NK Slaven Belupo

Slaven Belupo Koprivnica

Full name	Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo
Nickname(s)	Farmaceuti (The Pharmacists)
Short name	SLB
Founded	1907 (1907)
Ground	Gradski stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš
Capacity	3,134
President	Robert Markulin
Head coach	Mario Kovačević
League	Croatian Football League
2023–24	Croatian Football League, 9th of 10
Website	https://nk-slaven-belupo.hr/
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (English: Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica.

History

The first football club in Koprivnica was founded in June 1907, when a student team was formed and named Đački nogometni klub, which is Croatian for Students' Football Club. The name Slaven first appeared when a sports club named HŠK Slaven was founded by the members of the Friedrich family on 20 August 1912 and this is considered to be the foundation date of the present-day club. The club won the Croatian championship in 1920, which was one of the Yugoslav regional championships. Slaven was subsequently renamed HŠK Victorija, but disbanded six years later due to financial difficulties. Subsequently, the city of Koprivnica was without a football club for four years, between 1926 and 1930.

Between 1930 and 1945, the club was known as HŠK Koprivnica, HŠK Danica and RNHŠK Sloga, before the name Slaven returned with the foundation of FD Slaven. From 1953, the club was known as SD Podravka, before being renamed to NK Slaven in 1958. The name Slaven remains until today, with occasional changes to the name of the club's principal sponsors. The club was thus known as NK Slaven Bilokalnik between 1992 and 1994, after which it was changed to its current name following a sponsorship agreement with the Koprivnica-based pharmaceutical company Belupo.

Slaven gained their first promotion to the Prva HNL in 1997 and have never been relegated. In 2000, they finished fifth in the Prva HNL and qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In their first Intertoto Cup appearance, they managed to reach the third round of the competition before being eliminated by Czech club Sigma Olomouc after losing 2–0 at home and getting a goalless draw on the road. One year later, they repeated the success and were eliminated by renowned English club Aston Villa with a 3–2 aggregate defeat. In their next two Intertoto Cup appearances, they were even more successful as they reached the semifinals of the competition on both occasions. They were eliminated after losing to renowned clubs Stuttgart from Germany and Lille from France, respectively. Their last Intertoto Cup appearance in 2005 ended in the third round with a 4–0 aggregate defeat to Spanish club Deportivo La Coruña, having lost the first leg by 1–0 and the second leg by 0–3.

Slaven Belupo heads the all-time Intertoto Cup table being the most successful team in history of this tournament.

In 2007, the club reached the Croatian Cup final for the first time, after defeating defending Cup holders HNK Rijeka 3–2 on aggregate. In the final, they lost to Dinamo Zagreb 2–1 on aggregate. Despite having lost the final, Slaven qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history, since Dinamo had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League by virtue of having won the Prva HNL.

Slaven reached the second qualifying round of the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, defeating Albanian side Teuta Durrës 8–4 on aggregate before being eliminated after a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Turkish club Galatasaray. In 2008, Slaven finished runners-up in the Croatian league, which remains their best domestic result to date.

On 28 August 2008 Slaven Belupo qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup by beating Aris of Greece 2–1 on aggregate, thereby achieving arguably the best result in the history of the club.

Slaven finished 3rd in the 2011–12 1. HNL, qualifying for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. After defeating Portadown 10–2 on aggregate they bowed out to Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao 4–3 on aggregate.

In 2016, Slaven defeated HNK Rijeka 4–2 on aggregate in the 2015–16 Croatian Football Cup semi-final, reaching the final for the second time in their history.

Supporters

In 2023 group of fans organized themselves into a fan group under the name Podravske štuke (Podravska pike).

Players

Current squad

As of 15 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	CRO	Matija Jesenović
2	DF	CRO	Zvonimir Katalinić
4	DF	CRO	Dominik Kovačić
6	DF	CRO	Tomislav Božić
7	FW	BIH	Matej Šakota
8	MF	CRO	Adriano Jagušić
9	FW	CRO	Robert Murić
10	MF	MDA	Mihail Caimacov
11	MF	BRA	Lucas Fernandes
13	DF	CRO	Marko Lešković
14	MF	CRO	Adrian Liber
15	MF	CRO	Ivan Ćubelić
16	DF	CRO	Luka Ćurković
17	FW	CRO	Dominik Martinović
18	DF	CRO	Filip Krušelj
19	MF	CRO	Ivan Dolček (on loan from DAC Dunajská Streda)
20	DF	CRO	Filip Hlevnjak

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	CRO	Ljuban Crepulja
21	FW	KOS	Ernis Qestaj
22	FW	CRO	Ante Šuto
23	MF	CRO	Igor Lepinjica
24	MF	CRO	Leon Bošnjak
25	GK	CRO	Ivan Sušak
27	DF	CRO	Alen Grgić
30	MF	GHA	Michael Agbekpornu
32	GK	CRO	Ivan Čović
33	DF	CRO	Antonio Bosec
35	DF	CRO	Luka Lučić
45	FW	CRO	Karlo Butić
55	DF	CRO	Marco Boras
88	MF	CRO	Ivan Jelić Balta (on loan from Sarajevo)
90	FW	MKD	Ilija Nestorovski
99	FW	CRO	Patrik Marić

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
29	DF	CRO	Vinko Međimorec (at Aalesund until 31 December 2024)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	CRO	Antun Marković (at Karlovac 1919 until 30 May 2025)

Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	European competitions		Top league scorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos				Player	Goals
1992	3. HNL North	14	7	2	5	30	19	16	3rd ↑
1992–93	2. HNL North	30	11	6	13	47	52	28	10th
1993–94	2. HNL North	30	14	5	11	53	38	33	6th
1994–95	2. HNL North	30	17	6	7	68	25	57	3rd	R1
1995–96	2. HNL North	30	25	2	3	81	13	77	1st ↑	R2
1996–97	1B. HNL	30	16	6	8	51	26	54	2nd ↑	R2
1997–98	1. HNL	32	11	5	16	31	56	38	9th	R2			Josip Markovinović	6
1998–99	1. HNL	32	10	9	13	39	44	39	7th	SF			Zoran Slišković	7
1999–00	1. HNL	33	12	13	8	34	34	49	5th	QF			Marijo Dodik	13
2000–01	1. HNL	32	11	11	10	39	37	44	5th	R2	Intertoto Cup	R3	Marijo Dodik	16
2001–02	1. HNL	30	11	9	10	34	36	41	6th	R1	Intertoto Cup	R3	Miljenko Kovačić	9
2002–03	1. HNL	32	12	4	16	37	36	40	7th	R2	Intertoto Cup	SF	Marijo Dodik	12
2003–04	1. HNL	32	10	10	12	37	39	40	9th	R2			Srebrenko Posavec	11
2004–05	1. HNL	32	12	9	11	37	41	45	6th	QF	Intertoto Cup	SF	Ivica Karabogdan	10
2005–06	1. HNL	32	10	11	11	46	48	41	8th	QF	Intertoto Cup	R3	Marijo Dodik, Igor Musa, Bojan Vručina	8
2006–07	1. HNL	33	14	7	12	40	37	49	5th	RU			Bojan Vručina	11
2007–08	1. HNL	33	16	6	11	45	29	54	2nd	QF	UEFA Cup	QR2	Stjepan Poljak	8
2008–09	1. HNL	33	16	7	10	46	39	55	4th	QF	UEFA Cup	R1	Bojan Vručina	14
2009–10	1. HNL	30	11	10	9	44	45	43	7th	QF	Europa League	QR3	Mateas Delić	6
2010–11	1. HNL	30	10	10	10	34	30	40	7th	SF			Leon Benko	8
2011–12	1. HNL	30	14	10	6	41	27	52	3rd	R2			Leon Benko	7
2012–13	1. HNL	33	10	9	14	35	50	39	8th	SF	Europa League	QR3	Davor Vugrinec	8
2013–14	1. HNL	36	7	11	18	46	65	32	9th	SF			Davor Vugrinec	8
2014–15	1. HNL	36	11	9	16	38	49	42	6th	R2			Marko Mirić	10
2015–16	1. HNL	36	10	12	14	41	42	42	7th	RU			Muzafer Ejupi	16
2016–17	1. HNL	36	9	11	16	36	45	38	7th	QF			Héber, Mirko Ivanovski	10
2017–18	1. HNL	36	11	10	15	35	45	43	6th	R2			Mirko Ivanovski	15
2018–19	1. HNL	36	7	16	13	41	53	37	7th	QF			Ivan Krstanović	7
2019–20	1. HNL	36	10	9	17	34	51	39	7th	SF			Ivan Krstanović	12
2020–21	1. HNL	36	7	13	16	36	53	34	7th	QF			Ivan Krstanović	8
2021–22	1. HNL	36	9	9	18	35	54	36	7th	QF			Ivan Krstanović	10
2022–23	1. HNL	36	10	13	13	27	46	43	8th	SF			Arber Hoxha	7
2023–24	1. HNL	36	9	6	21	43	69	33	9th	R2			Benedik Mioč	10

European record

Summary

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Last season played
UEFA Cup / Europa League	20	10	2	8	48	24	2012–13
Intertoto Cup	34	17	7	10	50	29	2005
Total	54	27	9	18	98	53

Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 9 August 2012
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

By result

Overall	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Home	27	18	4	5	65	21	+44
Away	27	9	5	13	33	32	+1
Total	54	27	9	18	98	53	+45

Last updated: 9 August 2012

By season

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg
2000–01	Intertoto Cup	R1	Glenavon	3–0	1–1	4–1
		R2	Zagłębie Lubin	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
		R3	Sigma Olomouc	1–1	0–1	1–2
2001–02	Intertoto Cup	R1	Anorthosis	7–0	2–0	9–0
		R2	Bastia	1–0	1–0	2–0
		R3	Aston Villa	2–1	0–2	2–3
2002–03	Intertoto Cup	R1	OD Trenčín	5–0	1–3	6–3
		R2	Belenenses	2–0	1–0	3–0
		R3	Marek Dupnitsa	3–1	3–0	6–1
		SF	VfB Stuttgart	0–1	1–2	1–3
2004–05	Intertoto Cup	R1	Hibernians	3–0	1–2	4–2
		R2	Vllaznia	2–0	0–1	2–1
		R3	Spartak Trnava	0–0	2–2	2–2 (a)
		SF	Lille	1–1	0–3	1–4
2005–06	Intertoto Cup	R1	Drava Ptuj	1–0	1–0	2–0
		R2	Gloria Bistriţa	3–2	1–0	4–2
		R3	Deportivo La Coruña	0–3	0–1	0–4
2007–08	UEFA Cup	QR1	Teuta	6–2	2–2	8–4
		QR2	Galatasaray	1–2	1–2	2–4
2008–09	UEFA Cup	QR1	Marsaxlokk	4–0	4–0	8–0
		QR2	Aris Thessaloniki	2–0	0–1	2–1
		R1	CSKA Moscow	1–2	0–1	1–3
2009–10	Europa League	QR1	Birkirkara	1–0	0–0	1–0
		QR2	Milano Kumanovo	8–2	4–0	12–2
		QR3	Tromsø	0–2	1–2	1–4
2012–13	Europa League	QR2	Portadown	6–0	4–2	10–2
		QR3	Athletic Bilbao	2–1	1–3	3–4

Last updated on 9 August 2012

Player records

• Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 34 appearances
  • Petar Bošnjak
• Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: 14 goals
  • Marijo Dodik

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have:

• Played at least 150 league games for the club;
• Scored at least 50 league goals for the club; or
• Played at least one international match for their national team while playing for NK Slaven Belupo.

Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.

• Roy Ferenčina (1997–2005)
• Marijo Dodik (1998–2007)
• Petar Bošnjak (1999–2008)
• Srebrenko Posavec (2000–05, 2006–10)
• Bojan Vručina (2004–10, 2011–12)
• Silvio Rodić (2005–14)
• Mateas Delić (2006–10, 2012–16, 2018–)
• Vedran Purić (2008–2018)
• Fidan Aliti (2016–2017)
• Nikola Katić (2016–2018)

Historical list of coaches

For a list of HNK Rijeka managers, see Category:NK Slaven Belupo managers.

• Ivan Bedi (1996-1997)
• Miroslav Buljan (1997)
• Marijan Vlak (1998)
• Luka Bonačić (1999–00)
• Mladen Frančić (2000–01)
• Dražen Besek (2001–02)
• Rajko Magić (2002–03)
• Ivan Bedi (2003–04)
• Milo Nižetić (2004)
• Branko Karačić (2004–05)
• Nikola Jurčević (2005)
• Elvis Scoria (2006–07)
• Krunoslav Jurčić (2007–08)
• Mile Petković (2008–09)
• Milivoj Bračun (2009)
• Zlatko Dalić (2009–10)
• Mile Petković (2010–11)
• Roy Ferenčina (2011–13)
• Roman Sović (2013)
• Ivan Katalinić (2013)
• Mladen Frančić (2013–14)
• Elvis Scoria (2014)
• Ante Čačić (2014–15)
• Željko Kopić (2015–17)
• Tomislav Ivković (2017–18)
• Ivica Sertić (2018–19)
• Tomislav Stipić (2019–21)
• Dean Klafurić (2021)
• Zoran Zekić (2021–23)
• Ricardo Moniz (2023)
• Roy Ferenčina (2023–2024)
• Ivan Radeljić (2024)
• Mario Kovačević (2024–present)

External links

• Official website (in Croatian)
• Slaven Belupo profile at UEFA.com
• Slaven Belupo profile at Sportnet.hr (in Croatian)