Maribor

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The Nogometni klub Maribor was established on December 12, 1960, by the officials and players from NK Branik Maribor, a club that was disbanded within a couple of months. Srecko Koren was elected the first president of this club, as was Andrija Pflander was the inaugural head coach. The team played their first friendly game on the 5th of February, 1961 against Kovinar beating them at 2-1, with two goals scored from Stefan Tolic. The first season of the club, Maribor won the Slovenian Republic League (third third tier of Yugoslavia) and was able to play in 1962-61 Yugoslav Second League through the play-offs. In 1961, the club moved to the newly constructed Ljudski Vrt stadium. After six years playing in second division Maribor was crowned league champions and was elevated to the top flight of the Yugoslav First League in the 1966-67 season.

Maribor had their first game at the Yugoslav top division with Vardar within Skopje; Maras scored the only goal for Maribor in a draw of 1-1. The first time they won was in the month of August, 1967 the following month, when Maribor beat Proleter Zrenjanin 3-1 at home. In the course of the season, the first ever game of the Yugoslav top flight that involved two sides from Slovenia was played, as Maribor hosted a goalless contest against their opponents Olimpija from Ljubljana before 13,000 fans. Each game between the two teams in the period of play attracted huge crowds, sometimes at times reaching 20000. Maribor completed their first top division season 12th among 16 teams.

In the season 1969-70, Maribor finished 10th out of 18 clubs, which was their most prestigious ever position for Yugoslav football. The last time they played at the top of their division took place in 1971 and 1972 which saw the team finish at the bottom, scoring just 20 points in 34 games. Mladen Kranjc, Maribor's leading scoring player in all five Yugoslav top division seasons with 54 league goals. This eventually led to his move onto one of the best Yugoslav teams, Dinamo Zagreb. In their five years in the top division of Yugoslavia The club played 162 league games, and was able to record 40 wins with 57 draws and 69 losses.

In the 1972-73 season Maribor was playing in the second division. The team finished second just one point behind Zagreb and this meant that they were able to participate in an appearance in the Yugoslav first division play-offs for promotion. In the first qualification round, which was played against Montenegrin team Buducnost, Maribor won on penalties and was able to qualify for the final game against Proleter. The first game was played in Maribor's home stadium on July 8, 1973, and has been regarded to be one of the greatest games that have ever played in Maribor because it has the club's highest record for home attendance. There were 20,000 people in attendance and 15,000 were already in the stands for nearly three hours prior to the start which eventually helped Maribor to win the match 3-1. The advantage of two goals did not suffice since Proleter took the second leg with a 3-0 score which earned them promotion. After the score was set at 1-0 in favor of Proleter, Josip Razic equalised in the 23rd minute however, the goal was never given by the official. The replay on television revealed that the ball been able to cross the line of goal, and that the goal ought to be considered a goal.

The time between 1973 and 1991 was one of the most difficult times of the clubs' history. In the subsequent season of 1973-74 Maribor failed to remain close to that top spot in second division, and ended the season in 13th position. The 1974-75 season saw Maribor were dropped to the third division of the Slovenian Republic League for the first time in 14 years, however Maribor immediately went back to second place having 15 points in front of the summit in the Republic League table at the conclusion of the 1975-76 campaign. Maribor almost made it back to the top of the league in 1978-79, when they finished runners-up in 2nd division which was six points down Bosnian team Celik Zenica, but failed to make it through in the play-offs for promotion.

In the season of 1980-81, when Maribor did not suffer losing its place in the 2nd Yugoslav division the club was subject to a corruption scandal which led the club to be sent to the bottom of the pile through the Football Association of Yugoslavia disciplinary committee. Maribor was alleged to have an unidentified fund which was used to pay officials and players. The fund was dissolved in 1968 following the club's rise up to first division however it was reinstated following the scandal in 1976.After the scandal, and subsequent relegation Maribor was shifting between the third and second Yugoslav divisions up until Slovenia's declaration of independence in 1991.

After Slovenia's independence in July 1991 Maribor became one of the first members of the newly-formed Slovenian First League for the first season of 1991-92. [24] In the initial couple of seasons, Maribor's rivals Olimpija from Ljubljana were the dominant team in the league. However, Maribor managed to win the inaugural season of the Slovenian Cup in 1992 after defeating Olimpija 4-3 in penalties during the semi-final. In the following year, Maribor made their debut in international UEFA tournaments, participating in UEFA Cup Winners Cup. The club had their first international game on the 19th of August, 1992 in which they played Hamrun Spartans of Malta and defeated them the match 4-0. Ante Simundza scored their premier European strike for the team. Maribor was Slovenian League runners-up in 1991-92 1994-95, 1992-93, and 1993-94, after which they finished fourth in the 1995-96 campaign. In this time, Maribor also won a cup title in 1993-94, beating Mura 3-1 on aggregate with two games in the championship.

In 1996 and 1997, the season was deemed be the turning point for the club's history. Maribor. Maribor was crowned league champions, for the very first time in history. In the course of the season, the average attendance at home was 5,289 people that remains an all-time record until 2022. The final game of the season took place on June 1, 1997, against Beltinci in the presence of 14,000 fans that is an official record of this season's Slovenian premier division. In the same season, Maribor also was the winner of in the 1996-1997 Slovenian Cup, thus winning the domestic double. This was a feat that they repeated during the 1998-99 season. Following their first win during 1996 and 1997, Maribor continued to take home six more titles, taking their total of titles to seven in 2003. The 1999-2000 season was a success for the club. the team, led by the head manager Bojan Prasnikar, beat Genk as well as Lyon at the qualifier rounds in 1999/2000's UEFA Champions League and thus was able to participate in Group Stage of this tournament to the first time. Maribor were drafted into the group alongside Dynamo Kyiv, Bayer Leverkusen as well as Lazio. They came last with just four points from six games.

In 2003, the Slovenian Cup was the last trophy that was won by Maribor prior to the decline of the club over the course of several years. In the years 2004-2007 Maribor was plagued with financial problems that were severe and was even close to disbanding at the time. Due to their huge debts that at one time was more than EUR3 million in total, the club couldn't afford to acquire new players. This meant that the initial team at that time was mostly youth players, with a few of foreign players who came into the club via free transfers. In the fall year 2006, direction for the team changed and it wasn't until the beginning of January that Maribor announced that the debt was settled in total. In the time between, Maribor was never able to finish above three points in their league and they were runners-up in the Slovenian Cup twice, in 2007 and the year 2008. However, they were one of the 11 winning teams in the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup, in which they beat Spanish team Villarreal by a score of 3-2 in the final game, just a few months after Villareal had been in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

In July 2007 Maribor named the former Slovenian national Zlatko Zahovic for the role of the club's director of sports, which was the first step towards the golden era for Maribor.

The month of May, 2008 was when Maribor hosted their debut game at the new stadium, in front of more than 12,000 fans. The same year, Darko Milanic, who later became the most successful manager of his time at the club, was named as manager. Under his guidance, Maribor won the league during the 2008-09 season the first time in the span of six years. The following year they did not win the league title and finished second to Koper. They did however win the cup by beating Domzale 3-1 in the final. They also won the title as their first Slovenian Supercup title after beating Interblock.

At the close of the 2010 season Maribor was celebrating its 50th anniversary and also secured their ninety-ninth Slovenian league title in the time in the base season. In the years following, Maribor won four more consecutive titles, taking the total number of championships at 13 prior to eventually dropping the trophy in 2016, to main adversaries Olimpija Ljubljana. in 2012, Maribor was also able to score a record amount of points. In addition, Maribor also won two doubles back-to-back during this time winning against Celje at both times both in 2013 and 2012 Slovenian Cup finals.

In 2011 Maribor had a major leap forward at international tournaments. They defeated Rangers at the UEFA Europa League play-offs and were able to qualify for group stages, marking their first appearance on the group stage of European tournaments in over 10 years. They scored one point over six games and held Braga to a draw of 1-1 at home. In the following season, they were again made it to the group stage and were able to secure four points after beating Panathinaikos as well as drawing Tottenham Hotspur, both at home.

In their third appearance at the group stage during 2013-14 Maribor made it to the knockout stage during the 2013-14 UEFA Europa League for the first time. The round-of 32 was a disaster for Maribor they were knocked out by the eventual winners, Sevilla, 4-3 on average. Their success in the European run was boosted during the 2014-15 season which was the time Maribor got to qualifying for UEFA Champions League group stage for the second time in their history after removing Celtic through play-offs. They were placed in Group G along with Chelsea, Schalke 04, and Sporting CP. After a draw and defeat to the other team Maribor scored three points during six matches.

From 2015-16 Maribor did not win their league championship for the first time after the past six years, but they returned to the crown the following year, claiming their 14th national championship. Then, as Slovenian champions Maribor was a part of Slovenia during the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League, and for the third time in club's history they made it to in the stage of group play. Maribor played in Group E alongside Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, and Liverpool. Maribor scored three points from six games which was the same as 2014, with a draw against Sevilla at home and two times against Spartak. The 7-0 loss they suffered to Liverpool was the club's most heaviest home loss in European tournaments, and also their second-highest European loss overall. In the same year, Maribor failed to win an award at the beginning of the season for the first time since 2007/08. winning the title of league to Olimpija in a head-to-head match after having the same amount of points. Olimpija also defeated Maribor in the quarterfinals in the cup's national final which meant that Maribor was unable to make it to the semi-finals in the same way as 2002-03 for the first time.

In the 2018-19 season, Maribor won its 15th national title under the leadership of Milanic who took home the league's sixth title at Maribor and was the most successful coach of the Slovenian top division. Then, Milanic and Zahovic left the club in March of 2020 after a string of poor performance. Under Zahovic's tenure, Maribor won eight league titles and advanced to the UEFA Champions League group stages twice.

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In the time of NK Maribor, the main color of the team has been violet. This is why the team has been referred to as "The Purples" (Vijolicasti) and "The Violets" (Vijolice). The team is also known by the name of "Viole" mostly within the area of former Yugoslavia.

In the beginning, when NK Maribor was established, certain officials of the club preferred the colors of white and red, in a nod to its coat of arms, which is the symbol of Maribor. However, as the majority of football teams in Yugoslavia were already wearing white and red jerseys Maribor officials decided to go with the new and unique combination. They decided to adopt the pattern of Fiorentina with their white and purple combination. Oto Blaznik, who was the first manager of the club was the one to suggest the idea after watching the Italian team at La Gazzetta di Sport.Since it was nearly impossible to find purple jerseys during Yugoslavia in 1961 The players had to paint their own kits. The club's primary colors are white and yellow.

In March 1973, name of the sponsor's first was seen to be seen on Maribor kits. Following Slovenia's accession to independence in 1991 the primary kits' sponsors were Pivovarna Lasko, Nova KBM along with Zavarovalnica Sava (Zavarovalnica Maribor prior to).

The current emblem for the club's crest is inspired by the badge of Maribor. of Maribor that is is based on a 14th century seal with minor variations. The badge is designed in the shape of a shield. It depicts the previous Piramida Castle that used to sit on top of Pyramid Hill before it was removed at the close in the 18th century. A purple flower forms the background. Contrary to the arms and coats of arms that are worn by Maribor's city of Maribor and the current club's badge is not the white dove looking down toward the castle but instead a minimalist representation of an athletic figure. On the highest point of the shield, the title of the organization as well as the year it was founded is engraved. The whole badge is made of two colours: yellow and purple. The crest's previous versions comprised white, one the club's primary colours as white castles in the middle, and a white ball which was placed on top of the shield. The crest has been updated since May 2012. It has an orange star on top, which indicates the first ten national championships won.

Since 1992 the club's official anthem has been "Heja, hej Viole" that was composed and written composed by the group Cudezna polja. The group of 80 members from the Viole Maribor fan club also were part of the recording as back singers. The first performance of the track took place on the 16th of September, 1992 during the european cup winner's Cup game that was played between Maribor and Atletico Madrid.

Maribor have played home matches at Ljudski vrt since the month of June, 1961. The club previously had a brief period in its beginnings at the Stadion ob Tzaski cesti. Prior to World War II, the stadium was a simple field with a small stadium that was destroyed in the conflict. The ground was utilized for football since the beginning of the 20th century. between 1910 to 1960, it was the home of several teams that were based in Maribor and included Marburger Sportvereinigung, SV Rapid Marburg, SK Hertha, SK Rote Elf, I. SSK Maribor and NK Branik Maribor.

Following during the conflict, the stadium was rebuilt to be opened by 1952 however, the grandstand itself wasn't built until the beginning of the 1960s. On the 25th of June, the year 1961 Maribor took part in its debut match in the stadium, playing against Mladost Zabok at a time when the grandstand was being constructed.

Ljudski vrt is the sole stadium in Maribor which is situated in the middle of the River Drava. It is considered to be a natural architectural, cultural, architectural and sporting landmark of the city. It was named after a park that was public which was once located in the region. One of the most notable features on the main stage is the 129.8 meters long and 18.4 meters tall concrete arch. When the stadium was built in 1994, floodlights were put in place and the stadium was home to the first night game. Since it, the stadium has been through numerous renovations. Most notable was one between 2006 and 2008 in which three stand (South, East and North) were destroyed and rebuilt. In the West Stand, it was West Stand was completely renovated in 2021, increasing the current capacity of the stadium up to 11,671 seats.

As well as being the home of Maribor it often hosts matches for the Slovenia national team. The record attendance at the venue is around 20,000 fans which was achieved in 1973, when Maribor was playing Proleter Zrenjanin in the Yugoslav Second League promotion play-offs and the record for the attendance of a Slovenian League match is 14,000 spectators, which was achieved in the final stage of the 1996-97 Slovenian PrvaLiga season.

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NK Maribor is known for being a passionate and loyal fan base. Alongside its city Maribor and the surrounding area it has a huge supporter base located in Styria and Carinthia as well as smaller numbers of supporters located in other regions of Slovenia. Following its creation, Maribor was marked as a citizen's club as well as their city opponents Zeleznicar Maribor as a working class club.

The club also has an ultras group known as Viole Maribor which was formed in 1989. A non-political group, they are situated in the South Stand of the stadium. The record for most supporters travelling in domestic matches was set in 2001 when 3,000 Maribor supporters came together in Ljubljana The largest number of supporters who came from abroad was 2017, during Liverpool's UEFA Champions League campaign, where more than 2,400 supporters traveled to Liverpool.

Since the inception of the Slovenian First League, Maribor has enjoyed the most attendance at home in the last 25 of 31 seasons. The biggest average attendance in the league was recorded in the 1996-97 period with an average of 5,289 fans were present at Maribor's home games, which is an all-time record for Slovenian team football. Furthermore, Maribor is the first team to attract more than 2 million spectators at Slovenian League matches since its beginning in 1991.

The Eternal derby (Vecni derbi) is the largest derby played in Slovenian football. It is played by Maribor and their most formidable adversaries, Olimpija from the capital Ljubljana. The rivalry goes in the 1960s when both clubs were able to participate within the Yugoslav Second League. The first match that was played between both clubs was played on September 2, 1962, in Bezigrad Stadium, in front of 10,000 people.

The first derby of the Slovenian football league was played on October 16, 1991. Teams regularly played games in Slovenian First League and the Slovenian First League and Slovenian Cup between the years 1991 and 2005. In 2005, Olimpija was defunct because of financial problems. The year 2005 saw the creation of a Phoenix club was founded with the same name NK Bezigrad, and was later changed to NK Olimpija Ljubljana. The first derby match between Maribor and the newly created club took place on Oct 2007 during the quarterfinals of the Slovenian Cup. After Olimpija was elevated into the Slovenian First League in 2009 the rivalry rekindled to existence.

A further factor in the rivalry is it is the case that Maribor as well as Olimpija always enjoy the support of ultras clubs in their games. Two groups of them, Viole Maribor as well as Green Dragons are among the biggest in the country. Moreover, it is not unusual that the matches between these two teams are often disrupted by fights between the two teams or between the two groups or with police.

Other rivalries include those with Celje, dubbed as the Styrian derby (Stajerski derbi), and the Prekmurje-Styria derby (Stajersko-prekmurski derbi), contested between Maribor and NK Mura and its two phoenix clubs. Like Olimpija, Mura also folded and disbanded in 2005. Today, the games among Maribor as well as NS Mura, founded in 2012, are seen as an extension in the rivalry. In the season 2020-21, Maribor and Mura were in the title-deciding match in the final game. It was a draw for Maribor but Mura took 3-1 victory and claimed the first title ever won by a team.

As of 13 September 2022

From 2005 onwards, Maribor are not releasing the number 19 to their squad. The number was retired in honor of Stipe Balajic who played at Maribor for 8 years between 1997-98 between 2004-05 and 1997-98. He played his final game with the club on July 7 2005 in a friendly match with his old club Hajduk Split, where he was dismissed following 19 minutes play as the form of a symbolic gesture. In May 2021 the club retired a different number of players, 33, to honor goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic who played more than 350 appearances with Maribor between the years 2011 until 2021. In May 2022 that number was retired in honor of Marcos Tavares, a longtime captain, and also the club's most-capped player of all time and top goal scorer.

Maribor also temporarily removed two squad numbers: 26 in honor of Aleksander Rajcevic 28 in honor the memory of Mitja Viler. Both squad numbers were retired by 2020, and will not be assigned until 2030.

•  9 –  Marcos Tavares (2008–2022)
• 19 –  Stipe Balajić (1998–2005)
• 33 –  Jasmin Handanović (2011–2021)

This academy has the responsibility for growth of the young players within the club. It is comprised of 11 youth teams, from under-7 to 19 years old and has more than 210 young players within the system. The club also carries their football academy to primary schools within Maribor. Maribor in which around 800 of the most talented footballers play in the Children's Football School (Otroska nogometna sola).

Since the creation of Maribor's youth program in the form it is today in the year 1990, the academy has been among its most popular in the nation with regards to titles won. The team for under-19 holds the record in national competition for the most titles won winning the league for under-19s seven times. The same team has been awarded 5 Youth Cups. Other teams are also equally successful, and the teams of under-17 and under-15 hold the record for most awards in their categories. In addition, Maribor's junior teams were the first national team to have won championships at the four top youth levels (U13 U15, U15, the U17 and U19) in the same year. In 2012, record-breaking eight Maribor players were selected for make the Slovenian U-17 team in the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

in 2016, Maribor's Maribor youth team from Maribor was part of an edition four of the world-renowned social program Football for Friendship, the final event of that were held in Milan. The team took the title by beating Debreceni VSC by with a score of 1-0 at the end of the tournament.

The Purple Warrior (Vijolicasti bojevnik or Vijol'cni bojevnik) is an award presented to the best player of the year who has the most positive attitude towards supporters as well as the team. The winner is determined through a poll on the official website of the club as well as on the Official Facebook Page. In order to be eligible in a vote the player must play for the club for minimum 10 league games.

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In addition to sixteen Slovenian First League titles and 9 Slovenian Cup titles, Maribor is the most successful team of Slovenia with respect to awards collected, and is also the record holder for most consecutive championships, with seven. They also have won their Slovenian Championship and the Slovenian Cup twice at four times. They are also the only team that has been awarded this Slovenian edition of the triple, having been awarded the league, supercup and cup during the 2012-13 season. The official web site of the club states UEFA says that Maribor has been awarded one international trophy in the past, since Maribor was among winning teams in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2006. The trophy was presented in the name of Newcastle United. Maribor have the most successful top flight record in the history of football and have not finished in the bottom four times. In 2008 Maribor were the only team in history to score more than 1,000 points in the Slovenian highest flight.

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• Slovenian First League
  • Winners (16): 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2021–22
  • Runners-up (8): 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95, 2009–10, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21
• Yugoslav Second League (second tier in Yugoslavia)
  • Winners (1): 1966–67
  • Runners-up (3): 1963–64, 1972–73, 1978–79
• Slovenian Republic League (third tier in Yugoslavia)
  • Winners (5): 1960–61, 1975–76, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86
  • Runners-up (1): 1987–88

• Slovenian Cup (since 1991)
  • Winners (9): 1991–92, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16
  • Runners-up (5): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2018–19
• Slovenian Republic Cup (1953–1991)
  • Winners (13): 1961, 1966, 1967, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89
  • Runners-up (8): 1963, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1983–84, 1986–87
• Slovenian Supercup
  • Winners (4): 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014
  • Runners-up (3): 2010, 2011, 2015
• MNZ Maribor Cup
  • Winners (1): 1991–92

• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (1): 2006 (joint winners)

• League and Cup: 4
  • 1996–97, 1998–99, 2011–12, 2012–13