FK Voždovac

Fudbalski klub Voždovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Вождовац), commonly known as Voždovac, is a professional football club located in Voždovac, a municipality of Belgrade, in Serbia.

Voždovac
Full nameFudbalski klub Voždovac
Nickname(s)Zmajevi (The Dragons)
Founded1912 (1912)
GroundVoždovac Stadium, Belgrade
Capacity5,174
ChairmanMomir Veljković
ManagerJovan Damjanović
LeagueSerbian SuperLiga
2018–19Serbian Superliga, 11th
WebsiteClub website

History

The club was formed in 1912, under the name SK Dušanovac and its president in that year was Danilo Stojanović, "Čika Dača"[1] who was also the coach in that year. The club was named after Dušanovac, a suburb in Belgrade where the club was formed. Initially it was a club whose players and followers were mostly students from the Economics Gymnasium. After the end of World War I the club substantially improved however it never archived to be in the top like other clubs such as BSK Belgrade or SK Jugoslavija.[2]

In 1929, it is renamed into Voždovački SK (Voždovački sport klub). The main success in this period was the winning of the II League of Belgrade Football Subassociation in the 1933–34 season, and the III League of Belgrade in 1948–49. In the 1963–64 season, they won the Serbian Republic League, then the Yugoslav third tier, and promoted to the Yugoslav Second League. After Red Star Belgrade's new ground Marakana was built between 1959–63, Voždovački SK played its home matches on Marakana's secondary pitch with bleachers around it.

Old crest

In 1973, another local club, Sloboda Belgrade, formed in 1953 and Belgrade League champion in 1968, was dissolved. The municipal authorities decided to hand Sloboda's ground over to Voždovački, which then changed its name to FK Voždovac. The first major achievement was the winning of the Belgrade Football Association Cup in 1975. During the following three decades Voždovac competed mostly in the lower Serbian leagues, until the season of 2003–04, when they won the Serbian League Belgrade without a single defeat, achieving promotion to the Serbian First League, the national second tier.

On 28 June 2005, Železnik won the Serbia and Montenegro Cup but, struggling financially, merged with Voždovac. As a result, Voždovac gained access to the 2005–06 First League of Serbia and Montenegro, finishing in third place and qualifying for European competition. However, due to the continuing financial difficulties after the merger, club officials decided not to request the license for European competitions. After 3 years in the Serbian League Belgrade, Voždovac won the championship in 2012 and achieved promotion to the second tier. In their first season in the second division, they finished third, gaining promotion to the Serbian Superleague when Hajduk Kula withdrew.

Stadium

The old Voždovac Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home ground of Voždovac, with a capacity of 5,780 people. It was demolished in 2011.

Voždovac play their home games at the Stadium Voždovac located on the fourth floor of a shopping center and it meets all UEFA regulations. It has 5,174 seats, the pitch is 24 meters above ground while the tallest stands are 45 meters above.

The stadium was opened for a league game against Jagodina in the fourth round of the Superliga on the 31st of August 2013. It is also the first time a Superliga game was played on artificial grass.[3]

Supporters

Groups

The organized supporters of FK Voždovac are the Invalidi (Invalids).[4] However, the first organised supporting group was formed in 1987, and was named Vilenjaci (The Elves). Initially consisted of about 30 members, mostly former and youth players from the neighborhood. Along with Vilenjaci, another group named Zmajevi (Dragons) appeared, which is simultaneously the traditional nickname of the club. Vilenjaci grew with time, and they were often involved in disturbs. They made an effort to be original in their supporting. Pirotechnical fireworks were a usual way of provoking match interruptions.[5]

In 1989, another group named Genoes United was formed in the east stand of the stadium, and by that time Zmajevi accepted to join Vilenjaci. Shortly afterwards Genoes also joined Vilenjaci on the western stand. In the season 1989–90 another group was formed, Hasini Trafikari, named after a former club player, nicknamed Hasa. Initially formed in the south stand, they would also ended up merging with Vilenjaci on the western stand. However, when it looked that the group was stronger than ever, it ended up being disbanded.[5]

In 1990, a new group, that was initially more similar to a street gang than to football fans, was formed and named Invalidi.[5] During the 1990s, the group was constantly growing, and besides football their presence was also noticed in other sports events in which the club participated, most notably in women's handball. Obviously the most inspiring period for club fans was the period the club competed in the top league. Today the group consists of about 100 young men.[6]

Friendships

The fans have a strong friendship with fans of OFK Belgrade. They also have good relations with fans of ŁKS Łomża.

Honours

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Current squad
As of 19 August 2019[7][8]

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

No. Position Player
1 GK Marko Trkulja
4 DF Luka Jakovljević
5 DF Nenad Cvetković
6 DF Nemanja Vucic
7 FW Pavle Radulovic
8 MF Ivan Milosavljevic
9 MF Miloš Stojčev
10 MF Jovan Nišić
11 MF Luka Cvetićanin
12 GK Georgiy Bratukhin
13 MF Lazar Zličić
14 FW Justas Lasickas
No. Position Player
19 DF Nikola Mikić
22 DF Marko Živković
23 FW Dragan Stoisavljević
25 MF Nemanja Nikolić
26 FW Viktor Živojinović
27 DF Vasilije Bakić
31 GK Marko Ilić
35 FW Marko Gjorgjievski
44 DF Stefan Hajdin (on loan from Red Star Belgrade)
MF Edin Ajdinović
DF Nemanja Pejcinović
FW Filip Stuparević (on loan from Watford)

Youth and reserves

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

No. Position Player
–– GK Mihailo Karadžić
–– GK Filip Nović
–– DF Novak Vuković
No. Position Player
–– MF David Bajić
–– MF Jezdimir Nedeljković
–– MF Stevan Marinković

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
No. Position Player

For recent transfers, see List of Serbian football transfers summer 2019.

Club officials

Coaching staff
PositionName
ManagerJovan Damjanović
Assistant ManagerMarko Savić
Club presidentMomir Veljković
Sports directorJovan Damjanović
General directorMiloš Mirković
General secretaryNikola Radivojević

Notable former players

This is a list of FK Voždovac players with senior national team appearances:[9]

For the list of all current and former players with Wikipedia article, please see: Category:FK Voždovac players.

Coaching history

References
  1. Srbislav Todorović: "Football in Serbia 1896 – 1918", pag. 153
  2. "Čika Dačine uspomene 1903 – 1953", Belgrade 1953, pag. 52 (in Serbian)
  3. "Kako izgleda srpski fudbal na krovu tržnog centra". Mondo Portal (in Serbian). Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  4. FANATIK: Kup je praznik za Ultrase! at mozzartsport.com, 24-9-2014, retrieved 19-4-2016 (in Serbian)
  5. "ИНВАЛИДИ ВОЖДОВАЦ | ИСТОРИЈА" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  6. Story and history at Invalidi website (in Serbian)
  7. "First Team". FK Voždovac official website. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. "Licensed for the Serbian SuperLiga". superliga.rs. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  9. FK Voždovac at National-Football-Teams.com
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