NK Rudar Velenje

Rudar Velenje
Full name	Nogometni klub Rudar Velenje
Nickname(s)	Knapi (The Miners); Zeleno-črni (The Green and Blacks)
Founded	1948; 76 years ago
Ground	Ob Jezeru City Stadium
Capacity	1,864
President	Dajan Pavlović
Head coach	Miran Srebrnič
League	Slovenian Second League
2023–24	Slovenian Second League, 8th of 16
Website	nkrudarvelenje.com
Home colours	Away colours

Nogometni klub Rudar Velenje (English: Rudar Velenje Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Rudar Velenje or simply Rudar Velenje, is a Slovenian football club from Velenje which competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of the Slovenian football league system.

History

The club was founded in August 1948. At first they played in local MNZ Celje league, until they qualified for the Slovenian Republic League in 1953. Two years later, on 3 July 1955, Rudar's home stadium Ob Jezeru was opened and the club moved to its current home. After the short crisis the club returned to the Slovenian league in 1962. For the 1974–75 season the club hired a professional coach Živko Stakič and became Slovenian champions in 1977. Rudar therefore qualified for the Yugoslav Second League, where they played until 1982. Just before the breakup of Yugoslavia, Rudar became the Slovenian champion for the second time in 1991.

After the Slovenian independence, Rudar became a regular participant in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. They were relegated to the Slovenian Second League in 2003 and returned for the 2005–06 season, but were instantly relegated back to second level. In the 2007–08 season they finished first and thus achieved a promotion back to the first league. The club's highest finish was third place on four occasions, the last time in 2014, when Mate Eterović, Rudar's striker, also became league's topscorer. Their biggest success was winning the Slovenian Cup in 1998, when they lost first game away to Primorje, but then won 3–0 in front of home crowd in the second leg. Rudar therefore played in the last edition of UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where it was eliminated by Varteks in the first round.^[2]

Honours

Yugoslavia

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

Slovenia

Slovenian Second League
- Winners: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08
Slovenian Cup
- Winners: 1997–98
MNZ Celje Cup
- Winners: 1991–92, 2003–04,^[3] 2004–05^[4]

Domestic league and cup results

Season	League	Position	Pts	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Cup
1991–92	1. SNL	12	38	40	13	12	15	59	65	Quarter-finals
1992–93	1. SNL	9	33	34	13	7	14	45	52	First round
1993–94	1. SNL	9	27	30	10	7	13	37	49	Round of 16
1994–95	1. SNL	7	38	30	16	6	8	55	33	Quarter-finals
1995–96	1. SNL	7	49	36	13	10	13	46	37	Semi-finals
1996–97	1. SNL	8	42	36	10	12	14	43	53	Round of 16
1997–98	1. SNL	7	43	36	10	13	13	39	38	Winners
1998–99	1. SNL	3	56	33	16	8	9	43	33	Quarter-finals
1999–2000	1. SNL	3	58	33	17	7	9	49	35	First round
2000–01	1. SNL	8	43	33	12	7	14	43	44	Semi-finals
2001–02	1. SNL	8	42	33	11	9	13	46	52	Quarter-finals
2002–03	1. SNL	11	25	31	6	7	18	32	51	First round
2003–04	2. SNL	1^[a]	69	32	21	6	5	84	37	Quarter-finals
2004–05	2. SNL	1↑	72	33	23	3	7	76	40	Second round
2005–06	1. SNL	10↓	15	36	2	9	25	28	83	Quarter-finals
2006–07	2. SNL	8	45	36	12	9	15	45	59	Quarter-finals
2007–08	2. SNL	1↑	50	27	15	4	7	70	31	did not qualify
2008–09	1. SNL	3	55	36	16	7	13	44	39	Quarter-finals
2009–10	1. SNL	7	49	36	15	4	17	46	52	Quarter-finals
2010–11	1. SNL	6	46	36	12	10	14	58	50	Second round
2011–12	1. SNL	6	43	36	11	10	15	55	54	Semi-final
2012–13	1. SNL	7	40	36	11	7	18	42	59	Round of 16
2013–14	1. SNL	3	63	36	18	9	9	55	33	Semi-finals
2014–15	1. SNL	6	46	36	12	10	14	44	43	Round of 16
2015–16	1. SNL	7	41	36	11	8	17	34	52	Quarter-finals
2016–17	1. SNL	7	41	36	10	11	15	49	53	Quarter-finals
2017–18	1. SNL	4	50	36	15	5	16	50	49	First round
2018–19	1. SNL	7	43	36	12	7	17	50	73	Round of 16
2019–20	1. SNL	10↓	12	36	0	12	24	28	80	Quarter-finals
2020–21	2. SNL	8	26	22	7	5	10	24	34	Round of 16
2021–22	2. SNL	5	49	30	16	1	13	51	43	did not qualify
2022–23	2. SNL	13	32	30	7	11	12	41	51	Round of 16
2023–24	2. SNL	8	37	30	10	7	13	33	49	Round of 32

^ Declined promotion.

Key

P – Matches played
W – Matches won
D – Matches drawn
L – Matches lost
GF – Goals for
GA – Goals against
Pts – Points

Winners	Runners-up	Promoted ↑	Relegated ↓

UEFA competitions

All results (home and away) list Rudar's goal tally first.

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1995	UEFA Intertoto Cup	GR2	Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	–	5th place
			Öster	–	1–3
			1. FC Köln	0–1	–
			Lucerne	–	1–1
1998–99	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	QR	Constructorul Chișinău	2–0	0–0	2–0
1998–99	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Varteks	0–1	0–1	0–2
1999	UEFA Intertoto Cup	R1	Halmstads BK	0–0	2–2	2–2 (a)
1999	UEFA Intertoto Cup	R2	Austria Lustenau	1–2	1–2	2–4
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	QR1	Narva Trans	3–1	3–0	6–1
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	QR2	Red Star Belgrade	0–1	0–4	0–5
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	QR1	Laçi	1–1	1–1	2–2 (2–3 pen.)
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	QR1	Tre Fiori	7–0	3–0	10–0
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	QR2	FCSB	0–2	0–4	0–6

GR2 = Group 2; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; QR1 = First qualifying round; QR2 = Second qualifying round.

References

^ "Klubi" [Clubs] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
^ "Zgodovina" [History] (in Slovenian). NK Rudar Velenje. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
^ "Članski Pokal – Rudar končal prevlado Krškega" (in Slovenian). MNZ Celje. 29 April 2004. Archived from the original on 14 May 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "Rudar drugič zapored prvak (page 16)". Naš čas (in Slovenian). 9 June 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

External links

Official website (in Slovene)
PrvaLiga profile (in Slovene)

[5] Declined promotion.

[Klubi-1] "Klubi" [Clubs] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 29 July 2016.

[Zgodovina-2] "Zgodovina" [History] (in Slovenian). NK Rudar Velenje. Retrieved 22 September 2017.

[3] "Članski Pokal – Rudar končal prevlado Krškega" (in Slovenian). MNZ Celje. 29 April 2004. Archived from the original on 14 May 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[4] "Rudar drugič zapored prvak (page 16)". Naš čas (in Slovenian). 9 June 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[a]

v t e Slovenian PrvaLiga
Seasons	1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
2024–25 teams	Bravo Celje Domžale Koper Maribor NŠ Mura Nafta 1903 Olimpija Ljubljana ND Primorje Radomlje
Former teams	Aluminij Ankaran Bela Krajina Beltinci Drava Ptuj Dravograd Gorica Interblock Izola Jadran Dekani Kočevje Korotan Prevalje Krka Krško Livar Ljubljana Medvode NK Mura ND Mura 05 Nafta Lendava Naklo Olimpija Pohorje NK Primorje Rogaška Rudar Trbovlje Rudar Velenje Slavija Vevče Slovan Steklar Svoboda Šmartno Tabor Sežana Triglav Kranj Zagorje Zavrč Železničar Maribor
Associated competitions	Slovenian Cup Second League Third League UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League

v t e Slovenian Republic Football League
Ljubljana Subassociation League seasons	1920 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41
Teams (1920–1941)	I. SSK Maribor Amater Athletik Bratstvo Celje Čakovec Disk Građanski Grafika Hermes Hertha Hrastnik Ilirija Jadran Jugoslavija Korotan Kovinar Kranj SK Ljubljana Mars Merkur Mura Olimp Primorje Ptuj Rapid Red Star Reka Rote Elf Slavija Ljubljana Slavija Maribor Slovan Sparta Svoboda Celje Svoboda Ljubljana Svoboda Maribor Šoštanj Železničar Maribor
Slovenian Republic League seasons	1946 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1950 1951 1952 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91
Teams (1946–1991)	Aluminij Branik Maribor Branik Solkan Brežice Domžale Drava Dravinja Elan Elkroj Grafičar Hrastnik Ilirija Izola Jadran Dekani Jesenice Kamnik Kladivar Koper Kovinar Maribor Kovinar Štore Krim Litija Ljubljana Maribor Medvode Mura Nafta Naklo Olimp Olimpija Partizan Žalec Piran Pohorje Postojna Primorje Proletarec Rudar Trbovlje Rudar Velenje Slavija Slivnica Sloga Slovan Steklar Stol Svoboda Šmartno Tabor Triglav Kranj Triglav Ljubljana Vozila Železničar Maribor ŽŠD Celje