Rokometni klub Maribor Branik (English: Maribor Branik Handball Club), commonly referred to as RK Maribor Branik or simply Branik, is a handball club from Maribor, Slovenia. As of the 2023–24 season, the club competes in the Second National League (2. DRL), the third tier of Slovenian handball. They play their home games at Tabor Hall, a 3,261 capacity multi-purpose sports venue in Maribor. Between 2004 and 2010, the team was known as RK Klima Petek Maribor due to sponsorship reasons.[1] Their biggest success is reaching the final of the Slovenian Handball Cup twice and reaching the quarter-finals of the EHF Cup in the 2012–13 season.[1]
The first handball team in Maribor was formed in 1925, when the women's section of the 1. SSK MB played their first Czech handball match at the Ljudski vrt area.[1] The first men's handball team, named Polet, was formed in 1949.[1][3] They renamed as Branik in 1951, when they participated in the Yugoslav First League qualifiers.[1] In 1954, Branik won their first Slovenian Republic League title, and were promoted to the Yugoslav First League.[1] Between 1955 and 1968, Branik did not achieve any major success and were even relegated to the local Styrian League in 1966, but returned to the top Slovenian division two years later.[1] They were relegated again in 1972, but once again returned in 1979 after spending a few years in the local regional leagues.[1] In 1977, the team merged with Kovinar Tezno to form Maribor.[1] The team was struggling in the next decade and did not achieve any major results. After Slovenia's independence in 1991, the team was reformed with a help from some former handball players, including Marko Šibila, and reached the Third National Handball League (3. DRL).[1]
Maribor Branik
In 2003, a new club called Maribor Branik was founded. In their first season, the team was promoted to the 2. DRL East.[1] In 2005–06, they were promoted to the 1. B DRL, where they stayed until the 2008–09 season, when the team was promoted to the top tier Slovenian First League of Handball.[1] In the same year, they also finished third in the Slovenian Handball Cup.[1] In their first season in the top division, they finished eighth and were runners-up of the Slovenian Handball Cup, where they lost to Celje in the final.[4] As runners-up, they gained a place in the 2010–11 EHF Cup Winners' Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to the Spanish side San Antonio.[1] In the same season, Branik finished fifth in the league. They again finished fifth in the 2011–12 season, and were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2011–12 EHF Challenge Cup by Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel.[1] The most successful international season for the club was in 2012–13, when they reached the group stages of the EHF Cup, defeating Dudelange, Kópavogs and Siscia in the qualifications.[5] They were drawn in the group with Danish team Tvis Holstebro, Norwegian Elverum and Polish Wisła Płock.[6] With seven points out of six games, Maribor Branik qualified to the quarter-finals of the competition,[7] where they were eliminated by Göppingen with 57–56 on aggregate.[8] In 2013–14 and 2014–15, the club finished third in the Slovenian League, which is their best result since the establishment. The club was about to enter the regional SEHA League alongside Celje and Gorenje in the 2014–15 season, but all three Slovenian clubs refused entry due to unacceptable financial requirements.[9] In the 2016–17 season, Maribor Branik reached the final of the Slovenian Cup for the second time in its history, where they lost to Celje 36–28.[10]
Arena
Maribor Branik play their home matches at a 3,261 capacity Tabor Hall in the Tabor District of Maribor.[11] The reserve venue of the club is Lukna Sports Hall, a 2,100[12] capacity all-seater indoor hall, also located in Maribor.[13]
Supporters and rivalries
Kristijan Petek, the former president of the club, was the first to organize a fan group which would support the team at home matches.[14] As he was also the owner of the air conditioning company Klima Petek, which was the main sponsor of the club, the fan group was composed of employees of the company.[14] In 2010, when Andrej Bauman has been appointed a new director of Maribor Branik, the club gained a new group of fans, named Maribor Supporters, which supposedly consisted of the younger members of Viole Maribor, the supporters of football club NK Maribor.[14]
In February 2012, Maribor Supporters chanted a song about the Srebrenica massacre against the Bosnian team Gradačac during the 2011–12 EHF Challenge Cup match.[14] The match was temporarily suspended, and the incident received wide coverage in the Slovenian and Bosnian media.[15][16][17] The group was banned by Maribor Branik from attending any home matches, and a police investigation was ordered.[14][15]
Maribor Branik do not have any major rivals; however, matches between Maribor Branik and RK Celje are dubbed as the Styrian derby (Slovene: Štajerski derbi),[18][19] named after Styria, with Maribor and Celje being the two largest cities in the region. Matches between Maribor Branik and RK Jeruzalem Ormož are also called Styrian derby or Neighbourhood derby (Slovene: Sosedski derbi).[20][21][22][23]
Colours, kits and crest
During the club's first years, the kit colours were blue,[24] white and black, with the last two also being the traditional colours of the Branik Sports Association.[25] Before the start of the 2011–12 season, Maribor Branik changed its main colour to purple due to the popularity of NK Maribor, the most successful football club in Slovenia, which plays in purple jerseys.[26] A decade later, ahead of the 2021–22 season, the club reverted to white kits for home games and black kits for away games.[13][27] The club crest is in the form of a shield with an abstract portrayal of a handball player. In 2012, the colours of the crest were changed from black and white to purple and white.
^ abThe league season was finished early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28] The cup competition was cancelled before the quarterfinals.
Maribor Branik in European handball
The table includes matches from the official European Handball Federation competitions only.[29] All results (home and away) list Branik's goal tally first.
^Da. B. (23 March 2013). "Branik kljub porazu v četrtfinale pokala EHF" [Branik qualified for the EHF Cup quarterfinals despite defeat]. zurnal24.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 5 September 2020.
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