РК Вардар 1961 RK Vardar 1961
Full name	Rakometen klub Vardar 1961
Short name	Vardar
Founded	1961; 63 years ago (1961) in Skopje
Arena	Jane Sandanski Arena
Capacity	6.000
President	Mihajlo Mihajlovski
Head coach	Vlado Nedanovski
League	Macedonian Super League
2022–23	Macedonian Super League, 3rd
Club colours
Home Away
Website Official site

Active departments of Sports Club Vardar
Football	Handball	Basketball

RK Vardar 1961 (Macedonian: РК Вардар 1961) is a professional handball club from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Vardar is the most successful handball team in the country, having won fifteen national League titles and sixteen Cup titles. Vardar is the most successful team in the regional SEHA League, having won five titles. The team has also won two EHF Champions League titles.

History

RK Vardar was founded in 1961 as part of the Vardar Sports Club in Skopje, which was founded in 1947.

The RK Grafichar Skopje club was established in 1948, second only to Rabotnichki in rank and quality. In 1961, Grafičar was renamed Vardar, and almost all members of RK Partizan Skopje joined the team. The emergence of the ambitious Vardar team presented a challenge to Rabotnički, which was no longer the strong first-league team from the past. Notable early members of Vardar who would become mainstrays included goalkeeper Jovanovski, as well as Atanasovski, Zdravkovski, Savevski and Bozinovski.

The promising talent, led especially by coach Boskos, who brought great knowledge from his career in Romania, a handball superpower at the time, where he lived until moving to Macedonia. Vardar played ambitiously, and after overcoming numerous obstacles and defeating their fierce opponents, Vardar joined the first division in 1976. They played there for 2 seasons, while in the 80s they spent most of the time in the second division.

The handball team rose to power again in the late 1990s, becoming one of two clubs, alongside RK Pelister, to dominate the Macedonian handball scene after the independence of the country.

Vardar has participated in the EHF Champions League eleven times and made it to the semifinals of the Cup Winner's Cup three times. Except for 2005, when they came in 4th place, the club has achieved either championship or runner-up status in the Macedonian Super League since 1999. They achieved a record win in the Macedonian handball championship by winning their twelfth title in 2018 and are the record cup winner with thirteen victories. On April 15, 2012, Vardar defeated Metalurg at the Zagreb Arena to become the first SEHA League champion.^[1][2] The team has won five titles in the SEHA League. The club started the new 2013–14 season with a new management structure, with Sergey Samsonenko as the new proprietor and sports director of the club, and Mihajlo Mihajlovski as the honorary club chairman.

The season of 2016–17 was the most successful for the team because they managed to win the EHF Champions League and the regional SEHA League, including the two main domestic championships, the national Handball Super League and the national Handball Cup. Two days after winning the EHF Champions League, the team celebrated the victory with approximately 150,000 people in a ceremony on Macedonia Square in Skopje. Because of the huge success, Gjorgje Ivanov, at the time President of the Republic of Macedonia, awarded the members of the handball club Vardar a Medal of Merit for the Republic of North Macedonia for the results they achieved, especially for winning the Champions League title. The club was awarded the national charter of the country.

In the 2018–19 season, the team once again managed to win the EHF Champions League, the regional SEHA League and the main domestic championship, the Handball Super League of North Macedonia. One day after winning the EHF Champions League, the team arrived in the country with a private jet and celebrated the victory with approximately 250,000 people in a central ceremony at Macedonia Square in Skopje.

• Cup Winners 2023: There was another thriller match between the heavyweights Vardar and Eurofarm in the Cup Final 2023, held at Ohrids SRC Biljanini Izvori, packed with both Komiti and Abdomens supporters. In this great festive atmosphere, both teams gave an outstanding performance. The first half went to the Red Army, leaving the score at 15 to 10. In the second half, Eurofarm fought hard for a comeback, and the game went into overtime. In the end, due in large part to a brilliant performance by long-time goalkeeper Borko Ristovski, Vardar won 26 to 25, adding a 16th Cup Trophy to their rich collection.
• At the beginning of the 2023–24 season, the Red Black Army won the Super Cup 2023 against then-champions Eurofarm in Strumitsa Sports Center, a neutral ground chosen for the occasion. The first half finished in a 13–13 tie, but in the second half, Vardar made a resurgence and won the match 26 to 30. The Super Cup Trophy returned after 3 years to the home of the Red Black Jane Sandansky's trophy collection.

Kits

HOME
2014–16	2017–19

AWAY
2015-17	2017-19	2019-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023–24

Accomplishments

Domestic competitions

• Macedonian Handball Super League

Winner (15): 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–2021, 2021-2022

• Macedonian Handball Cup

Winner (16): 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023

• Macedonian Handball Super Cup

Winner (4): 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023

European competitions

• EHF Champions League

Winner (2): 2016–17, 2018–19

• EHF Cup Winners' Cup

Third placed: 1998–99, 2004–2005, 2010–2011

Other competitions

• SEHA League

Winner (5): 2011–12, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19

Runner-up: 2012–13, 2015–16, 2019–20

• IHF Super Globe

Third placed: 2017, 2019

Individual club awards

• Double

Winners (9): 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21

• Triple Crown

Winners (1): 2016–17

Arena

RK Vardar is the owner of the Jane Sandanski Arena where they play all their home matches in the EHF Champions League, the regional SEHA League and in domestic competitions. It's a modern complex with a sports hall of 7,500 seats. It has its own hotel, spa center, hospital and swimming pool.

The arena is named after the Macedonian revolutionary Jane Sandanski.

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2023–24 season

Transfers

Transfers for the 2024–25 season

Staff

Professional staff[edit] Position Name Head coach Vlado Nedanovski Assistant coach Stojanče Stoilov Goalkeeper Coach Aleksandar Roganović Conditioning coach Toni Bogdanovski Physiotherapists Rubincho Srbinoski Nikolina Bojadjiska

Management[edit] Position Name Owner Mihajlo Mihajlovski President Mihajlo Mihajlovski Executive director Borko Ristovski Chairperson of the NEDs Emil Ugrinovski

Former club members

Notable former players

Notable former coaches

Notable former presidents

• Sergey Samsonenko

Kit manufacturers

• Hummel International

European competitions record

EHF Champions League

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate:
1999–00	1/16	TV Suhr Handball	33–37	26–30	59–67
2001–02	R 2	ASKI Ankara	37–31	27–28	64–59
	GM (Group D)	Fotex KC Veszprém	24–27	22–27	3rd
		Sportclub Magdeburg	27–27	19–33
		S. O. Chambery	32–30	28–31
2002–03	QR 1	HC Eynatten G.o.E.	32–24	31–28	63–52
	QR 2	Sandefjord TIF	29–23	26–26	55–49
	GM (Group D)	RK Zagreb	25–28	25–30	4th
		THW Kiel	27–26	23–34
		"Fibrexnylon" Savinesti	26–25	26–38
2003–04
	GM (Group B)	Sportclub Magdeburg	28–30	24–38	4th
		FC Barcelona	27–35	19–41
		Haukar Hafnarfjördur	26–32	33–34
2004–05
	GM (Group A)	FC Barcelona	12–26	22–31	3rd
		SC Pick Szeged	24–24	18–25
		HCM Constanta	22–22	26–25
2007–08	QR 1	Pölva Serviti	37–22	30–30	67–52
	GM (Group C)	Kadetten Schaffhausen GCZ	27–26	30–36	4th
		HC Croatia Osiguranje-Zagreb	26–34	28–28
		C.BM. Ademar Leon	29–28	21–28
2009–10	Q (Group 1)	Besiktas JK	33–30		1st
		HC Buducnost Podgorica	35–28
		HC Dinamo-Minsk	34–24
	GP (Group D)	KIF Kolding	25–32	21–28	5th
		Reale Ademar	24–31	28–37
		THW Kiel	23–33	23–39
		GC Amicitia Zürich	22–22	31–24
		F.C. Barcelona Borges	28–35	28–35
2013–14	GP (Group C)	FC Barcelona	29–29	23–30	4th
		HC Dinamo Minsk	30–22	24–26
		PSG Handball	24–24	25–35
		Wacker Thun	32–25	37–24
		HC Metalurg	18–26	27–22
	L16	HSV Hamburg	28–28	30–29	58–57
	QF	SG Flensburg-Handewitt	27–25	22–24	49–49
2014–15	GP (Group C)	RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko	34–32	27–26	2nd
		Chekhovskie Medvedi	39–28	39–34
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	28–25	35–28
		Montpellier Agglomération Handball	30–26	34–34
		MKB-MVM Veszprém	23–24	24–32
	L16	Orlen Wisla Plock	31–20	26–32	57–52
	QF	KS Vive Tauron Kielce	20–22	31–33	51–55
2015–16	GP (Group B)	Montpellier HB	34–26	30–25	3rd
		MOL-Pick Szeged	27–23	31–29
		IFK Kristianstad	38–36	30–25
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	25–19	27–28
		KIF Kolding Kobenhavn	34–24	31–33
		KS Vive Tauron Kielce	34–24	20–23
		FC Barcelona Lassa	25–27	30–31
	L16	Orlen Wisla Plock	25–24	30–30	55–54
	QF	MVM Veszprém	26–29	30–30	56–59
2016–17	GP (Group B)	IFK Kristianstad	32–29	28–23	1st
		HC Meshkov Brest	31–27	26–30
		RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko	35–30	32–26
		MOL-Pick Szeged	30–27	23–21
		PPD Zagreb	25–20	27–28
		KS Vive Tauron Kielce	40–34	24–27
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	26–29	33–27
	QF	SG Flensburg-Handewitt	35–27	26–24	61–51
	SF (F4)	FC Barcelona Handbol	26–25
	F (F4)	PSG Handball	24–23
2017–18	GP (Group A)	Orlen Wisla Plock	31–31	26–22	1st
		HBC Nantes	27–23	26–27
		PPD Zagreb	28–21	29–23
		MOL-Pick Szeged	34–30	26–26
		FC Barcelona Handbol	27–24	28–29
		IFK Kristianstad	31–15	26–23
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	30–26	21–21
	QF	THW Kiel	27–28	29–28	56–56
	SF (F4)	Montpellier HB	27–28
	3rd (F4)	PSG Handball	28–29
2018–19	GP (Group A)	Montpellier HB	33–27	27–24	3rd
		IFK Kristianstad	33–25	32–30
		Telekom Veszprém	27–29	27–25
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	29–27	30–27
		PGE Vive Kielce	28–27	27–31
		HC Meshkov Brest	30–23	31–31
		Barça Lassa	26–30	26–34
	L16	PPD Zagreb	32–30	27–18	59–48
	QF	MOL-Pick Szeged	31–23	25–29	56–52
	SF (F4)	Barça Lassa	29–27
	F (F4)	Telekom Veszprém	27–24
2019–20	GP (Group B)	Montpellier HB	27–31	33–31	6th
		FC Porto Sofarma	32–27	22–30
		HC Motor Zaporizhzhia	38–28	31–30
		THW Kiel	20–31	23–34
		Telekom Veszprém	29–38	30–39
		HC Meshkov Brest	36–31	22–31
		PGE Vive Kielce	28–28	25–35
2020–21	GP (Group A)	HC Meshkov Brest	32–36	22–24	7th
		Elverum Håndball	34–34	35–32
		MOL-Pick Szeged	26–28	33–34
		SG Flensburg-Handewitt	31–26	/
		FC Porto	25–25	24–27
		PSG Handball	/	/
		Łomża Vive Kielce	29–33	29–36
	Playoffs	Veszprém KC	27–41	30–39	57–80

EHF Cup

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1994–95	1/16	BM Granollers	35–31	23–34	58–65
1995–96	ER	HC Shoumen	29–24	30–26	59–50
	1/16	Zadar Gortan	31–31	24–33	55–64
2011–12	R2	HC Izvidac	27–25	26–29	53–54
2012–13	R2	Lovosice	36–19	24–25	60–44
	R3	SC Magdeburg	28–26	27–30	55–56

EHF Cup Winners' Cup

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1997–98	1/16	IF Guif Eskilstuna	29–28	25–28	54–56
1998–99	1/16	IFK Skövde HK	10–0	22–23	32–23
	1/8	Gorenje Velenje	29–23	24–28	53–51
	1/4	Sporting Toulouse 31	26–19	24–27	50–46
	1/2	Prosesa Ademar León	27–29	20–35	47–64
2004–05	1/8	FCK Handbold Kopenhagen	27–23	29–28	56–51
	1/4	Medvescak Infosistem Zagreb	36–20	31–26	67–46
	1/2	RK Zagreb	23–21	26–34	49–55

Statistics

All–time Top 10 Scorers in the EHF Champions League[edit] As of 2021–22 season Rank Name Seasons Goals 1 Timur Dibirov 9 660 2 Igor Karačić 6 351 3 Ivan Čupić 5 295 4 Alex Dujshebaev 4 261 5 Stojanče Stoilov 9 206 6 Daniil Shishkarev 6 194 7 Dainis Krištopāns 3 190 8 Luka Cindrić 3 176 9 Vuko Borozan 3 156 10 Stevče Aluševski 5 121

Most appearances in the EHF Champions League[edit] As of 2021–22 season Rank Name Seasons Appearances 1 Timur Dibirov 9 143 2 Stojanče Stoilov 9 128 3 Daniil Shishkarev 6 101 4 Igor Karačić 6 95 5 Ivan Čupić 5 80 6 Ilija Abutović 5 79 7 Arpad Šterbik 4 65 8 Alex Dujshebaev 4 60 9 Strahinja Milić 5 59 10 Luka Cindrić 3 53 Jorge Maqueda 3 53 Mijajlo Marsenić 3 53

Individual awards in the EHF Champions League

Season	Player	Award
2013–14	Timur Dibirov	All–Star Team (Best Left Wing)
2014–15	Alex Dujshebaev	Best Young Player
2016–17	Alex Dujshebaev	All–Star Team (Best Right Back)
	Raúl González	Best Coach
	Arpad Šterbik	Final Four MVP
2017–18	Arpad Šterbik	All–Star Team (Best Goalkeeper)
2018–19	Dejan Milosavljev	All–Star Team (Best Goalkeeper)
	Ivan Čupić	All–Star Team (Best Right Wing)
	Dainis Krištopāns	All–Star Team (Best Right Back)
	Timur Dibirov	All–Star Team (Best Left Wing)
	Roberto García Parrondo	Best Coach
	Igor Karačić	Final Four MVP