FK Partizan
| Partizan's crest | ||||
| Full name | Fudbalski klub Partizan Beograd | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Crno-beli (The Black & Whites) Parni valjak (The Steamroller) | |||
| Founded | October 4, 1945 | |||
| Ground | Partizan Stadium, Belgrade | |||
| Capacity | 32,710[1] | |||
| President | Dragan Đurić | |||
| Head coach | Vladimir Vermezović | |||
| League | Serbian SuperLiga | |||
| 2011–12 | Serbian SuperLiga, 1st | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Fudbalski klub Partizan Beograd (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Партизан Београд), commonly known as Partizan Belgrade or simply Partizan (Serbian pronunciation: [partizan]), is a professional Serbian football club based in Belgrade, and the major part of the Partizan Sports Association.[2] The club is the second most successful club in Serbia,[3] having won a total of 38 trophies, including 24 national championships, 12 national cups, 1 national supercup as well 1 Mitropa Cup,[4] and finished the Yugoslav league all-time table as 2nd.[5]
Partizan was founded by young high officers of the Yugoslav People's Army in 1945, as a part of the Yugoslav Sports Association Partizan.[6] Their home ground is the Partizan Stadium, where they have played since 1949.[7] Partizan holds records such as playing in the first European Champions Cup match in 1955, as well as becoming the first Balkan and Eastern European who reached the European Champions Cup final, so in 1966.
The club has a long-standing rivalry with Red Star, also from the capital city of Belgrade. The matches between these two clubs are known as Eternal derby and rates as one of the great cross-town clashes in the world.[8] In September 2009, British Daily Mail ranked the Red Star – Partizan derby 4th among the 10 greatest football rivalries of all time.[9]
According to a recent poll, Partizan is the second most popular football club in Serbia.[10] The club is also very popular in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska.[11] They also have many supporters in all other former Yugoslavian republics[12] and in the Serbian and Yugoslav diaspora.
History
Partizan was founded on 4 October 1945, as a football section of the Yugoslav Sports Association Partizan,[6] and was named in honor of the Yugoslav Partisans, the communist military formation who fought during the World War II.[13] The club was formed and initially managed by the group of high officers of the Yugoslav People's Army.[14] Among them were Svetozar Vukmanović, Ratko Vujović and Koča Popović.[14] Partizan joined the newly formed Yugoslav First League along with the cup, and had a successful start, already winning the Double in the 1946–47 debut season.[15] The second championship title followed in 1949.[16] Until then, Partizan played its home games on the old BSK stadium, when its own stadium was built on the same site and named JNA Stadium.[1] In 1950, the club evolved from a football section of the Army into independent club under the umbrella organization JSD Partizan.[17] The first clubs president became Ratko Vujović.[17] In 1953, the remaining formal connections between Partizan and the Army finally ceased.[14] During the 1950s, the club had a long break without winning a championship, winning only cup titles in 1952, 1954 and 1957.[18] On 4 September 1955, Partizan participated in the first ever Champions Cup match, in Lisbon against Portuguese club Sporting.[13]
In 1958, after 13 years of playing in blue-red kits, the club adopted the black and white colors.[19] The change of club's image and appearance was followed by radical changes in the playing squad. The number of young players, offsprings of Partizan's youth school and known as Partizanove bebe (The Partizan's babies), soon emerged into one of the best generations Partizan ever had.[20] Managers Spitz, Matekalo and Bobek monitored and guided their development. The decision to rely mostly on talented youngsters scouted trough all over the country quickly gave results – Partizan took three consecutive championship titles, in 1961,[21] 1962[22] and 1963,[23] the first title hat-trick in the league.[24] In 1965, the team added the fourth title in five years,[25] being previously interrupted by city rivals Red Star in 1964. As early as the 60s, a fierce and intense rivalry grew up between Partizan and Red Star.[3]
The 1965–66 European Cup campaign was the crown of this generation's career. After beating the English side Manchester United 2-1 on aggregate, Partizan's babies, led by manager Abdulah Gegić, achieved the greatest success in history of Partizan, a place in 1966 European Cup Final against Real Madrid.[26] The final game was played on 11 May, at Heysel Stadium, Brussels.[26] Until 70th minute Partizan was 1–0 up (goal by Velibor Vasović), but lost to the Spaniards 2–1 at the end.[27] After the defeat in the finals, club administration failed to operate on a higher level, and Partizan entered a long organizational crisis. All main players signed contracts with biggest western clubs, and the promising generation was scattered. Still, Partizan became the first club from the Balkans and Eastern Europe who reached the European Cup final.[28]
In 1976, Partizan won its seventh championship trophy, after full decade of waiting.[29] The eighth title followed in 1978.[30] The same year, Partizan won, led by manager Ante Mladinić, its first European trophy, the Mitropa Cup. The Black & Whites defeated Hungarian side Honvéd in the finals by 1–0. Unexpectedly, the next 1978–79 season turned out to be the worst in Partizan history. They finished 15th in the league, barely avoiding relegation with a 4–2 victory against Budućnost in the last fixture. The new crisis was serious, which reflected in the results next season, when Partizan finished 13th. It took two more seasons, but Partizan eventually recovered.
Partizan became champion in 1983, in large part due to extraordinary performances of young Dragan Mance.[31] He helped Partizan win the league by scoring 15 goals, and immediately became a fan favourite.[31] He also led the club in their 1984–85 UEFA Cup second round tie against Queens Park Rangers, one of the most memorable matches in the club's history. QPR won the first leg 6–2, but Partizan advanced after a 4–0 return victory. A goal which Mance scored against the English side is considered as one of the most remarkable goals in the history of Partizan.[32] That match was voted on the 70th position among Top 100 greatest matches in the history of football, in a poll organized by Eurosport in 2009.[33] On 3 September 1985, the players tragically lost their teammate and the fans lost their idol – Mance died in a car crash on Novi Sad-Belgrade highway.[34] He was only 22 years old, and at the peak of his popularity. Even today, Dragan Mance is considered to be the greatest club legend by the fans of Partizan.[35] In his honor, the street next to the clubs stadium in Belgrade carries his name.[36]
In 1986, Partizan won its 10th championship title with a 4–0 win over Željezničar, due to better goal difference than second-placed Red Star.[37] However, Yugoslav FA decided that the entire last round of fixtures had to be replayed, after accusations that certain results had been fixed. Partizan refused to replay its match, after which the game was awarded 3–0 to Željezničar, and the title was given to Red Star. However, after a sequence of appeals and lawsuits which eventually led to Yugoslav Constitutional Court, the original final table of 1985–86 season, with Partizan as champions, was officially recognized in mid 1987. Also, the points deduction from 1986–87 season was annulled, and the title was given to Partizan, who headed the table without the deduction.[38]
Partizan spent the final years in Yugoslavia undergoing significant organizational changes. In 1989, former goalkeeper Ivan Ćurković became club president while Mirko Marjanović became the president of Partizan's executive board. However, the club was overshadowed by their crosstown rival Red Star and its rampage through domestic league, European and the Intercontinental Cup. Partizan only won the 1989 national cup, 32 years after the last victory in that competition. The last trophy which they won before the breakup of Yugoslavia was the 1989 Yugoslav Super Cup, the first and the only one organized. After the collapse of SFR Yugoslavia, a new Yugoslavia was formed and was named FR Yugoslavia. In new circumstances, Partizan won two titles in a row, in 1993 and 1994. Next three championships Partizan won in 1996, 1997 and 1999. The club also won several national cups, so in 1992, 1994 and 1998.[39] The key man for all these trophies was Ljubiša Tumbaković. He became the most successful manager in the history of Partizan.[40] For the season 1996–1997, Partizan was reintroduced to European competitions following the lift of the UEFA ban on clubs from FR Yugoslavia, but while the national team continued where they had stopped in the spring of 1992,[41] the clubs had all their results erased and were treated as the beginners in the European competitions. Instead of enjoying the merits of their own many-year work, they would get harder opponents from the start and the competition would begin already in July.[42]
Tumbaković guided Partizan to another cup win in 2001, and the championship trophy in 2002.[43] His successor Lothar Matthäus led the club to its first UEFA Champions League participation after eliminating Newcastle United,[44] and the championship victory in 2003.[45] However, playing in Europe has reflected in the championship race and Partizan lost the title. New coach Vladimir Vermezović won the championship in 2005, and managed to take the team to the round-of-16 during the 2004–05 UEFA Cup. Later on, Partizan was eliminated by CSKA Moscow, the eventual winner of the competition. Poor results in domestic and international competitions in 2006 have prompted the club's officials to look for a new head coach. First Jürgen Röber and later on Miodrag Ješić didn't succeed to bring back the domestic title. Although Partizan has managed to qualify for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup group stage,[46] that season was failure.
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro separated, and the newly founded Serbian SuperLiga started in season 2006–07. In 2008, former Partizan player Slaviša Jokanović was appointed as new head coach.[47] The seasons 2007–08[48] and 2008–09[49] will remain as one of the most successful in club's history. In season 2008–09, the club successfully defended their double from 2007–08 season, for the first time in its history. But in Europe, Partizan suffered a real shock. The UEFA expelled Partizan from the 2007–08 UEFA Cup season due to crowd trouble at their away qualifying match in Mostar.[50] Next season, Partizan demolished Welsh champions F.C. Rhyl, with a score of 8–0 during the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League,[51] their largest ever winning margin in European competitions. After relegations from the Champions League, Partizan qualified two times in a row for the 2nd tier of UEFA competitions. The Black & Whites played in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup[52] and 2009–10 UEFA Europa League[53] group stage.
Under new manager Aleksandar Stanojević,[54] Partizan won the championship in 2010[55] and the double in 2011.[56] In UEFA competitions, Partizan qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League after beating Belgian side RSC Anderlecht. In the following season, Partizan failed to qualify for UEFA competitions, which didn't affect the club in national championship, but after the half-season, Stanojević was released. Partizan then signed former Chelsea manager Avram Grant,[57] who was able to preserve the lead from the half-season. He led Partizan to their fifth consecutive league title but lost three times against fierce rivals Red Star.[58] Grant resigned[58] and former Partizan manager Vladimir Vermezović returned to Belgrade in May 2012. Partizan did not qualify for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, but did gain a place in the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Crest and colours
Crest
In 1945, Partizan adopted as their first crest a blue circle with a yellow bordered red five-pointed star in the middle, which symbolized the communism,[59] and contained the abbreviation JA – Jugoslovenska Armija (The Yugoslav Army) inside it. Very soon, the crest was completely altered and began to take the shape that is seen today. In 1947, the central circle became white with a red five-pointed star in it. It was surrounded by larger blue circle in which the words "The Yugoslav Army" were written, while both circles were bordered by a yellow circle with a green wreath over it. At the bottom of the emblem was a shield with red and white lines, and on the top were five torches, each representing one of the five nations of Yugoslavia (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians and Montenegrins; the ethnic Muslims weren't considered a constituent nation at the time). This was a clear reference to the National Emblem of the former Yugoslavia.[60]
In the early 1950s, Partizan was separated from the Army and, for the first time, the team's name was written in Cyrillic and Latin in the yellow outer circle of the club's crest. The inscription of the Yugoslav Army was removed from the crest, along with the green wreath, and was replaced by the words Sportsko Društvo (Sports Association). Partizan used this emblem until 1958, when it changed its club colors of blue and red to black and white. The crest was also changed to be completely black and white, and Sportsko Društvo was amended in Jugoslovensko Sportsko Društvo (Yugoslav Sports Association), while the five red torches and the five-pointed star remained.[60] It was slightly redesigned after 1963 by adding a sixth torch to reflect the change of the official state emblem, which now included six torches representing six Yugoslav republics,[59] instead of the previous five representing the nations. The author of the crest was academic painter Branko Šotra.[61]
From 1992, Yugoslavia ceased to exist so instead of Jugoslovensko Sportsko Društvo was inserted the words – Fudbalski Klub (Football Club) and this crest has remained unchanged to date. In the 2007–08 season, Partizan won its 20th League championship[48] and added two stars above their crest, symbolizing the twenty gained titles. The new crest was designed by academic painter Branko Šotra.[61] However, there is an alternative crest, which Partizan supporters call "lopata" ("The Shovel"). This crest has found its place only on tickets, souvenirs, annual tickets and club brochures, but has never sewn on the jersey of Partizan.[62]
Colours
For most of its history Partizan has played in black and white striped jerseys, but during its earliest days it used entirely dark red, blue or white jerseys.[63] In 1950, Partizan briefly had an all white shirt with a blue diagonal stripe, besides an all blue shirt.[63] From 1952, the first red blue striped and quartered jerseys appeared.[63] In 1958, after 13 years of playing in dark red, blue and white, the club adopted the black and white colours.[64] Since then, Partizan has played mainly in black and white striped shirts,[65] with black or white shorts and socks.[66] But there were exceptions, like in 1974, when they wore a black and white hooped shirt, and 1982, when they have played in a plain white jerseys with a thick black stripe across them.[67] In 1990, the red and blue jersey returned after more than 30 years, in an away match against FC Hibernians during the UEFA Cup.[67] All this time, the away jerseys have been mostly either all white or occasionally red-blue striped, but in recent years an all black strip is usually used.[68]
Stadium and training ground
Designed by the architect Mika Janković,[69] the Partizan stadium was built in 1949 on the site of BSK Stadium, today situated in the Savski venac municipality, the central area of Belgrade, and was the former home ground of BSK Beograd, now OFK Belgrade.[70] It was officially opened on the 9th of October 1949 with the match between Yugoslavia and France.[1] The stadium then already had its present shape, but could still hold 55,000 spectators as it mainly consisted of terraces.[70] It got extensively renovated in 1998 following FIFA security regulations.[1] This also led to the conversion of the stadium into an all-seater reducing the capacity to 32.710,[1] currently the second largest stadium in Serbia.[71]
The club's stadium is now named Partizan Stadium, although it was known as JNA Stadium (Stadion Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija, Stadium of the Yugoslav People's Army) for most of its history, and even today, a lot of football fans in all countries of the former Yugoslavia call it by its old name. The Partizan fans call it also "Fudbalski Hram" (The Temple of Football).[72]
The stadium has been also used for a variety of other sport events since 1949. It was also used from the mid-fifties until 1987 as the final point of yearly festivities called the Youth Day.[73] Also, it was the host of the 1962 European Athletics Championships, a place for various concerts and it hosted many times the Yugoslav Cup[74] and the Serbian Cup final.[75] Partizan's players train at the Partizan sport complex, named SC Partizan-Teleoptik, which is located in the Zemun municipality in north Belgrade, a modern purpose-built facility which was completely renovated in 2004.[76] This sport complex is the training base of all Partizan selections, from senior down to the youngest categories.[76] Also, it is the home field of Partizan's affiliate Teleoptik Zemun.[76]
Partizan youth school and affiliates
The Partizan youth school, called Omladinska škola fudbala Belin – Lazarević – Nadoveza (Youth School Belin – Lazarević – Nadoveza), was founded in the 1950`s[77] and named after the former Partizan players Bruno Belin, Čedomir Lazarević and Branko Nadoveza. The club is well known for its dedicated work with youngsters.[77] Its training philosophy is not only the development of football players, but also takes care of their growing and personality forming, while also teaching the sporting spirit.[77] There are around 400 youngsters classifiyed by age categories.[77] There are six selections, four compete at Serbian FA level, the U17, U16, U15 and U14, while the U13 and U12 compete in Belgrade FA level.[77] The ones that still didn´t reached the U12 level do not participate in official competitions, but do play in tournaments and friendly matches.[77] Although it is not the primary objective, Partizan is the club with most league titles and cup wins in youth competition in Serbia.[77] The youth teams also participate in numerous tournaments around Europe and also organises an U17 international tournament with participation of some of the top European clubs.[77] Partizan organizes also football camps for kids[78] in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Australia[77] and USA.[78][79] Many of the best youth academy players move directly to Partizan senior side, or to the affiliate club Teleoptik Zemun.[77]
All Partizans youth categories train, like Partizan′s seniors and the players of Teleoptik Zemun, at the Partizan sport complex, named SC Partizan-Teleoptik.[76] For its youth work Partizan has won already several awards, including "Best European Youth work" in 2006.[80] Several years ago, UEFA announced Partizan youth school best in Europa next to Ajax Amsterdam`s.[81] In 2009, Partizan ranked by the number home-grown players who were registered for the domestic championship on 2nd place in Europe. With 12 players they was behind Ajax Amsterdam, with 14 players, and in front of FC Barcelona with 11 players.[81] Partizan′s academy has produced numerous professional football players or Yugoslav and Serbian internationals. Notable home-grown players from the recent past are Simon Vukčević, Milan Smiljanić, Nikola Gulan, Ivan Obradović, Miralem Sulejmani, Adem Ljajić, Stevan Jovetić and Matija Nastasić.
Support and rivalry
Support
According to a recent poll, Partizan is the second most popular football club in Serbia[10] and one of the most popular football clubs in Southeast Europe. The club has a large fanbase in Montenegro,[11] Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska,[11] and Croatia. They also have many supporters in all other former Yugoslavian republics like Macedonia[12] and Slovenia[82] and in the Serbian diaspora, especially in Germany,[83] Austria,[83] Switzerland,[82] Sweden,[83] the USA, Canada and Australia, as well as in the Yugoslav diaspora.
The organized supporters of Partizan called Grobari (The Gravediggers or Undertakers),[84] which were formed in 1970 and situated mainly on the south stand of the Partizan Stadium, therefore they are also known as Grobari Jug (Grobari South).[83] Even some ordinary Partizan fans often refer to themselves as Grobari. The nickname itself was given by their sporting rivals, the Delije of Red Star Belgrade, referring to the club's mostly black colors which were similar to the official uniforms of cemetery undertakers.[84] The other theory is that the name arrives from misinterpretation of Partizan's stadium street name – Humska (humka roughly translates as grave or entombment),[83] when actually the street was named after Serbian medieval land of Hum, nowadays part of Herzegovina and South Dalmatia.
The Grobari support all clubs in the Partizan Sports Association and in course of time they have become recognizable by noisy and constant cheering as well as their devotion and loyalty to the club.[85] The basis of their cheering is referreded in the Serbian fan scene as the principle of „srce, ruke, glas” (heart, hands, voice) or „glas i dlan” (voice and palms),[85] along with songs in distinctive style.[85] The acoustic support is often coordinated by a so-called "Vodja" (The Leader) with a megaphone who is accompanied by drums.[86] They also perform other actions characteristic to organized supporter groups, such as choreographies, banners and flares.[85][87] The song "Da volim crno bele" (roughly translated: I love black and white) will often sung before the play begins usually in every match.[88][89][90] The Grobari as a whole maintains a close friendship with the organized supporters of P.A.O.K. Thessaloniki,[91] CSKA Moscow,[92] CSKA Sofia and Steaua Bucharest, a friendship which started originally mainly on common Orthodox faith and similar founding backgrounds.
Rivalry
Partizan's biggest rival is Red Star Belgrade. The matches between these rivals have been labeled as the Eternal derby (Serbian: Вечити дерби, Večiti derbi). Both clubs are also the most popular ones in Montenegro and Republika Srpska. They also have many supporters in all other former Yugoslavian republics and also in the Serbian and Yugoslavian diaspora. The rival started immediately after the creation of the two clubs in the same year, more exactly in 1945. Red Star was founded with close ties to the Interior ministry and Partizan as the football section of the Yugoslav People's Army. Since then, both clubs have been dominant in domestic football. The rivalry is also intensified by the fact, that both clubs a few hundred meters apart from each other. The Eternal derby is particularly noted for the passion of both supporters groups. The stands of both teams feature fireworks, coloured confetti, flags, rolls of paper, torches, smoke, drums, giant posters and choreographies, used to create visual grandeur and apply psychological pressure on the visiting teams, hence the slogan "Welcome to Hellgrade". Some fans use sometimes also trumpets, similar to the supporters in South America. This creates for the region a typical and distinctive Balkan Brass Band atmosphere. Both sets of supporters sing passionate songs against their rivals, and the stadiums are known to bounce with the simultaneous jumping of the fans. There are many derbies in world football but very few compare to this, it is more than just game and has a deeper meaning. The duel is regarded as one of the greatest football rivalries in the world. Given its widespread touch on the entirety of a major city, it's dubbed one of, along with the Old Firm, the Rome derby and the Istanbul derby, the most heated rivalries in European football.[93] In 2009, British Daily Mail ranked the Eternal derby 4th among the 10 greatest football rivalries of all time.[94] The biggest attendance for a Red Star - Partizan match was about 108,000 spectators on November 7, 1976 at the Red Star Stadium. The biggest win was 7–1 for Partizan on December 6, 1953 at the Partizan Stadium.[95]
Club records
Momčilo Vukotić is Partizan's record-holder by number of appearances (791 matches).[96] The goal-scoring record-holder is striker Stjepan Bobek, with 425 goals.[97] Over 150 Partizan football players were in the Yugoslav national team and Stjepan Bobek, Branko Zebec, Zlatko Čajkovski, Fahrudin Jusufi, Velibor Vasović, Milan Galić, Milutin Šoškić, Slaviša Jokanović, Zoran Mirković, Mladen Krstajić and Predrag Mijatović (a former sporting director of Real Madrid) are among them.[98] Former Partizan player Savo Milošević played 102 matches for the national football team, a national record.[99] Stjepan Bobek holds national team record with 38 goals,[100] second place is shared by Partizan legends Savo Milošević[100] and Milan Galić,[100] they scored 37 goals each of them. The club holds records such as playing in the first European Champions Cup match in 1955,[101] becoming the first Balkan and Eastern European club to play in the European Champions Cup final in 1966, and becoming the first club from Serbia to take part in the UEFA Champions League group stages.
The "Black and Whites" are record-holders of the Yugoslav First League, in terms of points scored during a campaign, with 107 in one year's championship and are the only unbeaten champion team ever (in the 2004–05 season) and to be first champion of Yugoslavia in 1947, the first Yugoslav Cup winner, also in 1947, and therefore also the first Double winner in the country. Partizan won three consecutive championship titles, in 1961, 1962 and 1963, the first title hat-trick in the Yugoslav First League.[102] Partizan also won the most national championships since the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, being a champion 12 out of 19 times. They are the only Serbian club ever, since the first nation-wide domestic football competition in 1923, to win five consecutive national titles, not leaving the throne since 2007–08 season.[103] Arguably, Partizan's most exciting match was a double header against Celtic in 1989. The first tie was held in Mostar (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) which Partizan won 2–1. The second leg was held in Scotland which Celtic won 5–4. Partizan scored in the last minute to qualify on the away goals rule in front of nearly 50,000 fans. Currently, the player with both most appearances and most goals scored for Partizan in Europe is Saša Ilić (63 appearances, 15 goals).
Club all-time European record
Players
Current squad
- As of 31 August 2012[104]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Players with multiple nationalities
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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