NK Železničar Maribor

NK Železničar is a Slovenian football club from Maribor, which plays in the 1.MNZ Maribor league, fourth level of Slovenian football system.

History

The club was established in 1927 as a football section of SK Železničar, railway workers sports club. They played their first match on 7 August the same year and won 5-1 against SK Merkur. They joined Slovenian republic competitions, playing in the Maribor region, where they soon developed a fierce rivalry with 1. SSK Maribor.

They finished second behind I SSK Maribor in 1931 and qualified for unified republic league, where they played a major role in the next years. They have built a Stadion ob Tržaški cesti, sports object referred to as one of the nicest in Kingdom of Yugoslavia, during 1932 and 1935, and scored second place in 1934, 1935 and 1936. They finally won their first title in 1937 and played in qualifying for Yugoslav First League where they lost against SAŠK Sarajevo in the final. They won another republic title in 1940, this time in knock-out system, beating rivals I SSK Maribor 2-0 in the final.

The club was refounded as SFD Železničar after the war in 1945 and had one of the best teams in SR Slovenia at the time. They have beaten Crvena Zvezda with 3-2 in a friendly match in 1946 and finished second after Nafta Lendava in first season of Slovenian republic league, missing promotion to yugoslav league by two points.

Železničar then stabilised as a midtable team in the next years, until the league system was changed in 1952. They were located to the East group of republic league, finished second in 1953 and first in 1954. They have beaten West group winner Piran with 6-0 and 0-1 for unofficial title and qualification to third level slovene-Croatian league. The team was renamed to ŽNK Maribor and finished 10th, missing out Branik Maribor and ninth spot by one point and relegated to Maribor-Varaždin-Celje zonal league. After three mediocre seasons the team returned to unified Slovenian Republic League, which was reformed in 1958.

In December 1960, due to food poisoning affair of rivals Branik Maribor, the club, holding first position on the league table, had to give up their place to newly formed NK Maribor and started all over again from lowest league. NK Maribor won the title with squad formed mostly of players from ŽNK. They instantly returned to republic level in 1962, renamed back to NK Železničar Maribor the same year, but lost their traditional home ground due to new bridge construction in 1963.

After some mediocre seasons on temporary ground in Poljane, Železničar moved to newly built Športni park Tabor in 1967. The results soon improved, the club won third republic title in 1968-69 and qualified for Yugoslav Second League for the first time in history. They stayed there three seasons, scoring 7th, 11th and last 18th place.

They won another republic title again in 1973, but failed in yugoslav second league west play-off against Mercator Ljubljana. Železničar then played several republic seasons without any notable success. In 1981, despite scoring only forth position, yugoslav federation offered them a place in yugoslav second league, but the club declined promotion due to lack of funds. They were struggling against relegation in next years, until they were finally relegated to regional league for the first time in 1987. They stayed there until the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia. Beside four league titles, Železničar has also won two cup titles in 1957 and 1960 and holds a record of 42 played seasons in Slovenian Republic League.

Železničar was among founding members of Slovenian Second League in 1991. They have immediately scored great success with first place and promotion to first level in 1991-92, managed by ex-player Jože Karmel. They played in Slovenian PrvaLiga 1992-93, but finished on 17th place and never returned to top flight again. The team was close to return on several occasions, they refused promotion in 1996, lost play-offs against Potrošnik Beltinci in 1998 and missed second place by one point in 1999. The club had various financial difficulties in the last decade, they were relegated from second league, finishing dead last in 2003, from third league, having not fulfilled the licence documentation in 2007, and even from fourth league in 2008.

Domestic league and cup results

*Best results are highlighted.

Notable former players