Nogometni klub Svoboda Ljubljana ( en, Svoboda Ljubljana Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Svoboda Ljubljana or simply Svoboda, is a Slovenian

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

from

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

which plays in the

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 ...

History

The club was formed as ŠD Svoboda in 1952 and was known as one of the best Slovenian clubs during the time of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. It started in lower rangs, but then merged with Grafičar, took its place in Slovenian League and played under that name until 1962. The most successful years came in the seventies, when the club was playing in Yugoslav Second Division under the sponsorship of

Mercator __NOTOC__ Mercator (Latin for "merchant") may refer to: People * Marius Mercator (c. 390–451), a Catholic ecclesiastical writer * Arnold Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer * Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer ** Mercator 1569 ...

, national food market company. In 1971 they have won 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 Subas ...

for the first time and earned a promotion to the Yugoslav Second Division West, where they played until 1982, with the exception of three triumphal republic seasons. During this period they have also won two

cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

titles in 1976 and 1978. Therefore, they participated in the

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

in the next two seasons, in the latter they were eliminated by

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian professional association football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the major part of th ...

in the Round of 16. After the independence of Slovenia in 1991, Svoboda played in the

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 Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football league system. ...

for three seasons, finishing in 11th, 6th, and 13th place. In 1994 the club was replaced by Slavija with many players leaving from them to Vevče. Svoboda then played several seasons in lower divisions, before returning to the scene in 2003, when they were promoted to the

Slovenian Second League The Slovenian Second Football League ( sl, Druga slovenska nogometna liga or commonly 2. SNL) is the second highest Association football, football league in Slovenia. The league was formed in 1991 and is operated by the Football Association of Slo ...

. They have played there for three seasons, scoring the best result in the 2004–05 season with third place, which was not enough to secure promotion, due to Slovenian First League being decreased to ten teams. In the next two seasons Svoboda was relegated from the second and third division, having serious financial troubles. The club was taken over by

NK Interblock Nogometni klub IB 1975 Ljubljana or simply NK IB 1975 Ljubljana is a Slovenian football club which plays in the city of Ljubljana. They won the Slovenian Cup twice and the Slovenian Supercup once. History The club was founded in 1975 as NK Je� ...

in 2008 to become their feeder team for youth selections, but this collaboration lasted only one season. Svoboda started on their own again in 2009. In 2018, Svoboda returned to the Slovenian Third League after they won a promotion play-off against

Žiri Žiri ( or ; formerly also ''Žir'', locally ''Žier'',Snoj, Marko. 2009. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen''. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, pp. 490–491. german: Sairach) is a town in northwestern Slovenia. It is the admi ...

Managers

Honours

League *

**Winners: 1970–71, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1979–80 *

**Winners: 2002–03 * Ljubljana Regional League ''(fourth tier)'' **Winners: 2010–11, 2017–18 *Slovenian Fifth Division **Winners: 1994–95, 2009–10 Cup * Slovenian Republic Cup **Winners: 1975–76, 1977–78 *MNZ Ljubljana Cup **Winners: 2003–04

Domestic league and cup results

:*Best results are highlighted.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svoboda, NK Association football clubs established in 1952 Football clubs in Slovenia Football clubs in Yugoslavia 1952 establishments in Slovenia Football clubs in Ljubljana