Derby of Serbia


Derby of Serbia refers to any match between professional Serbian clubs Red Star Belgrade or Partizan Belgrade from Belgrade and Vojvodina from Novi Sad. A Serbian derby match must involve Vojvodina and either one of the Belgrade clubs; matches between Partizan and Red Star are referred to as the Eternal Derby. One of the main reasons for the rivalry is the fact that Vojvodina, Red Star, and Partizan are the three most successful clubs in Serbia and the three most successful Serbian clubs in former Yugoslavia. Belgrade and Novi Sad are also the two largest cities in the country, so the derby is viewed as a manifestation of the rivalry between the two cities. They were also the only three Serbian clubs to win the Yugoslav championship, and all three clubs are in the Top 5 of the Yugoslav First League all-time table, with Red Star Belgrade at 1st, Partizan Belgrade at 2nd, and Vojvodina Novi Sad at 5th.
In the last few years, Vojvodina have become a serious competitor with the two Belgrade clubs for the Serbian Championship and Serbian Cup, which they have historically been dominant in. In recent years, Vojvodina have defeated Partizan and Red Star both home and away several times. Due to their constant recent success, Vojvodina are now considered the third absolute power, after Red Star and Partizan, in Serbian football, comparable to the "big three" dominance in other countries in domestic football, such as Portugal. Besides the Eternal derby, the Derby of Serbia is often considered the most important rivalry in Serbian football.

History

Early years

was founded on 6 March 1914 by a group of Serbian students of the Serbian Orthodox high school with the support of Serbian intellectuals and craftsman in Novi Sad. The club took the name Vojvodina, in order to emphasize the memory of the political-territorial unit of the Serbs in the Serbian Vojvodina. FK Vojvodina in the period between the two world wars had a fierce rivalry with NAK Novi Sad competing with them regularly for the title of the Novi Sad Football Subassociation.
31 years later, at the end of the Second World War, Red Star and Partizan were founded in Belgrade, while the dominant clubs from the royal era, BSK Belgrade and SK Jugoslavija were disbanded. The origin of Red Star and Partizan went out of political institutions. Red Star was formed on 4 March 1945 by "United alliance of anti-fascist Youth" of Serbian new civil authorities in Yugoslavia. A few months later, specifically on 4 October 1945, Partizan was founded by Serbian Partizans as a club of Yugoslav People's Army. From the beginning, the two Belgrade clubs won championships and cups and took over the dominance as the strongest Serbian clubs in the Yugoslav First League. Red Star and Partizan should remain this until the dissolution of the league in 1993. In 1951, Vojvodina reached for the first time the Yugoslav Cup final and during the 1950s, Vojvodina finished the seasons regularly in the top half of the table and developed slowly as third most successful Serbian club in the Yugoslav First League behind Red Star and Partizan.

1960s

During the 1960s, Partizan and Red Star was the dominated teams in the Yugoslav First League. On the international stage, the 1965–66 European Cup campaign of Partizan was the crown, where they achieved the greatest success in their history, a place in European Cup Final. Red Star achieved also good results on the international stage, where they achieved the semifinals of the 1961–62 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Besides, Red Star received its own stadium with a capacity for more than 100,000 viewers in 1963, that should get the reputation of being a very tough ground for visiting teams. But finally the dominance was broken through Vojvodina for a short time. In 1966, Vojvodina won, as the third Serbian team, the Yugoslav first league for the first time. In the following season, Vojvodina has continued to be successful also on the international scene. In the 1966–67 European Cup season, Vojvodina achieved the quarter-finals, and lost narrowly against the eventual winner of the competition, Celtic Glasgow. These successes brought the Belgrade clubs another rival for titles, and the matches against the club from Novi Sad received more prestigious.

Stadiums

Main articles: Red Star Stadium, Partizan Stadium and Karađorđe Stadium
When Red Star Belgrade is the host, the derby is played at the Red Star Stadium. The stadium was opened in 1963, and in the course of time and due to the fact that stadium's former total capacity was about 110.000, which was then one of the largest in Europe, it got the unofficial moniker "Marakana", after the large Maracanã stadium in Brazil. The Red Star fans call it sometimes shortly "Mara". During the mid-90s, in order to meet UEFA demands for spectators comfort and security, standing places at the stadium were completely done away with and seats were installed on all four stands. Today, the stadium has a capacity 55,538 seats.
When Partizan Belgrade is the host, the derby is played at the Partizan Stadium. The stadium was opened in 1949 and got extensively renovated in 1998 following FIFA security regulations. This also led to the conversion of the stadium into an all-seater reducing the capacity from 55.000 to 32.710. The club's stadium is now named Partizan Stadium, although it was known as JNA Stadium for most of its history, and even today, a lot of football fans in all countries of the former Yugoslavia call it by its old name. The Partizan fans call it also "Fudbalski Hram".
When Vojvodina Novi Sad is the host, the derby is played at the Karađorđe Stadium. It is named after Karađorđe, the leader of the First Serbian uprising against the Ottoman occupation. Formerly, it was known as the City Stadium or Vojvodina Stadium, but it was renamed on request of the Vojvodina fans in 2007 to Karađorđe Stadium. However, it was in fact the older and original name of the stadium that was used from its foundation until the end of the World War II. With a total capacity of about 20 000, of which 12 303 seats, it is one of the largest football stadiums in Serbia.

Honours and achievements

Red Star's achievements

Internationally, Red Star is the most successful football club from Serbia in every European competition and the only Serbian club that has won an UEFA competition, winning the European Cup in 1991 in Bari, Italy. The same year in Tokyo, Japan the club won the Intercontinental Cup and also played in European Super Cup final which Red Star lost to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup champion Manchester United where only one match was played in Manchester of two supposed, because of UN sport sanctions imposed on Serbia that lasted until 1995 and influenced much more to later Red Star and generally Serbian European success by having excluded Yugoslav teams from all European and international competitions. The club also had previously made it to the 1979 UEFA Cup Final, losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach. Red Star played in semi-finals of every European competition and played in two Europeans finals. Red Star have played 15 times in quarter-finals in European competitions. Red Star has also won 51 domestic trophies making them the most successful club in Serbia with a record 27 national league titles and 24 national Cups. Red Star also won two regional trophies of Mitropa Cup in 1958 and in 1968. And among many records Red Star has the longest unbeaten record in the league, and winning streak of 17 games in a row.

Partizan's achievements

Partizan participated in the first ever 1955-56 European Cup match that took place on 3 September 1955 in Lisbon against Sporting. The final result of this match was 3-3, having won by 5–2 in the second leg in Belgrade. Partizan also played in 1966 European Cup Final, losing it to Real Madrid 1–2, after eliminating Manchester United in the semifinals. In more recent years, the club played in the 2003-04 UEFA Champions League season, after eliminating Newcastle United on the penalties in the last qualifying round and also in the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League season after eliminating R.S.C. Anderlecht again on penalties in the last qualifying round. By 2015, Partizan has won 26 national league titles, 13 national Cups, Mitropa Cup in 1978 and a Yugoslav Supercup in 1989.

Vojvodina's achievements

In its long history, Vojvodina was one of the most successful clubs in the former Yugoslavia, winning two First League titles, in 1966 and 1989, was runners-up in 1957, 1962 and 1975, and achieved the 3rd place in 1992. Vojvodina was also runners-up of the Yugoslav Cup in 1951. They won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1976, the Mitropa Cup in 1977 and was also runners-up of the Mitropa Cup in 1957 and the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1998. From 1993 to 1997, Vojvodina achieved in the national championship the 3rd place five times in a row and was runners-up of the domestic cup in 1997. They were runners-up of the Serbian SuperLiga in 2009 and achieved the 3rd place in 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012. Vojvodina was also runners-up of the Serbian Cup in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013. and finally winner of Serbian Cup in 2014.

Red Star vs. Vojvodina

Statistics

Until today 152 derby games were played in the domestic league.
Red Star
wins		DrawsVojvodina
wins		Goal
difference
at Red Star Stadium
56
10
13
171:79
at Karađorđe Stadium
28
25
21
113:88
Total
84
35
34
284:167

Until today 17 derby games were played in the national cup.
Red Star
wins		DrawsVojvodina
wins		Goal
difference
Total106130:11

Until today 169 derby games were played in all competitions.
Red Star
wins		DrawsVojvodina
wins		Goal
difference
Domestic league
84
35
34
284:167
Domestic cup
10
6
1
30:11
Other games
0
0
0
0:0
Total
94
41
35
314:178

Last ten matches

CompetitionHostGuestDateResult
2013–14 Serbian SuperLigaVojvodinaRed Star28.05–20143–3
2014–15 Serbian SuperLigaVojvodinaRed Star23–08–20140–1
2014–15 Serbian SuperLigaRed StarVojvodina07–03–20153–0
2015–16 Serbian SuperLigaRed StarVojvodina21–10–20153–0
2015–16 Serbian SuperLigaVojvodinaRed Star01–04–20160–0
2015–16 Serbian SuperLigaRed StarVojvodina07–05–20161–3
2016–17 Serbian SuperLigaRed StarVojvodina24–09–20164–1
2016–17 Serbian SuperLigaVojvodinaRed Star08–03–20172–3
2016–17 Serbian SuperLigaRed StarVojvodina29–04–20172–0
2017–18 Serbian SuperLigaRed StarVojvodina24–09–20172–0

Players who have played for both clubs (senior career)

Statistics

Until today 158 derby games were played in the domestic league.
Partizan
DrawsVojvodina
wins		Goal
difference
at Partizan Stadium
48
13
16
161:82
at Karađorđe Stadium
36
22
22
123:95
Total
84
35
39
284:177

Until today 13 derby games were played in the national cup.
Partizan
wins		DrawsVojvodina
wins		Goal
difference
Total81427:13

Until today 174 derby games were played in all competitions.
Partizan
wins		DrawsVojvodina
wins		Goal
difference
Domestic league
84
35
39
284:177
Domestic cup
8
1
4
27:13
Other games*
4
1
0
10:4
Total
96
37
43
321:194

Players who have played for both clubs (senior career)