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OFK Beograd

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OFK Beograd
Full nameOmladinski fudbalski klub Beograd
Nickname(s)Romantičari (The Romantics)
Plavo-beli (The Blue-Whites)
Founded6 July 1911; 113 years ago (6 July 1911) as Beogradski sport klub (disputed)
25 March 1945; 79 years ago (25 March 1945) as Radnički sportski klub Metalac
GroundOmladinski Stadium (temporarily Kraljevica Stadium, Zaječar[1]
Capacity8,168
ChairmanMomčilo Minić
Head coachSimo Krunić
LeagueSerbian SuperLiga
2023–24Serbian First League, 1st (promoted)
Websiteofkbeograd.com

OFK Beograd (Serbian Cyrillic: ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: Belgrade Youth Football Club), also known in English as OFK Belgrade[2] and currently referred to as OFK Beograd Mozzart Bet for sponsorship reasons,[3][4] is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, an urban neighborhood of the municipality of Palilula. It is part of the OSD Beograd sport society.

All up, the club has won 5 national championships, in the following seasons: 1930–31, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, and 1938–39; the club won these titles under their old name of BSK (Beogradski Sport Klub).[5] The club has been cup winners five times also, winning in the following seasons: 1934, 1953, 1955, 1961–62, and 1965–66.

The club has also recorded significant results in European competition, reaching the 1962–63 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals where they lost to Tottenham Hotspur. They reached the 1972–73 UEFA Cup quarter-finals where they lost to FC Twente.

History

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The beginning

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The club was founded in 1945 as Metalac but it is considered to be the successor of BSK, one of the most prominent football clubs in Kingdom of Serbia and later Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was also the most successful club between 1923 and 1941, with five national champion titles. BSK played its first game on 13 October 1911 against Šumadija from Kragujevac and won 8–1.

Miloš Milutinović, 1955–56 European Cup top scorer, came to the club from Bayern.

In 1945, after World War II, the club was established under the name Metalac by some former members of BSK. This club carried the name until 1950, when it was renamed to BSK, but in the 1957 the club merged with TSK Šumadija to form OFK Beograd (Serbian Latin: Omladinski fudbalski klub, English: YFC – Youth Football Club).[6]

The golden era

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A two-decade-long "Golden Era" began when the club won the Yugoslav Cup in 1953. Three other Yugoslav Cup wins followed, in 1955 and the 1961–62 and 1965–66 seasons. The club was the Yugoslav First League runner-up twice, in 1954–55 and 1965–66. In the meantime, the club had changed its name once again. In 1957, the club was named OFK Beograd, once again in an attempt to attract spectators to the stadium, especially younger ones who often opted for either Red Star or Partizan. In that time, the players played elegant football and therefore got the nickname of "Romantičari".

Club legend Josip Skoblar won the European Golden Shoe in 1971.
Slobodan Santrač, All time best scorer of the Yugoslav national league

The 1960s and the first half of the 1970s were years of European glory. OFK Beograd had participated eight times in European competitions. Their biggest success came in the 1962–63 European Cup Winners' Cup season, playing in the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, eventual champions. In the following ten years, teams such as Napoli, Feyenoord, Panathinaikos, Bologna F.C. 1909, FC Twente and Juventus also lost to OFK Beograd.

The silent fall

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The Romantičari were not able to take advantage of their success on the domestic and European scene. After several successful seasons, a sudden fall occurred. During the 1980s, the club often changed leagues from the First Division to the Second.

Modern era

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In the summer of 2003, they were back in European competition. They played in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. OFK defeated Estonian side Narva Trans at home by the score of 6–1, but UEFA cancelled the result because of a smoke bomb being thrown on the field during the game. Consequently, only the second leg result would count. OFK Beograd won in Tallinn with a score of 5–3. They were eliminated in the second round by Czech club 1. FC Slovácko, with a score of 4–3.

Aleksandar Kolarov, with whom OFK Beograd reached the national cup final

The club was back on the European stage in 2004. They started playing in the second round of the Intertoto Cup and eliminated Dinaburg. In the third round, OFK went on to play against Tampere United. OFK Beograd defeated their Finnish opponents and went on to play in the semifinals. They were eliminated by Atlético Madrid losing the first leg 1–3 at home with Aleksandar Simić scoring for OFK and Fernando Torres, Diego Simeone and Ariel Ibagaza scoring for Atlético, losing the second leg 2–0 in Madrid meant OFK were eliminated 1–5 on aggregate. Even though OFK were eliminated it was seen as an honour and a return to the club's glory days to have a European powerhouse such as Atlético play at Omladinski Stadium with world class talents such as Torres and Simeone.

In 2005, the club entered the UEFA Cup in the second round of qualifying losing to Lokomotiv Plovdiv on the away goals rule. In 2006, the club faced French side Auxerre in the UEFA Cup. In the first game, in Belgrade, OFK defeated their opponents by the score of 1–0 a goal from centre-back Miloš Bajalica in the 31st minute of play proving the difference, a great result considering Auxerre was then one of France's strongest clubs. In the second game OFK Beograd lost 5–1 with the result standing at 2–1 for Auxerre with ten minutes to play, a result which would see OFK Beograd eliminate Auxerre. However, the young OFK team capitulated in the last ten minutes of play conceding three goals and were eliminated 5–2 on aggregate. In the 2010 Europa League, OFK beat Torpedo Zhodino of Belarus 3–2[7][8] on aggregate and went on to play Galatasaray where they lost 7–3 on aggregate, coming back from two-nil down to draw 2–2 with late goals been scored by Miloš Krstić and Nenad Injac in Turkey against Galatasaray but ultimately losing the second leg 1–5 at home with Danilo Nikolić scoring the only goal for OFK.

OFK Beograd were relegated from the Serbian SuperLiga after finishing fifteenth in the 2015–16 season. The next season saw relegation from the 2016–17 Serbian First League after finishing bottom of the table. The club played in the Serbian League Belgrade in the 2017–18 season (their first season in the Serbian third tier), finishing in second place behind Žarkovo who were promoted to the Serbian second tier.

In November 2018 the "Klub prijatelja OFK Beograda" was formed (trans. "Club of Friends of OFK Beograd") with the goal of saving the club from becoming extinct and helping the club through its most difficult times. The KPO is made up of loyal fans who want to see OFK return to its former glories competing at the very top of the first tier of Serbian football.

Slobodan Santrač, all time national league top scorer

In their second year in the Serbian third division, OFK finished in fifth position on 46 points, with Grafičar being promoted to the second division. OFK did however manage to win the Belgrade Cup.

In the 2019–20 season, OFK commenced their third successive season in the Serbian third tier with hiring former accomplished player Stevica Kuzmanovski as coach. On 25 September 2019, in the last 32 of the Serbian Cup, OFK faced their city rivals FK Rad and won 3–2 with two goals from Andreja Lazović and one goal from Stefan Janković. This was considered quite a success as OFK where at this time in the Serbian third division and FK Rad in the Serbian top division the SuperLiga. COVID-19 Pandemic resulted in the season coming to a halt for clubs in the third division Belgrade league, OFK finished the season in a disappointing 3rd place. The eventual champions were IMT who were promoted to the Serbian First League (Second Division of the Serbian football pyramid), another hammer blow for OFK as a 4th consecutive season in the Serbian 3rd tier would come in season 2020–21 for a club barely surviving financially.[9] At the conclusion of the 2022–23 season, OFK finished in first place in the Serbian League Belgrade, securing promotion to the Serbian First League for the 2023–24 season.

On 14 August 2024, OFK was renamed to OFK Beograd Mozzart Bet for sponsorship reasons.[3][4]

Honours

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Domestic

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League

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Cups

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European

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Unofficial

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European competitions

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Main article: OFK Beograd in European football

Before UEFA was founded (in 1954), OFK Beograd, under the name of Beogradski Sport Klub (BSK), participated in Mitropa Cup, the first really international European football competition. The club competed for five seasons without a big success, usually stopped by teams from Hungary, the major football power at the time. In UEFA competitions, OFK Beograd played 16 seasons, the biggest success being reaching the semifinals of the 1962–63 European Cup Winners' Cup.

UEFA competitions summary

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OFK Beograd Seasons P W D L F A Match Pts%W Ties P Ties W Ties L Ties %W
Representing Serbia Serbia 2 4 2 0 2 4 8 50.00 2 - 2 -
Representing Yugoslavia Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 8 38 14 7 17 64 69 46.05 18 10 8 55.56
Total 10 42 16 7 19 68 76 46.43 20 10 10 50.00

Youth system

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Branislav Ivanović honed his skills at OFK Beograd.

OFK Beograd's youth system has a reputation as one of the best in the history of Serbian football. In its 107 years of existence, it produced and promoted hundreds of players who played not just for the club, but for the national team as well. Among these players are the likes of Josip Skoblar, Spasoje Samardžić, Ilija Petković, Slobodan Santrač, Dragoslav Stepanović, Mitar Mrkela, Saša Ćurčić, Duško Tošić, Branislav Ivanović, Aleksandar Kolarov, and many others.

Since OFK Beograd's existence, attention was always turned to the younger categories of players. Recently, the club has built a new private training center, comprising eight playing fields along with training equipment with the newest technology.

A youth school was created with 150 players born between 1996 and 1999.[citation needed] There are also seven competitive teams for which more than 170 players are playing. The youth system compromises around 20 highly qualified coaches who are all specialized in certain areas of the game. Most of the coaches are former players who spent years at the club and who also went through the same youth system. Several physios are also present and are equipped with the newest technology for their work.

Rivals

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OFK's biggest rivals are FK Rad from the Belgrade suburb of Banjica. It is known as the small Belgrade derby. In the mid-2000s in a game between the two clubs in the last game of the season OFK scored a last minute equalizer against Rad meaning Rad were relegated for the first time in almost twenty-five years. In the following season when OFK were playing in the Intertoto Cup Rad fans threw a number of flares from outside the stadium forcing UEFA to award the game 3–0 against OFK even though OFK won the game 6–1 against Estonian club Narva Trans.

Other rivals to a much lesser degree include Crvena Zvezda and FK Partizan.

After being relegated to Serbian League Belgrade OFK had a bitter rivalry with FK Zemun.

Supporters

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Main article: Plava Unija

OFK Beograd's fans are commonly known as Plava Unija (The Blue Union) since 1994. When Beogradski Sportski Klub (BSK) was founded in 1911, the club which dominated the fields of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes developed a significant fan base. Throughout the several wars that took place since the founding of BSK, the club's turbulent history has produced adverse effects on the average attendance of today's matches in which OFK Beograd plays.

An organized group appeared for the first time in 1984 under the name of "Blue Thunders". The group lived under that name until 1990. When they were influenced by the rise of nationalism in Yugoslavia, they change their name to "Sokolovi" (The Falcons). The group officially collapsed in 1993 about a year after UN sanctions were put on FR Yugoslavia. The fans' love towards the club was certainly not forgotten and in 1994 a new group is founded – Blue Union Belgrade. The name remains the title of OFK Beograd's main group of ultras.

OFK Beograd's fans have been known to be resistant of past regimes. In the 1990s, Milicionar, a pro-regime police-backed team, entered the first division. When OFK Beograd first played against them, the OFK fans reacted with creation of a banner which bore the message "Goal Against the Regime." Among other things, members of Plava Unija also reinstated the old ex-Yugoslav firms habit of finding local home crews when their team was on away matches, no matter which Serbian town or city was in question.

Plava Unija fostered a friendship with Voždovac's fans, "Invalidi" while the club still played in Yugoslavia's second tier from 1996 to 1998. That friendship still remains to this day. OFK Beograd is also known to be supported by fans of Dynamo Moscow and Anorthosis Famagusta.[10]

Team kits

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The Official team kit is currently produced by Spanish sports apparel company Joma.

Home
Away
Third
Goalkeeper

Players

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Current squad

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As of 13 September 2024[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Montenegro MNE Balša Popović
3 MF Ghana GHA Edmund Addo (on loan from Red Star Belgrade)
4 DF Serbia SRB Andrej Pavlović (on loan from Red Star Belgrade)
5 DF Serbia SRB Darko Gojković
6 MF Belarus BLR Daniil Dushevskiy
7 MF Serbia SRB Nikola Knežević
8 MF Serbia SRB Aleksa Cvetković
9 FW Ecuador ECU Michael Bermúdez (on loan from LDU Quito)
10 MF Serbia SRB Saša Marković (captain)
11 FW Serbia SRB Nikola Mituljikić (on loan from Red Star Belgrade)
13 DF Montenegro MNE Nikola Vujadinović
14 MF Serbia SRB Miljan Momčilović
15 DF Serbia SRB Aleksandar Đermanović (vice-captain)
16 DF Ghana GHA Kwadwo Opoku Ackah (on loan from Red Star Belgrade)
17 FW Serbia SRB Slobodan Stanojlović
19 FW Serbia SRB Vasilije Grbović
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 DF Serbia SRB Srđan Nikolić
21 DF Serbia SRB Uroš Lazić
22 GK Serbia SRB Nedeljko Stojišić
23 FW Serbia SRB Novak Gojkov (on loan from Red Star Belgrade)
25 MF Ivory Coast CIV Issiaka Dembele
26 MF Serbia SRB Aleksandar Paločević (on loan from FC Seoul)
27 FW Nigeria NGA Prince Benjamin Obasi
37 FW Ghana GHA Samuel Owusu
39 FW Suriname SUR Gleofilo Vlijter
45 DF Serbia SRB Aleksej Vukičević
63 DF Serbia SRB Stefan Obradović
73 DF Ghana GHA Ebenezer Annan (on loan from Red Star Belgrade)
77 DF Serbia SRB Marko Gobeljić
88 MF Serbia SRB Filip Halabrin
93 GK Serbia SRB Nikola Simonović
99 FW Switzerland SUI Filip Stojilković (on loan from Darmstadt 98)

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Serbia SRB Bogdan Mojsilović (at OFK Kikinda)
— FW Serbia SRB Dragan Stoisavljević (at Zemun)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW Serbia SRB Marko Stanković (at Sloven)

Club officials

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Coaching staff

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Position Name
Manager Bosnia and Herzegovina Simo Krunić
Assistant manager Serbia Mladen Jovančić
Serbia Bojan Pavlović
Serbia Vladimir Božić
Serbia Đorđe Ivelja
Fitness coach Serbia Vlada Živanović
Physiotherapist Serbia Marko Igrutinović
Goalkeeping coach Serbia Rade Grahovac
General director Serbia Balša Terzić
Sporting director Serbia Andrej Mrkela
Technical director Serbia Marko Mitrović
General secretary Serbia Vladimir Rašić
Club president Serbia Momčilo Minić
Vice-president Serbia Stefan Babović
Serbia Kostadin Terzić

UEFA competitions

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  • Qualified for Europe in 14 seasons (2 in European Cup Winners' Cup, 9 in Europa League/UEFA Cup/Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, 3 in Intertoto Cup)
Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
1962–63 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup QR East Germany Chemie Halle 2–0 3–3 5–3
R1 Northern Ireland Portadown 5–1 2–3 7–4
Quarter-final Italy Napoli 2–0 1–3 3–3 (3–1 Playoff)
Semi-final England Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 1–3 2–5
1963–64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup R1 Italy Juventus 2–1 1–2 3–3 (0–1 Playoff)
1964–65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup R1 Spain Athletic Bilbao 0–2 2–2 2–4
1966–67 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup R1 Soviet Union Spartak Moscow 1–3 0–3 1–6
1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup R1 Romania Rapid Bucureşti 6–1 1–3 7–4
R2 Italy Bologna 1–0 1–1 2–1
R3 Turkey Goztepe 3–1 0–2 3–3 (a)
1971–72 UEFA Cup R1 Sweden Djurgården 4–1 2–2 6–3
R2 East Germany FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1–1 0–4 1–5
1972–73 UEFA Cup R1 Czechoslovakia Dukla Prague 3–1 2–2 5–3
R2 Netherlands Feyenoord 2–1 3–4 5–5 (a)
R3 Bulgaria Beroe Stara Zagora 0–0 3–1 3–1
Quarter-final Netherlands Twente 3–2 0–2 3–4
1973–74 UEFA Cup R1 Greece Panathinaikos 0–1 2–1 2–2 (a)
R2 Soviet Union Dinamo Tbilisi 1–5 0–3 1–8
2003–04 Intertoto Cup R1 Estonia Narva Trans 6–1 5–3 11–4
R2 Czech Republic Slovácko 3–3 0–1 3–4
2004–05 Intertoto Cup R2 Latvia Dinaburg 3–1 2–0 5–1
R3 Finland Tampere United 1–0 0–0 1–0
Semi-final Spain Atlético Madrid 1–3 0–2 1–5
2005–06 UEFA Cup QR2 Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2–1 0–1 2–2 (a)
2006–07 UEFA Cup QR2 France Auxerre 1–0 1–5 2–5
2008–09 Intertoto Cup R2 Greece Panionios 1–0 1–3 2–3
2010–11 Europa League QR2 Belarus Torpedo Zhodino 2–2 1–0 3–2
QR3 Turkey Galatasaray 1–5 2–2 3–7

Notable former players

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To appear in this section a player must have played at least one international match for their national team at any time.
Yugoslavia
Serbia
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Cyprus
France
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Malta
Montenegro
Romania
Slovakia
Uganda
United States

For the list of current and former players with Wikipedia article, please see: Category:OFK Beograd players.

Coaching history

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Main article: List of OFK Beograd managers

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

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Period Kit Manufacturer Shirt Sponsor
2006–2010 Joma Citroën
2010–2011 Jako Arena Sport
2011 None
2012 FOX
2012–2013 Onze
2014–present DDOR

References

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  1. ^ https://sportal.blic.rs/fudbal/ofk-beograd-se-seli-u-zajecar-zbog-renoviranja-stadiona/2024041809304826826
  2. ^ https://www.espn.com.au/football/team/_/id/5273
  3. ^ a b "Ozvaničena saradnja OFK Beograda i kompanije Mozzart" (in Serbian). ofkbeograd.com. 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Romantika sa novim imenom - OFK Beograd Mozzart Bet" (in Serbian). www.mozzartsport.com. 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  5. ^ "NAŠI TROFEJI! PET PUTA ŠAMPION DRŽAVE!;– OFK (NAŠI TROFEJI! PET PUTA ŠAMPION DRŽAVE!)". ofkbeograd.co.rs. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  6. ^ Serbia and Montenegro - List of Foundation Dates
  7. ^ OFK Beograd – Torpedo Zhodino : 2–2 Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine Match report from Scorespro.com
  8. ^ Torpedo Zhodino – OFK Beograd : 0–1 Archived 31 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine Match report from Scorespro.com
  9. ^ "OFK-Vesti". ofkbeograd.co.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  10. ^ Moscow fan club OFK Beograd Archived 14 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine official website (in Russian)
  11. ^ "Tim" (in Serbian). Serbian SuperLiga. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i BSK Beograd Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine at exyufudbal.in.rs, retrieved 29-11-2015
  13. ^ Sándor Nemes, also named Alex Neufeld Archived 8 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine was often named Antal Nemes in Yugoslav press
  14. ^ IFFHS Archived 21 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine match report BSK-Ujpest (1939)
  15. ^ Mészáros István profile Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine at magyarfutball.hu
  16. ^ Svetozar Popović profile Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine at nogomet.lzmk.hr
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