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Rijeka

Full name	Hrvatski Nogometni Klub Rijeka
Nickname(s)	Riječki bijeli (Rijeka's Whites)
Short name	RJK
Founded	29 July 1946; 72 years ago (1946-07-29), as Sportsko Društvo Kvarner / Società Sportiva Quarnero
Ground	Stadion Rujevica
Capacity	8,279[1]
Owner	Damir Mišković via Teanna Limited (70%) City of Rijeka (30%)
Chairman	Damir Mišković
Manager	Igor Bišćan
League	Prva HNL
2017–18	1. HNL, 2nd
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Hrvatski Nogometni Klub Rijeka (English: Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian football club from the city of Rijeka.

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, their traditional home ground, Rijeka play their home matches at Stadion Rujevica. Rijeka's traditional home colours are all white.

The club was founded on 29 July 1946 as Sportsko Društvo Kvarner (Croatian) / Società Sportiva Quarnero (Italian).^[2] The club's official name was changed to Nogometni Klub Rijeka on 2 July 1954.^[3] In the summer of 1995, the club management added the adjective hrvatski (English: Croatian) to the official name. Rijeka are the third-most successful Croatian football club, having won one Croatian First Football League title, two Yugoslav Cups, four Croatian Football Cups, one Croatian Football Super Cup and the 1977–78 Balkans Cup.

History

Origins

The club was founded as SD Kvarner / SS Quarnero on 29 July 1946, after Rijeka (known by its Italian name Fiume until 1945) was ceded from Italy to Yugoslavia following the end of World War II. The club was named after the Bay of Kvarner and the broader Kvarner region, in which Rijeka is the administrative centre. The club's roots can be traced back to 1926, the founding of U.S. Fiumana, which competed at various levels of the Italian Football Championship, including a season in the top tier competition (Divisione Nazionale) in 1928. The two clubs used the same grounds (Stadion Kantrida) and eight U.S. Fiumana players later played for Kvarner.^[4]

1946–1991

During the early period in Yugoslavia, Kvarner had moderate success in various Yugoslav and local club championships. They were relegated at the end of their inaugural season in the Yugoslav First League in 1946–47. Kvarner changed its name to NK Rijeka on 2 July 1954 and returned to the First League in 1958.^[3] Rijeka remained in the top tier for 11 consecutive seasons until 1969, when they were once again relegated to the Yugoslav Second League.^[3] Despite finishing on top in four (out of five) seasons in the second tier, due to three failed qualifying attempts, the club only gained promotion back to the top tier in 1974. With varying success, Rijeka remained in top tier until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991.^[3] The club's greatest success during this period involved back-to-back Yugoslav Cup titles in 1978 and 1979. Rijeka were also a Cup runner-up in 1987, when they lost the final after a penalty shoot-out.^[5] Rijeka never finished higher than the fourth place in the Yugoslav First League. In 1984, the club came closest to their first 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, 1984 and 1987.^[6]

Rijeka in the 1. HNL

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, in 1992 Rijeka joined the Croatian First Football League in its inaugural season. Rijeka remain one of only four founding member clubs to never have been relegated. In terms of greatest successes in this period, the club won its first-ever league title in 2017, ending Dinamo Zagreb's run of 11 successive titles.^[7] Rijeka has also won four Croatian Cups, including back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, in 2014 and, most recently, in 2017, which helped them secure the historic Double.^[8] 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 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. However, moments later, assistant referee Krečak raised his flag and referee Šupraha disallowed Rijeka's winning goal for an alleged offside.^[9] 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.^[10][11] An investigation by Nacional revealed Franjo Tuđman, 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.^[12]

Europe

Rijeka participated in UEFA competitions on 18 occasions, including six consecutive appearances since 2013–14. The greatest success was the quarter-final of the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup, where they lost to Italian giants Juventus 2–0 on aggregate.^[13] The most memorable result in Europe was the home win (3–1) against eventual winners Real Madrid in the 1984–85 UEFA Cup.^[14] 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.^[6] 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.^[15][16] Rijeka also participated in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage, where they defeated Feyenoord and Standard Liège and drew with title-holders and eventual winners Sevilla.^[17][18][19] In 2017, Rijeka reached the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League play-off, where they lost 3–1 on aggregate to Greek champions Olympiacos, and automatically qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage. 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.^[20]

Private ownership

In February 2012, Gabriele Volpi – 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%.^[21][22] On 29 December 2017 it was announced that Chairman Damir Mišković, through London-based Teanna Limited, acquired the majority stake in the club from Stichting Social Sport Foundation.^[23][24]

Record transfer

In January 2015, Rijeka sold their star striker Andrej Kramarić to Leicester City for a club-record £9.7 million transfer fee.^[25]

Stadium

Until July 2015, Rijeka were based at Stadion Kantrida, their traditional home ground for over 60 years. With Kantrida awaiting demolition and reconstruction, since August 2015, Rijeka have been based at the newly-built Stadion Rujevica, an all-seater with the 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 all-seater stadium will be built at the same location. In addition to the stadium, the investors are planning to build a commercial complex that will include a shopping mall and a hotel.^[26]

Support

During most home matches, the majority of the seats are occupied by season ticket holders. For the 2017–18 season the club had 5,922 season ticket holders and 8,403 members.

Rijeka's ultras group are called Armada Rijeka, or simply Armada. The group has been active since 1987.

Rivalries

Rijeka's greatest rivalry is with Hajduk Split. Since 1946, the Adriatic derby is contested between the two most popular Croatian football clubs from the Adriatic coast, Rijeka and Hajduk. Other rivalries exist with Dinamo Zagreb and, at the regional level, with Istra Pula. The origins of the Rijeka–Pula rivalry date back to the clashes between Fiumana and Grion Pola since the late 1920s.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Players

First-team squad

As of 8 January 2019^[27]

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

No. Position Player 3 DF Petar Mamić 4 DF Roberto Punčec 5 MF Dario Čanađija 7 MF Zoran Kvržić 9 FW Héber 12 GK Simon Sluga 13 DF Dario Župarić 14 MF Boadu Maxwell Acosty 16 MF Adrian Liber 17 FW Antonio Čolak (on loan from 1899 Hoffenheim) 19 DF Mario Pavelić 20 FW Alexander Gorgon (captain)

No. Position Player 21 FW Jakov Puljić 22 MF Denis Bušnja 23 FW Josip Mitrović 24 MF Domagoj Pavičić 25 GK Ivor Pandur 26 DF João Escoval 29 DF Momčilo Raspopović 31 MF Luka Capan 32 GK Andrej Prskalo 33 DF Darko Velkovski 44 MF Stjepan Lončar

Out on loan

As of 3 August 2018

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

No. Position Player GK Ivan Nevistić (at Mura) GK David Samuel Nwolokor (at Sereď) DF Bamidele Samuel Ayodeji (at Varaždin) DF Luka Mikulica (at Opatija) DF Daniel Štefulj (at Krško) MF Jasmin Čeliković (at Inter Zaprešić)

No. Position Player MF Gerald Diyoke (at Dugopolje) MF Ivan Lepinjica (at Zadar) FW Emanuel Črnko (at Varaždin) FW Milan Ristovski (at Krško) FW Tomislav Turčin (at Široki Brijeg) FW Matej Vuk (at Inter Zaprešić)

Youth system

Club officials and technical staff

Position	Staff
Chairman	Damir Mišković
Vice-chairman	Dean Šćulac Zlatan Hreljac
Managing director	Luka Ivančić
Administrative director	Marina Vela
Director of finance	Marina Cesarac Dorčić
Director of communications	Alen Fućak
Director of football	Srećko Juričić
Director of football (assistant)	Ivan Mance
Academy director	Edo Flego
Club secretary	Milica Alavanja
Press secretary	Sandra Nešić
Power of attorney	Vlatko Vrkić
Manager	Igor Bišćan
Assistant manager	Renato Pilipović Ante Tomić
Team manager	Alen Rivetti
Performance analyst	Rade Ljepojević
Chief scout	Ranko Buketa
Fitness coach	Vedran Naglić
Goalkeeping coach	Gojko Mrčela
Team doctor	Nataša Bakarčić Boban Dangubić
Physiotherapist	Igor Pavačić Alen Ilić Enio Krajač
Rehabilitation coach	Luka Brkljača
Kit manager	Denis Miškulin

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), domestic cup (Yugoslav Cup, Croatian Cup and Croatian Supercup) and UEFA club competitions;


• (2) player has scored at least 20 goals in official matches if forward, 5 if midfielder and no goal requirement if defender or goalkeeper in first division (Yugoslav First League and Croatian First Football League), domestic cup (Yugoslav Cup, Croatian 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.

Source: Appearances and Goals. Last updated 26 August 2018.

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, 6. Juričić, 7. Lukarić, 8. Gračan, 9. Osojnak, 10. Naumović, 11. Desnica.^[28]

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, 4. Juričić, 5. Hrstić, 6. Loik, 7. Radaković, 8. Mladenović, 9. Naumović, 10. Skoblar, 11. Desnica.^[29]

Managers

Source: Presidents and managers

Winning managers

Name	Nationality	Honours	Total
Matjaž Kek	Slovenia	2013–14 Croatian Cup, 2014 Croatian Super Cup, 2016–17 Croatian First League, 2016–17 Croatian Cup	4
Dragutin Spasojević	Yugoslavia	1977–78 Yugoslav Cup, 1977–78 Balkans Cup	2
Marijan Brnčić	Yugoslavia	1978–79 Yugoslav Cup	1
Elvis Scoria	Croatia	2004–05 Croatian Cup	1
Dragan Skočić	Croatia	2005–06 Croatian Cup	1

Presidents

Source: Presidents and managers

Seasons, statistics and records

Honours

Rijeka has won one Croatian First Football League title, two Yugoslav Cups and four Croatian Cups. 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 and 2017–18. The club has also won the 1977–78 Balkans Cup.^[30]

Domestic

Croatia

• 
  Croatian First League
  
  • 
    Winners (1): 2016–17
    
  
  
  • Runners-up (6): 1998–99, 2005–06, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18
    
  
  


• 
  Croatian Cup
  
  • 
    Winners (4): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2013–14, 2016–17
    
  
  
  • Runners-up (1): 1993–94
    
  
  


• 
  Croatian Super Cup
  
  • 
    Winners (1): 2014
    
  
  
  • Runners-up (2): 2005, 2006
    
  
  

Yugoslavia

• 
  Yugoslav Second League
  
  • 
    Winners (6): 1952, 1957–58, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1973–74
    


• 
  Yugoslav Cup
  
  • 
    Winners (2): 1977–78, 1978–79
    
  
  
  • Runners-up (1): 1986–87
    
  
  

International

• 
  Balkans Cup
  
  • 
    Winners (1): 1977–78
    
  
  
  • Runners-up (1): 1979–80
    
  
  

Unofficial competitions

• 
  The Atlantic Cup:
  
  • 
    Winners (1): 2017
    

Source: Soccerway, Last updated 31 May 2017.

Rankings

UEFA club coefficient ranking

(As of 3 May 2018), Source: Bert Kassies website

Rank	Team	Points
86	Southampton F.C.	15.921
86	Swansea City A.F.C.	15.921
86	Wigan Athletic F.C.	15.921
86	West Ham United F.C.	15.921
86	Hull City F.C.	15.921
91	HNK Rijeka	15.500
92	Atalanta B.C.	15.249
92	U.C. Sampdoria	15.249
92	U.S. Sassuolo Calcio	15.249
92	Torino F.C.	15.249
92	Udinese Calcio	15.249

European record

By competition

Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 16 August 2018.
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: uefa.com, Last updated on 16 August 2018.
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.

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1962–63	Intertoto Cup	Group B3	Rot-Weiß Oberhausen	2–1	3–4	1st out of 4
			Basel	5–1	2–2
			PSV	3–1	3–2
		QF	Dozsa Pecs	2–2	1–2	3–4
1965–66	Intertoto Cup	Group B1	Motor Jena	0–3	1–3	4th out of 4
			Tatran Prešov	0–0	1–3
			Szombierki Bytom	0–3	1–0
1974–75	Mitropa Cup	Group A	Tatabánya	3–1	1–3	2nd out of 3
			Wacker Innsbruck	1–3	0–0
1977	Intertoto Cup	Group 6	Frem Kobenhavn	2–2	0–2	3rd out of 4
			Ruch Chorzów	0–1	4–2
			Grazer AK	1–1	3–0
1978	Balkans Cup	Group B	Skënderbeu Korçë	6–0	0–1	1st out of 3
			Aris	2–0	2–1
		F	Jiul Petroșani	4–1	0–1	4–2
1978–79	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Wrexham	3–0	0–2	3–2
		R2	Beveren	0–0	0–2	0–2
1979–80	Balkans Cup	Group A	PAS Giannina	2–1	3–1	1st out of 3
			Partizani Tirana	3–0	1–4
		F	Sportul Studențesc	1–1	0–2	1–3
1979–80	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Germinal Beerschot	2–1	0–0	2–1
		R2	Lokomotíva Košice	3–0	0–2	3–2
		QF	Juventus	0–0	0–2	0–2
1984–85	UEFA Cup	R1	Real Valladolid	4–1	0–1	4–2
		R2	Real Madrid	3–1	0–3	3–4
1985–86	Mitropa Cup	SF	Debreceni	0–1†		–
		3rd Pl.	Sigma Olomouc	3–2†		–
1986–87	UEFA Cup	R1	Standard Liège	0–1	1–1	1–2
1999–00	UEFA Champions League	QR2	Partizan	0–3	1–3	1–6
2000–01	UEFA Cup	QR	Valletta	3–2	5–4 (aet)	8–6
		R1	Celta Vigo	0–1 (aet)	0–0	0–1
2002	UEFA Intertoto Cup	R1	St Patrick's Athletic	3–2	0–1	3–3 (a)
2004–05	UEFA Cup	QR2	Gençlerbirliği	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2005–06	UEFA Cup	QR2	Litex Lovech	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2006–07	UEFA Cup	QR1	Omonia	2–2	1–2	3–4
2008	UEFA Intertoto Cup	R1	Renova	0–0	0–2	0–2
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	QR2	Differdange	3–0	0–1	3–1
		QR3	Metalist Kharkiv	1–2	0–2	1–4
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	QR2	Prestatyn Town	5–0	3–0	8–0
		QR3	Žilina	2–1	1–1	3–2
		PO	VfB Stuttgart	2–1	2–2	4–3
		Group I	Vitória de Guimarães	0–0	0–4	4th out of 4
			Real Betis	1–1	0–0
			Lyon	1–1	0–1
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	QR2	Ferencváros	1–0	2–1	3–1
		QR3	Víkingur	4–0	5–1	9–1
		PO	Sheriff Tiraspol	1–0	3–0	4–0
		Group G	Standard Liège	2–0	0–2	3rd out of 4
			Sevilla	2–2	0–1
			Feyenoord	3–1	0–2
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	QR2	Aberdeen	0–3	2–2	2–5
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	QR3	İstanbul Başakşehir	2–2	0–0	2–2 (a)
2017–18	UEFA Champions League	QR2	The New Saints	2–0	5–1	7–1
		QR3	Red Bull Salzburg	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
		PO	Olympiacos	0–1	1–2	1–3
	UEFA Europa League	Group D	AEK Athens	1–2	2–2	3rd out of 4
			Milan	2–0	2–3
			Austria Wien	1–4	3–1
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	QR3	Sarpsborg 08	0–1	1–1	1–2

Last updated on 16 August 2018.
Note: List includes matches played in competitions not endorsed by UEFA.
^† Matches played at neutral ground in Ascoli and Pisa, Italy.

Player records

• Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 35 appearances^[31]
  • Zoran Kvržić


• Top scorer in UEFA club competitions: 8 goals^[31]
  • Andrej Kramarić

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HNK Rijeka.

• 
  HNK Rijeka official website (in English) (in Croatian)
  


• 
  HNK Rijeka at UEFA.com (in English)
  

Unofficial

• 
  Hoću Ri (in Croatian)
  


• 
  Forza Fiume (in Croatian)
  

Supporters

• 
  Armada Rijeka official website (in Croatian)