994–95, 2009–10

Cup

Slovenian Republic Cup

1975–76, 1977–78

MNZ Ljubljana Cup

2003–04^[2]

Domestic league and cup results[]

Season	League	Position	Pts	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Cup
1991–92	1. SNL	11	40	40	14	12	14	51	55	Round of 64
1992–93	1. SNL	6	38	34	14	10	10	38	33	Quarter-finals
1993–94	1. SNL	13	23	30	9	5	16	31	59	First round
1994–95	2. MNZ LJ	1	28	18	13	2	3	43	20	First round
1995–96	1. MNZ LJ	3	48	26	15	3	8	48	33	x
1996–97	1. MNZ LJ	3	45	25	14	3	8	54	33	x
1997–98	3. SNL – West	2	42	25	11	9	5	41	21	x
1998–99	3. SNL – Centre	3	47	26	14	5	7	78	50	x
1999–2000	3. SNL – Centre	11	26	26	6	8	12	34	39	x
2000–01	3. SNL – Centre	9	33	26	8	9	9	32	34	x
2001–02	3. SNL – Centre	3	47	26	13	8	5	45	32	x
2002–03	3. SNL – Centre	1	62	25	19	5	1	76	23	x
2003–04	2. SNL	8	34	32	9	7	16	48	47	x
2004–05	2. SNL	3	61	33	18	7	8	52	33	First round
2005–06	2. SNL	9	25	27	7	4	16	26	33	First round
2006–07	3. SNL – West	11	29	26	9	15	2	39	59	x
2007–08	2. MNZ LJ	8	21	20	7	0	13	40	50	x
2008–09	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
2009–10	2. MNZ LJ	1	38	16	12	2	2	71	22	x
2010–11	Regional	1	56	26	17	5	4	60	27	x
2011–12	3. SNL – West	14	22	26	5	7	14	23	49	x
2012–13	Regional	2	55	26	17	4	5	64	31	x
2013–14	Regional	8	32	26	9	5	12	44	50	x
2014–15	Regional	6	28	19	9	1	9	33	31	x
2015–16	Regional	2	44	22	14	2	6	52	34	x
2016–17	Regional	4	40	22	12	4	6	42	31	x
2017–18	Regional	1	58	22	18	4	0	65	18	x
2018–19	3. SNL – Centre	6	32	27	7	11	9	44	52	x
2019–20	3. SNL – West^[a]	2	31	14	9	4	1	47	19	x
2020–21	3. SNL – West	7	22	19	7	1	11	33	47	x

^ The season was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Best results are highlighted.

References[]

^ "Klubi" [Clubs] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
^ "Novice: Finale članskega pokala MNZ Ljubljana" (in Slovenian). MNZ Ljubljana. Archived from the original on 11 June 2004. Retrieved 30 October 2016.

External links[]

Official website (in Slovene)

[3] The season was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Klubi-1] "Klubi" [Clubs] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 29 July 2016.

[2] "Novice: Finale članskega pokala MNZ Ljubljana" (in Slovenian). MNZ Ljubljana. Archived from the original on 11 June 2004. Retrieved 30 October 2016.

[1]

[2]

[a]

v t 2021–22 Slovenian Third League
East	Bistrica Dravinja Dravograd Korotan Prevalje Šampion Šmarje pri Jelšah Šmartno 1928 Zavrč Zreče
West	Adria Brda Brinje Grosuplje Izola Sava Kranj Šenčur Slovan Svoboda Ljubljana Tolmin Vipava Žiri

v t Slovenian PrvaLiga
Seasons	1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
2021–22 teams	Aluminij Bravo Celje Domžale Koper Maribor NŠ Mura Olimpija Ljubljana Radomlje Tabor Sežana
Former teams	Ankaran Bela Krajina Beltinci Drava Ptuj Dravograd Gorica Interblock Izola Jadran Dekani Kočevje Korotan Prevalje Krka Krško Livar Ljubljana Medvode NK Mura ND Mura 05 Nafta Lendava Naklo Olimpija Pohorje Primorje Radomlje Rudar Trbovlje Rudar Velenje Slavija Vevče Slovan Šmartno Steklar Svoboda Triglav Kranj Zagorje Zavrč Železničar Maribor
Associated competitions	Slovenian Cup Second League Third League UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Europa Conference League

v t Slovenian Republic League
Seasons (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)	1920 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41
Teams (1920–1941)	I. SSK Maribor Amater Athletik Bratstvo Celje Čakovec Disk Hermes Hrastnik Ilirija Jadran Kranj Mura Olimp Primorje Rapid Rote Elf SK Ljubljana Slovan Šoštanj Železničar Maribor
Seasons (SFR Yugoslavia)	1946 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1950 1951 1952 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91
Teams (1946–1991)	Aluminij Branik Maribor Branik Solkan Brežice Domžale Drava Dravinja Elan Elkroj Grafičar Hrastnik Ilirija Izola Jadran Dekani Jesenice Kamnik Kladivar Koper Kovinar Maribor Kovinar Štore Krim Ljubljana Maribor Medvode Mura Nafta Naklo Olimp Olimpija Partizan Žalec Piran Pohorje Postojna Primorje Proletarec Rudar Trbovlje Rudar Velenje Slavija Slovan Steklar Stol Svoboda Tabor Šmartno Triglav Kranj Vozila Železničar Maribor ŽŠD Celje