Nogometni klub Nafta Lendava (), commonly referred to as NK Nafta Lendava or simply Nafta, was a Slovenian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club which played in the town of

Lendava Lendava (; formerly ''Dolnja Lendava'', in older sources also ''Dolenja Lendava''; , formerly ''Alsólendva''; , formerly ''Unter-Limbach'') is a town in Slovenia in the region of Prekmurje. It is the seat of the Municipality of Lendava. It forms ...

. 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 League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

in 1941, the

Prekmurje Prekmurje (; Prekmurje Slovene: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; ) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally, and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarians in Slovenia, Hungarian minority, lying betwee ...

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 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, and Lendava played in the Hungarian football system during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, 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 be ...

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 () was the highest Association football, football league in Slovenia within the Yugoslav football league system, Yugoslav football system. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the league was known as the Ljubl ...

and lower leagues in the territory of

SR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...

. After Slovenia's independence in 1991, Nafta joined the newly formed

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), 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 clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

for the 1991–92 season. Their Croatian winger Miljenko Dovečer 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 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. 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.

Domestic league and cup results

:*Best results are highlighted.

Honours

League *

**Winners:

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

Slovenian Third League The Slovenian Third Football League ( 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 are operated by the Intercommunal Foo ...

**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