| Full name | Varaždinski športski nogometni klub Varaždin | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Krojači (Tailors) Bumbari (Bumblebees) | ||
| Founded | 3 June 1931; 94 years ago (3 June 1931) asNK Slavija | ||
| Dissolved | 2015; 10 years ago (2015) | ||
| Ground | Stadion Varteks | ||
| Capacity | 8,818 | ||
Varaždinski športski nogometni klub Varaždin (English:Varaždin Football Club), commonly referred to asVŠNK Varaždin or simplyVaraždin, was aCroatianfootball club based in the city ofVaraždin in the north of the country. For the majority of its existence between 1958 and 2010, the club was known asNK 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 theCroatian 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 theUEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and in the 2001–02 season, when they knocked out England'sAston Villa in the first round of theUEFA 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 newNK Varteks, in 2011. In 2012 the club, now calledVaraždin, 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 theStadion 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 ofNK Slavija and existed under this name until 1941. DuringWorld War II, the club temporarily suspended operations and was then reorganised under the name ofNK Tekstilac in 1945. The name NK Varteks was given to the club in 1958, to honour its main sponsor, the Varteks clothing factory (portmanteau ofVaraždinTextile). In June 2010, when the Varteks factory did not renew its sponsorship, the club changed its name toNK Varaždin.[2]
The club's first significant success came in 1938 when they qualified to participate in the premier league of theKingdom of Yugoslavia. InSFR Yugoslavia, their biggest success was the advancement to the final of theYugoslav Cup in 1961, but they lost the final game toVardar Skopje fromMacedonia.
In 1991, following thebreakup of Yugoslavia and Croatia's independence, Croatian clubs withdrew from theFootball Association of Yugoslavia, so Varteks was one of the 12 founding members of the newCroatian First Football League (Prva Liga), which operated under the auspices of theCroatian 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 theCroatian Football Cup five times. In the spring of 1999, they had a significant international success when they advanced to the quarterfinals of the now defunctUEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where they held opponentReal 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 eliminatedAston Villa from theUEFA 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 scheduled24 February 2012 match of the2011–12 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 theCroatian 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-tierCroatian Third Football League.
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Last season played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Cup UEFA Europa League | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 48 | 34 | 2011–12 |
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 1998–99 |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 21 | 2005 |
| Total | 44 | 21 | 9 | 14 | 85 | 65 |
Source:uefa.com[dead link], 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 (5–4p) | ||
| 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:
Yugoslav Cup:
DCM Trophy:To appear in this section a player must have:
Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.
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Stadion: Varteks (8.818)
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