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Svoboda Ljubljana
Full nameNogometni klub Svoboda Ljubljana
Nickname(s)Vitezi (The Knights)
Founded1952; 72 years ago (1952)[1]
GroundSvoboda Sports Park
Capacity800
PresidentHajro Rizvić
Head CoachDamir Šabotić
League3. SNL – West
2022–233. SNL – West, 6th of 14
WebsiteClub website

Nogometni klub Svoboda Ljubljana (English: Svoboda Ljubljana Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Svoboda Ljubljana or simply Svoboda, is a Slovenian football club from Ljubljana which plays in the Slovenian Third League.

History

The club was formed as ŠD Svoboda in 1952 and was known as one of the best Slovenian clubs during the time of SFR Yugoslavia. It started in lower rangs, but then merged with Grafičar, took its place in Slovenian League and played under that name until 1962. The most successful years came in the seventies, when the club was playing in Yugoslav Second Division under the sponsorship of Mercator, national food market company. In 1971 they have won the Slovenian Republic League for the first time and earned a promotion to the Yugoslav Second Division West, where they played until 1982, with the exception of three triumphal republic seasons.

Year Postiton Year Postiton
1971 1st 1977 17th
1972 13th 1978 1st
1973 8th 1979 16th
1974 18th 1980 1st
1975 1st 1981 8th
1976 12th 1982 16th

During this period they have also won two cup titles in 1976 and 1978. Therefore, they participated in the Yugoslav Cup in the next two seasons, in the latter they were eliminated by Borac Banja Luka in the Round of 16. After the independence of Slovenia in 1991, Svoboda played in the Slovenian PrvaLiga for three seasons, finishing in 11th, 6th, and 13th place. In 1994 the club was replaced by Slavija with many players leaving from them to Vevče. Svoboda then played several seasons in lower divisions, before returning to the scene in 2003, when they were promoted to the Slovenian Second League. They have played there for three seasons, scoring the best result in the 2004–05 season with third place, which was not enough to secure promotion, due to Slovenian First League being decreased to ten teams. In the next two seasons Svoboda was relegated from the second and third division, having serious financial troubles. The club was taken over by NK Interblock in 2008 to become their feeder team for youth selections, but this collaboration lasted only one season. Svoboda started on their own again in 2009. In 2018, Svoboda returned to the Slovenian Third League after they won a promotion play-off against Žiri.

Managers

Manager Period
Sanel Konjević 2009–2010
Vanja Starčević 2011
Suad Beširević 2011–2012
Željko Mitraković 2012
Zoran Pejović 2012–2016
Damir Vrabac 2016–2017
Damir Šabotić 2017
Damir Vrabac 2018
Jedinko Perica 2018–2021
Željko Filipović 2021
Goran Ćurt 2022
Amir Agić 2022
Hajro Rizvić 2022
Stanko Božičević 2023
Damir Šabotić 2023–present

Honours

League

Cup

Domestic league and cup results

Season League Position Pts P W D L GF GA Cup
1991–92 1. SNL 11 40 40 14 12 14 51 55 Round of 64
1992–93 1. SNL 6 38 34 14 10 10 38 33 Quarter-finals
1993–94 1. SNL 13 23 30 9 5 16 31 59 First round
1994–95 2. MNZ LJ 1 28 18 13 2 3 43 20 First round
1995–96 1. MNZ LJ 3 48 26 15 3 8 48 33 did not qualify
1996–97 1. MNZ LJ 3 45 25 14 3 8 54 33 did not qualify
1997–98 3. SNL – West 2 42 25 11 9 5 41 21 did not qualify
1998–99 3. SNL – Centre 3 47 26 14 5 7 78 50 did not qualify
1999–2000 3. SNL – Centre 11 26 26 6 8 12 34 39 did not qualify
2000–01 3. SNL – Centre 9 33 26 8 9 9 32 34 did not qualify
2001–02 3. SNL – Centre 3 47 26 13 8 5 45 32 did not qualify
2002–03 3. SNL – Centre 1 62 25 19 5 1 76 23 did not qualify
2003–04 2. SNL 8 34 32 9 7 16 48 47 did not qualify
2004–05 2. SNL 3 61 33 18 7 8 52 33 First round
2005–06 2. SNL 9 25 27 7 4 16 26 33 First round
2006–07 3. SNL – West 11 29 26 9 15 2 39 59 did not qualify
2007–08 2. MNZ LJ 8 21 20 7 0 13 40 50 did not qualify
2008–09 did not enter any competitions
2009–10 2. MNZ LJ 1 38 16 12 2 2 71 22 did not qualify
2010–11 Regional 1 56 26 17 5 4 60 27 did not qualify
2011–12 3. SNL – West 14 22 26 5 7 14 23 49 did not qualify
2012–13 Regional 2 55 26 17 4 5 64 31 did not qualify
2013–14 Regional 8 32 26 9 5 12 44 50 did not qualify
2014–15 Regional 6 28 19 9 1 9 33 31 did not qualify
2015–16 Regional 2 44 22 14 2 6 52 34 did not qualify
2016–17 Regional 4 40 22 12 4 6 42 31 did not qualify
2017–18 Regional 1 58 22 18 4 0 65 18 did not qualify
2018–19 3. SNL – Centre 6 32 27 7 11 9 44 52 did not qualify
2019–20 3. SNL – West[a] 2 31 14 9 4 1 47 19 did not qualify
2020–21 3. SNL – West 7 22 19 7 1 11 33 47 did not qualify
2021–22 3. SNL – West 13 16 26 4 4 18 20 55 did not qualify
2022–23 3. SNL – West 6 39 26 11 6 9 32 30 First round
  1. ^ The season was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
*Best results are highlighted.

References

  1. ^ "Klubi" [Clubs] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Novice: Finale članskega pokala MNZ Ljubljana" (in Slovenian). MNZ Ljubljana. Archived from the original on 11 June 2004. Retrieved 30 October 2016.

External links

2023–24 Slovenian Third League
Slovenian PrvaLiga
Slovenian Republic League
Categories