# NK Slaven Belupo

Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (English: Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in the Croatian Football League.

## History

The first football club in Koprivnica was founded in June 1907, when a student team was formed and named Đački nogometni klub, which is Croatian for Students' Football Club. The name Slaven first appeared when a sports club named HŠK Slaven was founded by the members of the Friedrich family on 20 August 1912 and this is considered to be the foundation date of the present-day club. The club won the Croatian championship in 1920, which was one of the Yugoslav regional championships. Slaven was subsequently renamed HŠK Victorija, but disbanded six years later due to financial difficulties. Subsequently, the city of Koprivnica was without a football club for four years, between 1926 and 1930.
Between 1930 and 1945, the club was known as HŠK Koprivnica, HŠK Danica and RNHŠK Sloga, before the name Slaven returned with the foundation of FD Slaven. From 1953, the club was known as SD Podravka, before being renamed to NK Slaven in 1958. The name Slaven remains until today, with occasional changes to the name of the club's principal sponsors. The club was thus known as NK Slaven Bilokalnik between 1992 and 1994, after which it was changed to its current name following a sponsorship agreement with the Koprivnica-based pharmaceutical company Belupo.
Slaven gained their first promotion to the Prva HNL in 1997 and have never been relegated. In 2000, they finished fifth in the Prva HNL and qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In their first Intertoto Cup appearance, they managed to reach the third round of the competition before being eliminated by Czech club Sigma Olomouc after losing 2–0 at home and getting a goalless draw on the road. One year later, they repeated the success and were eliminated by renowned English club Aston Villa with a 3–2 aggregate defeat. In their next two Intertoto Cup appearances, they were even more successful as they reached the semifinals of the competition on both occasions. They were eliminated after losing to renowned clubs Stuttgart from Germany and Lille from France, respectively. Their last Intertoto Cup appearance in 2005 ended in the third round with a 4–0 aggregate defeat to Spanish club Deportivo La Coruña, having lost the first leg by 1–0 and the second leg by 0–3.
Slaven Belupo heads the all-time Intertoto Cup table being the most successful team in history of this tournament.
In 2007, the club reached the Croatian Cup final for the first time, after defeating defending Cup holders HNK Rijeka 3–2 on aggregate. In the final, they lost to Dinamo Zagreb 2–1 on aggregate. Despite having lost the final, Slaven qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history, since Dinamo had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League by virtue of having won the Prva HNL.
Slaven reached the second qualifying round of the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, defeating Albanian side Teuta Durrës 8–4 on aggregate before being eliminated after a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Turkish club Galatasaray. In 2008, Slaven finished runners-up in the Croatian league, which remains their best domestic result to date.
On 28 August 2008 Slaven Belupo qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup by beating Aris of Greece 2–1 on aggregate, thereby achieving arguably the best result in the history of the club.
Slaven finished 3rd in the 2011–12 1. HNL, qualifying for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. After defeating Portadown 10–2 on aggregate they bowed out to Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao 4–3 on aggregate.
In 2016, Slaven defeated HNK Rijeka 4–2 on aggregate in the 2015–16 Croatian Football Cup semi-final, reaching the final for the second time in their history.

## Supporters

In 2023 group of fans organized themselves into a fan group under the name Podravske štuke (Podravska pike).

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 15 February 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | CRO | Matija Jesenović |
| 3 | DF | CRO | Antonio Jakir |
| 4 | DF | CRO | Dominik Kovačić |
| 6 | DF | CRO | Tomislav Božić |
| 7 | FW | BIH | Matej Šakota |
| 8 | MF | CRO | Adriano Jagušić |
| 10 | MF | MDA | Mihail Caimacov |
| 13 | DF | CRO | Marko Lešković |
| 14 | MF | CRO | Adrian Liber |
| 15 | MF | CRO | Ivan Ćubelić |
| 16 | DF | CRO | Luka Ćurković |
| 18 | DF | CRO | Filip Krušelj |
| 19 | MF | CRO | Ivan Dolček (on loan from DAC Dunajská Streda) |
| 20 | DF | CRO | Filip Hlevnjak |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | MF | CRO | Ljuban Crepulja |
| 22 | FW | CRO | Ante Šuto |
| 23 | MF | CRO | Igor Lepinjica |
| 24 | MF | CRO | Leon Bošnjak |
| 25 | GK | CRO | Ivan Sušak |
| 27 | DF | CRO | Alen Grgić |
| 29 | DF | CRO | Vinko Međimorec |
| 30 | MF | GHA | Michael Agbekpornu |
| 32 | GK | CRO | Ivan Čović |
| 33 | DF | CRO | Antonio Bosec |
| 35 | DF | CRO | Luka Lučić |
| 55 | DF | CRO | Marco Boras |
| 90 | FW | MKD | Ilija Nestorovski |
| 99 | FW | CRO | Patrik Marić |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | CRO | Zvonimir Katalinić (at Jarun until 15 June 2025) |
| 3 | DF | CRO | Erik Riđan (at BSK Bijelo Brdo until 15 June 2025) |
| 11 | MF | BRA | Lucas Fernandes (at Jarun until 15 June 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | CRO | Antun Marković (at Karlovac 1919 until 30 May 2025) |
| — | FW | CRO | Marko Žuljević (at Karlovac 1919 until 30 June 2025) |

## Recent seasons

| Season | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | Cup | European competitions | European competitions | Top league scorer | Top league scorer |
| Season | Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Cup | European competitions | European competitions | Player | Goals |
| 1992 | 3. HNL North | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 19 | 16 | 3rd ↑ | | | | | |
| 1992–93 | 2. HNL North | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 47 | 52 | 28 | 10th | | | | | |
| 1993–94 | 2. HNL North | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 53 | 38 | 33 | 6th | | | | | |
| 1994–95 | 2. HNL North | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 68 | 25 | 57 | 3rd | R1 | | | | |
| 1995–96 | 2. HNL North | 30 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 81 | 13 | 77 | 1st ↑ | R2 | | | | |
| 1996–97 | 1B. HNL | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 51 | 26 | 54 | 2nd ↑ | R2 | | | | |
| 1997–98 | 1. HNL | 32 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 31 | 56 | 38 | 9th | R2 | | | Josip Markovinović | 6 |
| 1998–99 | 1. HNL | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 39 | 44 | 39 | 7th | SF | | | Zoran Slišković | 7 |
| 1999–00 | 1. HNL | 33 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 34 | 34 | 49 | 5th | QF | | | Marijo Dodik | 13 |
| 2000–01 | 1. HNL | 32 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 37 | 44 | 5th | R2 | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Marijo Dodik | 16 |
| 2001–02 | 1. HNL | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 34 | 36 | 41 | 6th | R1 | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Miljenko Kovačić | 9 |
| 2002–03 | 1. HNL | 32 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 37 | 36 | 40 | 7th | R2 | Intertoto Cup | SF | Marijo Dodik | 12 |
| 2003–04 | 1. HNL | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 37 | 39 | 40 | 9th | R2 | | | Srebrenko Posavec | 11 |
| 2004–05 | 1. HNL | 32 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 37 | 41 | 45 | 6th | QF | Intertoto Cup | SF | Ivica Karabogdan | 10 |
| 2005–06 | 1. HNL | 32 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 46 | 48 | 41 | 8th | QF | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Marijo Dodik, Igor Musa, Bojan Vručina | 8 |
| 2006–07 | 1. HNL | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 40 | 37 | 49 | 5th | RU | | | Bojan Vručina | 11 |
| 2007–08 | 1. HNL | 33 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 45 | 29 | 54 | 2nd | QF | UEFA Cup | QR2 | Stjepan Poljak | 8 |
| 2008–09 | 1. HNL | 33 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 46 | 39 | 55 | 4th | QF | UEFA Cup | R1 | Bojan Vručina | 14 |
| 2009–10 | 1. HNL | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 44 | 45 | 43 | 7th | QF | Europa League | QR3 | Mateas Delić | 6 |
| 2010–11 | 1. HNL | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 34 | 30 | 40 | 7th | SF | | | Leon Benko | 8 |
| 2011–12 | 1. HNL | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 41 | 27 | 52 | 3rd | R2 | | | Leon Benko | 7 |
| 2012–13 | 1. HNL | 33 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 35 | 50 | 39 | 8th | SF | Europa League | QR3 | Davor Vugrinec | 8 |
| 2013–14 | 1. HNL | 36 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 46 | 65 | 32 | 9th | SF | | | Davor Vugrinec | 8 |
| 2014–15 | 1. HNL | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 38 | 49 | 42 | 6th | R2 | | | Marko Mirić | 10 |
| 2015–16 | 1. HNL | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 41 | 42 | 42 | 7th | RU | | | Muzafer Ejupi | 16 |
| 2016–17 | 1. HNL | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 36 | 45 | 38 | 7th | QF | | | Héber, Mirko Ivanovski | 10 |
| 2017–18 | 1. HNL | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 35 | 45 | 43 | 6th | R2 | | | Mirko Ivanovski | 15 |
| 2018–19 | 1. HNL | 36 | 7 | 16 | 13 | 41 | 53 | 37 | 7th | QF | | | Ivan Krstanović | 7 |
| 2019–20 | 1. HNL | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 51 | 39 | 7th | SF | | | Ivan Krstanović | 12 |
| 2020–21 | 1. HNL | 36 | 7 | 13 | 16 | 36 | 53 | 34 | 7th | QF | | | Ivan Krstanović | 8 |
| 2021–22 | 1. HNL | 36 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 35 | 54 | 36 | 7th | QF | | | Ivan Krstanović | 10 |
| 2022–23 | 1. HNL | 36 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 27 | 46 | 43 | 8th | SF | | | Arber Hoxha | 7 |
| 2023–24 | 1. HNL | 36 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 43 | 69 | 33 | 9th | R2 | | | Benedik Mioč | 10 |

## European record
### Summary

| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Last season played |
| UEFA Cup / Europa League | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 48 | 24 | 2012–13 |
| Intertoto Cup | 34 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 50 | 29 | 2005 |
| Total | 54 | 27 | 9 | 18 | 98 | 53 |
Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 9 August 2012 Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

### By result

| Overall | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| Home | 27 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 65 | 21 | +44 |
| Away | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 33 | 32 | +1 |
| Total | 54 | 27 | 9 | 18 | 98 | 53 | +45 |
Last updated: 9 August 2012

### By season

| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Agg |
| 2000–01 | Intertoto Cup | R1 | Glenavon | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| 2000–01 | Intertoto Cup | R2 | Zagłębie Lubin | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 (a) |
| 2000–01 | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Sigma Olomouc | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| 2001–02 | Intertoto Cup | R1 | Anorthosis | 7–0 | 2–0 | 9–0 |
| 2001–02 | Intertoto Cup | R2 | Bastia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2001–02 | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Aston Villa | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 |
| 2002–03 | Intertoto Cup | R1 | OD Trenčín | 5–0 | 1–3 | 6–3 |
| 2002–03 | Intertoto Cup | R2 | Belenenses | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 2002–03 | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Marek Dupnitsa | 3–1 | 3–0 | 6–1 |
| 2002–03 | Intertoto Cup | SF | VfB Stuttgart | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| 2004–05 | Intertoto Cup | R1 | Hibernians | 3–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 |
| 2004–05 | Intertoto Cup | R2 | Vllaznia | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| 2004–05 | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Spartak Trnava | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 (a) |
| 2004–05 | Intertoto Cup | SF | Lille | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–4 |
| 2005–06 | Intertoto Cup | R1 | Drava Ptuj | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2005–06 | Intertoto Cup | R2 | Gloria Bistriţa | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 |
| 2005–06 | Intertoto Cup | R3 | Deportivo La Coruña | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–4 |
| 2007–08 | UEFA Cup | QR1 | Teuta | 6–2 | 2–2 | 8–4 |
| 2007–08 | UEFA Cup | QR2 | Galatasaray | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 |
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | QR1 | Marsaxlokk | 4–0 | 4–0 | 8–0 |
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | QR2 | Aris Thessaloniki | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | R1 | CSKA Moscow | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| 2009–10 | Europa League | QR1 | Birkirkara | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| 2009–10 | Europa League | QR2 | Milano Kumanovo | 8–2 | 4–0 | 12–2 |
| 2009–10 | Europa League | QR3 | Tromsø | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 |
| 2012–13 | Europa League | QR2 | Portadown | 6–0 | 4–2 | 10–2 |
| 2012–13 | Europa League | QR3 | Athletic Bilbao | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–4 |
Last updated on 9 August 2012

### Player records

* Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 34 appearances
** Petar Bošnjak
* Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: 14 goals
** Marijo Dodik

## Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have:
* Played at least 150 league games for the club;
* Scored at least 50 league goals for the club; or
* Played at least one international match for their national team while playing for NK Slaven Belupo.
Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.
* Roy Ferenčina (1997–2005)
* Marijo Dodik (1998–2007)
* Petar Bošnjak (1999–2008)
* Srebrenko Posavec (2000–05, 2006–10)
* Bojan Vručina (2004–10, 2011–12)
* Silvio Rodić (2005–14)
* Mateas Delić (2006–10, 2012–16, 2018–)
* Vedran Purić (2008–2018)
* Fidan Aliti (2016–2017)
* Nikola Katić (2016–2018)

## Historical list of coaches

* Ivan Bedi (1996-1997)
* Miroslav Buljan (1997)
* Marijan Vlak (1998)
* Luka Bonačić (1999–00)
* Mladen Frančić (2000–01)
* Dražen Besek (2001–02)
* Rajko Magić (2002–03)
* Ivan Bedi (2003–04)
* Milo Nižetić (2004)
* Branko Karačić (2004–05)
* Nikola Jurčević (2005)
* Elvis Scoria (2006–07)
* Krunoslav Jurčić (2007–08)
* Mile Petković (2008–09)
* Milivoj Bračun (2009)
* Zlatko Dalić (2009–10)
* Mile Petković (2010–11)
* Roy Ferenčina (2011–13)
* Roman Sović (2013)
* Ivan Katalinić (2013)
* Mladen Frančić (2013–14)
* Elvis Scoria (2014)
* Ante Čačić (2014–15)
* Željko Kopić (2015–17)
* Tomislav Ivković (2017–18)
* Ivica Sertić (2018–19)
* Tomislav Stipić (2019–21)
* Dean Klafurić (2021)
* Zoran Zekić (2021–23)
* Ricardo Moniz (2023)
* Roy Ferenčina (2023–2024)
* Ivan Radeljić (2024)
* Mario Kovačević (2024–present)