NK Pazinka is a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n football club based in the town of

Pazin Pazin ( it, Pisino, german: Mitterburg) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8,6 ...

in Istria. Founded in 1948, their greatest success was competing in the Croatian top flight 1. HNL for two seasons between 1992 and 1994. They are currently competing in the

Croatian Third Football League The Treća nogometna liga ( eng, Third football league), commonly Treća NL or 3. NL) is the fourth tier of the football league system. The league was reestablished in 2022 following the reconstruction of league system in Croatia. It is operated ...

History

The club was established in 1948 as part of the SD Pazin

sports society A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

. They spent the next few decades in relative obscurity contesting Istrian regional league competitions within the Yugoslav league system. In 1970 the club was renamed NK Pazinka, after the local textile factory which began sponsoring the club. In 1985 they won promotion to Croatian League West, one of several regional fourth-level divisions in

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...

. In spite of winning the division in the 1989–90 season, Pazinka failed to progress further up the football pyramid and remained at fourth level until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. Following Croatia's independence, Pazinka entered one of the three regional divisions of the newly formed 2. HNL second-level competition in the shortened 1992 season and finished first, gaining promotion to the national top level for the first time in their history for the 1992–93 season. They finished 11th out of 16 clubs, level on points with five other clubs. There was no relegation that season due to the ongoing war. The following year the league was expanded to 18 clubs, with Pazinka finishing 15th in the 1993–94 season, inside the relegation zone. Notable players who appeared for Pazinka during this spell included

Dado Pršo Miladin "Dado" Pršo (born 5 November 1974) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Pršo played for seven different teams and made over 300 league appearances as a professional. He was included in the Monaco team ...

(later with

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

and Rangers),

Zoran Škerjanc Zoran Škerjanc (born 25 November 1964) is a retired Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , ...

(formerly of

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

and

Recreativo Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

) and

Damir Desnica Damir Desnica (born 20 December 1956) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a forward. Club career Born in Obrovac, Croatia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Desnica spent much of his career with HNK Rijeka, appearing in near ...

(one of the very few

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

professional footballers, formerly with Rijeka and

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It is the capital and large ...

). The club then spent several seasons playing second-level football before slipping further down to

third level Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

in the 1997–98 season, which also coincided with the bankruptcy of the Pazinka textile factory. After spending a few years struggling to stay in third level they slipped down to fourth level in 2003 and then again to fifth level in 2004. However, Pazinka won the fifth level Istria Group and earned promotion back to 4. HNL in 2007–08.

References

External links

Official website

NK Pazinka
at ''Nogometni leksikon'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pazinka Football clubs in Croatia Football clubs in Istria County Association football clubs established in 1948 1948 establishments in Croatia