Red Star Belgrade

Red Star Belgrade
Full name Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда / Fudbalski Klub Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)
Nickname(s) Звезда / Zvezda (The Star)
Црвено-бели / Crveno-beli (The Red-Whites)
Short name CZV, ZVE (In European competitions)
Founded 4 March 1945 (1945-03-04)
Ground Rajko Mitić Stadium
Capacity 55,538[1]
President Svetozar Mijailović
Head Coach Vladan Milojević
League Serbian SuperLiga
2017–18 Serbian Superliga, 1st
Website Club website

Fudbalski Klub Crvena Zvezda (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, IPA: [fûdbalskiː klûːb tsř̩ʋenaː zʋěːzda]), commonly known in English as Red Star Belgrade (Serbian: Црвена звезда Београд / Crvena zvezda Beograd) or simply Red Star, is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, the major part of the Red Star multi-sport club. They are the only Serbian and ex-Yugoslav club to have won the European Cup, having done so in 1991, and the only team to have won the Intercontinental Cup, also in 1991. With 28 national championships and 24 national cups between Serbian and the former Yugoslav competitions, Red Star was the most successful club in former Yugoslavia and finished first in the Yugoslav First League all-time table, and is the most successful club in Serbia. Since the 1991–92 season, Red Star's best results are in the UEFA Champions League group stage and UEFA Europa League knockout phase.

According to 2008 polls, Red Star Belgrade is the most popular football club in Serbia, with 48.2% of the population supporting them.[2] They have many supporters in all other former Yugoslavian republics and in the Serbian diaspora. Their main rivals are fellow Belgrade side Partizan. The championship matches between these two clubs are known as The Eternal derby. In September 2009, British newspaper Daily Mail ranked the Red Star – Partizan derby fourth among the ten greatest football rivalries of all-time.[3]

According to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics' list of the Top 200 European clubs of the 20th century, Red Star is the highest-ranked Serbian and ex-Yugoslavian club, sharing the 27th position on the list with Dutch club Feyenoord.

History

Red Star legend Rajko Mitić.

In February 1945, during World War II, a group of young men, active players, students and members of the Serbian United Antifascist Youth League, decided to form a Youth Physical Culture Society, that was to become Red Star Belgrade on 4 March. Previously, as of December 1944, all pre-war Serbian clubs were abolished, and on 5 May 1945, communist Secretary of Sports Mitra Mitrović-Djilas signed the decree dissolving formally all pre-war clubs on the territory of Socialist Republic of Serbia. The clubs were dissolved because during the German occupation, there was an attempt to organize the league so all the clubs were labelled collaborators by Josip Broz Tito's communist regime. Two of the most popular clubs from Belgrade were SK Jugoslavija and BSK Belgrade. Red Star was formed on the remains of SK Jugoslavija and they were given SK Jugoslavija's stadium, offices, players and even their red and white colours, along with the logo with addition of a red star. The entire BSK Belgrade roster also joined along with some other players from Belgrade and central Serbia.

The name Red Star was assigned after a long discussion. Other ideas shortlisted by the delegates included "People's Star", "Blue Star", "Proleter", "Stalin", "Lenin", etc.[4] The initial vice presidents of the Sport Society – Zoran Žujović and Slobodan Ćosić – were the ones who assigned it.[5] Red Star was soon adopted as a symbol of Serbian nationalism within Yugoslavia and a sporting institution which remains the country's most popular to this day.[6] On that day, Red Star played the first football match in the club's history against the First Battalion of the Second Brigade of KNOJ (People's Defence Corps of Yugoslavia) and won 3–0.

Red Star's first successes involved small steps to recognition. In the first fifteen years of existence, Red Star won six Yugoslav championships, five Yugoslav Cups, one Danube Cup and reached the semi-finals of the 1956–57 European Cup. Some of the greatest players during this period were Kosta Tomašević, Branko Stanković, Rajko Mitić, Vladimir Beara, Bora Kostić, Vladica Popović, Vladimir Durković and Dragoslav Šekularac. As champions, Red Star were Yugoslavia's entrants into the 1957–58 European Cup where they were famously beaten 5–4 on aggregate by English champions Manchester United in the quarter-finals. Manchester United, managed by Matt Busby defeated Red Star 2–1 in the first leg in England before drawing 3–3 with them in Yugoslavia in the return match on 5 February at JNA Stadium.[7] The second leg is notable for being the last match played by the Busby Babes: on the return flight to England the following day, the plane crashed in Munich, resulting in the deaths of 23 people, including eight Manchester United players.

During the Miljan Miljanić era, Red Star won four Yugoslav championships, three Yugoslav Cups, one Mitropa Cup and reached the semi-finals of the 1970–71 European Cup. A new generation of players emerged under Miljanić's guidance, led by Dragan Džajić and Jovan Aćimović. Red Star eliminated Liverpool in the second round of the 1973–74 European Cup and Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the 1974–75 European Cup Winners' Cup. Branko Stanković, whose reign as head coach was to last four years, brought Red Star three trophies and the first great European final. After eliminating teams like Arsenal, West Bromwich Albion and Hertha BSC, Red Star made for the first time the UEFA Cup final. There, Red Star met Borussia Mönchengladbach, who played five European finals from 1973 to 1980. The Germans fell behind one goal from Miloš Šestić, but Ivan Jurišić’s own goal gave Gladbach a psychological advantage before the rematch. This game was played at the Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, where the Italian referee Alberto Michelotti gave a questionable penalty to the Germans, and the Danish player Allan Simonsen sealed Red Star's fate. The Foals won 2–1 on aggregate.[8]

After the 1970s, historical matches against Udo Lattek's Barcelona followed during the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup. In both matches, Barcelona were the better team and Red Star was eliminated. Remarkably, when Barça's Diego Maradona scored his second goal in front of approximately 100,000 spectators at the Marakana, the Belgrade audience were so excited about the goal that even the loyal Belgrade fans applauded Maradona.[9] Gojko Zec returned to the team in 1983, finding only one player from the champions generation he was coaching back in 1977, Miloš Šestić. Zec similarly repeated the club's triumph from his previous mandate by winning the championship immediately upon his arrival. Zec would later leave the club in a controversial Šajber's case-style scandal which was the result of irregularities in the 1985–86 season.

After Zec left in 1986, there were great changes in the club. The management of the club, run by Dragan Džajić and Vladimir Cvetković, began to build a team that could compete with some of the most powerful European sides. During that summer, Velibor Vasović became coach and the side was strengthened by acquiring a number of talented young players, among whom Dragan Stojković and Borislav Cvetković stood out. In the first season that started with penalty points, Red Star focused on the European Cup and achieving good results. In 1987, a five-year plan was developed by the club with the only goal being to win the European Cup. All that was planned was finally achieved. On the club's birthday in 1987, it started. Real Madrid were defeated at the Marakana. From that day through to March 1992, Red Star enjoyed the best period of success in its history. In these five seasons, Red Star won four National Championships; in the last of those four years of heyday, the club won the 1991 European Cup Final, played in Bari, Italy.

Red Star coach Ljupko Petrović brought the team to Italy a week before the final in order to peacefully prepare the players for a forthcoming encounter with Marseille. By that time, Red Star had 18 goals in 8 matches, whereas the French champions had 20. Therefore, the 100th European competing final was expected to be a spectacle of offense. Nonetheless, both Petrović and Raymond Goethals opted for defence and the match settled down into a war of attrition. After this match the rule was passed that the ball must not be returned to the goalkeeper. After a 120-minute match and only few chances on both sides, the match was decided following the penalty shootout. After several minutes of stressful penalties, one of Marseille's players, Manuel Amoros, missed a penalty, and Darko Pančev converted his penalty to bring the European Cup to Yugoslavia for the first time. Red Star won the shootout, 5–3, on 29 May 1991 in front of 60,000 spectators and the millions watching on television around the world. Twenty-thousand Red Star fans at the Stadio San Nicola and millions of them all over Yugoslavia and the world celebrated the greatest joy in Red Star's history.[10] Red Star went unbeaten at the 1990–91 European Cup in Bari and the 1991 Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo.

In 1992, the club was weakened by the departure of numerous players from the champions generation (new players were added, such as Dejan Petković and Anto Drobnjak). The success in the previous season caught the attention of European giants which rushed making lucrative offers to sign Red Star´s best players. In addition, Red Star had to defend the continental trophy playing its home games in Szeged, Budapest and Sofia due to the war in former Yugoslavia, thereby reducing their chances of defending their title. UEFA changed the format of the competition that year and the 1991–92 European Cup was the first to be played in a format with two groups each having four teams. Despite the disadvantage of playing its home games abroad, Red Star still did well and finished second in the group behind Sampdoria. In domestic competition, main rivals Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb left the league, just as all the other clubs from Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia did, and the championship in Yugoslavia that was cut in size was played on the edge of observance of regulations around the beginning of the Bosnian War. At the end of May, the United Nations had the country under sanctions and dislodged Yugoslav football from the international scene. The Breakup of Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Wars, the inflation and the UN sanctions have hit Red Star hard. In the period between May 1992 and May 2000, only one championship victory was celebrated at the Marakana. However, they did manage to win five cups, along with several glorious European performances, including the famed 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup showdown against Barcelona side which featured Ronaldo and Hristo Stoichkov.

Dejan Stanković was the youngest captain ever in Red Star's history.

Immediately after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia ended, Red Star won the 17th cup in its history by winning 4–2 against Partizan. Two seasons later, the club returned to the European spotlight by making it to the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds, where Red Star was eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen (0–0 and 0–3), which would later be a finalist in the Champions League that year. Slavoljub Muslin left the bench in September 2001, after which Red Star's subsequent seasons became more volatile.

In the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds, Red Star was barely eliminated (3–1 on aggregate) by the same Milan side which ultimately won that year's competition. Furthermore, the campaign in Group F of the 2007–08 UEFA Cup was a large disappointment, especially given that the first game against Bayern Munich was a sensational last-minute loss (by a score of 2–3 in Belgrade). In those years, Red Star's teams featured the likes of Nikola Žigić, Boško Janković, Milan Biševac, Dušan Basta, Dejan Milovanović, Segundo Castillo, Ibrahima Gueye, Nenad Milijaš and Ognjen Koroman. After a six-year drought, Red Star won their 26th league title in 2013–14 season.

Despite Red Star's success on the pitch in 2013–14, the financial situation at the club has worsened, so much so that the club were banned from participating in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League for which they qualified by winning the Serbian SuperLiga. The UEFA Club Financial Control Body found Red Star's debts to players, some of whom had not been paid for at least six months, staff and other clubs, totalled €1.86 million. The club board were also alleged to have hidden debts and falsified documents. This, on top of an earlier UEFA disciplinary measure in 2011, meant Red Star did not meet the necessary Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play criteria and, as such, should not have been granted a UEFA license by the Serbian FA.[11] Rivals Partizan took Red Star's place in the UEFA Champions League.

After ten years of waiting, Red Star qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage. Red Star progressed through four qualifying rounds and reached the knockout phase of the tournament, becoming the first team in competition's history to reach the knockout phase after starting their season in the first qualifying round.[12] Although Red Star played in the group stage of the first edition in which groups format was introduced in the European Cup, 1991–92 European Cup, the designation "Champions League" was only adopted a season later in which Yugoslav clubs were already banned from participating in. Thus, when Red Star eliminated Red Bull Salzburg in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League play-off round, and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage, it meant that Red Star will compete for the first time since the new format was introduced.[13]

Crest and colours

At the end of the World War II, several of pre-war Yugoslav clubs were dissolved because they had played matches during the war and were labelled collaborators by Josip Broz Tito communist authorities. One of these clubs was SK Jugoslavija from Belgrade. Red Star was formed from the remains of Jugoslavija and they were given their red and white colours. The typical kit of Red Star is a shirt with red and white vertical stripes, and red or white shorts and socks. Sometimes used the club also an all-red one next to the all-white one. Red Star used also as away kit or third kit, an all-blue jersey, but very rarely, so that the club used all the colours of the Serbian flag. The crest is a red five-pointed star, white framed, on a red-white background. In addition, the whole crest is framed with gold colour. There are two golden stars on the top of their emblem, symbolizing the 20 titles won.

Crests
1945–1950
1950–1995
1995–2011
2011–present

Stadium

Red Star's home ground is the Rajko Mitić Stadium (since 21 December 2014), formerly known as Red Star stadium. With a seated capacity of 55,538, it is the largest stadium in Serbia and in the former Yugoslavia. The stadium was opened in 1963, and in the course of time and due to the fact that stadium's former capacity was about 110,000, it got the unofficial moniker Marakana, after the large and famous Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Belgrade's sold-out Marakana garnered the reputation of being a very tough ground for visiting teams to play in. During the mid-1990s, in order to meet UEFA demands for spectators comfort and security, standing places at the stadium were completely done away with and seats were installed on all four stands. In the years, since the stadium's capacity was gradually decreased, followed different stadium modernisations.

Rajko Mitić Stadium viewed from the air

In 2008, the club reconstructed the stadium's pitch, under-soil grass heaters, improved drainage systems were installed and new modern turf replaced the old surface. The training pitch, located next to the stadium, was also renovated by laying down synthetic turf and installing new lighting equipment. In 2011, the stadium received also a new modern LED scoreboard. Today, the stadium has a central lodge, named 5 Zvezdinih Zvezda (English: 5 Stars of Red Star), which consist of five segments, each bears the name of one of Red Star's legendary players (Mitić, Šekularac, Džajić, Petrović, Stojković), two other VIP lounges and a special VIP gallery with over 450 seats. It has also a modern press box with a capacity of 344 seats including seven extra-comfortable seats, an extra media center, the Red Cafe and a restaurant. On the west stand of the stadium exist also an official Red Star shop along with a Delije shop. The playing field measures are 110 × 73 m, and is illuminated by 1,400 lux floodlights. According to the known German Web portal "Stadionwelt", Belgrade's "Marakana" is in the top 50 football stadiums in Europe.[14] In 2012, American Bleacher Report ranked the Red Star Stadium, especially if it is sold out, as among the most intimidating stadiums in the world.[15]

Youth school

History

Some of the most notable home-grown players are Dragan Džajić, named the best player in the history of Serbia (the choice of the Football Association on the 50th anniversary of UEFA, known as the Golden Player), who reached third place at the election for the European Footballer of the Year in 1968, then Dragoslav Šekularac – a runner-up with Yugoslavia at 1960 European Nations' Cup, Vladimir Petrović – the fourth Star of Red Star, Vladimir Jugović – two times the European Cup winner (with Red Star and Juventus), as well as Dejan Stanković and Nemanja Vidić.

Further notable home-grown players include Vladica Popović, Ratomir Dujković, Stanislav Karasi, Slobodan Janković, Ognjen Petrović, Vladislav Bogićević, Zoran Filipović, Dušan Savić, Milan Janković, Boško and Milko Đurovski, Stevan Stojanović, Vladan Lukić, Zvonko Milojević, Zoran Jovičić, Ivan Adžić, Nebojša Krupniković, Goran Drulić, Nenad Lalatović, Marko Pantelić, Ognjen Koroman, Vladimir Dišljenković, Marko Perović, Dejan Milovanović, Dragan Mrđa, Boško Janković, Dušan Basta, Vujadin Savić, Slavoljub Srnić and Filip Stojković.

Former Red Star and Real Madrid coaching legend Miljan Miljanić was also a member of Red Star's youth school.

Current coaching staff

Supporters

Delije section at Rajko Mitić Stadium.

The organized supporters of Red Star are known as Delije, the plural of the singular form Delija, which in Serbian generally signifies a courageous, brave, strong or even handsome young man. A rough English translation might be simply "Heroes", "Braves", "Hardman" or "Studs". The name Delije first began to be used by hardcore Red Star supporters during the late 1980s, with official inauguration taking place in 1989. Up to that point, the Red Star fans were scattered amongst several organized fan groups that shared in the north stand of Red Star's stadium. The Delije are today one of the most famous supporter groups in the world, who support all clubs in the Red Star multi-sport club. Their style of supporting includes the use of large and small flags, displaying of banners and especially the creation of colorful and large choreographies, noisy and constant cheering and other supporters stuff. The acoustic support is often coordinated by a so-called "Vođa" (Serbian: leader) by a megaphone and accompanied by drums. Subgroups of Delije exist outside of Belgrade as well, in cities across Serbia and all other ex-Yugoslav republics. As a sign of appreciation, Red Star painted in the late 1990s, the word Delije in block letters across their stadium's north stand.

Since the mid-1980s the supporters maintain brotherhood relations with Olympiacos CFP ultras – a friendship based on common Orthodox faith and same club colours. Since the mid-2000s FC Spartak Moscow fans are also included in this friendship.

The Eternal derby

Graffiti of the Delije at Rajko Mitić Stadium.

Red Star’s fiercest and long standing city rival is FK Partizan, the other large and popular sport society in Serbia. They also have many supporters in all other former Yugoslavian republics and also in the Yugoslavian diaspora. The rivalry started immediately after the creation of the two clubs in 1945. Red Star was founded with close ties to the Interior ministry and Partizan as the football section of the Yugoslav People's Army. Since then, both clubs have been dominant in domestic football. The match is particularly noted for the passion of the Red Star's supporters, called Delije, and Partizan's supporters, the Grobari (English: "Gravediggers" or "Undertakers"). The stands of both teams feature fireworks, coloured confetti, flags, rolls of paper, torches, smoke, drums, giant posters and choreographies, used to create visual grandeur and apply psychological pressure on the visiting teams, hence the slogan, "Welcome to Hellgrade." Some fans also sometimes use trumpets, similar to the supporters in South America. This creates for the region a typical and distinctive Balkan Brass Band atmosphere. Both sets of supporters sing passionate songs against their rivals, and the stadiums are known to bounce with the simultaneous jumping of the fans. There are many derbies in world football but very few compare to this, it is more than just game and has a deeper meaning. The duel is regarded as one of the greatest football rivalries in the world and the matches between these rivals have been labeled as the Eternal derby. Given its widespread touch on the entirety of a major city, it's dubbed one of, along with the Old Firm, the Rome derby and the Istanbul derby, the most heated rivalries in European football.[19] In 2009, British newspaper Daily Mail ranked the Eternal derby as fourth among the ten greatest football rivalries of all-time.[3] The biggest attendance for a Red Star – Partizan match was about 108,000 spectators at the Red Star Stadium.

Honours and achievements

Red Star has won 4 international and 53 domestic trophies, making them the most successful football club in Serbia and the former Yugoslavia.

Domestic competitions

National Championships – 28 (record)

National Cups – 24 (record)

Other

International competitions

Red Star is the most successful club from Serbia (and former Yugoslavia) in all European competitions, and the only club from Eastern Europe that has won both the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. On 27 October 2017, FIFA officially recognized all winners of the Intercontinental Cup as club world champions, in equal status to the FIFA Club World Cup. The club competed in 52 European seasons, and the most notable results are:

Friendly tournaments

Individual awards

Domestic

Yugoslav First League top scorers

Season Name Goals
1951 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Kosta Tomašević 16
1953 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Todor Živanović 17
1959 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bora Kostić 25
1960 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bora Kostić 19
1969 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vojin Lazarević 22
1973 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vojin Lazarević 25
1975 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dušan Savić 20
1977 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zoran Filipović 21
1979 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dušan Savić 24
1990 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Darko Pančev 25
1991 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Darko Pančev 34
1992 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Darko Pančev 25

First League of Serbia and Montenegro top scorers

Season Name Goals
1993 Serbia and Montenegro Anto Drobnjak 22
1997 Serbia and Montenegro Zoran Jovičić 21
1998 Serbia and Montenegro Saša Marković 27
2004 Serbia and Montenegro Nikola Žigić 19
2005 Serbia and Montenegro Marko Pantelić 21

Serbian SuperLiga top scorers

Season Name Goals
2008 Serbia Nenad Jestrović 13
2011 Serbia Andrija Kaluđerović 13
2014 Serbia Dragan Mrđa 19
2016 Serbia Aleksandar Katai 21
2018 Serbia Aleksandar Pešić 25
Yugoslav Footballer of the Year
Sportsperson of the Year in Yugoslavia
Serbian SuperLiga Footballer of the Year

International

Ballon d'Or
European Golden Shoe
UEFA Jubilee Golden Player
UEFA Euro Golden Boot
UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team
FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award
FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Ball
FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Glove

Club records

Dragan Džajić is Red Star’s record appearance holder with 389 matches. The goalscoring record holder is Bora Kostić with 230 goals. Numerous Red Star players were in the Yugoslavian national team and Branko Stanković, Rajko Mitić, Vladimir Beara, Bora Kostić, Vladimir Durković, Dragoslav Šekularac, Miroslav Pavlović, Jovan Aćimović, Dragan Džajić, Vladimir Petrović, Dragan Stojković and Dejan Savićević are among them. Dragan Džajić played 85 matches for the Yugoslavian national football team, a national record.

Red Star holds records such as to be only the second foreign team that could beat Liverpool at Anfield (after Ferencváros in the 1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup), which was also the only defeat of Liverpool at home in the European Cup history in the whole 20th century (during the 1973–74 European Cup).[21] Red Star was also the first team that could beat Bayern Munich on the Olympiastadion in its long UEFA competition history (during the 1990–91 European Cup).[22]

They are the only Serbian (and ex-Yugoslav) club, and only the second team from this southern corner of Europe and Southeast Europe, to have won the European Cup, having done so in 1991, which was also the 100th UEFA competing final. Red Star is among the nine clubs, which have ever won the European Cup unbeaten. They are also the only team from the Balkans and Southeast Europe to have won the Intercontinental Cup, also in 1991. Red Star is the most successful club from the Balkans and Southeast Europe, being the only club to win both the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup. The Romanian football player Miodrag Belodedici was the first ever Red Star player to have won the European Cup with two different teams, Steaua București and Red Star, and very curious both of the team's names mean "Star". Later, the double winners were also Dejan Savićević (Red Star and Milan) and Vladimir Jugović (Red Star and Juventus).

Top ten most appearances of all-time

No Player Period App.
1Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dragan Džajić1963–75; 1977–78389
2Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bora Kostić1951–61; 1962–66341
3Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vladimir Petrović1972–82332
4Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Jovan Aćimović1965–76318
5Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Boško Đurovski1978–89299
6Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Rajko Mitić1945–58294
7Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vladica Popović1953–65291
8Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Miloš Šestić1974–84277
9Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ratomir Dujković1964–74266
10Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Miroslav Pavlović1967–74264

Top ten scorers of all-time

Rank. Player Period Goals
1Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bora Kostić1951–61; 1962–66230
2Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dragan Džajić1963–75; 1977–78155
3Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dušan Savić1973–82149
4Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zoran Filipović1970–80138
5Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Kosta Tomašević1945–54137
6Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vojin Lazarević1966–70; 1972–74134
7Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Darko Pančev1988–92116
8Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Rajko Mitić1945–58109
9Serbia and Montenegro Mihajlo Pjanović1999–0392
10Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Antun Rudinski1953–6279

Club all-time European record

Red Star Belgrade Seasons P W D L GF GA Match %W
Representing Serbia Serbia 1273262324948535.62
Representing Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro 11662620201098039.39
Representing Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 2915880285031520650.63
Total 52297132719451837144.44
Competition P W D L
European Cup / UEFA Champions League 121612535
UEFA Cup / Europa League 140583646
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 34121012
UEFA Super Cup 1001
Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup 1100
Total 2971327194
As of 18 September 2018

UEFA Ranking

As of 21 September 2018[23]
RankTeamPoints
78Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv16.000
79Russia Dynamo Moscow16.000
80Serbia Red Star Belgrade14.750
81Greece AEK Athens14.000
82Denmark Midtjylland14.000

Best results in European competitions

Season Achievement Notes
European Cup / UEFA Champions League
1991 Winners defeated France Marseille 0–0 in Bari, 5–3 pen.
1971 Semi-finals lost to Greece Panathinaikos 4–1 in Belgrade, 0–3 in Athens
1957 Semi-finals lost to Italy Fiorentina 0–1 in Belgrade, 0–0 in Firenze
UEFA Cup / Europa League
1979 Runners-up lost to Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 1–1 in Belgrade, 0–1 in Düsseldorf
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
1975 Semi-finals lost to Hungary Ferencváros 1–2 in Budapest, 2–2 in Belgrade
UEFA Super Cup
1991 Runners-up lost to England Manchester United 0–1 in Manchester
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
1962 Semi-finals lost to Spain Barcelona 0–2 in Belgrade, 1–4 in Barcelona
Mitropa Cup
1968 Winners defeated Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 0–1 in Trnava, 4–1 in Belgrade
1958 Winners defeated Czechoslovakia Rudá Hvězda Brno 4–1 in Belgrade, 3–2 in Brno

Biggest win in UEFA competition:

Season Match Score
European Cup / UEFA Champions League
1957–58 Red Star – Stade Dudelange 9–1
1969–70 Red Star – Linfield 8–0

Current squad

As of 1 September 2018[24][25][26][27]

First team

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

No. Position Player
1 Serbia GK Zoran Popović
3 Serbia MF Branko Jovičić
5 Australia DF Miloš Degenek
7 Serbia MF Nenad Krstičić (4th captain[28])
8 Serbia MF Dejan Meleg
9 Serbia FW Milan Pavkov
10 Serbia MF Nenad Milijaš (captain[29])
11 Netherlands MF Lorenzo Ebecilio
14 Serbia MF Slavoljub Srnić (5th captain[30])
15 Serbia DF Srđan Babić
16 Serbia FW Nemanja Milić
17 Germany MF Marko Marin
19 Serbia FW Nikola Stojiljković (on loan from Braga[31])
20 Serbia MF Goran Čaušić
21 Serbia MF Veljko Simić
22 Brazil MF Jonathan Cafú (on loan from Bordeaux[32])
No. Position Player
23 Serbia DF Milan Rodić
27 Bosnia and Herzegovina GK Nemanja Supić
28 Serbia FW Dejan Joveljić
29 Serbia MF Dušan Jovančić
30 Montenegro DF Filip Stojković (3rd captain[33])
31 Comoros FW El Fardou Ben Nabouhane
33 Serbia MF Milan Jevtović
34 Serbia DF Stefan Hajdin
37 Ghana DF Rashid Sumaila (on loan from Qadsia SC[34])
77 Serbia DF Marko Gobeljić (6th captain[35])
82 Canada GK Milan Borjan
90 Serbia DF Vujadin Savić (vice captain[36])
93 Serbia DF Aleksa Terzić
95 Serbia MF Ivan Ilić (on loan from Manchester City[37])
99 Ghana FW Richmond Boakye

Domestic & UEFA Reserves

As of 20 July 2018[25][38]

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

No. Position Player
25 Serbia DF Strahinja Eraković

Players with multiple nationalities

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
32 Serbia GK Aleksandar Stanković (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
40 Serbia MF Stefan Cvetković (at Bačka Bačka Palanka until the end of the 2018)[40]
44 Brazil DF Zé Marcos (at Rad until the end of 2018)[41]
73 Serbia FW Jug Stanojev (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia GK Strahinja Savić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia GK Miloš Čupić (at Zlatibor Čajetina until the end of the 2018–19 season)[42]
–– Serbia DF Nemanja Stojić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia DF Marko Janković (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia DF Marko Kojić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia DF Marko Konatar (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia DF Ranko Jokić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia MF Veljko Nikolić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
No. Position Player
–– Serbia MF Miloš Nikolić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Bosnia and Herzegovina MF Stefan Kovač (at IMT until the end of the 2018)[39]
–– Bosnia and Herzegovina MF Stefan Santrač (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia MF Željko Gavrić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Russia MF Maksim Lada (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Slovakia MF Erik Jirka (at Slovakia Spartak Trnava until the end of 2018)[43]
–– Serbia FW Nikola Veselinović (at Jedinstvo Putevi until the end of the 2018–19 season)[40]
–– Serbia FW Radivoj Bosić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[44]
–– Ghana FW Ibrahim Tanko (at Bežanija until the end of 2018–19 season)[41]
–– Serbia Vukan Đorđević (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]
–– Serbia Damjan Drinčić (at Grafičar Beograd until the end of the 2018–19 season)[39]

For recent transfers, see List of Serbian football transfers summer 2018.

Retired number(s)

12 – Delije (the 12th Man)

26 Serbia Goran Gogić, midfielder (2013−14) – posthumous honour.

Since 2014, Red Star Belgrade have not issued the squad number 26 in the Serbian SuperLiga. It was retired in memory of Goran Gogić, who died on 3 July 2015, aged 29.[45] Gogić had also been assigned with jersey 25 for the 2014–15 season, which had worn in Jagodina previously.[46] Since then some of players, like Marko Marinković and Milan Jevtović used to be registered for the UEFA competitions. Jevtović also made his debut for the club with 26 jersey in summer 2018, but later chose number 33 in the domestic competition.[47]

Club officials

Coaching history

For details see List of Red Star Belgrade football coaches

Club presidents

  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Mita Miljković (1948–51)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Isa Jovanović (1951–52)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sava Radojčić (1952–54)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dragoslav Marković (1954–55)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milić Bugarčić (1955–56)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dragoje Đurić (1956)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dušan Blagojević (1956–60)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milić Bugarčić (1960–63)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Radovan Pantović (1963–65)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dušan Blagojević (1965–68)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nikola Bugarčić (1968–77)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Radovan Pantović (1977–81)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Brana Dimitrijević (1981–82)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vlastimir Purić (1982)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Miladin Šakić (1982–87)
  • Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Mijailović (1987–93)
  • Serbia and Montenegro Dragan Džajić (1998–04)
  • Serbia Dragan Stojković (2005–07)
  • Serbia Toplica Spasojević (2007–08)
  • Serbia Dobrivoje Tanasijević (2008–09)
  • Serbia Vladan Lukić (2009–12)
  • Serbia Dragan Džajić (2012–14)
  • Serbia Svetozar Mijailović (2014–present)

Notable players

Stars of Red Star

Red Star has almost a 50-year-long tradition of giving the title of the Star of Red Star (Serbian: Звездина звезда / Zvezdina zvezda) to the players that had a major impact on the club's history and have made the name of the club famous around the globe. So far, five players and the entire 1991 team were officially given the title. They are:

The 1991 European Cup Winner Generation

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

No. Position Player
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia GK Stevan Stojanović
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia GK Željko Kaluđerović
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia DF Duško Radinović
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia DF Slobodan Marović
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia DF Refik Šabanadžović
Romania DF Miodrag Belodedici
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia DF Ilija Najdoski
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia DF Goran Vasilijević
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia DF Goran Jurić
No. Position Player
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia DF Rade Tošić
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia MF Vladimir Jugović
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia MF Robert Prosinečki
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia MF Dejan Savićević
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia MF Siniša Mihajlović
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia MF Vlada Stošić
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia MF Ivica Momčilović
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FW Darko Pančev
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FW Dragiša Binić

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have played at least 80 matches for the club.
Flags indicate national teams they played for, not nationality.

Notable foreign players

To appear in this section a player must have played at least 30 matches for the club.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

The club's name in Serbian is also the title of the 2013 Italian novel Crvena Zvezda by Enrico Varrecchione. Written in the alternate history genre, utilizing elements of uchronia, its story is based on the premise of what if the 9 November 1988 return leg of the European Cup second round clash between Red Star and AC Milan hadn't been ordered abandoned by German referee Dieter Pauly in the 65th minute due to thick fog that night in Belgrade. Red Star were leading 1–0 after a goal by Dejan Savićević and were also a man up due to Milan striker Pietro Paolo Virdis receiving a red card. After abandonment, UEFA cancelled the match and ordered it replayed in full the next day. This time it finished 1–1 and went to penalties (the first leg in Milan also ended 1–1) where Milan won and went through to the quarter-finals, eventually winning the European Cup — thus getting the coveted trophy again after twenty years, the club's first under its recently arrived owner, ambitious businessman Silvio Berlusconi. In the novel's parallel universe, Red Star won the 8 November 1988 match in Belgrade and eliminated AC Milan, which thus never won its 1989 European Cup, meaning that Berlusconi's ultimate entry into Italian politics had a much weaker background push, which adversely affected his performance at the 1994 Italian general election.[48] The novel also follows the fate of Red Star's fictional striker, loosely based on Savićević, Jovan Eldzic who scored the famous goal in the fog and later went on to transfer to AC Milan where he achieved more accolades, eventually taking Italian citizenship, remaining living in Italy upon retiring from football before entering politics and running for mayor of a small town in Piedmont's Alessandria province.[48]

Billy Bragg's 1991 UK top thirty hit song "Sexuality" contains the lyric "I had an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade." When interviewed many years later Bragg was asked if this was true, to which he replied that his uncle actually played for Fulham but that did not fit the rhyme with played.[49]

Two non-related bands, one of them from Great Yarmouth, Great Britain,[50][51] and the other one from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States,[52] shared the name Red Star Belgrade.

A football club in Ecuador, in the city of Cuenca, created in 1961, is inspired in Red Star Belgrade. It is named CDS Estrella Roja. Estrella Roja is the translation and the way Red Star is known in Spanish speaking countries. The club crest is even the same as the one Red Star had between 1995 and 2011.[53]

References

  1. ↑ "Stadion Rajko Mitić (Marakana)". Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Svaki drugi Srbin navija za Crvenu zvezdu retrieved from b92.net, 18 March 2008
  3. 1 2 "THE LIST: The greatest rivalries in club football, Nos 10–1". Mail Online. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sa proslave 57. rođendana crveno-belih: Lenjin i Staljin bili u "igri" za ime Crvene Zvezde". Politika. 6 March 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "History of Crvena zvezda". crvenazvezdafk.com. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Red Star claim gold for the Balkan peninsula". FIFA.com. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Crvena Zvezda - Manchester United 3:3 (1958.). YouTube. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  8. ↑ Crvena zvezda - Borusija (M) 1:1, 0:1 (oba meča). YouTube. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  9. ↑ Crvena Zvezda - FC Barcelona 2:4 (1982.). YouTube. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  10. ↑ Crvena zvezda - Olimpik 0:0 (5:3). YouTube. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "Red Star players pay a hefty price". fifpro.org. 18 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Niko kao Zvezda – crveno-beli u istoriji LE!". b92.net. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  13. ↑ "Istorija u Salcburgu, Zvezda u Ligi šampiona". rts.rs. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  14. ↑ "Blic Sport – Stadion Zvezde među 50 najznačajnijih u Evropi". Blic Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  15. ↑ Allan Jiang. "10 Most Hostile World Football Stadiums". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "Живковић - Спреман сам, све је много боље" (in Serbian). crvenazvezdafk.com. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Кренули кадети" (in Serbian). crvenazvezdafk.com. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "Пионири најбољи и у Србији" (in Serbian). crvenazvezdafk.com. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "The Inferno At Yesterday's Biggest Rivalry Game". theoffside.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  20. ↑ "Champions 1946". crvenazvezdafk.com. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  21. ↑ Liverpul - Crvena zvezda 1:2. YouTube. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  22. ↑ Bajern - Crvena zvezda 1:2. YouTube. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  23. ↑ "Club coefficients". uefa.com. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  24. ↑ "First Team". FK Crvena zvezda. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  25. 1 2 "Licensed for UEFA Champions League". UEFA. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  26. ↑ "Licensed for the Serbian SuperLiga". superliga.rs. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  27. ↑ "Владан Милојевић извршио прозивку". FK Crvena zvezda. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  28. ↑ "KAPITEN DONALD ODLAZI A EVO KO CE SAD NOSITI KAPITENSKU TRAKU: Stigao odgovor na veliko pitanje Zvezdasa!". srpskilist.rs (in Serbian). 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  29. ↑ "Милијаш и Анђелковић о жребу". Red Star Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 19 June 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  30. ↑ "Вождовац – Црвена звезда 1:2 (0:2)". mojacrvenazvezda.net (in Serbian). 4 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  31. ↑ "Никола Стојиљковић у Звезди!". Red Star Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 15 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  32. ↑ "Кафу стигао у Звезду!". Red Star Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 10 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  33. ↑ "Стојковић – Капитенска трака испуњен сан". Red Star Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 18 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  34. ↑ "Рашид Сумаила потписао!". Red Star Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  35. ↑ "PRIZNANJE Gobeljić za Blicsport: Ja kapiten Zvezde? San mi se ispunio". Blic (in Serbian). 22 July 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  36. ↑ "Vujadin Savić kao 2010". mondo.rs (in Serbian). 5 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  37. ↑ "Терзић: Звездаши, будите поносни". Red Star Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 7 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  38. ↑ "Zvezdina formula za kvalifikacije 23+5: Nema Degeneka, Ilića i Hajdina". mozzartsport.com. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  39. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Фудбал, 33/18" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 15 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  40. 1 2 "Фудбал, 35/18" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 29 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  41. 1 2 "Фудбал, ванредни број 22/18" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 31 August 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  42. ↑ "Фудбал, 34/18" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 22 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  43. ↑ "Erik Jirka sa dohodol s CZ Belehrad. Minimálne na jeseň ale zotrvá v Spartaku". FC Spartak Trnava official website (in Slovak). 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  44. ↑ "Фудбал, ванредни број 21/18" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 24 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  45. ↑ "Dve godine tuge: Zvezda i Delije su na današnji dan ostali bez Gorana Gogića (VIDEO)". telegraf.rs. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  46. ↑ Goran Gogić at Soccerway
  47. ↑ "Jevtović, Milan 2018–19 season". Serbian SuperLiga official website. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  48. 1 2 "Crvena Zvezda 09/11/1988". Crvena Zvezda 09/11/1988. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  49. ↑ "Q Magazine – Music news & reviews, music videos, band pictures & interviewsQ Magazine". Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  50. ↑ Too Far, Red Star Belgrade. YouTube. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  51. ↑ "Red Star Belgrade". musicfromtheeastzone.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  52. ↑ Jason Ankeny. "Red Star Belgrade – Music Biography, Streaming Radio and Discography – AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  53. ↑ CSD Estrella Roja official Facebook page, retrieved 24 July 2017 (in Spanish)
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