The golden era

Građanski squad which won the 1939–40 Yugoslav Football Championship;
Standing (L to R): Jazbinšek, Cimermančić, Đanić, Belošević, Lešnik, Urch, Brozović;
Crouching: Antolković, Matekalo, Žalant, Kokotović and coach Bukovi

In 1911, when Croatia was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Građanski was founded in Zagreb by Andrija Mutafelija and a few of his friends in response to rumors that a football club that was meant to play in the Hungarian football league (as opposed to the Croatian Sports Union) was about to be established. Građanski was therefore founded as a multi-sports club with a distinctly Croatian identity intended to cater to citizens of Zagreb, with sections dedicated to football, handball, and cycling. At first they used grounds in Zagreb's neighbourhoods of Tuškanac, Martinovka and Kanal, until they built their own stadium at Koturaška street, which was officially opened in 1924 by Stjepan Radić, a prominent Croatian politician.

The club lost their first ever game to city rivals HAŠK (5–1) but soon became popular and were widely supported by Zagreb's working class (in contrast to HAŠK, which was an academic sports club and was generally seen as a club affiliated with the University of Zagreb and its students, and popular with the middle class). In the following years, a healthy rivalry developed between the two city clubs, and after the Kingdom of Yugoslavia First League was launched on a national level in 1923, Građanski's greatest rivals outside Zagreb soon became BSK Belgrade and Hajduk Split. During the 1920s and 1930s Građanski became the most popular club in Zagreb as they won five Yugoslav championship titles (1923, 1926, 1928, 1937, 1940 and were runners-up in 1925 and 1939).

International games

Internationally, the club went on several successful tours – on one of these, in 1923 in Spain, Građanski beat Barcelona^[1] and Athletic Bilbao. The club often toured to Austria and Hungary and played friendly matches with top local sides. In 1936 they went on tour to England and Scotland where they adopted the WM formation which helped them win the 1936–1937 Yugoslav championship. Márton Bukovi, who started using the formation as Građanski manager in 1936, introduced it to Hungary in the late 1940s and later modified it into the now famous WW system which brought the Hungary national football team to the final game of the 1954 World Cup and which was later exported on to Brazil as the 4–2–4 formation.

Građanski were also hosts to friendlies with prominent European teams. In June 1934, Građanski hosted a 0–0 draw with the Brazil national football team^[2] (with football legends such as Leônidas and Waldemar in their lineup), and in May 1936 Liverpool FC suffered their first continental defeat in Zagreb, a 5–1 thrashing^[3] in front of an audience of 10,000 with August Lešnik scoring a hat-trick and Berry Nieuwenhuys claiming a consolation goal for the Reds. Also in 1936, the club visited Scotland where at Tynecastle they drew 4–4 with Heart of Midlothian.

Građanski in Europe

The club competed in the Mitropa Cup, the first European international club competition, on three occasions – in 1928, 1937 and 1940. In 1928 Građanski were knocked out in the two-legged quarterfinal by Viktoria Žižkov of Czechoslovakia with 4:8^[4] on aggregate. Nine years later, Građanski exited early again after suffering a 1:6 aggregate loss to Genova 1893 FBC.^[5] In 1940 they beat the Hungarian side Újpest FC (5:0 on aggregate) in the quarterfinal, only to be defeated by Rapid Bucharest in the semifinal. Both legs ended without goals, so a playoff game in Subotica was held, which ended 1:1.^[6] Rapid progressed to the final on a coin toss, but the final game (against Ferencváros) was never played because of the outbreak of World War II.

World War II

Having been invaded and occupied by the Nazi Germany in 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was dissolved and sports competitions in the nation were suspended. One exception was the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), which, as an Axis member, enjoyed peace so the NDH continued to hold national competitions featuring prominent Croatian clubs. Four of these seasons were started (1941, 1941–42, 1942–43 and 1943–44) but only the second and third editions were actually finished, with Građanski winning the 1942–43 season.^[7]

When the war ended in 1945, the club was formally disbanded by the new communist government (along with city rivals HAŠK and Concordia Zagreb) and its archives were destroyed, in retribution for competing in the wartime fascist-sponsored football league. The club's last official game was a 2–2 draw against HAŠK on 10 April 1945.

In June 1945 Dinamo Zagreb was established to take its place as Zagreb's foremost football powerhouse. The newly established Dinamo club adopted Građanski's colours and nickname, and inherited its pre-war fan base, and in 1969 even introduced a club badge which strongly resembled Građanski's old emblem. Initially, Dinamo also used Građanski's Stadion Koturaška, before moving to an expanded version of HAŠK's former ground at Stadion Maksimir in 1948, where it remains to this day.

Many former Građanski players continued their career at Dinamo after the war (including Ivan Jazbinšek, August Lešnik, Zvonimir Cimermančić, Milan Antolković) as well as their coach Márton Bukovi, while some others moved to FK Partizan in Belgrade, which was established after the war as the official Yugoslav Army club (these included Florijan Matekalo and Stjepan Bobek).

Domestic competitions

• Kingdom of Yugoslavia Championship:
  • Winners (5): 1923, 1926, 1928, 1936–37, 1939–40^[11]
• Independent State of Croatia Championship:
  • Winners (2): 1941, 1943
• Kingdom of Yugoslavia Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1938^[12]
• Independent State of Croatia Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1941

Regional competitions

• Banovina of Croatia Championship:
  • Winners (1): 1939–40
• Zagreb Subassociation Championship:
  • Winners (8): 1920, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1927–28,^[11] 1942–43, 1943–1944
• Zagreb Subassociation Cup:
  • Winners (6): 1922–23, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36

European competitions

• Mitropa Cup/Central European Cup:
  • Semi-finals (1): 1940