HNK Rijeka

Rijeka

Full name	Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka
Nickname(s)	Riječki bijeli (The Rijeka's White)
Founded	1946 (as NK Kvarner)
Ground	Stadion Kantrida (Capacity: 10,600)
Chairman	Robert Komen
Manager	Ivo Ištuk
League	1. HNL
2010–11	1. HNL, 9th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

HNK Rijeka is a Croatian football club, from Rijeka on the Croatian coast.

History

The club was founded as NK Kvarner in 1946, after Rijeka (known by its Italian name Fiume up to 1945) passed from Italy to Yugoslavia following the end of World War II. During its early period in Yugoslavia, the club had moderate success in various Yugoslav and local club championships. It changed its name to NK Rijeka on June 3, 1954, and advanced to the Yugoslav First League in the 1957/58 season. It remained in the top tier until the 1969/70 season, when it got relegated to the Second League. It topped that league many times but it wasn't until 1973/74 when it returned to the First League, where it would remain until the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Rijeka won the Yugoslav Cup in 1978 and 1979, was a runner-up in 1987, won the Croatian Cup in 2005 and in 2006, and participated several times in various UEFA championships. Although it has never advanced to the final stages of the competition, Rijeka has topped and shocked some of the biggest clubs in the history of soccer on its home field during the 1980s, including Real Madrid and Juventus.

Rijeka has been playing in the Prva HNL since the independence of Croatia in 1991, generally finishing near the top. Notably it finished second in 1999 and 2006 and third in 2004. Due to many format changes of the league, Rijeka has played more games in the competition than any other team. In the 2004/2005 season, its player Tomislav Erceg was the top scorer of the Prva HNL with 17 goals.

Rivalries

See also: Adriatic derby

Adriatic derby match between the two largest Croatia Football Club coming from Adriatic coast, Rijeka and Hajduk. Each new match these two great rivals, means a great match on the field, but also in the stands where the overruling of Rijeka Armada and Split Torcida.

Stadium

NK Rijeka play their home matches at Stadion Kantrida, which can hold 10,600 spectators.

Supporters

The fans are known as Armada Rijeka.

Current squad

As of 26 January 2012

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

No. Position Player 2 DF Mato Miloš 3 DF Kristijan Čaval 5 DF Igor Čagalj (captain) 6 DF Niko Datković 7 MF Valentino Stepčić 8 MF Fenan Salčinović 9 FW Armando Mance 12 GK Robert Lisjak 14 FW Alen Matovina 15 MF Antonini Čulina 16 DF Matej Mršić

No. Position Player 17 MF Damir Kreilach 18 MF Alen Dedić 19 DF Marko Simanović 22 MF Duje Baković 24 MF Andro Švrljuga 25 MF Marin Grujević 26 MF Diego Živulić 28 DF Mario Tadejević 32 GK Dino Raspor FW Uroš Palibrk FW Ilija Sivonjić

Notable players

Players who have been capped by their respective nations national team or have earned more than 40 caps for HNK Rijeka

• Ramón Fernández
• Elvir Bolić
• Admir Hasančić
• Borče Sredojević
• Georgi Ivanov
• Jasmin Agić
• Boško Balaban
• Elvis Brajković
• Igor Budan
• Damir Desnica
• Nenad Gračan
• Miloš Hrstić
• Dario Knežević
• Andre Mijatović
• Leo Milašinović

• Mladen Mladenović
• Alen Pamić
• Manuel Pamić
• Dubravko Pavličić
• Borimir Perkovic
• Saša Peršon
• Renato Pilipović
• Mauro Ravnić
• Danijel Šarić
• Josip Skoblar
• Mario Tokić
• Dario Smoje
• Davor Vugrinec
• Fredi Bobič
• Ernest Erbstein

• Barnabás Sztipánovics
• Giovanni Varglien
• Mario Varglien
• Rodolfo Volk
• Yoshika Matsubara
• Radomir Đalović
• Dragan Žilić
• Igor Benedejčič
• Nastja Čeh
• Sebastjan Cimirotič
• Adrijan Fegić
• Matjaž Florjančič
• Dumitru Mitu
• Gino Gardassanich

Managerial history

• Srećko Juričić, 1993–1994
• Zvjezdan Radin, 1994–1995
• Josip Skoblar, 1995
• Ranko Buketa & Marijan Jantoljak, 1995
• Josip Skoblar, 1995–1996
• Miroslav Blažević & Nenad Gračan, 1996
• Luka Bonačić, 1996
• Branko Ivanković, 1996–1998
• Nenad Gračan, 1998–2000
• Boris Tičić, 2000
• Predrag Stilinović, 2000–2001
• Ivan Katalinić, 2001–2002
• Zlatko Kranjčar, 2002
• Mladen Mladenović, 2002–2003

• Vjekoslav Lokica, 2003
• Ivan Katalinić, 2003–2004
• Elvis Scoria, 2004–2005
• Dragan Skočić, 2005–2006
• Milivoj Bračun, 2006–2007
• Josip Kuže, 2007
• Zlatko Dalić, 2007–2008
• Mladen Ivančić, 2008
• Robert Rubčić, 2008–2009
• Zoran Vulić, 2009
• Nenad Gračan, 2009–2010
• Elvis Scoria, 2010–2011
• Alen Horvat, 2011
• Ivo Ištuk, 2011–

Honours

• Yugoslav Cup (2): 1977–78, 1978–79
• Croatian Cup (2): 2004–05, 2005–06
• Balkans Cup (1): 1978

• Yugoslav Cup Runner-up (1): 1987
• Croatian Cup Runner-up (1): 1993
• Balkans Cup Runner-up (1): 1979
• Croatian Supercup Runner-up (2) 2005, 2006

Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	European competitions		Top goalscorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos				Player	Goals
1992	1. HNL	22	10	5	7	26	22	25	6th	SF			Zoran Škerjanc	7
1992–93	1. HNL	30	14	11	5	41	24	39	4th	R2			Zoran Ban Elvis Scoria	8
1993–94	1. HNL	34	11	17	6	40	27	39	6th	RU			Mladen Mladenović	20
1994–95	1. HNL	30	8	10	12	22	32	34	11th	QF			Davor Dželalija	7
1995–96	1. HNL	36	11	8	17	46	56		9th	QF
1996–97	1. HNL	30	13	7	10	44	32	46	4th	R2			Admir Hasančić	11
1997–98	1. HNL	32	9	14	9	36	37		7th	R2			Admir Hasančić	11
1998–99	1. HNL	32	22	4	6	53	33		2nd	R2			Igor Musa Barnabás Sztipánovics	14
1999–2000	1. HNL	33	14	7	12	54	39	49	4th	QF	Champions League	QR2	Boško Balaban	15
2000–01	1. HNL	32	9	6	17	30	44	33	10th	R1	UEFA Cup	R1	Ante Milicic	10
2001–02	1. HNL	30	15	6	9	46	37	51	5th	QF			Natko Rački	13
2002–03	1. HNL	32	9	6	17	40	41	33	9th	R1	Intertoto Cup	R1	Sandro Klić	12
2003–04	1. HNL	32	11	9	12	36	41	42	3rd	SF			Sandro Klić	11
2004–05	1. HNL	32	11	14	7	52	40	47	4th	W	UEFA Cup	QR2	Tomislav Erceg	17
2005–06	1. HNL	32	20	5	7	61	36	65	2nd	W	UEFA Cup	QR2	Ahmad Sharbini Davor Vugrinec	15
2006–07	1. HNL	33	12	6	15	51	53	42	7th	SF	UEFA Cup	QR1	Ahmad Sharbini	21
2007–08	1. HNL	33	14	11	8	53	41	53	4th	R2			Radomir Đalović	18
2008–09	1. HNL	33	17	5	11	50	44	56	3rd	QF	Intertoto Cup	R1	Anas Sharbini	14
2009–10	1. HNL	30	10	10	10	49	44	40	9th	R2	Europa League	QR3	Radomir Đalović	10
2010–11	1. HNL	30	9	12	9	29	35	39	9th	QF			Hrvoje Štrok	6

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;

European record

Summary

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Last season played
UEFA Champions League	2	0	0	2	1	6	1999–2000
UEFA Cup UEFA Europa League	20	7	3	10	27	28	2009–10
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	10	3	3	4	8	9	1979–80
UEFA Intertoto Cup	4	1	1	2	3	5	2008
Total	36	11	7	18	39	48

Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 10 September 2010
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

By season

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1978-79	Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Wrexham	3–0	0–2	3–2
		R2	SK Beveren	0–0	0–2	0–2
1979-80	Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Germinal Beerschot	2–1	0–0	2–1
		R2	Lokomotiva Košice	3–0	0–2	3–2
		QF	Juventus	0–0	0–2	0–2
1984-85	UEFA Cup	R1	Valladolid	4–1	0–1	4–2
		R2	Real Madrid	3–1	0–3	3–4
1986-87	UEFA Cup	R1	Standard Liege	0–1	1–1	1–2
1999–2000	Champions League	QR2	Partizan	0–3	1–3	1–6
2000–01	UEFA Cup	QR	Valletta	3–2	5–4 (aet)	8–6
		R1	Celta Vigo	0–0	0–1 (aet)	0–1
2002	Intertoto Cup	R1	St Patrick's Athletic	3–2	0–1	3–3 (a)
2004–05	UEFA Cup	QR2	Gençlerbirliği	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2005–06	UEFA Cup	QR2	Litex Lovech	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2006–07	UEFA Cup	QR1	Omonia	2–2	1–2	3–4
2008	Intertoto Cup	R1	Renova	0–0	0–2	0–2
2009–10	Europa League	QR2	Differdange	3–0	0–1	3–1
		QR3	Metalist Kharkiv	1–2	0–2	1–4

Last updated on 10 September 2010

Player records

• Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 14 appearances
  • Mauro Ravnić
  • Miloš Hrstić
  • Srećko Juričić
• Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: 4 goals
  • Damir Desnica
  • Adriano Fegić

External links

• Official website (Croatian)
• Rijeka at uefa.com
• Armada Rijeka official website
• HNK Rijeka fansite