Nogometni klub Nafta Lendava ( en, Nafta Lendava Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Nafta Lendava or simply Nafta, was a Slovenian football club which played in the town of

Lendava Lendava (; formerly ''Dolnja Lendava'', in older sources also ''Dolenja Lendava''; hu, Lendva, formerly ''Alsólendva''; german: Lindau, formerly ''Unter-Limbach'') is a town in Slovenia in the region of Prekmurje. It is the seat of the Municip ...

. The club was founded under the Hungarian name Lendvai Football Egyesület in 1903. They were regarded as the oldest Slovenian football club until they filed for bankruptcy and were dissolved following the

2011–12 Slovenian PrvaLiga The 2011–12 Slovenian PrvaLiga was the 21st season of the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top-tier football league in Slovenia. The season began on 16 July 2011 and ended on 26 May 2012, with a winter break in effect between 4 December 2011 and 2 March ...

season. The club played in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

for one season, in 1946–47.

History

The club was founded in 1903 under the Hungarian name Lendvai Football Egyesület. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the club was renamed as NK Lendava, and then as SK Lendava. In the mid-1930s, the club began to play in the second division of the Ljubljana Subassociation League. After the invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, the

Prekmurje Prekmurje (; dialectically: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; hu, Muravidék) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarian minority, lying between the Mur R ...

region was annexed by the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

, and Lendava played in the Hungarian football system during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1946, the club won the first post-war

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

of Slovenia, thus qualifying for the top level

for the 1946–47 season. Before the season, they also renamed as Nafta. However, they were immediately relegated after finishing dead last with 23 defeats out of 26 league games. In the following decades, the club mainly played in the

Slovenian Republic League The Slovenian Republic Football League ( sl, Slovenska republiška nogometna liga) was the highest football league in Slovenia within the Yugoslav football system. During the time of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia it was known as the Ljubljana Suba ...

and lower leagues in the territory of SR Slovenia. After Slovenia's independence in 1991, Nafta joined the newly formed

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten club ...

for the 1991–92 season. Their Croatian winger

Miljenko Dovečer Miljenko Dovečer (born 9 November 1958) is a Croatian retired footballer and manager. Playing career Dovečer played for Graničar Novakovec, Čakovec, Varteks, and Nafta. He earned the distinction of scoring the very first goal of the Slov ...

earned the distinction of scoring the very first goal of the new competition. They stayed in the top division for two seasons, as they were relegated in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

after finishing dead last. In the next decade, they competed in the 2. SNL (second tier) and even one season in the 3. SNL (third tier), before being promoted back to the top level in 2005 after finishing second in the

2004–05 Slovenian Second League The 2004–05 Slovenian Second League season started on 8 August 2004 and ended on 5 June 2005. Each team played a total of 33 matches. League standing See also *2004–05 Slovenian PrvaLiga *2004–05 Slovenian Third League ReferencesNZS arch ...

. After the

season, Nafta was relegated from the top tier and was dissolved due to bankruptcy. In the same year, the club was refounded as

ND Lendava 1903 Nogometni klub Nafta 1903 or simply NK Nafta 1903 is a Slovenian football club from Lendava which plays in the Slovenian Second League. The club was founded in 2012 and is legally not considered to be the successor of NK Nafta Lendava and the s ...

Domestic league and cup results

:*Best results are highlighted.

Honours

League *

:: Winners: 1946 *

Slovenian Third League The Slovenian Third Football League ( sl, Tretja slovenska nogometna liga or commonly 3. SNL) is the third tier of the Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football system. Since 2019 the league consists of two regional groups (East and West). They ar ...

:: Winners: 2003–04

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nafta Lendava, NK Association football clubs established in 1903 Defunct football clubs in Slovenia Football clubs in Yugoslavia 1903 establishments in Hungary Association football clubs disestablished in 2012 2012 disestablishments in Slovenia