HNK Hajduk Split

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HNK Hajduk Split

Full name

Hrvatski Nogometni Klub
Hajduk Split

(English: Croatian Football Club Hajduk, Split)

Nickname(s)

Bili (The Whites)
Majstor s mora (Master from the Sea)

Founded

February 13, 1911

Ground

Poljud Stadium
Split, Croatia
(Capacity 35,000)

Chairman

Mate Peroš

Manager

Goran Vučević

League

Prva HNL

2007-08

Prva HNL, 5th





Home colours





Away colours

HNK Hajduk Split is the most famous and successful Croatian football clubs, one of two most popular football clubs in the country.^[1]^[2] Hajduk is based in the city of Split, Croatia. Its main rival is Dinamo Zagreb.

1 History
2 Honours
3 Current squad
4 Summer transfers 2008
5 Notable players
6 References
7 External links
8 See also

[edit] History

The club was founded in the famous, centuries old pub Flek in Prague (then also a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) by a group of students from Split (Fabijan Kaliterna, Lucijan Stella, Ivan Šakić and Vjekoslav Ivanišević). They went to the pub right after a match between Sparta and Slavia and decided it was high time their own town founded its professional club. They all knew how popular the sport was back home, and how well their friends back home played. The club was officially registered with the authorities on February 13, 1911. The name originates from the hajduks, romanticized bandits that fought the Ottoman Turks. The founders subsequently designed the club's emblem, and a group of Catholic nuns from a monastery in Split created copies which were distributed to fans.^[3]

Hajduk gathered the pro-Croat party of citizens of Split, Croat unionists or puntari. That is why the club specifically has the name "hrvatski nogometni klub" (Croatian football club) and has the Croatian coat-of-arms in its logo. The club itself was against the Austro-Hungarian government's policy of not allowing the unification of Croatian provinces and keeping them separated (the government and the emperor did not allow the reunion of Dalmatia with the rest of Croatia). Hajduk reached its first period of glory in the late twenties, when it won two Yugoslav championships, breaking the domination of clubs from Belgrade and Zagreb. Particularly interesting is the club's war episode. After the Italian occupation of Split during World War II, the club ceased to compete in defiance, and declined an offer to join the Italian first division. In 1944, the team and staff clandestinely joined the Yugoslav partisans on the island Vis and continued to play as an official partisan army team. After the war, the partisan leader and later president of Yugoslavia, Tito, (impressed by the club's proficency and its unique Dalmatian spirit) invited Hajduk to move to Belgrade and become an official army team. But, Hajduk's players refused this lucrative offer and continued playing in their hometown. The club, however, continued to be Tito's favorite long after the war. Hajduk had its best years in the 1970s. The so-called "zlatna generacija" (Golden Generation) won five consecutive cups and three championships in the 1972 to 1979 period. It was the second most successful club in Yugoslavia far outstripping the third, its present day rival, Dinamo Zagreb. In the summer of 1991, Hajduk restored its traditional emblem including the Croatian chequy and removing the red star from it.^[4]

The Hajduk kit is white shirt and blue shorts.

Hajduk won two Yugoslav (kingdom) championships, seven Yugoslav championships, eight Croatian championships, as well as nine Yugoslav Cup titles, four Croatian Cups and six super cups.

Abroad, the club has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup (now UEFA Champions League) three times (last time 1995), and two European semifinals: Cup Winners' Cup 1973, and UEFA Cup 1984.

Hajduk is famous for its youth school. It is one of the most prolific producers of high quality footballers which often continue careers in famous European teams. Some of Hajduk's former players include: Alen Bokšić (ex Juventus, Lazio, Middlesbrough), Robert Jarni (ex Juventus, Betis, Real Madrid), Slaven Bilić (ex Karlsruhe, Everton), Igor Štimac (ex West Ham, Derby County), Milan Rapaić (Perugia, Fenerbahçe, Standard Liege), Igor Tudor (Juventus), Ivica Šurjak (ex Paris SG), Luka Peruzović (ex Anderlecht), Aljoša Asanović (ex PAO), Ivan Buljan (ex Hamburger SV) and Zlatko Vujović (ex Bordeaux).

When the Croatian national team won third place at the 1998 World Cup in France, amongst the first 11, there were 5 former Hajduk players.

Since 1979, Hajduk plays at the Poljud stadium. It was built by the Yugoslavian federal government for the 1979 Mediterranean games that were held in Split. Thanks to lavish federal funding, the stadium is quite impressive, not so much in size (though it is large) as it is in architecture, having one of the most distinctive and beautiful designs in the world at the time of its construction.

Before that, Hajduk played its games at the "Kod stare plinare" stadium ("By the old gas facility"), also known as "Stari plac" ("Old Square") or "Staro Hajdukovo" ("Old Hajduk's"). Before the transformation that area into the football pitch, the area was known as "Kraljeva njiva" ("King's Field") and it was part of a military camp.

The fans are called Torcida (since 1950) as they took their name after their idolized Brazilian fan groups, which are named torcidas, from the Portuguese 'torcer', to cheer on. Supporters popularly call the players of Hajduk bili (dialect for 'bijeli', plural form of white) and are the oldest organized supporters' group in Europe.

Hajduk is by far the most popular sport team in the Croatian region of Dalmatia. Hajduk also has a strong fan base throughout the rest of Croatia, especially in littoral areas, as well as in Slavonia. Hajduk is also a very important part of the region's identity.

In the former Yugoslavia, Hajduk was the team that had supporters all over the country, among all national and religious communities (not only among the Croats); no other club achieved that. It is important to mention the big popularity of Hajduk among Albanians in socialist Yugoslavia, especially in Kosovo, where the popularity of Hajduk can be compared with that in Dalmatia.

Outside of Croatia, Hajduk also has many supporters throughout the rest of the world. It is said that Hajduk has never played a single game anywhere in the world without at least a small group of Torcida in the stands. Countries with huge fan clubs membership include Brazil, Chile New Zealand, Australia and Canada - mostly countries with significant Croat immigration from Dalmatia.

[edit] Honours

Championship:17
- Croatia (6): 1992, 1993/94, 1994/95, 2000/01, 2003/04, 2004/05
- Yugoslavia (9): 1927, 1929, 1950, 1952, 1954/55, 1970/71, 1973/74, 1974/75, 1978/79
- Banate of Croatia: 1940/41
- PR Croatia:1946

Cup:13
- Croatian Cup (4): 1993, 1995, 2000, 2003
- Yugoslav Cup (9): 1967, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1984, 1987, 1991

Super Cup:6
- Croatian Supercup: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2005

[edit] Current squad

As of June 4, 2008

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Miro Varvodić
3	DF	Goran Jozinović
5	DF	Jurica Buljat
6	DF	Boris Živković
7	MF	Mladen Pelaić
8	MF	Siniša Linić
9	FW	Nikola Kalinić
10	MF	Florin Cernat (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv)
11	MF	Srđan Andrić
12	GK	Vladimir Balić
13	FW	Ante Rukavina
14	MF	Marin Ljubičić
15	MF	Drago Gabrić

No.	Position	Player
16	FW	Mladen Bartolović
17	MF	Hrvoje Milić
18	MF	Ivan Čurjurić
20	DF	Goran Sablić (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv)
22	DF	Mario Maloča
23	DF	Igor Tudor (captain)
24	MF	Mario Tičinović
25	GK	Vjekoslav Tomić
26	MF	Goran Rubil
27	GK	Božidar Radošević
28	DF	Boris Pandža
29	FW	Māris Verpakovskis (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv)
30	FW	Tomislav Bušić

[edit] Summer transfers 2008

Out:

Duje Čop - C.D. Nacional

[edit] Notable players

Name	Position	Hajduk career	Appearances	Goals
Vladimir Beara	GK	1947–1955	308	?
Ivan Katalinić	GK	1972–1980	195	?
Zoran Simović	GK	1980–1984	84	0
Ivan Pudar	GK	1979–1990	158	?
Tonči Gabrić	GK	1987-1988/1994–1999	?	?
Stipe Pletikosa	GK	1997-2003/2005-2006	165	4
Slavko Luštica	D	1940–1956	634	86
Luka Peruzović	D	1972–1979/1986-1987	224	?
Vilson Džoni	D	1967–1978	?	?
Dragan Holcer	D	1967–1975	419	9
Ivan Buljan	D	1968–1976	402	58
Vedran Rožić	D	1972–1984	304	?
Slaven Bilić	D	1989-1993/2000	117	12
Igor Štimac	D	0	0	0
Mirsad Hibić	D	?	?	?
Zoran Vujović	DM	1976–1986	232	38
Robert Jarni	DM	1986-1991	128	17
Ivan Hlevnjak	CM	1962–1973	665	237
Branko Oblak	CM	1973–1975	66	24
Dražen Mužinić	CM	1971–1980	254	?
Ivan Gudelj	CM	1979–1986	161	34
Josip Skoko	MF	1995–1998	106	19
Dušan Pešić	MF	1982-1984	84	?
Jiří Sobotka	LM	1940–1941	42	28
Jurica Jerković	LM	1968–1978	?	?
Aljoša Asanović	LM	1984–1990/1994-1996/2001	150	36
Milan Rapaić	LM	1991-1996/2003	98	23
Niko Kranjčar	LM	2005–2006	50	15
Blaž Slišković	RM	1981–1986	101	23
Nikola Gazdić	FW	1913–1921	91	106
Ljubo Benčić	FW	1922–1935	353	355
Frane Matošić	FW	1935–1939/1940-1941/1944-1955	739	729
Vlade Kragić	FW	1929–1940	354	266
Bernard Vukas	FW	1947–1957/1959-1962	615	300
Andrija Anković	FW	1958–1967	326	250
Pero Nadoveza	FW	1963–1973	460	296
Slaviša Žungul	FW	1972–1978	303	176
Ivica Šurjak	FW	1971–1981	268	?
Zlatko Vujović	FW	1976–1986	240	101
Alen Bokšić	FW	1987–1991	95	27
Ardian Kozniku	FW	1990–1994	98	44
Goran Ivanišević	Pos	2001	-	-