NK Olimpija Ljubljana


Nogometni klub Olimpija Ljubljana, commonly referred to as Olimpija Ljubljana or simply Olimpija, is a professional association football club, based in the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The club competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the country's highest football division.
Founded on 2 March 2005, under the name NK Bežigrad, Olimpija began competing in the Slovenian Fifth League during the 2005–06 season and managed to achieve promotion in four successive seasons, reaching the top division for the first time in 2009 after winning the 2008–09 Slovenian Second League. After seven years in the top division, Olimpija won their first major trophy when they were crowned champions in the 2015–16 season. They won another league title in the 2017–18 season; during the same season, Olimpija also won the national cup, completing "the double".
Originally, the club played at the Bežigrad Stadium and ŽAK Stadium during the club's stay in the second division and during the first year in the top division. In 2010, they moved to the Stožice Stadium with a capacity of 16,038. The club played its opening match on the new stadium on 22 August 2010.
Olimpija's nicknames are The Green-Whites, referring to their primary colours, and The Dragons, referring to the dragon which is a symbol of Ljubljana and is represented on the city's coat of arms and on the club's crest.

History

Foundation

Olimpija Ljubljana was founded on 2 March 2005 as NK Bežigrad, and was renamed NK Olimpija Bežigrad during their third season of existence. The club was renamed again to ŠD NK Olimpija Ljubljana on 3 March 2008 after being granted the right by the Administrative unit of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. The club regard themselves as the continuation of the four-times Slovenian Champions Olimpija, who went bankrupt and were dissolved following the 2004–05 season. Legally, Olimpija Ljubljana is distinct and separate club as treated by the Football Association of Slovenia. In addition, Olimpija Ljubljana was founded whilst the dissolved Olimpija was still in existence and was a member of the top division, playing their final league match on 28 May 2005 against Celje, before effectively ceasing all operations.
Because of their association with the dissolved club, Olimpija Ljubljana was criticised on numerous occasions by several media outlets in the country, which questioned the legitimacy of their actions and even the fact that the club has a year 1911 inscribed on their crest. They were also criticised by ND Ilirija 1911. The dissolved Olimpija filed for bankruptcy after they have accumulated a debt of over 700 million Slovenian tolars. In 2013, the Davčna uprava Republike Slovenije, or simply DURS, publicly disclosed the list of tax debtors in the country and among those was also NK Olimpija Ljubljana, with a tax debt between €100,000 and €300,000. The next day, Olimpija Ljubljana’s officials made a public statement where they confirmed that the club in question is a different legal entity and is not, by any means, connected with Olimpija Ljubljana who competes in the top division and does not have any financial obligations to the State or any third parties.

Early years (2005–2009)

Assisted by semi-retired club legends of the old Olimpija and other notable Slovenian players, the club started to compete in the lowest tier of Slovenian football and won the fifth league in their first year. In the next two seasons, Bežigrad was promoted into the Slovenian Second League, by winning both fourth and third leagues in consecutive seasons. During their season in the fourth division the club changed its name for the first time and became known as Olimpija Bežigrad. This happened despite the claims of Joc Pečečnik, one of the wealthiest man in Slovenia and, at the time, owner of Interblock football club, that he is in fact the sole owner of the Olimpija name and brand. During the 2008–09 season, the club changed their name once again, this time to its present form Olimpija Ljubljana and during the course of the season won the second division and earned a promotion to the Slovenian top division. Throughout the path to the top division, Olimpija was supported by the fan group of the dissolved Olimpija, the Green Dragons. The success of the club, who earned a promotion from the fifth league to top division in only four seasons, was somewhat dented by a conflict between several players, coaching staff, club leadership and sponsors, which eventually led to a player-led boycott in the final round of the 2008–09 season, against Triglav. Due to this event, the club began their first season in Slovenian top-flight with a two-point minus. In addition to that, several notable players, e.g. Miran Pavlin and Amir Karić, and staff, e.g. Danilo Popivoda, left the club.

Promotion to Slovenian top division (2009–2015)

For their first ever 1. SNL campaign, several players were signed to replace the recent departures, along with a new coach, Branko Oblak. The club had a poor start, as the team, mainly composed of young players and a small number of veterans, only managed one win in the opening four matches. After their defeat against Maribor on 8 August 2009, the club announced that Oblak had agreed to terminate his contract, with assistant manager Safet Hadžić taking his place as caretaker. The club's fortunes soon turned result-wise and Robert Pevnik was hired to take over as manager. The club finished the season in fourth place.
In the run up to the 2010–11 season, principal sponsor Izet Rastoder was elected president and Safet Hadžić took over as manager. The season started poorly, with a 5–0 aggregate defeat against Široki Brijeg in the Europa League qualifying round. This game was later alleged by German TV-station ARD to have been fixed. It was later revealed that UEFA is officially investigating the match and that three players of NK Olimpija are under investigation. After another poor start which saw the club only manage two points in five matches, manager Safet Hadžić and director of football Simon Sešlar both left on 23 August 2010. Dušan Kosič then took over as manager with Aleš Čeh as his assistant. On 26 January 2011, former Slovenia international Milenko Ačimovič became the director of football at the club. After a poor start into the season the new director of football brought couple of players to the club with international experience, among which was also Slovenia national football team midfielder Dare Vršič. During the second phase of the Slovenian championship the team started to show their potential and eventually finished their second 1. SNL season on fourth place, securing a place in the Europa League qualifications. With the 3–0 home victory against Široki Brijeg on 7 July 2011, Olimpija achieved its historic first victory in UEFA competitions. Dalibor Radujko was the scorer of the club's first goal in UEFA competitions. In addition, this was the first European club match played on Stožice Stadium, opened in August 2010. During the 2011–12 Slovenian PrvaLiga season the club finished as a runner-up.

National champions (2015 to present)

In June 2015, Milan Mandarić, a Serbian-American business tycoon, took over the club. In his first season, the club won the Slovenian League title for the first time. During the 2017–18 season, Olimpija won "the double" after winning the league title over Maribor with the same number of points, but better head-to-head record, and winning the national cup after defeating Aluminij 6–1 in the final.

Name changes

Since the beginning of the club, Olimpija has been playing in the combination of green and white, which were the main colours of the dissolved Olimpija. Today, the club plays in green kits at home and in white kits away.
The kit manufacturer is Nike.

Stadium

is a football stadium located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It was designed by Slovenian architects Jurij Sadar and Boštjan Vuga and is the biggest Slovenian football stadium. It opened in August 2010 and lies in the Bežigrad district, north of the city centre. The stadium was named after the area in which it is located. Together with an indoor arena, it is a part of Stožice Sports Park. The capacity of the stadium is 16,038 covered seats. The stadium also has 558 VIP seats and 97 spots for persons with disabilities. Olimpija played its first match at the new stadium on 22 August 2010, in front of 7,000 spectators in a league match against FC Koper. The record home attendance for any football club in Slovenia after its independence came in 2014, when 15,972 spectators gathered to watch Olimpija play against English Premier League side Chelsea in a friendly match. The stadium is also used as the main venue for matches of the Slovenia national football team, as well as for many cultural events such as music concerts.

Supporters

Their main ultras group is called Green Dragons, one of the two largest ultras groups in the country, who supported the old Olimpija until their dissolution in 2005 and went over to the new club in the same year, as they regard it as a successor of the original club. They mostly wear green and white symbols and clothing, which are the club's colors.

Rivalry

Olimpija's biggest rivalry is with NK Maribor, against whom they contest the Eternal derby. The original Eternal derby was contested by Maribor and Olimpija and today the continuation of the rivalry is considered as the matches between Maribor and Olimpija, established in 2005 as NK Bežigrad. The rivalry traced its roots back in the early 1960s and the time of SFR Yugoslavia when the first match between the two clubs was played. The two teams represented the two largest cities in Slovenia, the capital city of Ljubljana and the second largest city Maribor, and both teams always had one of the largest fan bases in the country. Traditionally Ljubljana represents the richer western part of the country while Maribor is the center of the poorer eastern part. In addition, Ljubljana was always the cultural, educational, economic and political center of the country and Olimpija and its fans were considered as the representatives of the upper class. Maribor, on the other hand, was one of the most industrialized cities in Yugoslavia and the majority of its fans were the representatives of the working class, which means that the added tension to the rivalry was usually political, social and cultural as well. The old rivalry reached its peak in the final round of 2000–01 season when one of the most celebrated matches in Slovenian League history was played, when Olimpija met Maribor at their home stadium, Bežigrad. Both teams were competing for their fifth national league title. The home team needed a win for the title, while a draw was enough for Maribor. The atmosphere was electric days before the kick-off and the stadium with the capacity of 8,500 was completely sold out. At the end, the match ended with a draw and Maribor started to celebrate their fifth consecutive title.
The additional intensity to the rivalry is the fact that both Maribor and Olimpija always had support on their matches from Ultras groups called Viole Maribor, supporting Maribor, and the Green Dragons who supports Olimpija. The two groups are the largest in the country and it is not uncommon that the matches between the two clubs were sometimes interrupted by violent clashes between the two groups or with the police. On many occasions, before or after the matches, the fans of the two clubs would also meet up and fight on the streets. One of the worst incidents, in April 2010 after a match, resulted in a stabbing of a member of the Green Dragons who, with a group of friends, got into a fight with members of the Viole in Ljubljana's railway station. However, to date, there has not been any fatalities in the country related to football violence. Because the new Olimpija is supported by most of the fans of the previous Olimpija, many see the matches between Maribor and the new club as the continuation of the rivalry and refer to it by the same name. The first match between Maribor and the new Olimpija took place on 24 October 2007 on a Slovenian Cup quarter-final match that was won by Maribor, 3–1. At the time Olimpija was still competing under the name Olimpija Bežigrad. Overall, Maribor has been the team with more success in these matches.

Season-by-season record

Key

;League
;Slovenia
;Cup / Europe
Champions Runners-up Promoted ↑

!scope=row style=text-align:center|2005–06
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2006–07
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2007–08
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2008–09
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2009–10
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2010–11
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2011–12
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2012–13
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2013–14
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2014–15
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2015–16
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2016–17
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2017–18
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2018–19
!scope=row style=text-align:center|2019–20

Timeline


ImageSize = width:1000 height:60
PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/2005 till:30/06/2020
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2005
Colors =
id:bl5 value:rgb
id:bl4 value:rgb
id:bl3 value:rgb
id:bl2 value:rgb
id:bl1 value:rgb
id:rs value:rgb
id:rn value:rgb
PlotData=
bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center
from:01/07/2005 till:30/06/2006 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2006 till:30/06/2007 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2007 till:30/06/2008 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2008 till:30/06/2009 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2009 till:30/06/2010 shift: text:4
from:01/07/2010 till:30/06/2011 shift: text:4
from:01/07/2011 till:30/06/2012 shift: text:2
from:01/07/2012 till:30/06/2013 shift: text:2
from:01/07/2013 till:30/06/2014 shift: text:7
from:01/07/2014 till:30/06/2015 shift: text:4
from:01/07/2015 till:30/06/2016 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2016 till:30/06/2017 shift: text:3
from:01/07/2017 till:30/06/2018 shift: text:1
from:01/07/2018 till:30/06/2019 shift: text:2
from:01/07/2019 till:30/06/2020 shift: text:3
from:01/07/2005 till:30/06/2006 color:bl5 shift: text: "Fifth League"
from:01/07/2006 till:30/06/2007 color:bl4 shift: text: "Fourth League"
from:01/07/2007 till:30/06/2008 color:bl3 shift: text: "Third League"
from:01/07/2008 till:30/06/2009 color:bl2 shift: text: "Second League"
from:01/07/2009 till:30/06/2020 color:bl1 shift: text: "Slovenian PrvaLiga"

European campaigns

UEFA club competition record

Matches

All results list Olimpija's goal tally first.
;Notes

League

Current squad

As of 1 August 2020

Managers