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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from

Velenje Velenje (; german: Wöllan''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 272.) is Slovenia's sixth-largest city, and the seat of the Municipality ...

which competes in 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 ...

History

The club was founded in August 1948. At first they played in local

MNZ Celje Football in Slovenia is governed by the Football Association of Slovenia ( sl, Nogometna zveza Slovenije). Slovenia has participated in international football as an independent nation since 1991, when the country gained independence from SFR Y ...

league, until they qualified for 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 ...

in 1953. Two years later, on 3 July 1955, Rudar's home stadium Ob Jezeru was opened and the club moved to its current home. After the short crisis the club returned to the Slovenian league in 1962. For the 1974–75 season the club hired a professional coach Živko Stakič and became Slovenian champions in 1977. Rudar therefore qualified for the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

, where they played until 1982. Just before the breakup of Yugoslavia, Rudar became the Slovenian champion for the second time in 1991. After the Slovenian independence, Rudar became a regular participant 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. ...

. They were relegated to the

in 2003 and returned for the 2005–06 season, but were instantly relegated back to second level. In the 2007–08 season they finished first and thus achieved a promotion back to the first league. The club's highest finish was third place on four occasions, the last time in 2014, when Mate Eterović, Rudar's striker, also became league's topscorer. Their biggest success was winning the

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

in 1998, when they lost first game away to Primorje, but then won 3–0 in front of home crowd in the second leg. Rudar therefore played in the last edition of

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, where it was eliminated by Varteks in the first round.

Honours

Yugoslavia

:: Winners: 1976–77, 1990–91 * Slovenian Republic Cup :: Winners: 1979–80

Slovenia

:: Winners: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08 *

:: Winners: 1997–98 *MNZ Celje Cup :: Winners: 1991–92, 2003–04, 2004–05

Domestic league and cup results

:*Best results are highlighted.

UEFA competitions

''All results (home and away) list Rudar's goal tally first.'' GR2 = Group 2; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; QR1 = First qualifying round; QR2 = Second qualifying round.

References

External links

Official website

PrvaLiga profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudar Velenje, NK Association football clubs established in 1948 Football clubs in Slovenia Football clubs in Yugoslavia 1948 establishments in Slovenia Sport in Velenje