NK Lokomotiva Zagreb, commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a professional Croatian football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 1914, the club's only period of success came in the late 1940s and the early 1950s before spending most of the following five decades as lower-level minnows. Between 2007 and 2009 they won three consecutive promotions to rise from the fourth level to the first level in the Croatian football league system. They hosted their home matches at Stadion Maksimir for a couple of years before moving to Stadion Kranjčevićeva, as their own ground in the Novi Zagreb's Kajzerica neighbourhood is unsuitable for the top level football.
History
NK Lokomotiva was founded as ŽŠK Victoria in 1914. After World War I, the name of the club was changed to Željezničar, under which they competed between the two wars. At that time, they were mostly in the shadow of the city's bigger clubs Građanski, Concordia and HAŠK. They played in the first level only in the 1940–41 season. In 1945, the club was renamed Lokomotiva and soon their most productive years followed. They continuously played for 8 seasons in the Yugoslav First League with the best league result in 1952, when they finished third, behind Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade. Some of the players at that time were Vladimir Čonč, Vladimir Firm, Drago Hmelina, Franjo Beserdi and Oto Bobek, younger brother of legendary Stjepan Bobek. They won Yugoslav Second League in 1956, but were relegated again from the First League in the summer of 1957 and never returned to the Yugoslav top flight again. They played in the Yugoslav Second League until 1970 and then also in the Yugoslav Inter-Republic League in the last years before the dissolution of Yugoslavia. After Croatian independence and the formation of the Prva HNL in 1991, Lokomotiva played in the lower leagues of Croatian football, mostly spending their time in the Treća HNL. In 2006, before relegation to the fourth division, Lokomotiva became the feeder team for Dinamo Zagreb. This sparked a story of one of the most incredible rises through the leagues ever in Croatian football. Lokomotiva gained promotion in each of the next three season, finishing first in the Četvrta HNL in the 2006–07 season, second in the Treća HNL in the 2007–08 season, and third in the Druga HNL in the 2008–09 season. The promotion from the second to the first division of Croatian football in 2009 meant that in the 2009–10 season, Lokomotiva would be back in the top flight for the first time after 52 years. The side recovered from a poor start in the league and finished in a respectable 8th position out of 16 teams, with notable victories 4–2 away against NK Zagreb, home 3–0 over Rijeka, and 2–1 over Hajduk Split. Their top scorer, Nino Bule, finished with 14 goals. The next season, the 2012–13 season, was the best in recent history for Lokomotiva. They finished in the second place ahead of clubs such as Rijeka, Hajduk Split and RNK Split. Young starAndrej Kramarić, on loan from Dinamo Zagreb, finished second in the scoring charts with 15 goals. This qualified them for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round. In their first European encounter, the side faced FC Dinamo Minsk, unfortunately losing on the away goals rule after winning 2–1 away from home, but losing 3–2 at home. The side enjoyed another strong showing in the Prva HNL, which was reduced to 10 teams for the 2013–14 season. The Zagreb-based side finished in fifth place. Due to rules against second sides being in the same division, they legally split their connection to Dinamo Zagreb. To meet the criteria for the Prva HNL, they played their games at Stadion Maksimir before moving on to Stadion Kranjčevićeva which is now the club's home. The club's base and youth teams area are located in Kajzerica neighborhood.
