NK Lokomotiva

NK Lokomotiva Zagreb, commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a professional Croatian football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Prva HNL, the country's top division. Founded in 1914, the club's only period of success came in the late 1940s and the early 1950s before spending most of the following five decades as lower-level minnows.

Lokomotiva
Full nameNogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb
Nickname(s)Lokosi
Short nameLOK
Founded1 May 1914 (1914-05-01)
as ŽŠK Victoria
GroundStadion Kranjčevićeva
Capacity8,850[1]
ChairmanTin Dolički
ManagerGoran Tomić
LeaguePrva HNL
2018–19Prva HNL, 6th of 10
WebsiteClub website

Between 2007 and 2009 they won three consecutive promotions to rise from the fourth level to the first level in the Croatian football league system. They hosted their home matches at Stadion Maksimir for a couple of years before moving to Stadion Kranjčevićeva, as their own ground in the Novi Zagreb's Kajzerica neighbourhood is unsuitable for the top level football.

History

NK Lokomotiva was founded as ŽŠK Victoria (Željezničarski športski klub "Victoria") in 1914.

After World War I, the name of the club was changed to Željezničar, under which they competed between the two wars. At that time, they were mostly in the shadow of the city's bigger clubs Građanski, Concordia and HAŠK. They played in the first level only in the 1940–41 season.

In 1945, the club was renamed Lokomotiva and soon their most productive years followed. They continuously played for 8 seasons (1947–1955) in the Yugoslav First League with the best league result in 1952, when they finished third, behind Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade.[2] Some of the players at that time were Vladimir Čonč, Vladimir Firm, Drago Hmelina, Franjo Beserdi and Oto Bobek, younger brother of legendary Stjepan Bobek. They won Yugoslav Second League in 1956, but were relegated again from the First League in the summer of 1957 and never returned to the Yugoslav top flight again. They played in the Yugoslav Second League until 1970 and then also in the Yugoslav Inter-Republic League in the last years before the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

After Croatian independence and the formation of the Prva HNL in 1991, Lokomotiva played in the lower leagues of Croatian football, mostly spending their time in the Treća HNL. In 2006, before relegation to the fourth division, Lokomotiva became the feeder team for Dinamo Zagreb. This sparked a story of one of the most incredible rises through the leagues ever in Croatian football. Lokomotiva gained promotion in each of the next three season, finishing first in the Četvrta HNL in the 2006–07 season, second in the Treća HNL in the 2007–08 season, and third in the Druga HNL in the 2008–09 season.

The promotion from the second to the first division of Croatian football in 2009 meant that in the 2009–10 season, Lokomotiva would be back in the top flight for the first time after 52 years. The side recovered from a poor start in the league and finished in a respectable 8th position out of 16 teams, with notable victories 4–2 away against NK Zagreb, home 3–0 over Rijeka, and 2–1 over Hajduk Split. Their top scorer, Nino Bule, finished with 14 goals.

The next season, the 2012–13 season, was the best in recent history for Lokomotiva. They finished in the second place ahead of clubs such as Rijeka, Hajduk Split and RNK Split. Young star Andrej Kramarić, on loan from Dinamo Zagreb, finished second in the scoring charts with 15 goals. This qualified them for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.

In their first European encounter, the side faced FC Dinamo Minsk, unfortunately losing on the away goals rule after winning 2–1 away from home, but losing 3–2 at home. The side enjoyed another strong showing in the Prva HNL, which was reduced to 10 teams for the 2013–14 season. The Zagreb-based side finished in fifth place.

Due to rules against second sides being in the same division, they legally split their connection to Dinamo Zagreb. To meet the criteria for the Prva HNL, they played their games at Stadion Maksimir before moving on to Stadion Kranjčevićeva which is now the club's home.[3] The club's base and youth teams area are located in Kajzerica neighborhood.

Name changes
  • ŽŠK Victoria (1914–1919)
  • ŠK Željezničar (1919–1941)
  • HŽŠK (1941–1945)
  • FD Lokomotiva (1945–1946)
  • FD Crvena Lokomotiva (1946–1947)
  • NK Lokomotiva (1947–present)

Players

Current squad
As of 1 June 2020[4]

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 Bruno Bermanec
2 FW Iyayi Atiemwen (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)
3 DF Stipo Marković
4 DF Frane Vojković
5 FW Đorđe Rakić
6 DF Dominik Kovačić
7 FW Myrto Uzuni
8 MF Oliver Petrak
9 FW Mario Budimir
10 MF Sammir
11 DF Ivan Čeliković
12 GK Krunoslav Hendija
13 GK Ivo Grbić
14 MF Pape Assane Mbodji
15 MF Josip Majić
No. Position Player
16 DF Jon Mersinaj
17 FW Indrit Tuci
18 MF Enis Çokaj
19 DF Luka Smoljo
20 DF Denis Kolinger
21 FW Loren Maružin
22 FW Lirim Kastrati (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)
23 MF Kristijan Jakić
24 MF Marko Tolić
26 DF Fran Karačić (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)
27 MF Emerson Santana
28 DF Dino Halilović
29 DF Petar Gluhakovic
44 DF Nikola Pejović
— DF Bradley Vliet

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
31 MF Albion Marku (at Laçi until 30 June 2020)

Recent seasons
Season League Cup European competitions Top league scorer
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Player Goals
2006–07 4. HNL 30 25 2 3 94 31 77 1st ↑ Jurica Jeleć 16
2007–08 3. HNL 34 28 2 4 105 32 86 2nd ↑ Robert Mesić 34
2008–09 2. HNL 30 18 5 7 50 30 59 3rd ↑ Mateo Poljak 8
2009–10 1. HNL 30 12 6 12 35 38 42 8th Nino Bule 14
2010–11 1. HNL 30 8 9 13 24 37 33 14th R1 Nino Bule 11
2011–12 1. HNL 30 12 8 10 33 33 44 7th Andrej Kramarić 5
2012–13 1. HNL 33 16 9 8 54 38 57 2nd RU Andrej Kramarić 15
2013–14 1. HNL 36 15 7 14 57 59 52 5th Europa League QR2 Ante Budimir 14
2014–15 1. HNL 36 13 7 16 59 68 46 4th QF Domagoj Pavičić 8
2015–16 1. HNL 36 16 4 16 56 53 52 4th QF Europa League QR2 Franko Andrijašević 12
2016–17 1. HNL 36 12 8 16 41 38 44 5th QF Europa League PO Josip Ćorić 6
2017–18 1. HNL 36 14 9 13 47 48 51 5th SF Lovro Majer 11
2018–19 1. HNL 36 13 10 13 51 43 49 6th QF Dejan Radonjić 8

European record
Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Agg
2013–14 UEFA Europa League QR2 Dinamo Minsk 2–3 2–1 4–4 (a)
2015–16 UEFA Europa League QR1 Airbus UK Broughton 2–2 3–1 5–3
QR2 PAOK 2–1 0–6 2–7
2016–17 UEFA Europa League QR1 UE Santa Coloma 4–1 3–1 7–2
QR2 RoPS Rovaniemi 3–0 1–1 4–1
QR3 FC Vorskla Poltava 0–0 3–2 3–2
PO KRC Genk 2–2 0–2 2–4

Honours

Managerial history

References
  1. "Stadion Kranjčevićeva". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  2. "povijest" (in Croatian). NK Lokomotiva.
  3. "Kranjcevic's no longer mocked, to the delight of Lokomotiv, Rudeš and all our first team players" (in Croatian). tportal.hr/. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. "1. momčad – igrači" (in Croatian). NK Lokomotiva. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.