S.C.F. Quarnero
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Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional
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 the city of
Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top division, HT Prva liga, of which they have been members since its foundation in 1992. During the reconstruction of
Stadion Kantrida Kantrida Stadium ( hr, Stadion Kantrida) is a football stadium in the Croatian city of Rijeka. It is named after the Kantrida neighbourhood in which it is located, in the western part of the city. It has served as the home of the HNK Rijeka foo ...
, their traditional home ground has been Stadion Rujevica. Rijeka's traditional home colours are all white. The club was founded in 1904, with the football team being active at last since 1906, and following the tumultuous political changes that swept the border city of Rijeka in the following decades, it changed its name to
U.S. Fiumana Unione Sportiva Fiumana or U.S. Fiumana was an Italian football club based in the present-day Croatian city of Rijeka and the predecessor of HNK Rijeka. The club was active between 1926 and 1945, at the time when the city was part of the Kingdo ...
in 1926, to S.C.F. Quarnero in 1946, to NK Rijeka in 1954, and finally HNK Rijeka in 1995. Rijeka is the third-most successful Croatian football club, having won one Croatian First League title, two Yugoslav Cups, six Croatian Cups, one
Croatian Super Cup The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the tw ...
, the Italian Federal Cup 1927-28 and the
1977–78 Balkans Cup The 1978 Balkans Cup was an edition of the Balkans Cup, a football competition for representative clubs from the Balkan states. It was contested by 6 teams and Rijeka won the trophy. Group A ---- Group B ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Fi ...
.


History


1906–1926

The club was founded in mid April 1904 as ''Club Sportivo Olimpia'', by the Antonio Marchich, Aristodemo Susmel, Agesilao Satti, Carlo Colussi, Romeo and Alessandro Mitrovich, when the city of Rijeka was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a Corpus Separatum of the Hungarian Crown. The club was founded as a tennis-lawn, foot-ball, swimming, cycling and athletics club. The first official activities of the football section were recorded on the 25th November 1906, with historians still investigating the football activities in the earlier years. This date is therefore currently considered the official beginning of HNK Rijeka as a football club. This also makes Rijeka the oldest still active association football club on the territory of today's
Republic of 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 ...
. While many clubs in town and the region had often specific ethnic leanings, Olimpia had intentionally a very international soul with Italian, Croatian, Hungarian, German players all playing and working along each other in unison. The oldest line-up known from Rijeka's pioneer years was: Duimovic, Smoivar, Penka, Brosnich, R. Mittrovich, Lenardon, Satti, Novodnik, A. Mittrovich, Paulovatz, Cittovich (captain). Initially the club played its matches on the main Scoglietto square, in front of the local Honved HQ, but moved to Kantrida stadium during the following decade (and the stadium changed its name to Campo Sportivo Olympia). Initially Olimpia played in a black and white garments, but already in the 1910s the club uses also a fully white kit. During the following years Olimpia will be joined by several other local football clubs from the city of Rijeka, and will continue the legacy of Fiumei Atletikai Club as the main city club, when Atletico discontinued its football section in the course of the 1910s. Among the many clubs being founded in town during these years, a side in particular will soon rise as a fierce arch-rival to Olimpia: ''Doria'' (later renamed into ''CS Gloria'') arose from the proletarian classes and the humble old town dwellers of the industry-rich port town on the Adriatic. While ''Olimpia'' was associated with the wealthier classes, mostly players from working-class families performed for ''Gloria'', and therefore the club found most of its sympathisers among the poorer part of the population. Olimpia was renamed ''into Olympia'' on 9 January 1918 during a meeting of its board and the new president became the Fiuman writer Antonio de Schlemmer, possibly as an anti-irredentist move. During these years it achieved its first major local and international successes: it became the champion of the
Free State of Fiume The Free State of Fiume () was an independent free state that existed between 1920 and 1924. Its territory of comprised the city of Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to the K ...
championship in 1921, and it won several Julian March and North-Eastern Italian championships in the following years, soon becoming the strongest side in the Alpe-Adria region.


1926–1943

On September 2, 1926, following Mussolini's reforms of the FIGC and the 1924 Fiume putsch led by Italian fascists, which brought to the annexation of the independent
Free State of Fiume The Free State of Fiume () was an independent free state that existed between 1920 and 1924. Its territory of comprised the city of Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to the K ...
to Italy, Olympia was forced to merge with its arch-rival Gloria into the ''Unione Sportiva Fiumana''. Pietro Pasquali was picked as the new president of the club. Two years later, Fiumana was already playing in the Italian Serie A, and some of the biggest Italian clubs such as Ambrosiano (today's Inter, also forced into a brand image change by the new regime),
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
and Napoli played at the Kantrida stadium (renamed to Stadio Borgomarina in those years). Despite a not so bad performance in Serie A, the impoverished city was not in the financial position to compete with the biggest clubs in Italy and had to see many of its stars signed by major Italian sides, passing most of the '30s and '40s between the second and third tier of the Italian competitions. At the reopening of a refurbished Kantrida (now called Stadio del Littorio) in 1935, Fiumana hosted AS Roma, and in June 1941, it became champion of the newly created Italian Serie C. Serie C's last season before the fall of fascist Italy in 1943 saw Fiumana end in third place. Championships in this part of Europe will be paused until 1946, but Fiumana will keep playing several matches with other local and German occupational authorities sides. Worth mentioning is a last ceremonial game between the old legends of Olympia and Gloria that was held on June the 15th 1944, played while allied planes were bombing the city's surroundings. Most Fiumana players will join the partisan movement and help the Yugoslav liberation movement, with many ending up in imprisonment and being sent to concentration camps for their sympathies.


1943–1954

Following the liberation of the city from the Nazi occupation and the subsequent occupation by Yugoslav troops, and due to the uncertain future status of the city during the long
Paris peace conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...
, the club resumed its activities in the post-war period under the slightly rebranded name of ''Rappresentativa Sindacale Fiumana''. It went on playing several games against the most notable teams of the newly constituted Yugoslav state, beating Dinamo Zagreb 4–2, Akademičar Zagreb 7–2 and Metalac Beograd 2–0. During the interim post-war year, and prior to the first edition of the Yugoslav First League, R.S. Fiumana played against some of its future Balkan rivals. The authorities also set up an unofficial city tournament among factories named after Fiumana's late captain Giovanni Maras, who died heroically in partisan combat on the nearby Mount Risnjak. Despite Maras and most of his colleagues' partisan allegiance and the many hardships endured by them in Nazi concentration camps, the name Fiumana came soon to be considered too Italian for a city that the Yugoslav occupational authorities were trying to annex by force before the official peace treaty could be signed. As in most other cities in Yugoslavia, in 1946 the communist authorities established a new identity for the city's most representative club and rebranded and restructured the club into the bilingual Società Cultura Fisica Quarnero (S.C.F. Quarnero) – Sportsko Društvo Kvarner (the name was initially only Italian but soon became bilingual Italian-Croatian). Quarnero was created on the 29th of July 1946, a brand name at the time considered by communist compromised by playing in the Italian football championships during the fascist regime. The new name followed the more geographic naming conventions requested to local councils by the central authorities in Belgrade in order to approve the reestablishment of the local sport club activities and to participate in competitions. The initiative came from Ettore Mazzieri, the city's sport commissioner for the Yugoslav military administration and a previous Fiumana manager. The first match under the rebranded identify was played on the 7th of August 1946, bringing a new important victory against
Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...
, a resounding 2-0 against the best Yugoslav side of the time. The club initially continued to play in the Fiumana ''amaranto'' colours, but started switching colours after a few seasons until the late '50s. Luigi Sošić was chosen as the new president, and all former Fiumana players and managers simply carried on playing in the renamed club for the next few years, before the Italian
exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...
slowly forced many of them to leave the city after the season 1947-48. As all clubs in Yugoslavia had to undergo a transformation into general sport clubs following the Stalinist model imposed by Belgrade in 1945, S.C.F. Quarnero incorporated 11 other sections in addition to football, including boxing, fencing, basketball and tennis. The international tennis champion
Orlando Sirola Orlando Sirola (30 April 1928 – 13 November 1995) was a male tennis player from Italy. Biography Sirola was born in Fiume, today the Croatian city of Rijeka. He only began playing tennis at the age of 22. In 1958 he won the singles title at ...
started his career at the club, before his exile. The authorities in Belgrade soon decided that Rijeka's club should be invited to participate in the first Yugoslav First League in 1946-47 as an external guest, representing the occupied Zone B of the Julian March region, but only after a play-off with the
Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...
-based club Unione Sportiva Operaia. When the city of Rijeka was assigned to Yugoslavia in February 1947 and Tito broke all ties with Stalin in 1948, most Yugoslav clubs underwent a further re-organisation. Thus in 1948 Quarnero became once again an all-football club, and the name was also consequently modified once more into ''Club Calcio Quarnero – Nogometni Klub Kvarner''. During the early period playing in Yugoslavia's competitions, Kvarner reached moderate successes in various national and local leagues. Still, the club was relegated at the end of their inaugural season in the Yugoslav First League in 1946–47, due to a purely political decision to favour Ponziana, after Quarnero had already secured its stay in the first league in the course of the season. Upon securing Rijeka for Yugoslavia, the Belgrade authorities were now trying to pander to Trieste's residents through sport, in hope of annexing also that city to Yugoslavia. The club continued to play with mixed results in the second and third leagues of Yugoslav football. The club display worse and worse results over the next ten years concurrently to Rijeka's autochthonous population slowly leaving their hometown over the years. Consequently also the club was bleeding many of its best players year in year out, because many opted to leave Yugoslavia and move overseas. In 1954, following rising ethnic tensions around the Triest Crisis and the subsequent elimination of all forms of bilingualism in the city, paired with a desire to have a brand more recognizable and associated the club was further renamed into ''NK Rijeka''.


1954–1991

Given the political interferences in the club's life and the continuous mistreatment of ethnical Italians many of Quarnero's best players were forced to join the Fiuman
exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...
, and the club lingered between the second and third tier of the Yugoslav competition for the next several years. Following new Italian-Yugoslav tensions that arose during the Trieste Crisis, and the subsequent ''de facto'' abolition of the city's full bilingual rights by the communist authorities in Belgrade, the club changed its name once again, into the now completely monolingual ''NK Rijeka'' (Rijeka Football Club) on the 2nd of July 1954, giving up onto the Italian language in its brand image for the first time in the club's history. Rijeka started to use a white kit for the second time in its history in a match in Šibenik in the 1957–58 second league season. During the previous seasons the kit colors were constantly being changed, depending on what was available to the management at any given time of the season and to what the sponsors were able to offer. The main kit remained white since. Rijeka returned to the First League in 1958 and remained in the top tier for 11 consecutive seasons until 1969, when it got relegated once again to the Yugoslav Second League. Despite finishing at the top in four (out of five) seasons of the second league, due to three failed play/off attempts, the club only gained a promotion back to the top tier in 1974. Rijeka remained in the top tier until the
breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
in 1991, with varying but improving results. The club's greatest success during this period are two Yugoslav Cup titles in
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
and
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
and a runner-up placement in
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
, when Rijeka lost the final in the penalty shoot-out. The club never managed to end higher than the fourth place in the Yugoslav First League. In
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
, the club came closest to a Yugoslav championship title, finishing only two points behind Red Star Belgrade. Rijeka were also the best placed Croatian club in the Yugoslav First League in
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
,
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
and
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
.


1991–present

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, in 1992 Rijeka joined the
Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...
in its inaugural season. In 1995 the club changes one final time its name to ''HNK Rijeka'', adding the prefix "Croatian" to its name, following the example of many other clubs during the
Croatian War for Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugos ...
. Today Rijeka remains one of only four founding member clubs of the HNL to have never been relegated and is regarded as one of the country's top three clubs. Since the Croatian independence, the club won its first-ever league title in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, ending Dinamo Zagreb's run of 11 consecutive titles, and was a runner-up in seven different seasons. In the final round of the 1998–99 season, a refereeing error denied Rijeka their first championship title. With one match to play, Rijeka were one point ahead of Croatia Zagreb, needing a home win against
Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
to secure the title. With the match tied at 1–1, in the 89th minute, Rijeka forward Admir Hasančić converted a cross by
Barnabás Sztipánovics Barnabás Sztipánovics (born 2 July 1974) is a Hungarian retired football player. Career In the 1998–99 season, he shared the place of the scorer leader of the Croatian First Football League with his teammate from Rijeka, Igor Musa, bot ...
. However, moments later, assistant referee Krečak raised his flag and referee Šupraha disallowed Rijeka's winning goal for an alleged offside. Following an investigation, 3D analysis revealed Hasančić was not, in fact, in an offside position, and that Rijeka were wrongfully denied their first championship title. An investigation by ''
Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...
'' revealed
Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...
, the president of the Republic of Croatia and an ardent Croatia Zagreb supporter, earlier in 1999 ordered the country's intelligence agencies to spy on football referees, officials and journalists, with the aim of ensuring the Zagreb club wins the league title. Rijeka has also won six Croatian Cups, including back-to-back titles in
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
and
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and most recently in
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
and
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
. It won the cup also in
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
and in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, which helped them secure a historic
Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...
in that year.


HNK Rijeka in the European competitions

Rijeka participated in UEFA competitions on 21 occasions, including nine consecutive appearances since 2013–14. The greatest success was the quarter-final of the
1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1979–80 season was the 20th season of the European Cup Winners' Cup, a football tournament organised by UEFA for the cup winners from each of its member associations. The competition was won by Spanish club Valencia, who beat Arsenal of Engla ...
, where they lost to Italian giants
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
2–0 on aggregate. The most memorable result in Europe was the home win (3–1) against eventual winners
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
in the
1984–85 UEFA Cup The 1984–85 UEFA Cup was the 14th season of the UEFA Cup. It was won by Real Madrid, who gained an aggregate victory over Videoton of Hungary in a two-legged final. Changes *Spain +1 *Netherlands -2 *Scotland +1 *Czechoslovakia +1 *East German ...
. Controversially, in the return leg at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, which Rijeka lost 3–0, three of their players were sent off. Madrid scored their first goal from a doubtful penalty in the 67th minute with Rijeka already down to ten men. Over the next ten minutes, two additional Rijeka players were sent off, most notably Damir Desnica. While Desnica received the first yellow card because he did not stop play after Schoeters blew his whistle, the second yellow was issued because he allegedly insulted the referee. However, unbeknownst to the referee, Desnica had been a deaf-mute since birth. With Rijeka reduced to eight players, Madrid scored two additional goals, progressed to the next round and eventually won the trophy. In 2013, after winning 4–3 on aggregate against VfB Stuttgart, Rijeka qualified for the
2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage The group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was played from 19 September to 12 December 2013. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage. Draw The draw was held on 30 August 2013, 13:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco. Th ...
. Rijeka also participated in the
2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage was played from 18 September to 11 December 2014. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the knockout phase of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. Draw The draw wa ...
, where they defeated Feyenoord and Standard Liège and drew with title-holders and eventual winners Sevilla. In 2017, Rijeka reached the
2017–18 UEFA Champions League The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pla ...
play-off, where they lost 3–1 on aggregate to Greek champions
Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...
, and automatically qualified for the
2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage began on 14 September and ended on 7 December 2017. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the knockout phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. Draw The draw ...
. In the group stage they recorded a famous home win (2–0) against AC Milan but once again failed to progress to the knockout stages.


Private ownership

In February 2012,
Gabriele Volpi Gabriele Volpi (born 29 June 1943) is an Italian-born Nigerian businessman, active in various sectors in Nigeria and Angola, the owner of the Italian football club Spezia Calcio and the former owner of Croatian football club HNK Rijeka. Early l ...
– an Italian businessman and the founder of Orlean Invest, as well as the owner of football club Spezia and water polo club Pro Recco – injected much needed capital into the club. With the privatization process complete by September 2013, Volpi, through Dutch-based Stichting Social Sport Foundation, became the owner of 70% of the club, with the City of Rijeka in control of the remaining 30%. On 29 December 2017 it was announced that chairman
Damir Mišković Damir Mišković (born 20 March 1965) is a Croatian businessman and entrepreneur who is the chairman and owner of Croatian football club HNK Rijeka, a position he has held since 2012. Early and personal life Mišković was born in 1965 in Rijeka. ...
, through London-based Teanna Limited, acquired the majority stake in the club from Stichting Social Sport Foundation.


Record transfers

In January 2015, Rijeka sold their star striker Andrej Kramarić to Leicester City for a club-record £9.7 million transfer fee.


Stadium

The club initially played at the Honved training field, in front of today's Popular University of Rijeka in the central ''Scoglietto'' suburb of Rijeka. During the 1920s the club was allowed to build a new and very modern for the time facility in Scoglietto, and toward the end of the decade it started using Stadium Kantrida as its main field, naming it ''Campo Sportivo Olympia''. Kantrida was the club's traditional home ground for over 95 years (with a small hiatus between 1947 and 1951, due to refurbishing), until July 2015. With a new project for a refurbished and bigger Kantrida Stadium being presented, and the field awaiting demolition and reconstruction, in August 2015, Rijeka have been based at the newly built Stadion Rujevica, a modern
all-seater An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...
with a capacity of 8,279. Stadion Rujevica is part of Rijeka's new training centre and serves as the club's temporary home ground. Following the demolition of old Kantrida, a new, state-of-the art, 14,600-capacity all-seater stadium should be built on the same location. In addition to the stadium, investors are planning to build a commercial complex that will include a shopping mall and a hotel. The project is on hold as the club is seeking funding and co-investors to make the project viable.


Support

Rijeka's ultras group are called ''
Armada Rijeka Armada are a football ultras group that support HNK Rijeka. They also support Rijeka's other sports clubs, such as RK Zamet ( handball), Primorje EB (waterpolo) and KK Kvarner 2010 (basketball). The name Armada was given in 1987 at a bar i ...
'', or simply Armada. The group has been active since 1987, but some forms of organised (albeit not registered as associations) support were present and following the club already in the decades before, and the earliest we know reach well into the '20s of the XX. century. During most home matches, the majority of the seats are occupied by
season ticket A season ticket, or season pass, is a ticket that grants privileges over a defined period of time. History The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' has illustrative quotations which show the term ''season ticket'' used in the United States in 1820 ...
holders. For the 2017–18 season the club had 5,922 season ticket holders and 8,403 members.


Rivalries

Rijeka's greatest rivalry nowadays is with
Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...
. Since 1946, the
Adriatic derby Adriatic derby ( hr, Jadranski derbi) is the name given to matches between two largest Croatian football clubs coming from the Adriatic coast, Hajduk Split and Rijeka. The teams are supported by their fanbases called Split's Torcida and Rijeka's ...
is contested between the two most popular Croatian football clubs from the
Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
coast, Rijeka and Hajduk. Other rivalries exist with other major clubs in Croatia Dinamo Zagreb and a milder with
Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
. The main regional derby is that with Istra Pula. The origins of the Rijeka–Pula rivalry date back to the clashes between
Fiumana Unione Sportiva Fiumana or U.S. Fiumana was an Italian football club based in the present-day Croatian city of Rijeka and the predecessor of HNK Rijeka. The club was active between 1926 and 1945, at the time when the city was part of the Kingdo ...
and Grion Pola since the late 1920s. The city derby with Orijent is probably the most ancient, with its roots in the clashes between CS Olimpia and CS Gloria against Orijent and the other more successful in those early years Sušak based club, Victoria.


Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors


Players


Current squad


Out on loan


Youth system


Club officials and technical staff


Notable players

:To appear in this section a player must have satisfied ''all'' of the following three criteria: * (1) player has at least 100 appearances in official matches, including first division ( Yugoslav First League and
Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...
), domestic cup ( Yugoslav Cup,
Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...
and Croatian Supercup) and UEFA club competitions; * (2) player has scored at least 20 goals in official matches if
forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...
, 5 if midfielder and no goal requirement if defender or goalkeeper in first division ( Yugoslav First League and
Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...
), domestic cup ( Yugoslav Cup,
Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...
and Croatian Supercup) and UEFA club competitions; and * (3) player has played at least one international match for their national team while under contract with Rijeka. * Otherwise, also included are 30 of the club's top scorers and most capped players in the first division. *
Ezio Loik Ezio Loik (; 26 September 1919 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian footballer who played as midfielder. Born in Fiume, Loik began his career with Fiumana. He made his Serie A debut with Milan in 1937, and after three seasons, moved to Venezia. In Ven ...
*
Rodolfo Volk Rodolfo Volk (Sometimes italianized in ''Rodolfo Folchi'') (born 14 January 1906 in Fiume – died 2 October 1983 in Nemi) was an Italian footballer who played as a forward. Volk is regarded as one of the most prolific goalscorers in history of ...
* Mario Varglien * Giovanni Varglien * Luigi Ossoinach *
Andrea Kregar Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrey, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek language, Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός ...
* Giovanni Maras *
Ernő Egri Erbstein Ernő Egri Erbstein (''Hungarian: Erbstein Ernő''), also known as Ernest and Ernesto Erbstein (13 May 18984 May 1949), was a Hungarian football player manager from Nagyvárad, now known as Oradea, in Romania. He carried out his footballing acti ...
* Ferenc Molnár *
Balassa Béla Balassa is a Hungarian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bálint Balassa (1554–1594), Hungarian poet ** Balint Balassi Memorial Sword Award, Hungarian literary award * Béla Balassa (1928–1991), Hungarian economist ** Balassa ...
*
Alexander Gorgon Alexander Gorgon ( pl, Aleksander Gorgoń; born 28 October 1988) is an Austrian-Polish
*
Senad Brkić Senad Brkić (born 3 September 1969) is a Bosnian former professional footballer and current football manager who is in charge of the Čelika Zenica under-19 team. Playing career Club In his career Brkić played for Bosnian club Čelik Zenica o ...
* Admir Hasančić *
Zoran Kvržić Zoran Kvržić (; born 7 August 1988) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bosnian Premier League club Borac Banja Luka. Kvržić started his professional career at Proleter Teslić, before joining HAŠK in 2009. ...
*
Héber Araujo dos Santos :''See entry for Eber, (great-grandson of Noah's son Shem and the father of Peleg and Joktan, sometimes also known as "Heber" in English.)'' Heber may be: Religious traditions *Heber (biblical figure), minor character in the Book of Genesis *Hebe ...
* Fredi Bobic *
Filip Bradarić Filip Bradarić (; born 11 January 1992) is a Croatian professional footballer who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for the Croatia national team. Club career Hajduk Split Having passed through the ranks of the Hajduk Split youth acade ...
*
Elvis Brajković Elvis Brajković (born 12 June 1969) is a Croatian retired professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career He played for several clubs, including NK Rijeka, TSV 1860 Munich (Germany), Hellas Verona F.C. (Italian Serie A in 1996 ...
*
Antonio Čolak Antonio-Mirko Čolak (; born 17 September 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie B club Parma. Born in Germany, he represents the Croatia national team. Čolak began his senior career in the lower divisions of Germ ...
*
Dario Knežević Dario Knežević (born 20 April 1982) is a former Croatian footballer who played as a defender. Club career Born in Rijeka, Knežević started his professional career with the city's First League side NK Rijeka in 2002 and subsequently made ...
* Andrej Kramarić *
Mate Maleš Mate Maleš (; born 11 March 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder in Croatian club Lokomotiva Zagreb. Club career Maleš started his football career with HNK Šibenik, debuting for the first team at the age of ...
*
Mladen Mladenović Mladen Mladenović (born 13 September 1964) is a Croatian professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager and retired Football player, player who played as a midfielder. Playing career Club During his career h ...
*
Roberto Paliska Roberto Paliska (born 14 December 1963 in Rijeka) is a Croatian former football player. Although born in Rijeka, he is originally from Labin Labin (Italian/Istriot: Albona) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, with a town population of 5,806 ...
*
Dubravko Pavličić Dubravko Pavličić (28 November 1967 – 4 April 2012) was a Croatian footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Born in Zagreb, Socialist Republic of Croatia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Pavličić started playing p ...
*
Mladen Romić Mladen Romić (23 May 1962 – 19 January 2006) was a Croatian football player. Club career As a player, he spent much of his career, nine seasons in total, with HNK Rijeka. While playing for NK Pomorac in 2002, at the age of 39, he became the o ...
*
Daniel Šarić Daniel Šarić (born 4 August 1972 in Rijeka) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a right wingback. His name is sometimes spelled as Danijel Šarić. Club career Born in Rijeka, Šarić started his professional career at local c ...
*
Leonard Zuta Leonard Zuta ( mk, Леонард Жута; born 9 August 1992) is a Macedonian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), left back for Norwegian Eliteserien club Vålerenga Fotball, Vålerenga. ...
* Radomir Đalović *
Marko Vešović Marko Vešović (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Вешовић; born 28 August 1991) is a Montenegrin professional footballer who plays as a right wing-back for Qarabağ FK and the Montenegro national team. Club career Early career Born in what i ...
*
Roman Bezjak Roman Bezjak (born 21 February 1989) is a Slovenian footballer who plays as a forward for Austrian side USV Wies. He made his debut for the Slovenian national team in 2013. Club career Celje Bezjak made his debut for Celje on 9 April 2008 ...
*
Josip Drmić Josip Drmić (; born 8 August 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a striker for Prva HNL club Dinamo Zagreb. Drmić began his career with Zürich and moved to 1. FC Nürnberg in 2013, where he scored 17 goals in his first Bu ...
*
Mario Gavranović Mario Gavranović (; born 24 November 1989) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a forward for Süper Lig club Kayserispor and the Switzerland national team. Club career Early career Gavranović began his career with AS Vezia, before ...
* Radojko Avramović *
Marijan Brnčić Marijan Brnčić (born 23 July 1940, in Tribalj, near Crikvenica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is a former Croatian football player. Club career He played as a centre back and central defensive midfielder but he was mostly deployed at left back. With ...
*
Boško Bursać Boško Bursać ( sr-cyr, Бошко Бурсаћ; 22 August 1945 – 8 April 2020) was a Yugoslav professional footballer. Club career Born in Bosansko Grahovo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, then part of Yugoslavia, he started his career at Serbia ...
* Nikica Cukrov * Damir Desnica *
Adriano Fegic Adriano Fegic (born 16 September 1956) is a Slovenian retired footballer who played as a striker. Club career Fegic played for HNK Rijeka in the Yugoslav First League from 1977 to 1985. In 1984–85, he was the club's top scorer. He scored fou ...
* Nenad Gračan *
Tonči Gulin Tonči Gulin (1938 — 26 Augustus 1999) was a Croatian football player. Club career Born in Split, as a player he spent his early years with RNK Split before moving to HNK Rijeka. He was Split's top scorer during the 1960-61 Yugoslav First Lea ...
*
Miloš Hrstić Miloš Hrstić (born 20 November 1955) is a Croatian football coach and former player. During his club career he played for HNK Rijeka, Deportivo de La Coruña and Olimpija Ljubljana. He earned ten caps for the Yugoslavia national team, and ...
*
Janko Janković Janko Janković (born 14 January 1963) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a forward. Club career Janković was born in Split, Croatia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After playing in his country with NK Solin, HNK Hajduk ...
*
Marijan Jantoljak Marijan Jantoljak (born 7 February 1940) is a former Croatian football player. Playing career Club Born in Zagreb, he started playing in a local club NK Ponikve.
* Srećko Juričić *
Miodrag Kustudić Miodrag Kustudić (; born 1 April 1951) is a former Yugoslav footballer who played as a striker. Club career After helping Srem win the Vojvodina League, Kustudić made his Yugoslav First League debut with Vojvodina in 1971. He spent three seas ...
*
Vladimir Lukarić Vladimir Lukarić (born 22 January 1939) is a former Croatian football player and manager. He has had six appearances for the Yugoslav national team, scoring his only goal against Ethiopia in 1962. Playing career Club Born in Rijeka (back then s ...
*
Sergio Machin Sergio Machin (sometimes also spelt Makin, born 6 July 1952) is a Croatian retired Association football, football player. Club career Born in Rijeka, as a player he was part of HNK Rijeka's golden generation which won the Yugoslav Cup in 1977– ...
*
Danko Matrljan Danko Matrljan (born March 4, 1960 in Rijeka) is a former Croatian football striker who played for Croatian HNK Rijeka, NK Pomorac Kostrena, Orijent Rijeka, French club US Orléans and Spanish CD Logroñés. He is currently working as an assist ...
*
Nikica Milenković Nikica “Dido” Milenković (born 30 September 1959) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Playing career Milenković last played for Sabadell in Spain’s Segunda División. He had spent much of his career playing for ...
*
Anđelo Milevoj Anđelo Milevoj (born 26 March 1941) is a Croatian retired football player. He was named Best Defender of the Yugoslav First League for two years in a row, in 1967 and 1968. Club career Born in Labin, as a player, he was widely regarded as one o ...
*
Velimir Naumović Velimir Naumović Serbian Cyrillic: Beлимиp Haумoвић (19 March 1936 in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia – 19 December 2011) was a Serbian striker who played for SFR Yugoslavia national football team, SFR Yugoslavia. He was often call ...
*
Petar Radaković Petar Radaković (22 February 1937 – 1 November 1966) was a Yugoslav football player. He got 19 caps for Yugoslavia. He is famous for scoring the winning goal in the 1962 World Cup quarter-final win against Germany (1–0). He spent his who ...
*
Zvjezdan Radin Zvjezdan Radin (born 28 October 1953) is a Croatian retired football player and manager. Career As a player, he was part of HNK Rijeka, NK Rijeka's golden generation which won the Yugoslav Cup in 1978 and 1979. He was a defender and is the secon ...
*
Milan Radović Milan Radović (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Радовић, born 15 July 1952 in Titovo Užice, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Serbian striker who played for NK Rijeka and Stade Brestois. Born in Titovo Užice (SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) he begin playing ...
*
Mauro Ravnić Mauro Ravnić (born 29 November 1959) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent his 17-year professional career with Rijeka in his homeland, and Valladolid and Lleida in Spain. Subsequently, he worked as a goalkeeper ...
* Milan Ružić *
Miroslav Šugar Miroslav Šugar (born 29 September 1957) is a Croatian retired football defender. Career He also played as defensive midfielder. Born in Novi Sad, SR Serbia, during his career he played with NK Rijeka and Red Star Belgrade in the Yugoslav First ...
*
Edmond Tomić Edmond Tomić (born 10 November 1956 in Prizren, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former football player. Starting his career with Liria Prizren, where he played for three seasons, he moved to HNK Rijeka where he stayed for six seasons. He wa ...
*
Bruno Veselica Bruno Veselica (24 January 1936 – 20 November 2018) was a Croatia-born Yugoslav footballer. Career As a player, he was regarded as one of HNK Rijeka's best forwards of all time. He is the club's second highest top scorer of all time after Bo ...
*
Mladen Vranković Mladen Vranković (2 July 1937 – 11 February 2021) was a Croatian football player and manager. Career Born in Rtina, he played for his hometown club, HNK Rijeka, for eight seasons, collecting 350 caps. He also spent three years in the North A ...
* Nedeljko Vukoje Source: Appearances and Goals. Last updated 23 April 2022.


All-time Best 11

According to a 2005–07 survey of former players (older than 40 years of age) and respected journalists, Marinko Lazzarich found that the best all-time team of Rijeka is as follows: 1. Jantoljak, 2. Milevoj, 3. Hrstić, 4. Radaković, 5.
Radin Radin is a surname and given name. Given name Radin (Persian: رادین) is also an Ancient Persian given name meaning "gentleman". Surname Notable people with the surname include: * Adolph Moses Radin (1848–1909), Polish-American rabbi * ...
, 6. Juričić, 7. Lukarić, 8. Gračan, 9. Osojnak, 10. Naumović, 11. Desnica. Rijeka's daily, '' Novi list'', in 2011 declared the following 11 players as Rijeka's best all time team: 1. Jantoljak, 2. Šarić, 3.
Radin Radin is a surname and given name. Given name Radin (Persian: رادین) is also an Ancient Persian given name meaning "gentleman". Surname Notable people with the surname include: * Adolph Moses Radin (1848–1909), Polish-American rabbi * ...
, 4. Juričić, 5. Hrstić, 6. Loik, 7. Radaković, 8. Mladenović, 9. Naumović, 10. Skoblar, 11. Desnica.


Best 11 (2010–20)

In 2020, the club's fans voted to select the best squad over the past decade to fit in a 4–2–3–1 formation: PrskaloRistovski, Župarić,
Mitrović Mitrović ( sr-Cyrl, Митровић, ) is a Serbian surname, derived from the male given name ''Mitar'' (a version of the Slavic name Dimitar or Dimitrije). It may refer to: * Aleksandar Mitrović (basketball) (born 1990), Serbian professional ...
, ZutaKreilach, MoisésVešović, Andrijašević, SharbiniKramarić. Manager:
Kek , known as KEK, is a Japanese organization whose purpose is to operate the largest particle physics laboratory in Japan, situated in Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture. It was established in 1997. The term "KEK" is also used to refer to the laboratory ...
.


Managers

* Karoly Bela (September 1926 – July 27) * Delfino Costanzo Valle (August 1927 – July 29) * Imre Emmerich Poszonyi (August 1929 – July 32) * Luigi Ossoinak (August 1932 – July 33) * Andrea Kregar (August 1933 – July 36) * Eugen Payer (August 1936 – July 38) * Marcello Mihalich (August 1938 – July 40) * Angelo Piccalunga (August 1940 – July 42) * Artur Kolisch (August 1942 – 44) * Hans Bloch (July 1946 – August 46) *
Jozo Matošić Jozo Matošić (27 January 1913 – 1 March 1999) was a Yugoslav football coach and player. He was captain of the famous Hajduk Split side during World War II. He was also the older brother of Frane Matošić, Hajduk's best goalscorer of ...
(August 1946 – August 47) * Ivan Smojver & Ante Vukelić (September 1947 – October 47) *
Franjo Glaser Franjo Glaser (surname sometimes written ''Glazer''; 7 January 1913 – 1 March 2003) was a Croatian football goalkeeper and football manager. He is the only Yugoslav footballer who won national titles before and after the Second World War, wit ...
(October 1947 – July 48) *
Zvonko Jazbec Zvonko Jazbec (; born 7 September 1911 in Ohio, USA-died 15 March 1970 in Zagreb) was a Croatian football goalkeeper. He spent his career at HŠK Concordia Zagreb during the 1930s in the Yugoslav First League. Club career At age 4, he and his fa ...
(September 1948 – December 48) *
Franjo Glaser Franjo Glaser (surname sometimes written ''Glazer''; 7 January 1913 – 1 March 2003) was a Croatian football goalkeeper and football manager. He is the only Yugoslav footballer who won national titles before and after the Second World War, wit ...
(January 1949 – December 50) * Slavko Kodrnja (January 1951 – December 51) *
Ljubo Benčić Ljubomir "Ljubo" Benčić (2 January 1905 – 24 February 1992) was a Croatian and Yugoslav football player. Playing career Club Spending his entire career at Hajduk Split, Benčić was a renowned right winger and centre forward. He started pl ...
(January 1952 – August 52) * Nikola Duković (September 1952 – April 53) *
Antun Lokošek Antun Lokošek (; 2 January 1920—24 December 1994) was a Croatian footballer who played for several clubs in Yugoslavia. Playing career Club Born in Celje, he played with Slavija Osijek and NK Slavija before joining Građanski Zagreb in 19 ...
(May 1953 – December 53) *
Ratomir Čabrić Ratomir Čabrić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратомир Чабрић; 19 September 1918 – 13 April 1990) was a Serbian football player and coach. Career Playing career Čabrić, who played as a striker, spent his professional career in Yugoslavia, ...
(January 1954 – July 54) *
Franjo Glaser Franjo Glaser (surname sometimes written ''Glazer''; 7 January 1913 – 1 March 2003) was a Croatian football goalkeeper and football manager. He is the only Yugoslav footballer who won national titles before and after the Second World War, wit ...
(August 1954 – July 56) * Nikola Duković (September 1956 – July 57) * Milorad Ognjanov (September 1957 – October 59) *
Luka Kaliterna "Barba" Luka Kaliterna (13 October 1893 – 25 February 1984) was a Croatian football player and later manager. Born in Split, he played on the position of the goalkeeper. See also *Fabjan Kaliterna References External linksLuka Kaliterna ...
(November 1959 – May 60) *
Stojan Osojnak Stojan Osojnak (1923-2016) was a Croatian football player and manager. Career Osojnak played for Rijeka and Dinamo Zagreb in the 1940s and 1950s. He is considered as the most notable football player from Opatija, and one of the five greates ...
(May 1960 – June 61) * Ostoja Simić (June 1961 – May 62) * Angelo Ziković (August 1962 – December 62) *
Virgil Popescu Virgil Popescu (1916–1989) was a Romanian footballer and later coach. In Yugoslavia, he was known as Stanislav Popesku. Career He was born in 1916 during the First World War, in the Transylvanian town of Zlatna,
(January 1963 – September 64) *
Stojan Osojnak Stojan Osojnak (1923-2016) was a Croatian football player and manager. Career Osojnak played for Rijeka and Dinamo Zagreb in the 1940s and 1950s. He is considered as the most notable football player from Opatija, and one of the five greates ...
(October 1964 – June 67) *
Vladimir Beara Vladimir Beara (; 26 August 1928 – 11 August 2014) was a Yugoslav football goalkeeper and manager. He played the vast majority of his professional club career for Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade in the Yugoslav Federal League and for the Yu ...
(May 1967 – November 68) * Angelo Ziković (November 1968 – June 70) * Ilijas Pašić (June 1970 – June 71) *
Stevan Vilotić Stevan "Ćele" Vilotić (Serbian Cyrillic: Стеван "Ћеле" Вилотић; 15 September 1925 – 27 June 1989) was a Yugoslav football manager and player. He managed numerous teams, most notably Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * ...
(June 1971 – June 72) *
Marcel Žigante Marcel Žigante (1929 – 8 March 2015) was a Yugoslav and later Croatian professional football manager and former player. Playing career Born in Rijeka, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, present day Croatia, Žigante's football career began in a small cl ...
(June 1972 – May 73) *
Ivica Šangulin Ivica Šangulin (20 April 1937 – 5 May 2012) was a Croatian football player and manager. Career Born in Biograd na Moru, he spent his early years with Šibenik, before moving on to Dinamo Zagreb for one season. He left a big mark with HNK Rije ...
(May 1973 – June 74) * Gojko Zec (June 1974 – June 76) *
Dragutin Spasojević Dragutin Spasojević (15 February 1934 – 21 May 2016) was a Montenegro, Montenegrin football player and manager. He managed HNK Rijeka, NK Rijeka, FK Bor, NK Čelik Zenica, FK Rad, FK Sutjeska Nikšić, KF Trepça, FK Trepča, FK Borac Čačak ...
(June 1976 – April 79) *
Marijan Brnčić Marijan Brnčić (born 23 July 1940, in Tribalj, near Crikvenica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is a former Croatian football player. Club career He played as a centre back and central defensive midfielder but he was mostly deployed at left back. With ...
''(interim)'' (April 1979 – June 79) * Miroslav Blažević (June 1979 – January 81) *
Marijan Brnčić Marijan Brnčić (born 23 July 1940, in Tribalj, near Crikvenica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is a former Croatian football player. Club career He played as a centre back and central defensive midfielder but he was mostly deployed at left back. With ...
(January 1981 – April 83) * Josip Skoblar (May 1983 – December 86) *
Mladen Vranković Mladen Vranković (2 July 1937 – 11 February 2021) was a Croatian football player and manager. Career Born in Rtina, he played for his hometown club, HNK Rijeka, for eight seasons, collecting 350 caps. He also spent three years in the North A ...
(January 1987 – June 89) *
Vladimir Lukarić Vladimir Lukarić (born 22 January 1939) is a former Croatian football player and manager. He has had six appearances for the Yugoslav national team, scoring his only goal against Ethiopia in 1962. Playing career Club Born in Rijeka (back then s ...
(June 1989 – January 91) * Nikola "Pape" Filipović (January 1991) *
Mladen Vranković Mladen Vranković (2 July 1937 – 11 February 2021) was a Croatian football player and manager. Career Born in Rtina, he played for his hometown club, HNK Rijeka, for eight seasons, collecting 350 caps. He also spent three years in the North A ...
(February 1991) * Željko Mudrovičić (March 1991 – June 91) *
Marijan Jantoljak Marijan Jantoljak (born 7 February 1940) is a former Croatian football player. Playing career Club Born in Zagreb, he started playing in a local club NK Ponikve.
(June 1991 – November 92) * Srećko Juričić & Mile Tomljenović (November 1992) * Srećko Juričić (January 1993 – June 94) *
Zvjezdan Radin Zvjezdan Radin (born 28 October 1953) is a Croatian retired football player and manager. Career As a player, he was part of HNK Rijeka, NK Rijeka's golden generation which won the Yugoslav Cup in 1978 and 1979. He was a defender and is the secon ...
(June 1994 – March 95) *
Mladen Vranković Mladen Vranković (2 July 1937 – 11 February 2021) was a Croatian football player and manager. Career Born in Rtina, he played for his hometown club, HNK Rijeka, for eight seasons, collecting 350 caps. He also spent three years in the North A ...
(April 1995) * Josip Skoblar (April 1995 – June 95) *
Marijan Jantoljak Marijan Jantoljak (born 7 February 1940) is a former Croatian football player. Playing career Club Born in Zagreb, he started playing in a local club NK Ponikve.
(June 1995 – September 95) * Ranko Buketa ''(interim)'' (September 1995 – October 95) * Josip Skoblar (October 1995 – November 95) * Miroslav Blažević & Nenad Gračan (January 1996 – June 96) *
Luka Bonačić Luka Bonačić (; born 21 March 1955) is a Croatian football coach and former professional player. Early life He was born in Split, Croatia that was then part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He began his football career at the Spl ...
(June 1996 – August 96) *
Ivan Kocjančić Ivan Kocjančić is a Croatian retired football player. Playing career Club Born in Rijeka, he played for HNK Rijeka during his entire career, collecting close to 500 caps. He played as a defender and captained his club when it won promotion to ...
''(interim)'' (August 1996) * Branko Ivanković (August 1996 – March 98) * Nenad Gračan (March 1998 – November 2000) * Boris Tičić ''(interim)'' (November 2000 – December 2000) * Predrag Stilinović (December 2000 – 1 May) *
Ivan Katalinić Ivan Katalinić (born 17 May 1951) is a former Croatian footballer and former manager who had a successful playing career with Hajduk Split and Southampton in the 1970s and 1980s. As a member of Hajduk's famous "golden generation" of the 1970s, ...
(May 2001 – 2 May) * Zlatko Kranjčar (May 2002 – 2 November) *
Mladen Mladenović Mladen Mladenović (born 13 September 1964) is a Croatian professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager and retired Football player, player who played as a midfielder. Playing career Club During his career h ...
(November 2002 – 3 March) *
Vjekoslav Lokica Vjekoslav Lokica (born 19 September 1965) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Managerial career He replaced Goran Sablić as manager of RNK Split in July 2016. Personal life He was married to Žana Lelas Žana Le ...
(March 2003 – 3 July) *
Ivan Katalinić Ivan Katalinić (born 17 May 1951) is a former Croatian footballer and former manager who had a successful playing career with Hajduk Split and Southampton in the 1970s and 1980s. As a member of Hajduk's famous "golden generation" of the 1970s, ...
(July 2003 – 4 May) *
Elvis Scoria Elvis Scoria (born 5 July 1971) is a Croatian former football player and manager. He played for HNK Rijeka, Dinamo Zagreb (then called Croatia Zagreb), NK Istra, NK Zagreb and for Spanish club UE Lleida. Playing career As a player Scoria appe ...
(1 July 2004 – 30 September 2005) *
Dragan Skočić Dragan Skočić (born 3 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Prior to his coaching career, Skočić started his playing career with the local club Rijeka and then abroad when he signed for Las Palmas in ...
(1 October 2005 – 30 September 2006) *
Milivoj Bračun Milivoj Bračun (born 22 April 1958) is a Croatian football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Slovenian First League side FC Koper. Born in Zagreb, SR Croatia, back then within Yugoslavia, Bračun played for Dinam ...
(1 October 2006 – 13 March 2007) *
Josip Kuže Josip Kuže (13 November 1952 – 16 June 2013) was a Croatian football manager and footballer. He was a player and later a manager of Dinamo Zagreb where he played for 10 years, making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals. Playing c ...
(12 March 2007 – 4 June 2007) *
Zlatko Dalić Zlatko Dalić (; born 26 October 1966) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of the Croatia national team since 2017 and led them to a runners-up finish at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and third place at the ...
(1 June 2007 – 30 June 2008) *
Mladen Ivančić Mladen Ivančić (born 8 February 1970) is a Croatian former professional football defender. As a player, he spent seven seasons with HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK ...
(7 July 2008 – 8 October 2008) *
Stjepan Ostojić Stjepan is a Croatian masculine given name, variant of Stephen, used by ijekavian speakers. In Croatia, the name Stjepan was among the top ten most common masculine given names in the decades up to 1969. Notable people with the name include: * St ...
''(interim)'' (4 October 2008 – 13 October 2008) *
Robert Rubčić Robert Rubčić (born 2 November 1963) is a Croatian retired association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager. Playing career As a player, Rubčić played for HNK Rijeka for much of his career, collecting 184 league ...
(13 October 2008 – 21 September 2009) *
Zoran Vulić Zoran Vulić (; born 4 October 1961) is a Croatian professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is most notable for having man ...
(22 September 2009 – 10 November 2009) * Nenad Gračan (10 November 2009 – 6 November 2010) *
Elvis Scoria Elvis Scoria (born 5 July 1971) is a Croatian former football player and manager. He played for HNK Rijeka, Dinamo Zagreb (then called Croatia Zagreb), NK Istra, NK Zagreb and for Spanish club UE Lleida. Playing career As a player Scoria appe ...
(7 November 2010 – 16 June 2011) *
Alen Horvat Alen Horvat (born 13 September 1973) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Saudi club Al-Batin. During the period in Al-Nassr FC in January 2021, he won Saudi Super Cup and was also named ...
(20 June 2011 – 4 October 2011) *
Ivo Ištuk Ivo Ištuk (born 18 November 1953) is a Bosnian professional football manager. He is regarded as one of the most successful Bosnian football managers. Managerial career Bosna Visoko Ištuk began his managerial career at Bosna Visoko. He managed ...
(4 October 2011 – 18 March 2012) *
Dragan Skočić Dragan Skočić (born 3 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Prior to his coaching career, Skočić started his playing career with the local club Rijeka and then abroad when he signed for Las Palmas in ...
(19 March 2012 – 30 April 2012) *
Mladen Ivančić Mladen Ivančić (born 8 February 1970) is a Croatian former professional football defender. As a player, he spent seven seasons with HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK ...
''(interim)'' (30 April 2012 – 2 May 2012) *
Elvis Scoria Elvis Scoria (born 5 July 1971) is a Croatian former football player and manager. He played for HNK Rijeka, Dinamo Zagreb (then called Croatia Zagreb), NK Istra, NK Zagreb and for Spanish club UE Lleida. Playing career As a player Scoria appe ...
(2 May 2012 – 24 February 2013) * Matjaž Kek (27 February 2013 – 6 October 2018) * Igor Bišćan (9 October 2018 – 22 September 2019) *
Simon Rožman Simon Rožman (born 6 April 1983) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Slovenian PrvaLiga club Domžale. Managerial career Celje Rožman started his managerial career at Celje, where he w ...
(23 September 2019 – 27 February 2021) *
Goran Tomić Goran Tomić (; born 18 March 1977) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of UAE Pro League club Al Nasr SC. He started his managerial career with his hometown club HNK Šibenik in the Prva ...
(1 March 2021 – 27 May 2022) *
Dragan Tadić Dragan Tadić (born 12 February 1973) is a Croatian retired football midfielder who was most recently the manager of Croatian club Rijeka. Club career He had spent the peak years of his career playing for various clubs in Croatia’s Prva HNL ...
(20 June 2022 – 16 August 2022) *
Fausto Budicin Fausto Budicin (born 1 May 1981) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who was most recently manager of Croatian First Football League club Rijeka Managerial career On 27 March 2019, Budicin was appointed new manager ...
''(interim)'' (16 August 2022 – 5 September 2022) *
Serse Cosmi Serse Cosmi (born 5 May 1958) is an Italian football coach, most recently in charge of Rijeka. Career Early career Cosmi was born in 1958 in Ponte San Giovanni, a Perugia ''frazione''. His father, a cycling fan, called him Serse after Faust ...
(5 September 2022 –13 November 2022) *
Sergej Jakirović Sergej Jakirović (; born 23 December 1976) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Croatian Football League club Rijeka. Club career Jakirović played in the Croatian Prva HNL for Neretva, Is ...
(30 November 2022 –) Source:


Winning managers


Presidents

* Antonio Carlo de Schlemmer 1918–1920 * Antonio Marcich 1920–1921 * Pietro Pasquali 1921–1923 * Clemente Marassi 1923–1925 * Nino Host-Venturi 1925–1926 * Giovanni Stiglich 1926–1928 * Ramiro Antonini 1928–1929 * Oscar Sperber 1929–1931 * Costanzo Delfino 1931–1936 * Alessandro Szemere 1936–1937 * Eugenio Zoncada 1937–1938 * Alessandro Andreanelli 1938–1939 * Giuseppe Ianetti 1939–1940 * Alesandro Andreanelli 1940–1941 * Carlo Descovich 1941–1942 * Andrea Gastaldi 1942–1945 * Luigi Sošić, 1946 * Giovanni Cucera, 1946–1948 * Ambrosio Stečić, 1948–1952 * Dr. Zdravko Kučić, 1953–1954 * Milorad Doričić, 1955–1956 * Milan Blažević, 1957–1959 * Stjepan Koren, 1960–1963 * Milorad Doričić, 1964–1969 * Vilim Mulc, 1969–1971 * Davor Sušanj, 1971 * Ljubo Španjol, 1972–1978 * Zvonko Poščić, 1978–1979 * Nikola Jurčević, 1980 * Marijan Glavan, 1981 * Davor Sušanj, 1981–1984 * Stjepko Gugić, 1985–1986 * Dragan Krčelić, 1986–1989 * Želimir Gruičić, 1989–1991 * Darko Čargonja, 1991–1992 * Josip Lokmer, 1993–1994 * Krsto Pavić, 1994–1995 * Hrvoje Šarinić, 1995–1996 * Franjo Šoda, 1996–1997 * Prof. Žarko Tomljanović, 1997–2000 * Hrvoje Šarinić, Dr. Ivan Vanja Frančišković, Robert Ježić, 2000 * Robert Ježić, 2000 * Sanjin Kirigin, 2000–2002 * Duško Grabovac, 2002–2003 * Robert Ježić, 2003–2008 * Dr. Ivan Vanja Frančišković, 2008–2009 * Ivan Turčić, 2009–2011 * Robert Komen, 2011–2012 *
Damir Mišković Damir Mišković (born 20 March 1965) is a Croatian businessman and entrepreneur who is the chairman and owner of Croatian football club HNK Rijeka, a position he has held since 2012. Early and personal life Mišković was born in 1965 in Rijeka. ...
, 2012– Source:


Seasons, statistics and records


Honours

Rijeka has won one
Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...
title, two Yugoslav Cups and six Croatian Cups, one Italian Coppa Federale. In European competitions, the club has reached the quarter-final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1979–80, UEFA Cup Round of 32 in 1984–85, and group stages of the UEFA Europa League in 2013–14, 2014–15, 2017–18 and
2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
. The club has also won the
1977–78 Balkans Cup The 1978 Balkans Cup was an edition of the Balkans Cup, a football competition for representative clubs from the Balkan states. It was contested by 6 teams and Rijeka won the trophy. Group A ---- Group B ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Fi ...
.


Domestic

Croatia * Croatian First League ** Winners: 2016–17 ** Runners-up (7): 1998–99, 2005–06, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19 *
Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...
** Winners (6): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20 ** Runners-up: (2) 1993–94, 2021–22 *
Croatian Super Cup The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the tw ...
** Winners:
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
** Runners-up:
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
,
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
,
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Yugoslavia * Yugoslav Second League ** Winners (6):
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...
, 1957–58, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1973–74 * Yugoslav Cup ** Winners (2): 1977–78, 1978–79 ** Runners-up: 1986–87 Italy *Italian Coppa Federale ** Winners (1): 1927–28 *Italian North-East league **Winners (1): 1923–24 **Runners-up: 1924–25 *Italian Third League ** Winners (1): 1940–41 *Julian March Championship **Winners (2): 1921–22, 1922–23 *Friuli and Julian March Cup **Winners (1): 1922–23 Free State of Fiume * Fiuman championship ** Winners (1): 1920–21 * Fiuman-Julian Cup ** Winners (1): 1921 Austria-Hungary * Grazioli Cup ** Runners-up: 1919


International

*
Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being t ...
** Winners: 1977–78 ** Runners-up: 1979–80 * The Atlantic Cup: ** Winners:
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
Source:, Last updated 31 July 2020.


Rankings


UEFA club coefficient ranking

The following data indicates Rijeka's coefficient rankings through the years. :''(As of 1 November 2021), Source:'' All time UEFA ranking: ''271''


European record


By competition

Source:, Last updated on 28 July 2022.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.


By ground

Source:, Last updated on 21 July 2022.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against.


By season

Non-UEFA competitions are listed in ''italics''. Last updated on 28 July 2022.
Note: List includes matches played in competitions not endorsed by UEFA.
Matches played at neutral ground in
Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...
and
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
, Italy.


Player records

*Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 38 appearances **
Zoran Kvržić Zoran Kvržić (; born 7 August 1988) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bosnian Premier League club Borac Banja Luka. Kvržić started his professional career at Proleter Teslić, before joining HAŠK in 2009. ...
** Ivan Tomečak *Top scorer in UEFA club competitions: 8 goals ** Andrej Kramarić


References


External links

*Official
HNK Rijeka official website


at
UEFA.com Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
*Unofficial
Hoću Ri

Forza Fiume
*Supporters
Armada Rijeka official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rijeka Football clubs in Rijeka Football clubs in Croatia Football clubs in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Football clubs in Yugoslavia Association football clubs established in 1946 1946 establishments in Croatia