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Celje

Full name	Nogometni klub Celje
Nickname(s)	Grofje (The Counts) Rumeno-modri (The Yellow and Blues)
Founded	28 December 1919; 104 years ago (28 December 1919) (as SK Celje)
Ground	Stadion Z'dežele
Capacity	13,059
President	Valeriy Kolotilo
Manager	Albert Riera
League	Slovenian PrvaLiga
2023–24	Slovenian PrvaLiga, 1st of 10 (champions)
Website	https://www.nk-celje.si/
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Nogometni klub Celje (English: Celje Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Celje or simply Celje ([ˈtsɛ̀ːljɛ]), is a professional football club from Celje, Slovenia. They play in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of Slovenian football. Together with Maribor, they are the only club that have participated in every season of the Slovenian PrvaLiga since its formation in 1991. Celje won their first league title in the 2019–20 season. They have also won the 2004–05 edition of the Slovenian Cup.

History

The club was formed in 1919 as SK Celje. Soon after World War II, in 1946, the club changed its name to NK Kladivar (expressionistic term in Slovene for a blacksmith). In 1964 they qualified for the Yugoslav Second League, where they played for one year.

In 1992, one year after Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia, the club was renamed as Publikum due to sponsorship reasons. They reached the finals of Slovenian Cup in 1993 and 1995, but lost on both occasions, having been beaten by Olimpija and Mura, respectively. In 2003, Celje was in a title race with Maribor until the last two rounds, but in the end finished second and also lost the Slovenian cup final against Olimpija during the same season. Two years later, in 2005, the club reached the final for the fourth time and this time they finally lifted their first trophy, defeating Gorica 1–0 in front of their own fans at the Arena Petrol. Celje were also in the finals the next year, but lost to Koper after a penalty shoot-out. In early 2007, they dropped Publikum from their name.

In 2020, Celje won its first Slovenian league title after winning the 2019–20 Slovenian PrvaLiga season.

Stadium

For most of its early years, the club played at the Glazija Stadium, but obtained the Skalna Klet after merging with ŽŠD Celje in 1967. Glazija was demolished in 1983 and the club moved permanently to Skalna Klet. Since the stadium was in poor condition and could not meet UEFA stadium regulations, the club officials decided to build a new stadium and in 2003 the main stand of the new Arena Petrol stadium was built. The capacity at the time was 3,600 covered seats. After 2003, three new separate stands were built and when the last one opened in 2008, the stadium was completed. The current capacity of the stadium is 13,059 seats, of which around 50% are covered. In July 2017, the stadium was renamed to Stadion Z'dežele.

Current squad

As of 5 December 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  ESP Juanjo Nieto 3 DF  SVN Damjan Vuklišević 4 MF  ROU Marco Dulca 5 MF  FRA Clément Lhernault 6 DF  SVN David Zec 7 FW  SVN Aljoša Matko 8 MF  CRO Luka Bobičanec 10 MF  SVN Nino Kouter 11 MF  SVN Svit Sešlar (on loan from Eyüpspor) 12 GK  SVN Luka Kolar 16 MF  BIH Mario Kvesić 17 FW  JAM Rolando Aarons 19 MF  SVN Mark Zabukovnik 20 FW  RUS Nikita Iosifov 21 DF  SVN Nejc Ajhmajer

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 GK  SVN Matjaž Rozman 23 DF  SVN Žan Karničnik 25 DF  SVN Matija Kavčič 27 MF  RUS Artem Sholar (on loan from Spartak Moscow) 28 DF  CRO Slavko Bralić 30 FW  BRA Edmilson 31 MF  SVN Jošt Pišek 43 DF  SVN Aljaž Krefl 47 FW  LTU Armandas Kučys 77 FW  CRO Ivan Brnić (on loan from Olympiacos) 81 DF  SVN Klemen Nemanič 88 MF  SVN Tamar Svetlin 98 GK  SVN Lovro Štubljar (on loan from Empoli) 99 MF  ESP Íñigo Eguaras

Honours

League

• Slovenian First League (since 1991)
  • Winners (2): 2019–20, 2023–24
  • Runners-up (3): 2002–03, 2014–15, 2022–23
• Slovenian Republic League (prior 1991)
  • Winners (1): 1963–64
  • Runners-up (6): 1936–37, 1950, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1970–71, 1973–74

Cup

• Slovenian Cup (since 1991)
  • Winners (1): 2004–05
  • Runners-up (9): 1992–93, 1994–95, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2020–21
• Slovenian Republic Cup (prior 1991)
  • Winners (1): 1964
• MNZ Celje Cup
  • Runners-up: 1991–92

Domestic league and cup results

Key

European record

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

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1993–94	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Qualifying round	Odense BK	0–1	0–0	0–1
1997	UEFA Intertoto Cup	Group stage	Antalyaspor	1–1	—	2nd
			Maccabi Haifa	—	1–0
			Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod	1–2	—
			Proleter Zrenjanin	—	0–0
2001	UEFA Intertoto Cup	First round	Aarhus	7–1	0–1	7–2
		Second round	Petržalka	5–0	1–1	6–1
		Third round	Lausanne-Sport	1–1	0–0	1–1 (a)
2003–04	UEFA Cup	Qualifying round	Belasica	7–2	5–0	12–2
		First round	Maccabi Haifa	2–2	1–2	3–4
2004	UEFA Intertoto Cup	First round	Sloboda Tuzla	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2005–06	UEFA Cup	Second qualifying round	Levski Sofia	1–0	0–3	1–3
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Dacia Chișinău	0–1	0–1	0–2
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Tromsø	0–2	2–1	2–3
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Śląsk Wrocław	0–1	1–3	1–4
2020–21	UEFA Champions League	First qualifying round	Dundalk	3–0	—
		Second qualifying round	Molde	1–2	—
	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Ararat-Armenia	—	0–1	—
2023–24	UEFA Europa Conference League	Second qualifying round	Vitória de Guimarães	3–4	1–0	4–4 (4–2 p)
		Third qualifying round	Neman Grodno	1–0	4–1	5–1
		Play-off round	Maccabi Tel Aviv	1–1	1–4	2–5
2024–25	UEFA Champions League	First qualifying round	Flora	2–1	5–0	7–1
		Second qualifying round	Slovan Bratislava	1–1	0–5	1–6
	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Shamrock Rovers	1–0	1–3	2–3
	UEFA Conference League	Play-off round	Pyunik	4–1	0–1	4–2
		League phase	Vitória de Guimarães	—	1–3	21st out of 36
			İstanbul Başakşehir	5–1	—
			Real Betis	—	1–2
			Jagiellonia Białystok	3–3	—
			Pafos	—	0–2
			The New Saints	3–2	—
		Knockout phase play-offs	APOEL

1. Only one match per qualifying round was played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Celje played their home match at Szusza Ferenc Stadion in Budapest (Hungary) due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. ^ After extra time.

List of managers

• Bojan Prašnikar (1989–1991)
• Stanko Božičevič (1992)
• Janko Benčina (1992)
• Janez Zavrl (1993–1994)
• Ivan Marković (1994)
• Filip Mendaš (1994)
• Borut Jarc (1994–1996)
• Milovan Tarbuk (1996–1997)
• Stanko Poklepović (1997–1998)
• Edin Osmanović (1998–1999)
• Nikola Ilievski (1999–2000)
• Marijan Pušnik (2000–2004)
• Ivica Matković (2004–2005)
• Marko Pocrnjič (2005)
• Nikola Ilievski (2005–2006)
• Janez Žilnik (2006)
• Pavel Pinni (2007–2008)
• Slaviša Stojanovič (2008–2009)
• Milan Đuričić (2009–2010)
• Damijan Romih (2010)
• Stane Bevc (2010–2011)
• Damijan Romih (2011–2012)
• Marijan Pušnik (2012)
• Miloš Rus (2013–2014)
• Simon Rožman (2014–2015)
• Iztok Kapušin (2015–2016)
• Robert Pevnik (2016)
• Igor Jovićević (2016–2017)
• Tomaž Petrovič (2017)
• Dušan Kosič (2017–2020)
• Jiří Jarošík (2020–2021)
• Agron Šalja (2021)
• Simon Sešlar (2021)
• Simon Rožman (2022)
• Roman Pylypchuk (2022–2023)
• Albert Riera (2023)
• Damir Krznar (2023–2024)
• Albert Riera (2024–present)

References

1. ^ "Klubi" [Clubs] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
2. ^ "Zgodovina" [History] (in Slovenian). NK Celje. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
3. Gordana Possnig (10 September 2019). "V Celju že sto let organizirano igrajo nogomet". Večer (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 16 September 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
4. "Slovenia – List of Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
5. "Slovenia 2002/03". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
6. "Publikum dočakal prvo lovoriko" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 17 May 2005. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
7. "Slovenia 2005/06". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
8. "Celjani z novim imenom po državni naslov". sta.si (in Slovenian). Slovenian Press Agency. 20 February 2007. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
9. A. V. (22 July 2020). "Celjani prvič slovenski nogometni prvaki" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
10. "Stadion" [Stadium] (in Slovenian). NK Celje. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
11. "Celjski stadion z novim imenom, odslej bo Arena Z'dežele". Ekipa24 (in Slovenian). 4 July 2017. Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
12. "Seznam igralcev" [List of players] (in Slovenian). NK Celje. Retrieved 10 July 2024.

External links

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

• NK Celje
• Association football clubs established in 1919
• Sport in Celje
• Football clubs in Slovenia
• Football clubs in Yugoslavia
• 1919 establishments in Yugoslavia
• Unrelegated association football clubs