NK Rudar Velenje

Nogometni klub Rudar Velenje (English: Rudar Velenje Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Rudar Velenje or simply Rudar Velenje, is a Slovenian football club from Velenje which competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of the Slovenian football league system.

Rudar Velenje

Full name	Nogometni klub Rudar Velenje
Nickname(s)	Knapi (The Miners) Zeleno-črni (The Green and Blacks)
Founded	1948; 76 years ago (1948)[1]
Ground	Ob Jezeru City Stadium
Capacity	1,864
President	Dajan Pavlović
Head coach	Simon Sešlar
League	Slovenian Second League
2023–24	Slovenian Second League, 8th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

History

The club was founded in August 1948. At first they played in local MNZ Celje league, until they qualified for the Slovenian Republic League in 1953. Two years later, on 3 July 1955, Rudar's home stadium Ob Jezeru was opened and the club moved to its current home. After the short crisis the club returned to the Slovenian league in 1962. For the 1974–75 season the club hired a professional coach Živko Stakič and became Slovenian champions in 1977. Rudar therefore qualified for the Yugoslav Second League, where they played until 1982. Just before the breakup of Yugoslavia, Rudar became the Slovenian champion for the second time in 1991.

After the Slovenian independence, Rudar became a regular participant in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. They were relegated to the Slovenian Second League in 2003 and returned for the 2005–06 season, but were instantly relegated back to second level. In the 2007–08 season they finished first and thus achieved a promotion back to the first league. The club's highest finish was third place on four occasions, the last time in 2014, when Mate Eterović, Rudar's striker, also became league's topscorer. Their biggest success was winning the Slovenian Cup in 1998, when they lost first game away to Primorje, but then won 3–0 in front of home crowd in the second leg. Rudar therefore played in the last edition of UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where it was eliminated by Varteks in the first round.^[2]

Honours

Yugoslavia

• Slovenian Republic League
  • Winners: 1976–77, 1990–91
• Slovenian Republic Cup
  • Winners: 1979–80

Slovenia

• Slovenian Second League
  • Winners: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08
• Slovenian Cup
  • Winners: 1997–98
• MNZ Celje Cup
  • Winners: 1991–92, 2003–04,^[3] 2004–05^[4]

Domestic league and cup results

Season	League	Position	Pts	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Cup
1991–92	1. SNL	12	38	40	13	12	15	59	65	Quarter-finals
1992–93	1. SNL	9	33	34	13	7	14	45	52	First round
1993–94	1. SNL	9	27	30	10	7	13	37	49	Round of 16
1994–95	1. SNL	7	38	30	16	6	8	55	33	Quarter-finals
1995–96	1. SNL	7	49	36	13	10	13	46	37	Semi-finals
1996–97	1. SNL	8	42	36	10	12	14	43	53	Round of 16
1997–98	1. SNL	7	43	36	10	13	13	39	38	Winners
1998–99	1. SNL	3	56	33	16	8	9	43	33	Quarter-finals
1999–2000	1. SNL	3	58	33	17	7	9	49	35	First round
2000–01	1. SNL	8	43	33	12	7	14	43	44	Semi-finals
2001–02	1. SNL	8	42	33	11	9	13	46	52	Quarter-finals
2002–03	1. SNL	11	25	31	6	7	18	32	51	First round
2003–04	2. SNL	1[lower-alpha 1]	69	32	21	6	5	84	37	Quarter-finals
2004–05	2. SNL	1↑	72	33	23	3	7	76	40	Second round
2005–06	1. SNL	10↓	15	36	2	9	25	28	83	Quarter-finals
2006–07	2. SNL	8	45	36	12	9	15	45	59	Quarter-finals
2007–08	2. SNL	1↑	50	27	15	4	7	70	31	did not qualify
2008–09	1. SNL	3	55	36	16	7	13	44	39	Quarter-finals
2009–10	1. SNL	7	49	36	15	4	17	46	52	Quarter-finals
2010–11	1. SNL	6	46	36	12	10	14	58	50	Second round
2011–12	1. SNL	6	43	36	11	10	15	55	54	Semi-final
2012–13	1. SNL	7	40	36	11	7	18	42	59	Round of 16
2013–14	1. SNL	3	63	36	18	9	9	55	33	Semi-finals
2014–15	1. SNL	6	46	36	12	10	14	44	43	Round of 16
2015–16	1. SNL	7	41	36	11	8	17	34	52	Quarter-finals
2016–17	1. SNL	7	41	36	10	11	15	49	53	Quarter-finals
2017–18	1. SNL	4	50	36	15	5	16	50	49	First round
2018–19	1. SNL	7	43	36	12	7	17	50	73	Round of 16
2019–20	1. SNL	10↓	12	36	0	12	24	28	80	Quarter-finals
2020–21	2. SNL	8	26	22	7	5	10	24	34	Round of 16
2021–22	2. SNL	5	49	30	16	1	13	51	43	did not qualify
2022–23	2. SNL	13	32	30	7	11	12	41	51	Round of 16
2023–24	2. SNL	8	37	30	10	7	13	33	49	Round of 32

1. Declined promotion.

Key

P – Matches played W – Matches won D – Matches drawn L – Matches lost GF – Goals for GA – Goals against Pts – Points

Winners

Runners-up

Promoted ↑

Relegated ↓

UEFA competitions

All results (home and away) list Rudar's goal tally first.

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1995	UEFA Intertoto Cup	GR2	Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	–	5th place
			Öster	–	1–3
			1. FC Köln	0–1	–
			Lucerne	–	1–1
1998–99	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	QR	Constructorul Chișinău	2–0	0–0	2–0
		R1	Varteks	0–1	0–1	0–2
1999	UEFA Intertoto Cup	R1	Halmstads BK	0–0	2–2	2–2 (a)
		R2	Austria Lustenau	1–2	1–2	2–4
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	QR1	Narva Trans	3–1	3–0	6–1
		QR2	Red Star Belgrade	0–1	0–4	0–5
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	QR1	Laçi	1–1	1–1	2–2 (2–3 pen.)
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	QR1	Tre Fiori	7–0	3–0	10–0
		QR2	FCSB	0–2	0–4	0–6

GR2 = Group 2; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; QR1 = First qualifying round; QR2 = Second qualifying round.

References

1. "Klubi" [Clubs] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
2. "Zgodovina" [History] (in Slovenian). NK Rudar Velenje. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
3. "Članski Pokal – Rudar končal prevlado Krškega" (in Slovenian). MNZ Celje. 29 April 2004. Archived from the original on 14 May 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
4. "Rudar drugič zapored prvak (page 16)". Naš čas (in Slovenian). 9 June 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

External links

• Official website (in Slovene)
• PrvaLiga profile (in Slovene)