 | |||
| Full name | Fudbalski klub Vardar / Фудбалски Клуб Вардар | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Црвено-Црни / Crveno-Crni (The Red-Blacks) | ||
| Short name | Vardar, VAR | ||
| Founded | 1911; 114 years ago (1911) fusion 22 July 1947; 78 years ago (1947-07-22) | ||
| Ground | National Arena Toše Proeski | ||
| Capacity | 33,011 | ||
| Owner(s) | Atila Bijen Jalili (85%) Komiti Skopje (15%) | ||
| Chairman | Milenko Nedelkovski | ||
| Manager | Goce Sedloski | ||
| League | Macedonian First League | ||
| 2024–25 | Macedonian First League, 5th | ||
| Website | fcvardar | ||
FK Vardar (Macedonian:ФК Вардар) is a professionalfootball club based inSkopje, North Macedonia, which competes in theMacedonian First League. They are the most successful football club inMacedonia, having won elevenMacedonian First League titles, sixMacedonian Cups, twoMacedonian Super Cups and oneYugoslav Cup. In 2017, they became the first Macedonian club to qualify for the group stage of a European competition.[1]
Vardar was formed in 1911 as Sports Club Vardar. In the beginning of 1912 it was registered and started to play matches until the war break (1914–18). In 1918 when the British and French enteredSkopje they introduced sports activities including football. In 1919 Vardar started to compete again in the Skopje division, winning two championships in the first years of the 1920s,1922 and1923. In 1924 Vardar merged intoGragjanski, taking all the players and the coach to the newly made club including Vardar's city park ground. Gragjanski won three subdivision championships in a row (1936,1937 and1938. In 1926 Vardar was re-established by former players and continued to compete. DuringWorld War II, in 1941 Vardar merged with Gragjanski, Jug Skopje, Sparta and Slavia to form FK Makedonia, who started competing at the first federal championship in 1945. Next year theMacedonian Republic League was formed and the national team won the league as FK Makedonija.
AfterWorld War Two, FK Vardar was established with the merger of city rivals FK Pobeda (1919) andFK Makedonija (1922), in the hall of cinema "Vardar" on 22 July 1947.[1] The fusion assembly had decided the club's color to be blue but it was changed at the next assembly the decision to red and white.
FK Pobeda has competed in District League andSubdivision League until 1941 winning in1927,1928 and1929 Championships. After winning theMacedonian Republic League 1947 they merged with FK Makedonija, that competed in thefirst season of theFederal League after theWorld War II, and finished at the eighth place and won the relegation playoffs againstFK Sloga fromNovi Sad.
However, during the following decade they were relegated and promoted back several times.
The present recognizable red and black color jerseys were brought back again after the1963 Skopje earthquake when the famous Milan football club sent equipment for the Skopje's team.[1]
The club won its first major trophy in the1960–61 Yugoslav Cup.[1]
Many famous players from the region started their careers at Vardar, and their triumph in theYugoslav Cup was a highlight. The leader of that particular generation of players wasAndon Dončevski, who later coached the team from 1986 to 1988. The1985–86 Yugoslav First League season ended notoriously due to massive irregularities during the last week of fixtures, as theFootball Association of Yugoslavia headed bySlavko Šajber voided the last week's results ordering a replay of all 9 fixtures. Twelve clubs were docked 6 points due to alleged participation in amatch-fixing scandal. All teams agreed to replay their games butFK Partizan, who had won the title with a 4–0 overFK Željezničar Sarajevo, refused, after which the game was awarded 3–0 toFK Željezničar Sarajevo, which gaveRed Star Belgrade the title.Red Star Belgrade played in the1986–87 European Cup. However, after a sequence of legal processes, the original final table, withFK Partizan as champions, was officially recognized in 1987. The following1986-87 Federal League season saw 10 teams starting with -6 points. Vardar, who had not been deducted 6 points, won the title, and participated in the1987–88 European Cup, but the points deduction was later overruled after more legal proceedings, and the title was given toFK Partizan, who headed the table without the deduction. However, Vardar was recognized as a champion by UEFA, whose team included captainDarko Pančev,Ilija Najdoski,Dragi Kanatlarovski andVujadin Stanojković. FK Vardar went on to spend 33 seasons in theFederal top flight from 1947 to 1992 and is ranked 11th on the all-time table.[1][2]
| Rank | Club | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | FK Vardar | 1041 | 343 | 252 | 444 | 1249 | 1528 | −279 | 933 |
Vardar celebratedMacedonia's independence by winning three consecutive titles including going unbeaten in theinaugural season. During the 90's they remained at the top ofMacedonian football reaching fiveMacedonian Cup finals and winning four. After a lean spell by their standards, they brought the league again in2001–02 and the following season just missed out on qualifying for the2003–04 UEFA Champions League group stage. A remarkable achievement, in theSecond qualifying round they eliminatedCSKA Moscow and came within a goal of getting pastSparta Prague.[3] In 2011, Vardar was originally relegated from theMacedonian First Football League, but after buying the license fromMiravci it stayed. The following season they brought theleague again after nine years. To date they have 17 major honors to their name. In 2012, with the new transformation, FK Vardar became the first team in North Macedonia organized as a joint stock company incorporated under the Companies Act.[1] FK Vardar went on to spend 24 seasons in theMacedonian First Football League from 1992 to 2017 and is ranked first on the all-time table.[4]
| Rank | Club | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FK Vardar | 768 | 439 | 180 | 149 | 1428 | 651 | +777 | 1438 |
In their history, FK Vardar has had many memorable matches. The first big one came in 1961 against Dunfermline from Scotland, victory at home ground 2:0 glorious moments in Cup winners Cup. Among those, the one that stands out the most was defeatingFK Partizan by a score of 5–0. In early history, the 2–1 victory overVarteks in theYugoslav Cupfinal is remembered by the club as its first major trophy win. A game that had the highest attendance was a matchup againstTrepča where FK Vardar won 2–1 and earned promotion to theYugoslav First League. Other matches to remember came against the great fourRed Star Belgrade,Partizan Belgrade,Dinamo Zagreb andHajduk Split. Then 1985 home ground victory over Dinamo București from Romania 1:0 in UEFA Cup competition. At the beginning of theMacedonian First Football League the most memorable matches were all the wins against rivalPelister, including the first-everMacedonian Football Cupfinal in 1993 where FK Vardar won 1–0 at the oldCity Stadium. The biggest international achievement of the club came in 2003 when FK Vardar came one goal short of qualifying for theUEFA Champions League group stage.[1] They had great match againstBarry Town fromWales and 3–0 victory at home ground, then another glorious 2–1 away win over Russian heavyweightsCSKA Moscow. In2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup they destroyedEthnikos Achnas fromCyprus in both matches home and away with identical victories of 5–1, then 1–0 victory against Belgian sideGent at home ground.
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In the2017–18 Champions League second qualifying round, Vardar were drawn againstSwedish sideMalmö FF, in the first leg away, they have played a draw (1–1)[5] and won the second leg inStrumica (3–1), with the goals ofBoban Grncharov,Tigran Barseghyan andBoban Nikolov.[6] In thethird qualifying round, Vardar was played against Danish sideF.C. Copenhagen, they won first leg at the home inSkopje (1–0), with the goal of Jonathan Balotelli.[7]In the second leg inCopenhagen, Vardar had a result which would lead to the play-off round of Champions League, but in last 15 minutes, Copenhagen scored two goals, and Vardar lost the match (4–1), and its eliminated from the Champions League.[8]
However, FК Vardar later won a historic first point in European Cups with a 1:1 draw in the home match against Rosenborg BK.
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TheCity Park Arena with a capacity of 33.011 spectators, it ranks among the 10 biggest stadiums in theBalkans. The field is of 105 x 68 m dimensions. There are two big boards that are located on the east and west sides, size 18 × 6 m. TheToshe Proeski Arena has 494 VIP seats and 386 seats for the media on the northern stand. 80% of the space inToshe Proeski Arena is sheltered in case of bad weather. TheToshe Proeski Arena is a multifunctional sports facility located inSkopje, Macedonia. It is named afterPhilip II of Macedon and is mostly used for football matches. On 25 July 2012, one of the most visited matches of FK Vardar againstFC BATE Borisov was played in thesecond qualifying round of the2012–13 UEFA Champions League. The west stand is known by the Komiti, FK Vardar's most faithful fans.[15]National Arena Toshe Proeski was the host of2017 UEFA Super Cup, Macedonia's first UEFA club competition final.[16]
FK Vardar supporters are known as "Komiti". Komiti are the first organized supporters group ofVardar and they were founded on 4 June 1987 inSkopje, at the match between FK Vardar andRed Star Belgrade. 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 mostMacedonians worldwide. The Ultras group KOMITI was noticed for the first time in the year 1985, on 'Zapad' (West Stand), where the most fanatic fans of Vardar always operated. Two years later, on 4 June 1987 at theCity Stadium inSkopje was a derby match of theYugoslav league at that time between Vardar Skopje andRed Star Belgrade (3:1). On 'Zapad' for the first time since the existence of the club, a banner with the writing 'KOMITI' was noticed. The idea contained the establishment of a massive and strong Macedonian ultra scene. The goal was for 'KOMITI' to make the prominent post of all activities and events on the West Stand. As the most acceptable name of the group was selected 'KOMITI'.[17]
The reason for it was simple: In the last decade of the 19th century and the early 20th century, when Macedonia was still under Ottoman rule, the revolutionaries that had been organized underIMRO were calledkomitadjis, as in members of the Macedonian Committee. This name is very strong and the meaning of the name is closely linked with their goals, this is why they decided not to use one like the standard unimaginative names such as Brigate, Commando, Ultras, Boys, etc. And so, the name 'KOMITI' was selected for the newborn Ultra group.[citation needed]
The team has always been a symbol of theMacedonians andin the diaspora. Komiti have great relations withFK Teteks fans "Vojvodi" andFC Schalke 04 fans "Ultras Gelsenkirchen".[18]
The fixture between Vardar andFK Pelister is the biggest and most violent match inNorth Macedonia. An important aspect of this match-up is the intense rivalry in the Macedonian tifo scene between the supporter clubsKomiti Skopje andČkembari. The rivalry began in the season 1989–90 at a match inSkopje, between FK Vardar andRed Star Belgrade. A conflict occurred between the "Skopje fans" and a few "Bitola fans" who went to cheer for FK Vardar, who at that time was the most popularMacedonian football club in the formerYugoslavia. On 8 March 1991 inBitolaFK Pelister and FK Vardar met in theYugoslav second league and the first incident occurred. From that day forward, started the big rivalry betweenKomiti andČkembari along with theVardar–Pelister match becoming theeternal derby. In recent years the rivalry wained slightly in importance as FK Vardar stopped being as competitive.
FK Vardar[19][18] real derby is withRabotnički another team fromSkopje with organised fans, although the rivalry is rarely manifested on the fun stands, it is widely upheld however.
Vardar has a strong rivalry withFK Pobeda. Like the rivalry withGFK Tikvesh.[20] There is also a friendly "brotherhood derby" withFK Teteks the fans of these two clubs have been dubbed as "Orthodox Brothers".
FK Vardar's first competitiveEuropean match was a 0–5 loss againstDunfermline Athletic in the1961–62 European Cup Winners' Cup.Muarem Zekir holds the record for most appearances inEurope for the club with 21. Top scorer inUEFA club competitions isWandeir with 13 goals. The biggest win inUEFA competition was againstEthnikos Achna FC in the2004 Intertoto Cup defeating them twice by the score of 5–1 and 10–2 on aggregate.
FK Vardar became the first Macedonian club to qualify for the group stages of a European competition, after beatingFenerbahçe S.K. in the2017–18 UEFA Europa League playoffs.
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| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964–66 | Balkans Cup | Group A |  Spartak Plovdiv | 0–3 | 1–4 | 4th out of 4 | |
 Farul | 0–4 | 0–1 | |||||
 Olympiacos | 2–2 | 0–1 | |||||
| 1966–67 | Balkans Cup | Group B | AEK Athens | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4th out of 4 | |
| Lokomotiv Sofia | 0–3 | 1–4 | |||||
| Farul | 4–0 | 0–2 | |||||
| 1967–68 | Mitropa Cup | R16 |  LASK | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | |
| QF |  Cagliari | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |||
| SF |  Spartak Trnava | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–4 | |||
| 1968–69 | Mitropa Cup | R16 | Admira Wien | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–5 | |
| 1969–70 | Mitropa Cup | R16 |  Vasas | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–4 | |
| 1971–72 | Balkans Cup | Group A |  Kavala | 5–1 | 0–1 | 1st out of 3 | |
 Shkëndija Tiranë | 1–1 | 1–1 | |||||
| Final |  Trakia Plovdiv | 4–0 | 0–5 | 4-5 | |||
| 1973–74 | Balkans Cup | Group B | Partizani | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1st out of 3 | |
| Larissa | 7–0 | 3–0 | |||||
| Final | Akademik Sofia | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Rank | Country | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 416 |  | Mons Calpe S.C. | 1.158 |
| 417 |  | FC Struga | 1.100 |
| 418 | | FK Vardar | 1.100 |
| 419 | | FK Rabotnichki | 1.100 |
| 420 |  | Atlètic Club d'Escaldes | 1.033 |
Note: 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.
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Note: 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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| Manager | Goce Sedloski |
| Assistant coach | Vladimir Kolev |
| Assistant coach | Sashko Poposki |
| Assistant coach | Matija Mirkov |
| Assistant coach | Toni Meglenski |
| Assistant coach | Zlatko Tasevski |
| Fitness coach | Antonio Bosheski |
| Physiotherapist | Jovan Dimovski |
| Physiotherapist | Viktor Stojanov |
| Doctor | Daniel Jakimoski |
| Economic | Ljupcho Dimovski |
| Goalkeeping coach | Filip Madžovski |
Source: [23]
| Co-owner | Atila Bijen Jalili |
| Co-owner | Komiti Skopje |
| Chairman | Milorad Milenkovski |
| Sporting director | Vlatko Kolev |
| Secretary | Nikola Stojanovski |
| Technical operator | George Spasovski |
| Technical secretary | Biljana Blazhevska |
| Security commissioner | Aleksandar Kolevski |
Source: [23]
