Rukometni klub Lovćen is a Montenegrin

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

club from

Old Royal Capital Cetinje The Old Royal Capital Cetinje ( Montenegrin: Prijestonica Cetinje / Пријестоница Цетиње) is one of the municipalities of Montenegro. Due to its former status as the capital of the old Kingdom of Montenegro, it is known as the "O ...

, that plays in

Montenegrin First League The Montenegrin First League (Montenegrin language, Montenegrin: ''Prva crnogorska fudbalska liga'' — ''Prva CFL'' — ''1. CFL''; ), referred to as the Meridianbet 1. CFL for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, ...

. For decades, Lovćen has been the most successful Montenegrin men's handball club and the only team from Montenegro which won men's handball trophies in the Yugoslav era. During the 2001 and 2002, Lovćen played in the

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

History

Formed at 1949, Lovćen is among oldest handball clubs in Montenegro. During the decades, especially from 80's until today, Lovćen became most successful Montenegrin men's handball club, but the most trophied team from

. There is huge number of great Montenegrin, Yugoslav and European players which produced handball school of Lovćen. During the decades, Lovćen became most important base of

Montenegro men's national handball team The Montenegro national handball team represents Montenegro in international handball competitions. The national team was formed in 2006 shortly after Montenegro became independent. Montenegro played their first official match on 3 January 200 ...

players. First biggest success, Lovćen made during the start of 80's, when they became permanent member of Yugoslav Second League. In the second half of the same decade, Lovćen won the trophy of Second League champion and became first Montenegrin men's handball club which gained promotion to the First League of SFR Yugoslavia.

First seasons in the First league

First match in First league of SFR Yugoslavia, Lovćen played in October 1988 against

RK Jugović RK Jugović () is a Serbian handball club based in Kać, Novi Sad. They compete in the top tier Serbian handball league, the Arkus league. History Founded as RK Mladost in 1956, the club changed its name to RK Jugović in 1960. They made thei ...

away and won with result 23:20. Their first season in strongest domestic competition, Lovćen finished in sixth place. After three successful years in the SFR Yugoslavia, and the matches against great names of European handball like Zagreb Hromos, Metaloplastika Šabac or

RK Borac Banja Luka Rukometni klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Рукометни клуб Бopaц Бања Лука) is a handball club from Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Borac sports society. The federal league ...

, Lovćen was relegated at the end of season 1990/94. At the season 1994/95, Lovćen returned to the First League of

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

and in the next years made notable results. With the second place at the end of season 1996/96, Lovćen get promotion to their first European competition -

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

1997/98. In the next two seasons, team was placed on the top positions of Yugoslav First League, with placements at the Quarterfinals of the EHF Cities Cup and

Trophies in the FR Yugoslavia

One of the glory days in the club history was 17 May 2000. On that day, Lovćen won their first champions title in the First League. With the four points more than Sintelon Bačka Palanka, Lovćen provided their first appearance in the

. Season 2000/01 was the most successful in the club history. At the EHF Champions League 2000/01 Lovćen finished as first team in the Group 'D' and played in the Quarterfinals. On that season, fans at Cetinje watched Lovćen games against great European clubs like

THW Kiel THW Kiel is a professional handball club from Kiel, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and are the record champion with 23 titles. 2007 and 2012 were the most successful years in the club's history, as THW completed t ...

or Portland San Antonio. At the same period, Lovćen won another one title in the First Yugoslav League, with two points more than

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, lin ...

. On 8 November 2000, Lovćen recorded their biggest win in the Yugoslav League - against Vojvodina Novi Sad at Cetinje - 43:17. EHF Champions League 2000/01 - Group D At the 2001/02 season, Lovćen again participated in the

, but finished domestic season at the second place, after three dramatic play-off finals against

(24:23, 24:25, 24:25). During that season, Lovćen won their first trophy on the Yugoslav Cup - in the final match, in

Vršac Vršac ( sr-Cyrl, Вршац, ) is a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical ...

, club from Cetinje defeated Sintelon Bačka Palanka - 19:18. Next year, Lovćen repeated their success in the Cup of Yugoslavia and that was the last club's trophy during the

era. In the next seasons, Lovćen stayed in the top of domestic league, with permanent appearances in the European cups.

Montenegrin independence

Following the

Montenegrin independence An independence referendum was held in Republic of Montenegro (1992–2006), Montenegro on 21 May 2006. It was approved by 55.5% of voters, narrowly passing the 55% threshold. By 23 May, preliminary referendum results were recognized by all five ...

, national handball association of Montenegro established their own First League and

Cup Competition A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. Lovćen became the first champion of independent Montenegro in the season 2006/07, after 20 matches - 18 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss. In the next years, Lovćen became weaker in the domestic championship. During the period from 2007 to 2011, Lovćen didn't won any First League title, but they triumphed in the Cup seasons 2009, 2010 and 2011. Finally, at the end of season 2011/12, Lovćen again became Champion of Montenegro, with new Cup title. Same success club made in the season 2012/13, with the best performance in Montenegrin men's handball - 21 match / 21 win (League and Cup). New doubles (league and cup winner) Lovćen made at seasons 2013/14 and 2014/15. Lovcenvardar

Honours and achievements

National Championships - 12 *Champion of FR Yugoslavia (2) **''2000, 2001.'' * Champion of Montenegro (10) **''2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023'' National Cups - 14 *Winner of the FR Yugoslavia Cup (2) **''2002, 2003.'' * Winner of the Montenegrin Cup (12) ** ''2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022'' European Cups *

**''5th place - 2001.''

Team

Current squad

:''Squad for the 2023–24 season'' ;Goalkeepers *1 Zarija Lutovac * 38 Filip Borozan ;Left wingers *7 Danilo Pajović * 77 Aleksandar Mrvaljević ;Right wingers *5 Aleksa Perišić * 13 Mirko Radović ;Line players * 19 Mihailo Šćekić * 20 Filip Božović * 22 Luka Vujović ;Left Backs *4 Miodrag Stanojević *9 Milorad Bakić ;Centre Backs *6

Filip Krivokapić Filip () is a masculine given name and a surname, cognate to Philip. The male name Filip comes from the Greek "philos" (love) and "hippos" (horse), which means "horse lover". In Croatia, the name Filip was among the most common masculine given nam ...

* 23

Bogdan Petričević Bogdan Petričević (born 6 September 1989) is a Montenegrin handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt pla ...

;Right Backs * 33

Ivan Perišić Ivan Perišić (; born 2 February 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven and the Croatia national team. Usually deployed as a left winger, he has also featured as a left wing-back, ...

Notable former players

Veselin Vujović Veselin Vujović (born 18 January 1961) is a Montenegrin handball coach and former professional player. He is the current head coach of RK Nexe Našice and Qatar men's national handball team. As a player, Vujović competed at the 1984 and 1 ...

Pero Milošević Pero may refer to: * Pero (mythology), several figures in Greek mythology and one in Roman mythology * Pero (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Pero language, a language of Nigeria * Pero, Lombardy, an Italian commune ...

* Goran Đukanović *

Ratko Đurković Ratko Đurković (born 9 February 1975) is a Montenegrin handball coach. Club career After starting out at his hometown club RK Lovćen, Lovćen, Đurković played for fellow Yugoslav teams RK Metaloplastika, Metaloplastika and RK Sintelon, Sin ...

Petar Kapisoda Petar Kapisoda (born 26 June 1976) is a Montenegrin former handball player. Club career After starting out at his hometown club Lovćen, Kapisoda moved to Crvenka. He later played for Partizan (1994–1996) and Crvena zvezda (1996–1998). Subs ...

Nenad Puljezević Nenad Puljezević (, ; born 13 March 1973) is a Serbian-Hungarian former handball player. Club career Puljezević made his professional debut with Crvena zvezda and spent four seasons with the club (1990–1994). He would also play for two years ...

* Igor Butulija * Stevo Nikočević *

Goran Stojanović Goran Stojanović (born 24 February 1977) is a Montenegrin-Qatari handball player for the Al Rayyan and the Qatar. Club career After starting out at his hometown club Mornar Bar, Stojanović played for Crvena zvezda (2000–2002), Lovćen (2002 ...

Alen Muratović Alen Muratović, (born 23 October 1979) is a Montenegrin former handball player. Club career After playing for Budućnost Podgorica, Muratović joined Yugoslav champions Lovćen in 2001. He helped them win two consecutive national cups (2002 and ...

* Nikola Marinović *

Predrag Peruničić Predrag Peruničić (; born 27 June 1967) is a Serbian former handball player. Club career Over the course of his career that spanned 20 years, Peruničić played for Partizan on four separate occasions, winning three national championships (19 ...

Draško Mrvaljević Draško Mrvaljević (born 17 November 1979) is a Montenegrin former handball player. Career Over the course of his career that spanned more than two decades, Mrvaljević played for Lovćen (1997–2000), Sintelon (2000–2002), Teucro (2003� ...

* Mladen Rakčević * Dejan Unčanin * Marko Dobrković * Aleksandar Svitlica *

Blažo Lisičić Blažo Lisičić (born 22 August 1972) is a Montenegrin former handball player. Club career Born in Titograd, Lisičić was signed by Proleter Zrenjanin as a teenager. He would become a member of the team that won two Yugoslav Championship tit ...

* Dalibor Čutura * Igor Marković * Ivan Ražnatović * Vuk Milošević * Petar Vujanović * Ilija Ivanović * Stevan Vujović * Novica Rudović * Nebojša Stojinović * Nikola Vujović *

Marko Dapčević Marko may refer to: * Marko (given name) * Marko (surname) * Márkó, a village in Hungary See also *Marco (disambiguation) *Markko (disambiguation) *Marka (disambiguation) *Markov *Marku *Narko, Queensland Narko is a rural locality in the ...

Milan Vučićević Milan Vučićević ( sr-cyr, Милан Вучићевић; born July 20, 1985), also known by his online pseudonym Nichim Izazvan, is a Serbian marketing consultant and former professional basketball player. Vučićević has played professional ...

* Brano Božović *

Radivoje Ristanović Radivoje Ristanović (; born 2 December 1982) is a Serbian-Montenegrin former handball player. Club career During his journeyman career, Ristanović played in Serbia ( Partizan and Vojvodina), Montenegro (Lovćen), Spain ( Teucro, Ademar León, ...

* Goran Biljaka * Mladen Čačić * Miodrag Ašanin * Andrija Pejović * Ivan Šmigić * Marko Pejović *

Danijel Vukićević Danijel is masculine given name of Slovene, Croatian, and Serbian origin. Notable people with the name include: * Danijel Aleksić (born 1991), Serbian footballer * Danijel Alibabić (born 1988), Montenegrin singer and songwriter * Danijel Brezi� ...

* Goran Lasica * Aleksandar Beljić * Vasko Ševaljević *

Muhamed Mustafić Muhamed Mustafić (born April 6, 1981 in Rogatica) is a Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders S ...

* Selman Beširović * Blažo Popović * Vladan Lipovina * Danilo Mihaljević *

Vuko Borozan Vuko Borozan (born 9 April 1994) is a Montenegrin handball player who plays for RK Vardar, RK Vardar 1961 and the Montenegro men's national handball team, Montenegro national team. Achievements Vardar * EHF Champions League : ''Winner'': 2016� ...

* Bojan Madzovski *

Vuk Lakićević Vuk Lakićević (born 25 October 2001) is a Montenegrin handball player who plays for PLER KC, Pler Budapest. Career Club Lakićević started his career in RK Čelik Nikšić at the age of 11. After 5 years spent in youth team of Čelik, he we ...

Notable coaches

* Branko Dumnić *

Ljubomir Obradović Ljubomir Obradović (born 16 September 1954) is a Serbian handball coach of the Cape Verde men's national handball team, Cape Verde national team. Managerial honours ;Belenenses *Portuguese Handball First Division, Portuguese First Division: 199 ...

Ranko Popović Ranko Popović (; born 26 June 1967) is a Serbian Association football, football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of J1 League side Kashima Antlers. Playing career Born in Peć, Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, ...

Nikola Adžić Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulg ...

External links

Official website

Handball Federation of Montenegro

balkan-handball
{{DEFAULTSORT:RK Lovcen Lovćen Cetinje Lovcen Handball clubs established in 1949 1949 establishments in Yugoslavia