NK Opatija
Full nameNogometni klub Opatija
Founded1911 (1911)
GroundIgralište Opatije
Stadion Kantrida
Capacity1,500
10,600
ChairmanRobert Perčić
ManagerTomislav Čizmarević
LeagueSecond League (III)
2022–23TBA
WebsiteClub website

NK Opatija is a Croatian association football club founded in 1911 and based in Opatija. It is one of the oldest football clubs in Croatia. They compete in 2. NL, the third tier of the Croatian football league system.

History

The beginnings of organized football in Opatija date back to 1911, when the Opatija's branch of the Croatian Sokol movement's football section was founded, under the name of "football department of the Croatian Sokol Opatija - Volosko".[1] The initiative came from a group of students from the Trade Academy in Vienna, similarly to Split's "Hajduk" foundation by students in Prague in the same year.[2]

The first official match played by Opatija was on May 14, 1911, in Sušak, competing with the football section of that town's Sokol. In 1912 the Germans of Opatija founded their own team - the German football club Opatija Vorwärts. The rivalry that immediately developed between the two clubs resulted in disagreements within the Croatian Sokol, so at the suggestion of Ivan Matetić Ronjgov, later a famous composer, a separate sports club was founded from it, with the name Slavenski Športski klub Opatija (Slavic sport club "Opatija").

The club changes its name again in 1919 to Hajduk and back to Športski klub Opatija in 1921, the city being now part of the Kingdom of Italy and its authorities pushing for the dropping of the "Slavic" prefix. In 1923 the club changes its name once more to Olymp, and then most players access the already existing local club of Concordia, while with new pressures by the Italian authorities Olymp is renamed into Virtus. It was not until 1936 that the government's intention to name the club with the Italian name Abbazia would be fulfilled.

After World War II and the annexation of the town by communist Jugoslavia, in 1946 the new regime forces the club to become an all-round sports club like all clubs in the country, on a model copied by stalinist USSR. The lack of a playground made official performances impossible until October 31, 1948. when they play the first official match within the competition and group IV Rijeka. Since then, NK Opatija has played in the regional league, which has taken various forms and names, with more or less success.

In the 1950s and in the first half of the 1960s, Opatija competed in the sub-federal Jugoslav league. From 1965 it competed in the zonska liga, which after the reorganization of the competition in the 1980s became the regional league Rijeka-Pula. They won a place in the national Republican League in 1984 until 1990.

After the Croatian independence and since 1992, the club started competing in the III. HNL. Opatija played in the Croatian second division in the 96/97 and 97/98 seasons, when the system was different from today.[3] In 2002 it took part in the qualifications for the current II. HNL league but didn't qualify.

Opatija won the 2013–14 Treća HNL West group, but instead of promotion to the second division, they decided to play in the fourth division the next season due to not meeting the licensing requirements.[4]

It finally joined Druga HNL in 2020/21 and is playing in the league since.[5]

The club has been playing the second division games at Kantrida stadium in Rijeka but is looking into reconstructing their own stadium to allow them to play in Opatija the 2. HNL.[6] Currently, the stadium's pitch dimensions are only 100x64 meters, which do not meet the requirements for the second division.[7] However, the newly proposed stadium would only have dimensions of 90x60 meters, only good enough for the fifth division.[8] The new stadium is currently planned to be built in 2021.[9]

Recent seasons

Season League Cup Top goalscorer
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Player Goals
1992 3. HNL West 14 4 4 6 22 19 12 6th
1992-93 3. HNL West 30 11 10 9 70 46 32 9th
1993-94 3. HNL West 32 9 7 16 41 66 25 12th
1994-95 3. HNL West N/A
1996-97 2. HNL West 30 10 10 10 41 40 30* 6th
1997-98 2. HNL West 30 8 10 12 43 39 34 11th ↓
1998-99 3. HNL West 30 11 7 12 34 38 40 8th
1999-2000 3. HNL West 30 9 10 11 33 35 37 10th
2000-01 3. HNL West 30 12 11 7 59 42 47 4th
2001-02 3. HNL West 30 21 5 4 66 25 68 1st
2002-03 3. HNL West 30 17 5 8 46 28 56 3rd
2003-04 3. HNL West 30 9 10 11 30 40 37 11th
2004-05 3. HNL West 30 10 9 11 40 42 39 9th
2005-06 3. HNL West 30 7 10 13 49 53 30 13th ↓
2006-07 4. HNL West 28 10 5 12 40 39 36 7th
2007-08 4. HNL West 26 9 3 14 47 47 30 10th
2008-09 4. HNL West 28 17 3 8 53 26 54 3rd
2009-10 4. HNL West 28 20 4 4 69 16 63 1st ↑
2010–11 3. HNL West 34 13 11 10 53 42 50 7th R1 Alen Matovina 13
2011–12 3. HNL West 34 15 9 10 39 38 54 4th R1 Ratko Kremenović 9
2012–13 3. HNL West 30 12 7 11 51 44 43 5th Danijel Lazić, Damir Radomir 7
2013–14 3. HNL West 28 20 4 4 64 30 64 1st ↓ PR Niko Vlatković 15
2014–15 4. HNL Rijeka 30 17 6 7 55 27 57 2nd ↑ R2 Antun Dunković 13
2015–16 3. HNL West 30 13 4 13 39 45 43 9th R2 Ivan Brozović, Alen Matovina 8
2016–17 3. HNL West 30 14 7 9 58 51 49 5th Aleksandar Šolić 7
2017–18 3. HNL West 34 21 6 7 55 28 69 2nd Alen Matovina 18
2018–19 3. HNL West 34 13 9 12 55 50 48 8th Baltazar Anton Bogolin 11
2019–20 3. HNL West 16 10 4 2 34 13 34 1st ↑ R2 Baltazar Anton Bogolin
Antonio Pejanović		 7
2020–21 2. HNL 34 12 14 8 42 42 50 7th Antonio Pejanović 9
2021–22 2. HNL 30 6 7 17 27 47 25 16th ↓ Borna Bilobrk 4
2022–23 2. NL 30 12 9 9 48 42 45 7th Edin Junuzović 9

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: PR = Preliminary round; R1 = First round; R2 = Round of 16; QF = Quarter-final; SF = Semi-final; RU = Runner-up; W = Competition won.

Honours

Current squad

As of 1 December 2023

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 Croatia CRO Luka Balent
4 MF Croatia CRO Dan Lagumdžija
5 MF Nigeria NGA Marshal Mfon Johnson
6 MF Croatia CRO David Arapović
7 MF Croatia CRO Frano Ivančić
8 MF Croatia CRO Luka Kožić
9 DF Croatia CRO Marin Grujević
10 FW Croatia CRO Edin Junuzović
11 DF Croatia CRO Luka Matić
13 DF Croatia CRO Din Pozderac
14 FW Croatia CRO Antonio Pejanović
15 FW Croatia CRO Baltazar Anton Bogolin
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Croatia CRO Nikša Čulina
17 FW Nigeria NGA Goodness Ohiremen Ajayi
18 MF Croatia CRO Mario Kordić-Gružić
19 DF Croatia CRO Nikola Macolić
20 MF Croatia CRO Mateo Furijan
21 DF Croatia CRO Vanja Malinić
22 MF Croatia CRO Paolo Grbac
24 FW Serbia SRB Nemanja Kašiković
32 GK Croatia CRO Andrej Prskalo
— DF Croatia CRO Marijan Jukičić
— FW Croatia CRO Val Bogolin
— MF Croatia CRO Danijel Lazić
— DF Croatia CRO Luka Marić

References

  1. ↑ "POVIJEST". NK OPATIJA - nogometni klub. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  2. ↑ "Počinje proslava sto godina NK Opatija". PodUckun.net. 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  3. ↑ "NK Opatija je već igrala drugu ligu". PodUckun.net. 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  4. ↑ Volarić, Ivan (26 September 2014). "Bogolin: Grad mora shvatiti da NK Opatija nije iz Bjelovara". Novi List.
  5. ↑ "Nogometaši Opatije izborili drugu ligu". www.rivijeranews.hr (in Croatian). 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  6. ↑ "OPATIJSKI STADION Parkiralište ispod pomoćnog igrališta". Novi list. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  7. ↑ Kirigin, Marina (3 October 2017). "NK Opatija želi igrati Drugu HNL, Grad im servira stadion za – petu". Novi List.
  8. ↑ Miličić, Dubravko (6 October 2017). "I danas se smijemo penalu koji je suđen za Dinamo". 24 Sata.
  9. ↑ Žic, Davor (December 2018). "NK Opatija požalio se na odgodu investicije u stadion – Svake godine početak radova planira se 'za dvije godine'".
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