 | |||
| Full name | Fudbalski klub Pelister (Фудбалски клуб Пелистер) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Зелено-бели / Zeleno-beli (The Green-Whites) | ||
| Short name | Pelister, PEL, FKP | ||
| Founded | 1945; 80 years ago (1945) | ||
| Ground | Petar Miloševski Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 6,100 | ||
| Owner | Municipality of Bitola | ||
| Chairman | Mitko Stojkovski | ||
| Head coach | Srgjan Zaharievski | ||
| League | Macedonian First League | ||
| 2023–24 | Macedonian Second League, 2nd (promoted) | ||
| Website | fcpelister | ||
| Active departments of Pelister | ||
|---|---|---|
 | |  |
| RK Eurofarm Pelister | RK Eurofarm Pelister 2 | KK Pelister |
FK Pelister (Macedonian:ФК Пелистер) is a professionalfootball club based in the city ofBitola,North Macedonia. They are currently competing in theMacedonian First League.
FK Pelister was originally formed in 1945. In 1946, they won the Bitola regional title and that same year they merged with Rabotnik. The club won the Bitola title once again in 1950 and 1951. During that time the most influential players were: Georgievski, Dimitrovski, Petrovski, Naumovski, Lazarevski, Sekerdžievski, Avramovski, Nestorov and Eftimovski.
The team played primarily in the lower divisions of the formerYugoslavia and were champions of theMacedonian Republic League on four occasions, along with winning theMacedonian Republic Cup four times in: 1959, 1962, 1985 and 1991. They earned promotion to theYugoslav Second League group east (that included clubs from Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia) for the first time in 1974, which was a big success for that generation. Some of the most famous players at the time were: Grbevski, Dukovski, Cvetkovski, Taškov, Bogoevski, Gočevski, Ristevski, Tristovski, Mickovski, Dimovski, Markovski, Upalevski and the manager Stavre Eftimovski. Soon after, they were relegated but made another comeback in 1982 with Mitko Butlevski as chairman andIvan Čabrinović as manager. The club played 350 matches and had an overall record of 143 wins, 69 draws and 138 losses in the Yugoslav Second League. The biggest success came in the1990–91 Yugoslav Cup when they reached the 1/8 final, getting eliminated on away goals by the eventual championHajduk Split. Pelister played their final season in the Yugoslav league system in the1991–92 Yugoslav First League finishing in 15th place.
Following the formation of theFirst Macedonian Football League, Pelister had early success consistently finishing in the Top 5.[1] They also made it to theMacedonian Cup final the first two seasons coming up short both times. The club became rivals withVardar Skopje which created theEternal derby of Macedonia and continued the Pelagonia regional derby withPobeda Prilep. In 2000, Pelister became the first team in independent Macedonia to reach the third phase of a European competition. They made it to round three of the2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup, losing 1–5 on aggregate to one of the winnersCelta de Vigo. Finally, the club earned its first major trophy in 2001 by winning theMacedonian Cup, after which they played in theUEFA Cup.[2] In 2003, the team fell on hard times caused by financial problems and was relegated. A few years later, former playersMitko Stojkovski andToni Micevski were able to save the club from collapse. After taking over the club they brought instant success with the team winning the2005–06 Macedonian Second League title. The following year they made a successful comeback to the Macedonian First League and got to the2006–07 Macedonian Cup semifinal. In the 2007–08 season, the club had its best season to date finishing in 3rd place.[3] Once again, they played in the UEFA Cup where they lost 0–1 on aggregate toAPOEL. Another case of financial difficulties and poor results, once again relegated them back to second division for the2011–12 season. This time, however, relying mostly on young players fromBitola and led by captainDragan Dimitrovski, Pelister made an immediate return to the top division, but after the2014–15 season, the club was once again relegated. This time it happened under the managerial leadership ofGjoko Hadžievski and new owner Cermat, represented by Zoran Ristevski.[4] Under the ownership of Cermat and municipality of Bitola, after being relegated the team has continued to languish in the second division. But, after afollowing season, the club was again immediately returned to the First League, despite the relegation battle. In the following season, the club won the2016–17 Macedonian Cup for the second time and ended up playing in theEuropa League, which was the first participation in a European competition since 2008. Unfortunately, this was not an end to the turbulent period for the club, since they were relegated for the fourth time the following season. The problems went deeper as players and board left the club, while facing more financial problems. Despite all that, they still made the final of the2017–18 Macedonian Football Cup.
The club focuses heavily on youth players from the Bitola region with a strong talent development.Georgi Hristov,Dragi Kanatlarovski,Toni Micevski,Nikolče Noveski,Toni Savevski andMitko Stojkovski are some of the famous Bitola natives to start their careers with the club. Therefore, Pelister is known as the nursery of young and talented players who have left and gone to have success at various clubs in Macedonia and abroad.[5]
Miloshevski Arena is FK Pelister home stadium. The stadium has capacity of 9500 seats. Two stands behind the goals will be added after renovation of the facilities of formar main stand. After it's finished running track will be installed for Athletics.
The club colours have traditionally been green and white. The crest is formed in a shape of a shield, at the top left corner it has always had the number 1945 inscribed, which is the year of the club's foundation. In the latest version it includes theCyrillic letters FK, on the right side. Shape of a mountain forms in the backdrop (to honor the mountain peakPelister) with the name of the club in the center and a classic leather football underneath it. Early versions of the crest included the colour black, but now the entire badge uses only two colours, green and white.
Prior to the2016 season, Australian clubPascoe Vale FC (Formerly Pascoe Vale Pelister) announced they would adopt a new logo, inspired by that of FK Pelister, to tie back to their original namesake and immigrant origins.
Čkembari (Macedonian:Чкембари) are anUltras group, established in 1985, who support theMacedonian sports clubs fromBitola that compete under thePelister banner, mainly FK Pelister in football andRK Pelister in handball. The group was founded in 1985 when a caravan of 15 buses traveled to support RK Pelister who was playing againstPartizan Bjelovar in a handball relegation play-off match. At that time they used the name BMČM – Bitolčani, Motorcyclists, Čkembari, Macedonians (Macedonian:БМЧМ – Битолчани, Мотокари, Чкембари, Македонци) later shortened to just Čkembari. Soon after, the first green and white banners were created that read: „Hell Boys“ (Macedonian:Пеколни момци) and „Green Conquerors“ (Macedonian:Зелени освојувачи) which started organized support for Pelister at every match.
The club's main rival isFK Vardar fromSkopje; their matches are called theEternal derby of Macedonia. The other significant rival areFK Pobeda in what is known as the Pelagonia derby. It’s a derby between the two best clubs from two cities with fierce rivalry,Bitola andPrilep, both located in the ancient Macedonian province ofPelagonia.[6]
Macedonian Republic League
Macedonian Second LeagueMacedonian Republic CupMacedonian Football Cup| Season | League | Cup | European competitions | Top goalscorer | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Player | Goals | ||||
| 1992–93 | 1. MFL | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 47 | 36 | 36 | 4th | RU | ||||
| 1993–94 | 1. MFL | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 49 | 31 | 36 | 4th | RU | ||||
| 1994–95 | 1. MFL | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 57 | 40 | 51 | 5th | |||||
| 1995–96 | 1. MFL | 28 | 13 | 4 | 11 | 51 | 40 | 43 | 5th | SF | ||||
| 1996–97 | 1. MFL | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 36 | 35 | 33 | 9th | R2 | Vancho Micevski | 12 | ||
| 1997–98 | 1. MFL | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 31 | 24 | 37 | 6th | Fernando Jefferson | 10 | |||
| 1998–99 | 1. MFL | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 30 | 50 | 29 | 10th | R2 | ||||
| 1999–00 | 1. MFL | 26 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 48 | 30 | 47 | 4th | SF | Toni Micevski | 11 | ||
| 2000–01 | 1. MFL | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 41 | 38 | 34 | 8th | W | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Vancho Micevski | 12 |
| 2001–02 | 1. MFL | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 37 | 35 | 27 | 10th | R2 | UEFA Cup | QR | Vancho Micevski | 19 |
| 2002–03 | 1. MFL | 33 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 30 | 60 | 28 | 11th ↓ | R2 | Igor Momirovski | 8 | ||
| 2003–04 | 2. MFL | 32 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 48 | 42 | 52 | 6th | R2 | ||||
| 2004–05 | 2. MFL | 33 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 40 | 43 | 43 | 6th | PR | ||||
| 2005–06 | 2. MFL | 33 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 52 | 22 | 61 | 1st ↑ | PR | ||||
| 2006–07 | 1. MFL | 33 | 14 | 3 | 16 | 37 | 32 | 45 | 6th | SF | Blagojche Glavevski | 7 | ||
| 2007–08 | 1. MFL | 32 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 42 | 27 | 58 | 3rd | R2 | Blagojche Glavevski | 8 | ||
| 2008–09 | 1. MFL | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 25 | 42 | 28 | 10th | QF | UEFA Cup | QR1 | Dragan Dimitrovski | 9 |
| 2009–10 | 1. MFL | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 28 | 27 | 39 | 4th | SF | Dragan Dimitrovski | 9 | ||
| 2010–11 | 1. MFL | 33 | 5 | 3 | 25 | 25 | 82 | 18 | 12th ↓ | R2 | Igor Talevski | 5 | ||
| 2011–12 | 2. MFL | 30 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 42 | 23 | 61 | 1st ↑ | R2 | ||||
| 2012–13 | 1. MFL | 33 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 27 | 36 | 37 | 10th | QF | Blagojche Glavevski | 6 | ||
| 2013–14 | 1. MFL | 33 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 40 | 40 | 52 | 6th | QF | Dimitar Vodenicharov | 10 | ||
| 2014–15 | 1. MFL | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 21 | 35 | 30 | 9th ↓ | R2 | Boško Stupić | 6 | ||
| 2015–16 | 2. MFL | 27 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 33 | 32 | 39 | 3rd ↑ | R2 | Blagojche Glavevski | 6 | ||
| 2016–17 | 1. MFL | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 44 | 35 | 52 | 4th | W | Lucas Cardoso | 11 | ||
| 2017–18 | 1. MFL | 36 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 37 | 68 | 34 | 10th ↓ | RU | Europa League | QR1 | Ive Trifunovski | 7 |
| 2018–19 | 2. MFL | 27 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 27 | 20 | 41 | 3rd | R2 | Blagojche Glavevski | 10 | ||
| 2019–201 | 2. MFL West | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 1st ↑ | N/A | Blagojche Glavevski | 6 | ||
| 2020–21 | 1. MFL | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 48 | 45 | 6th | R2 | Borche Manevski | 7 | ||
| 2021–22 | 1. MFL | 33 | 2 | 8 | 23 | 16 | 54 | 14 | 12th ↓ | SF | Petar Ljamchevski | 3 | ||
| 2022–23 | 2. MFL | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 64 | 26 | 58 | 4th | R2 | Borche Manevski | 15 | ||
| 2023–24 | 2. MFL | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 57 | 17 | 70 | 2nd ↑ | R2 | Simeon Hristov Bojan Spirkoski | 12 | ||
1The 2019–20 season was abandoned due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.[7]
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | R1 |  Hobscheid | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 |  |
| R2 |  Västra Frölunda | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | | ||
| R3 |  Celta de Vigo | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–5 |  | ||
| 2001–02 | UEFA Cup | QR |  St. Gallen | 0–2 | 3–2 | 3–4 | |
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | QR1 |  APOEL | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | QR1 |  Lech Poznań | 0–3 | 0–4 | 0–7 | |
| Competition | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UEFA Europa League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| UEFA Cup | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 |
| Total | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 19 |
(As of 25 September 2021)[9]
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Mile Dimov – 9 appearancesIlir Elmazovski and Martin Georgievski – 3 goalsNote: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
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Players from the U19 Youth Team that have been summoned with the first team in the current season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| President - General executive director | Mitko Stojkovski |
| Sports director | Vančo Micevski |
| Technical director | Sašo Zdravevski |
| Non-executive director | Toni Micevski |
| General secretary | Bruno Presilski |
| Executive director | Blagica Talevska |
| Chairman of the board of directors | Stefanija Bocevska |
| Head coach | Srgjan Zaharievski |
| Assistant coach | Borche Manevski |
| Assistant coach | Vangel Altiparmakovski |
| Conditioning trainer | Saše Veljanvoski |
| Goalkeeping coach | Goran Pašovski |
| Economist | Goce Stavrevski |
| Field maintenance | Živko Ristevski |
| Physiotherapist | Hristijan Stojanovski |
| Head doctor of FC Pelister | D-r.Hristo Bojadzhiev |
Stavre EftimovskiIvan ČabrinovićGjoko Hadjievski (1988 – 1990)Tome Dimitrovski (1990 – 1992)
Kire Gruevski (1992 – 1993)Zoran SmileskiIlija DimoskiDushan Kechan (1995 – 1996)Nexhat Husein (1999)Kiril Dojchinovski (2000)
Branko Božić (2000)Spase Ristevski (2001)Blagoja Kitanovski (2001 – 2002)Perica Gruevski (2003)Marjan Sekulovski (2004 – 2007) Nexhat Husein (2007 – Nov 2008)Zlatko Cvetanovski(interim) (16 Nov 2008 - Feb 2009)Alekso Mackov (1 Mar 2009 - Sep 2009)Gjoko Ilievski (29 Sep 2009 - Oct 2009)Naum Ljamchevski (6 Oct 2009 - Sep 2010) Nexhat Husein (24 Sep 2010 – Jun 2011)Marjan Sekulovski (2011 – 2012) Mile Dimov(interim) (2012)Gorazd Mihajlov (Jul 2012 - Dec 2012)Gordan Zdravkov (11 Jan 2013 - May 2013) Mile Dimov(interim) (6 May 2013 – Jun 2013)Dragan Bocheski (Jul 2013 – Jun 2014)Marjan Sekulovski (Jul 2014 - Nov 2014)Dimitar Kapinkovski(interim) (24 Nov 2014 - Dec 2014) Gjoko Hadžievski (4 Dec 2014 – 2015) Naum Ljamchevski (Jul 2015 - Oct 2016)
Naci Şensoy (Oct 2016 – Jul 2017)Srgjan Zaharievski (19 Jul 2017 – 26 Oct 2017) Spase Ristevski(interim) (Nov 2017 – 31 Dec 2017)Marjan Sekulovski (Jan 2018 – Apr 2018) Nexhat Husein (2018)Tome Trajanovski (2018)Darko Krsteski (2018 – 2019)Zoran Shterjovski (2019-2020)Dimitar Kapinkovski (2021)Marjan Sekulovski (2022)Boban Babunski (2023)Vlatko Kostov (2023 – 2024)Srgjan Zaharievski (2025 –)
