FK Vardar

FK Vardar

Full name	Fudbalski klub Vardar
Nickname(s)	Црвено-Црни (The Red & Blacks)
Founded	22 July 1947 (1947-07-22)
Ground	Telekom Arena, Skopje
Ground Capacity	33,460
Owner	Sergey Samsonenko
Chairman	Mirko Spaseski
Manager	Goce Sedloski
League	Macedonian First League
2015–16	1st (Champions)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

FK Vardar is a football club based in the capital city of Skopje, in Macedonia . Founded in 1947, they have been members of the Macedonian First Football League since its inception in 1992. Vardar is the most popular and renowned Macedonian football club both domestically and abroad, having won 10 national championships and 5 national cups. Its home venue is the Telekom Arena, with a capacity of 33,460.

History

Beginnings

FK Vardar was created with the merger of city rivals FK Pobeda and FK Makedonija, in the hall of cinema "Vardar" on 22 July 1947. The foundation assembly had decided the club color to be blue and it was, but already at the next assembly the decision was changed to red and white. FK Pobeda has competed in the first season of the Yugoslav First Federal League after the World War II, finished at the 8th place and won the relegation play-offs against FK Sloga from Novi Sad, FK Vardar was a member of the Yugoslav First League from the very beginning. However, during the following decade they were several times relegated and promoted back again. The present recognizable red and black color was adopted after the 1963 Skopje earthquake.

Yugoslav First League

The club won its first major trophy in the 1961 Yugoslav Cup.^[1] Many famous players from the region started their careers at Vardar, and their triumph in the Yugoslavian Cup was a highlight. The leader of that particular generation of players was Andon Dončevski, who later coached the team from 1985 to 1988. Due to massive irregularities during the last 34th week of fixtures, the 1985-86 Yugoslav First League season ended notoriously. Yugoslav Football Association headed by Slavko Šajber voided the last week results ordering a replay of all 9 fixtures. Twelve clubs were docked 6 points due to alleged participation in the match-fixing scandal. All teams agreed to replay their games but Partizan, who had won the title with a 4–0 over Zeljeznicar Sarajevo, refused, after which the game was awarded 3–0 to Zeljeznicar, which gave Crvena zvezda the title. Crvena zvezda played in the 1986/87 European Champions Cup. However, after a sequence of legal processes, the original final table, with Partizan as champions, was officially recognized, in 1987. The following 1986-87 Yugoslav First League season saw 10 teams starting with −6 points. Vardar Skopje, who had not been deducted 6 points, won the title, and participated in the 1987/88 Champions Cup, but the points deduction was later annulled after more legal proceedings, and the title was given to Partizan, who headed the table with the deduction. In 1986/1987 season team had a group of wonderful players, led by the talented Darko Pančev and including Ilija Najdoski, Dragan Kanatlarovski and Vujadin Stanojković. FK Vardar went on to spend 33 seasons in the Yugoslav top flight from 1947 to 1992 and is ranked 11th on the all-time table.

All-Time Federal First League Table (1945–1992) ^[2]

Rank	Club	After the Dissolution	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	P
1	Red Star		1335	719	328	288	2560	1415	+1145	1766
2	Partizan		1335	657	354	324	2285	1428	+857	1668
3	Dinamo Zagreb		1302	597	366	339	2151	1495	+1006	1560
4	Hajduk Split		1302	587	346	369	2088	1486	+602	1520
5	Vojvodina		1221	465	311	445	1670	1595	+75	1241
6	Sarajevo		1228	447	311	470	1674	1773	−99	1205
7	Velež Mostar		1174	435	309	430	1668	1615	+53	1179
8	Željezničar		1063	403	274	386	1456	1424	+32	1080
9	OFK Beograd		977	343	281	353	1355	1355	0	967
10	Radnički Niš		979	339	250	390	1088	1244	−156	928
11	FK Vardar		1005	328	251	426	1195	1459	−264	907

After independence

Vardar celebrated Macedonia independence by buying three consecutive titles including going unbeaten in the inaugural season. During the 90's they remained at the top of Macedonian football reaching five Cup finals (winning four) and have always been the team to beat. After a lean spell by their standards, they bought the league again in 2002 and the following season just missed out on qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group stage. A remarkable achievement, in the 2nd round of qualifying they eliminated CSKA Moscow and came within a goal of getting past Sparta Prague.^[3] In 2011, Vardar was originally relegated from the First League, but after a buying the license from Miravci it stayed. The following season they brought the league again after nine years. To date they have 13 major honors to their name. In 2012, with the new transformation football club Vardar became the first team in Macedonia organized as a joint stock company incorporated under the companies act.^[4]

All-Time First Macedonian League Table (1992–2016) ^[5]

Rank	Club	Competition	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	P
1	FK Vardar	1. MFL	733	414	173	146	1353	627	+726	1356
2	Sileks	1. MFL	700	316	147	237	1165	885	+280	1060
3	Rabotnički	1. MFL	560	291	123	146	914	571	+343	996
4	Pobeda	Banned [6] by FFM and UEFA (eligible to compete in 2017–18)	511	263	99	149	916	632	+284	863
5	Pelister	1. MFL	570	207	124	239	714	764	−50	717
6	Sloga Jugomagnat	Dissolved	392	189	84	119	609	412	+197	620
7	Shkëndija	1. MFL	380	175	71	134	588	492	+96	593
8	Makedonija Gj. P.	1. MFL	425	164	98	163	570	525	+45	559
9	Renova	1. MFL	352	152	97	103	497	403	+94	553
10	Cementarnica	4. MFL – OFL Kisela Voda	448	157	95	196	588	622	−34	541

• Deducted points: FK Makedonija Gj. P. -19, FK Sloga Jugomagnat −11, FK Vardar −9, FK Cementarnica −3 and FK Škendija −3.

Memorable moments

In their history, Vardar has had many memorable matches. Among those, the one that stands out the most was defeating Partizan Belgrade by a score of 5:0. In early history, the 2:1 victory over Varteks in the Marshal Tito Cup final is remembered by the club as its first major trophy win. A game that had the highest attendance was a match up against Trepča where Vardar won 2:1 and earned promotion to the Federal First League. Other matches to remember came against the great four : Red Star Belgrade, Partizan Belgrade, Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split. At the beginning of the Macedonian First League the most memorable matches were all the wins against rival Pelister, including the first ever Macedonian Cup final in 1993 where Vardar won 1–0 at the old Skopje City Stadium. The biggest international achievement of the club came in 2003 when Vardar came one goal short of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Honours

League

Macedonian First League:

• Winners (9): 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
• Runners-up (2): 2001, 2005

Cup

Federal Cup:

• Winners (1): 1961

Macedonian Football Cup:

• Winners (5): 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2007
• Runners-up (1): 1996

Macedonian Super Cup:

• Winners (2): 2013, 2015

Macedonian Republic Cup:

• Winners (12): 1955, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1979, 1980, 1992

International

Mitropa Cup:

• Semi-finalists (1): 1968
• Round of 16 (2): 1969, 1970

Balkans Cup:

• Runners-up (2): 1972, 1974

Other tournaments

Vuko Karov Tournament:

• Winners (3): 1993, 2001, 2006
• Runners-up (1): 2011

Stadium

FK Vardar's home venue is Telekom Arena. Its current capacity is 33,460^[7] spectators which puts it among 10 largest stadiums on the Balkans. The pitch is 105 x 68 m. Two big scoreboards, 18 x 6 m are installed on both East and West stands. There are 494 VIP boxes and 386 media seats, all of them on the North stand. Telekom Arena is an all-seater ground with 80% of the seats covered from inclement weather.

Capacity
North – 10,974
South – 10,562
East – 5,962
West – 5,962
Total – 33,460

FK Vardar in Europe

FK Vardar's first competitive European match was a 0–5 loss against Dunfermline Athletic in the 1961–62 European Cup Winners' Cup. Muarem Zekir holds the record for most appearances in Europe for the club with 21. Top scorer in UEFA club competitions is Wandeir with 13 goals. The biggest win in UEFA competition was against Ethnikos Achnas in the 2004 Intertoto Cup, defeating them twice by the score of 5–1 and 10–2 on aggregate.

UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 17.08.2016, Source:

Rank	Team	Points
247	FC Torpedo Zhodino	5.225
248	KR Reykjavik	5.175
249	FK Vardar	5.125
250	Go Ahead Eagles	5.062
251	F91 Dudelange	4.975

Current squad

As of 26 August 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Igor Aleksovski 28 GK Tome Pachovski 90 GK Filip Gachevski 3 DF Goran Popov 4 DF Nemanja Mijušković 5 DF Viktor Velkoski 6 DF Boban Grncharov (captain) 7 DF Blagoja Ljamchevski 19 DF Hovhannes Hambardzumyan 21 DF Yevhen Novak 31 DF Esmin Lichina 32 DF Darko Glishikj 77 DF Vladica Brdarovski 8 MF Stefan Spirovski

No. Position Player 10 MF Damir Kojašević 11 MF Jasir Asani 14 MF Darko Velkovski 16 MF Nikola Gligorov 20 MF Boban Nikolov 22 MF Filip Stojchevski 30 MF Tigran Barseghyan 70 MF Juan Felipe 87 MF Vlatko Grozdanoski 97 MF Petar Petkovski 9 FW Dejan Blazhevski 24 FW Erdon Daci 80 FW Jhon Obregón 89 FW Jonathan Balotelli

Youth squad

As of 23 September 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Filip Trajchevski 12 GK Aleksandar Gjorgioski 25 GK Maliq Ziberi 2 DF Todor Todoroski 3 DF Andrej Richkov 4 DF Berat Ismaili 5 DF Borjan Todorovski 6 DF Esmin Lichina 21 DF Kristijan Jordanovski 22 DF Andrej Kirovski 7 MF Viktor Dimkov 8 MF Darko Dodevski 10 MF Teodor Dimitrovski

No. Position Player 13 MF David Stojkovski 16 MF Tomislav Jankulovski 19 MF Risto Papuchiev 20 MF Filip Stojchevski 23 MF Goce Naskovski 9 FW Jasir Beqiri 11 FW Erdon Daci 14 FW Edis Hamzikj 15 FW Toni Ilievski 17 FW Aleksandar Najdoski 18 FW Oliver Dishlievski 24 FW Damjan Menkinoski 26 FW Aleksandar Trajchevski 97 FW Petar Petkovski

Coaching Staff

As of 02 July 2016.^[8]

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager	Goce Sedloski	Macedonian
Assistant Coach	Aleksandar Vasoski	Macedonian
Goalkeeping Coach	Saša Ilić	Macedonian
Doctor	Kole Nedelkovski	Macedonian
Physiotherapist	Jovan Dimovski	Macedonian
Physiotherapist	Toshe Trajkovski	Macedonian
Physiotherapist	Angele Milevski	Macedonian

Club Management

Position	Name	Nationality
Chairman	Mirko Spaseski	Macedonian
Director	Samoil Simev	Macedonian
Secretary	Nikola Stojanovski	Macedonian
Technical Secretary	George Spasovski	Macedonian
Technical Secretary	Ljupka Stojanovska	Macedonian
Security Commissioner	Aleksandar Kolevski	Macedonian
Economic	Stole Simonoski	Macedonian

Notable former players

Managers

Presidents

^[10]

Club records

^[11]

• Most goals scored: Andon Dončevski (217 goals).
• Best goal scoring ratio: Darko Pančev 207 matches/132 goals (0,65 goals per match).
• Most goals scored per season: Vasil Ringov (97 goals).
• Most goals scored per season in the 1-MFL: Saša Ćirić 1992/93 (36 goals).
• Most goals scored in European competition: Wandeir 2003–05 (13 goals).
• Most appearances: Kočo Dimitrovski 845 (416 matches), Metodija Spasovski 647 (375 matches), Gjore Jovanovski 486 (271 matches).
• Most accomplished coach: Gjoko Hadžievski (5 league titles and 2 national cups).
• Biggest win in UEFA competition: 19/06/2004, Ethnikos Achnas 1–5 FK Vardar.
• Biggest single game attendance: 1985/86, FK Vardar – Red Star Belgrade (30,000 spectators).

Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	European competitions		Top goalscorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos				Player	Goals
1992–93	1. MFL	34	27	7	0	119	16	61	1st	W			Saša Ćirić	36
1993–94	1. MFL	30	23	5	2	85	16	51	1st
1994–95	1. MFL	30	23	7	0	79	17	76	1st	W	UEFA Cup	PR	Saša Ćirić	35
1995–96	1. MFL	28	17	6	5	60	22	57	3rd	RU	UEFA Cup	R1
1996–97	1. MFL	26	11	10	5	32	15	40(−3)	4th	GS	UEFA Cup	R1
1997–98	1. MFL	25	12	5	8	34	25	41	4th	W
1998–99	1. MFL	26	15	4	7	61	32	49	4th	W	Cup Winners' Cup	QR
1999–00	1. MFL	26	7	8	11	39	38	29	10th	QF	UEFA Cup	QR
2000–01	1. MFL	26	20	3	3	52	16	63	2nd	QF			Zoran Miserdovski	11
2001–02	1. MFL	20	11	4	5	28	16	37	1st	SF	UEFA Cup	QR	Mario Petkov	12
2002–03	1. MFL	33	22	6	5	73	37	72	1st	QF	Champions League	QR2	Rogério Oliveira	15
2003–04	1. MFL	33	17	9	7	66	39	60	3rd	QF	Champions League UEFA Cup	QR3 R1	Wandeir	17
2004–05	1. MFL	33	22	6	5	68	34	72	2nd	R2	Intertoto Cup	R3	Wandeir	19
2005–06	1. MFL	33	19	7	7	42	19	61	3rd	QF	UEFA Cup	QR2	Riste Naumov	15
2006–07	1. MFL	33	17	8	8	63	34	59	4th	W	UEFA Cup	QR1	Wandeir	12
2007–08	1. MFL	33	12	11	10	45	40	47	4th	QF	UEFA Cup	QR1	Jovan Kostovski	10
2008–09	1. MFL	33	11	12	7	35	23	45	5th	R2			Boban Janchevski	10
2009–10	1. MFL	33	9	6	11	31	28	30(−3)	6th	R1			Boško Stupić	7
2010–11	1. MFL	30	9	5	19	24	44	29(−3)	11th	QF			Fahrudin Đurđević	5
2011–12	1. MFL	33	22	10	1	50	15	76	1st	SF			Filip Ivanovski	24
2012–13	1. MFL	33	20	8	5	71	21	68	1st	SF	Champions League	QR2	Jovan Kostovski	22
2013–14	1. MFL	33	15	11	7	55	32	56	5th	R2	Champions League	QR2	Aco Stojkov, Filip Petrov	9
2014–15	1. MFL	32	20	9	3	56	21	69	1st	QF			Filip Ivanovski	11
2015–16	1. MFL	32	25	5	2	67	17	80	1st	QF	Champions League	QR2	Dejan Blazhevski	10

Rivalries

Eternal Derby

The matches against Pelister Bitola is the biggest and most violent match in Macedonia. An important aspect of this match-up is the intense rivalry in the Macedonian Tifo scene between the clubs supporters Komiti Skopje and Čkembari Bitola. The rivalry began in the season 1989/1990 at a match in Skopje, between Vardar and Red Star Belgrade. A conflict occurred between the "Skopje fans" and a few Bitola fans who went to cheer for Vardar, who at that time was the most popular Macedonian football club in the former Yugoslavia. On 8 March 1991 in Bitola, Pelister and Vardar met in the Yugoslav second league and the first incident occurred. From that day forward, started the big rivalry between Komiti and Čkembari along with the Vardar-Pelister match becoming the Eternal derby of Macedonia. In recent years the rivalry wained slightly in importance as Pelister stopped being as competitive.

Skopje derby

FK Shkupi and previously upheld by predecessor Sloga is the main derby in the city, as both clubs have active organised support.^[12] This rivalry is drawn along ethnic lines as Vardar fans are Macedonians and Orthodox Christians, while Shkupi are Albanians and Muslims.^[13]

Rabotnički is the other team in Skopje with organised fans, although the rivalry is rarely manifested on the football pitch, it is widely upheld however in handball and basketball.

Inter-regional rivalries

Vardar has a strong rivalry with Shkëndija Tetovo^[14] Like the rivalry with Shkupi, this rivalry is also drawn along ethnic lines as Shkëndija fans are Albanians and Muslims.^[15]

There is also a friendly "brotherhood derby" with Teteks Tetovo; the fans of these two clubs have been dubbed as "Orthodox Brothers".

Supporters

FK Vardar supporters are known as Komiti (Macedonian: Комити). Komiti are the first organized supporters group of Vardar and they were founded on 4 June 1987 in Skopje, at the match between Vardar and Crvena Zvezda. Throughout their existence, they left significant seal in the history of Vardar and with their support becoming the 12th player of the team. FK Vardar as a club is supported by most Macedonians worldwide. The team has always been a symbol of the Macedonians and Macedonia in the world. Komiti have great relations with Teteks fans Vojvodi and Schalke 04 fans Ultras Gelsenkirchen.^[16]

Soborna Church Skopje, place where 'Komiti Skopje' are gathered before FK Vardar matches

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FK Vardar.

• Official website (Macedonian)
• FK Vardar on Facebook
• Supporters Website (Macedonian)