ND Gorica

ND Gorica is a Slovenian football club, playing in the town of Nova Gorica. They are one of the most successful Slovenian clubs with four Slovenian League, two Slovenian Cup and one Slovenian Supercup titles. Together with NK Maribor and NK Celje they are the only club that have participated in every season of 1.SNL since its formation in 1991. The club plays its matches on Športni Park stadium with the capacity of 3,066 seats.

History

Beginnings (1947-1991)

The history of Slovenian association football in the Goriška region goes back to the year 1907, when the first football club "Jugoslavija" was formed by the Slovenes of Gorizia.

October 1947 marks the beginning of the club with the foundation of "Gorica Club" in Šempeter pri Gorici, where it operated until 1963 when the club's activity was transferred to Nova Gorica, which has remained its seat ever since.

Slovenia independence (1991+)

After the independence of Slovenia in 1991 the club played in the 1.SNL under the name HIT Gorica and during the season 1995/96 won the Slovenian league title for the first time. Next season the club played its first Slovenian supercup final and won their second trophy with a 3-1 victory over NK Olimpija. During the league domination of NK Maribor the club managed to win two Slovenian cup titles in a row (2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons).

On the last day of 2003/04 season on 30 May 2004 Gorica won its second title after one of the most dramatic rounds in Slovenian league history. Before the last round NK Maribor was leading the table with 54 points, one point ahead of Gorica. In the final round Maribor played an away match against their rivals NK Mura and Gorica played at home against FC Koper. Both matches where played at the same time and after the first half things did not look good for Gorica. Maribor was leading 0-1 while Gorica finished the first half with the score 0-0. At the start of the second half Gorica took the lead 1-0 and waited. On the other match the score remained 0-1 up until the 68th minute when Mura eqalised to 1-1. Later Maribor started to attack in search of their winning goal but was cut down with yet another goal from Mura in the 89th minute for the final score 2-1. That result meant that Gorica, who eventually won against Koper 2-0, had secured their second title.

The second title started an impressive run for Gorica as the team won another two league titles in a row (2004/05, 2005/06). By now Gorica, a four times Slovenian league champions, was recognized as one of the top football clubs in the country. After the last title Gorica was a runner-up in 2006/07 and 2008/09 seasons while finishing 3rd in 2007/08 and 2009/10.

Since 1991 when the league started Gorica won the title four times, was a runner-up on another four occasions and finished 3rd five times, which makes the club second most successful football team in the country.

Domestic league and cup results

*Best results are highlighted.

European campaigns

Honours

Total titles: 7

League

• Slovenian Championships:

Winners (4): 1995/96, 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06

Runners-up (4): 1998/99, 1999/00, 2006/07, 2008/09

Cup

• Slovenian Cup:

Winners (2): 2000/01, 2001/02

Runners-up (1): 2004/05

• Slovenian Supercup:

Winners (1): 1996

Current squad

As of 4 July, 2011 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Notable former players

External links

• (Slovene) Official Site