NK Varaždin (1931–2015)

VŠNK Varaždin

Full name	Varaždinski športski nogometni klub Varaždin
Nickname(s)	Krojači (Tailors) Bumbari (Bumblebees)
Founded	3 June 1931; 93 years ago (3 June 1931) as NK Slavija
Dissolved	2015; 10 years ago (2015)
Ground	Stadion Varteks
Capacity	10,800
Home colours Away colours

Varaždinski športski nogometni klub Varaždin (English: Varaždin Football Club), commonly referred to as VŠNK Varaždin or simply Varaždin, was a Croatian football club based in the city of Varaždin in the north of the country. For the majority of its existence between 1958 and 2010, the club was known as NK Varteks, honouring the name of its principal sponsor, a local textile factory.

The club spent its entire history in the Yugoslav era in lower-tier divisions. However, after Croatia's independence in 1991 and the formation of the Croatian First Football League Varteks established themselves as one of the stronger sides in the new national top level. Varteks spent the next 21 seasons in Croatia's top league, finishing third three times, and reaching the national cup final on six occasions.

During this period, the club also regularly played European football, with their biggest successes in the 1998–99 season, when they reached the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and in the 2001–02 season, when they knocked out England's Aston Villa in the first round of the UEFA Cup.

By the early 2010s both the club and the factory were in dire financial problems. In 2010 the club dropped the Varteks name, which led to angry fans forming their own club, the new NK Varteks, in 2011. In 2012 the club, now called Varaždin, were relegated from the league, and in 2013 they were suspended and sent to the third level. They languished there for two more seasons before finally folding in 2015.

The club played their home matches at the Stadion Varteks, which was renovated through the years and reached an all-seating capacity of 10,800 (further renovated to seat 8,800 by sometime before 2021).^[1]

The club was founded on 3 June 1931 under the name of NK Slavija and existed under this name until 1941. During World War II, the club temporarily suspended operations and was then reorganised under the name of NK Tekstilac in 1945. The name NK Varteks was given to the club in 1958, to honour its main sponsor, the Varteks clothing factory (portmanteau of Varaždin Textile). In June 2010, when the Varteks factory did not renew its sponsorship, the club changed its name to NK Varaždin.^[2]

The club's first significant success came in 1938 when they qualified to participate in the premier league of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In SFR Yugoslavia, their biggest success was the advancement to the final of the Yugoslav Cup in 1961, but they lost the final game to Vardar Skopje from Macedonia.

In 1991, following the breakup of Yugoslavia and Croatia's independence, Croatian clubs withdrew from the Football Association of Yugoslavia, so Varteks was one of the 12 founding members of the new Croatian First Football League (Prva Liga), which operated under the auspices of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS).

The club did not win any Croatian national titles, but regularly placed near the top of the Prva Liga table and were also the runners-up in the Croatian Football Cup five times. In the spring of 1999, they had a significant international success when they advanced to the quarterfinals of the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where they held opponent Real Mallorca to a scoreless draw at home before losing the second-leg away match 3–1, and were eliminated from competition. They also attracted some international attention in 2001, when they eliminated Aston Villa from the UEFA Cup on away goals.

Serious financial troubles forced NK Varaždin into a period of bankruptcy, which eventually led to the suspension of the club by Croatian Football Federation before a scheduled 24 February 2012 match of the 2011–12 Prva Liga season. The club returned for its next five matches, but was suspended again before its 31 March 2012 match. Per the rules of the Federation, missing two league games in a season, even those due to suspension, meant that the club was immediately relegated to the lowest football level possible of the Croatian football league system, being the seventh-tier Third League of Varaždin County. The suspension was lifted in August 2013 and the club re-entered in the third-tier Croatian Third Football League.

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 / Europe: PR = Preliminary round; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; Group = Group stage; QF = Quarter-final; SF = Semi-final; RU = Runner-up; W = Competition won;

Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 4 August 2011
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1996–97	Cup Winners' Cup	QR	Union Luxembourg	2–1	3–0	5–1
		R1	Lokomotiv Moscow	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
1998–99	Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Rudar Velenje	1–0	1–0	2–0
		R2	Heerenveen	4–2 (aet)	1–2	5–4
		QF	Mallorca	0–0	1–3	1–3
1999–2000	Intertoto Cup	R1	Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk	2–2	2–1	4–3
		R2	Brann	3–0	0–3	3–3 (5–4 p)
		R3	Rostselmash	1–2	1–0	2–2 (a)
2001–02	UEFA Cup	QR	Vaduz	6–1	3–3	9–4
		R1	Aston Villa	0–1	3–2	3–3 (a)
		R2	Brondby	3–1	0–5	3–6
2002–03	UEFA Cup	QR	Dundalk	5–0	4–0	9–0
		R1	Midtjylland	1–1	0–1	1–2
2003–04	UEFA Cup	QR	Levadia Tallinn	3–2	3–1	6–3
		R1	Debrecen	1–3	2–3	3–6
2005–06	Intertoto Cup	R1	Dinamo Tirana	4–1	1–2	5–3
		R2	Inter Turku	4–3	2–2	6–5
		R3	Lens	1–1	1–4	2–5
2006–07	UEFA Cup	QR1	KF Tirana	1–1	0–2	1–3
2011–12	Europa League	QR1	Lusitanos	5–1	1–0	6–1
		QR2	Iskra-Stal	3–1	1–1	4–2
		QR3	Dinamo București	1–2	2–2	3–4

• Croatian Football Cup:
  • Runners-up (6): 1995–96, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2010–11
• Yugoslav Cup:
  • Runners up (1): 1960–61
• DCM Trophy:
  • Winners (1): 1993^[3][4]

• Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 27 appearances^[5]
  • Miljenko Mumlek
• Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: 17 goals^[5]
  • Miljenko Mumlek

To appear in this section a player must have:

• Played at least 150 league games for the club;
• Scored at least 50 league goals for the club; or
• Played at least one international match for their national team while playing for NK Varaždin.

Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to NK Varaždin.

• NK Varaždin at UEFA.com