# ND Gorica

Nogometno društvo Gorica, commonly referred to as ND Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Slovenian football club based in Nova Gorica that competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of Slovenian football. They are one of the most successful Slovenian clubs with four Slovenian PrvaLiga and three Slovenian Cup titles. The club plays its home matches at the Nova Gorica Sports Park, which has a capacity of 3,100 seats.

## History
### Yugoslav period (1947–1991)

The history of football in the Goriška region goes back to 1907, when the first football club Jugoslavija was formed by the Slovenes of Gorizia.
October 1947 marks the beginning of the club with the foundation of FD Gorica in Šempeter pri Gorici, where it operated until 1963. They started in the second-level but quickly promoted to the Slovenian Republic League in 1950 under the new name Železničar Nova Gorica. Five years later they became republic champions and qualified for the Yugoslav Second League, which was club's biggest achievement during the time of Yugoslavia. In 1963 the club merged with Branik Solkan and the club's activity was transferred to Nova Gorica, where it remains ever since. They stabilised as a mid-table club in the 1960s, renamed as NK Vozila in 1971 and achieved better results only in the last years before Slovenia's independence. Managed by Pavel Pinni, Vozila finished third in the 1988–89 season of the Slovenian Republic League.

### Slovenian independence (1991 to present)

Following Slovenia's independence in 1991, the club played in the 1. SNL under the name HIT Gorica and during the 1995–96 season, Gorica won the Slovenian championship for the first time. In the next season, the club played its first Slovenian Supercup final and won their second trophy with a 3–1 victory over Olimpija. During the league domination of Maribor, the club managed to win two Slovenian cup titles in a row (2000–01 and 2001–02).
On the last day of the 2003–04 season on 30 May 2004, Gorica won its second title after one of the most dramatic rounds in the Slovenian league history. Before the last round, Maribor was leading the table with 54 points, one point ahead of Gorica. In the final round, Maribor played an away match against their rivals Mura and Gorica played at home against Koper. Maribor lost the game 2–1 after a second-half comeback by Mura, meaning that Gorica, who eventually won against Koper 2–0, had secured their second title.
The second title started an impressive run for Gorica as the team won another two league titles in a row (2004–05 and 2005–06). After the last title, Gorica was a runner-up in the 2006–07 and 2008–09 seasons, while finishing third in 2007–08 and 2009–10.
In 2013, Gorica started cooperating with the Italian club Parma. On 21 May 2014 they won their first trophy after eight years as they defeated Maribor 2–0 in the cup final. After 28 seasons in the top division, Gorica was relegated for the first time in the 2018–19 season after losing the relegation play-offs against Tabor Sežana.

## Current squad

    As of 29 August 2024
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 | SVN | Alen Jurca |
| 2 | DF | CHN | Yu Guizhe (on loan from Hubei Istar) |
| 4 | DF | SVN | Alen Korošec |
| 6 | MF | SVN | Cene Kitek |
| 7 | FW | SVN | Nejc Močnik |
| 8 | MF | AUS | Luka Prso |
| 9 | FW | SVN | Tim Matavž |
| 10 | MF | SVN | Luka Pihler |
| 11 | FW | BIH | Luka Marjanac |
| 16 | MF | CAN | Antony Ćurić |
| 17 | DF | SVN | Miha Žejen |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | MF | ITA | Alessandro Comita |
| 19 | MF | SUI | Marko Simić |
| 20 | FW | SVN | Adriano Bloudek |
| 21 | FW | SVN | Lucas Mačak (on loan from Celje) |
| 22 | DF | SVN | Adis Hodžić |
| 24 | DF | SVN | Tilen Vendramin |
| 25 | DF | CRO | Robert Ćosić |
| 27 | MF | SVN | Maj Blažič |
| 28 | FW | SRB | Luka Bulatović |
| 32 | GK | ITA | Dennis Zeriali |
| 97 | DF | NED | Ziad Ouled-Haj-M'hand |

## Honours

League
* Slovenian First League
** Winners (4): 1995–96, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
** Runners-up (5): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2016–17
* Slovenian Second League
** Winners: 2021–22
Cup
* Slovenian Cup
** Winners (3): 2000–01, 2001–02, 2013–14
** Runners-up (2): 2004–05, 2023–24
* Slovenian Supercup
** Winners: 1996
** Runners-up: 2014

## Domestic league and cup results

| Season | League | Position | Pts | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Cup |
| 1991–92 | 1. SNL | 4 | 46 | 40 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 63 | 40 | Round of 16 |
| 1992–93 | 1. SNL | 12 | 31 | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 39 | 46 | First round |
| 1993–94 | 1. SNL | 5 | 35 | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 40 | 38 | First round |
| 1994–95 | 1. SNL | 3 | 41 | 30 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 66 | 30 | Quarter-finals |
| 1995–96 | 1. SNL | 1 | 67 | 36 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 49 | 22 | Quarter-finals |
| 1996–97 | 1. SNL | 3 | 65 | 36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 52 | 33 | Round of 16 |
| 1997–98 | 1. SNL | 3 | 65 | 36 | 20 | 5 | 11 | 64 | 36 | Round of 16 |
| 1998–99 | 1. SNL | 2 | 62 | 33 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 55 | 31 | First round |
| 1999–2000 | 1. SNL | 2 | 62 | 33 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 55 | 34 | Semi-finals |
| 2000–01 | 1. SNL | 7 | 43 | 33 | 13 | 4 | 16 | 52 | 46 | Winners |
| 2001–02 | 1. SNL | 4 | 51 | 33 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 38 | 40 | Winners |
| 2002–03 | 1. SNL | 8 | 34 | 31 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 34 | 43 | Quarter-finals |
| 2003–04 | 1. SNL | 1 | 56 | 32 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 55 | 29 | Round of 16 |
| 2004–05 | 1. SNL | 1 | 65 | 32 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 49 | 23 | Runners-up |
| 2005–06 | 1. SNL | 1 | 73 | 36 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 75 | 30 | Semi-finals |
| 2006–07 | 1. SNL | 2 | 58 | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 66 | 63 | Semi-finals |
| 2007–08 | 1. SNL | 3 | 57 | 36 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 61 | 50 | Round of 16 |
| 2008–09 | 1. SNL | 2 | 56 | 36 | 17 | 5 | 14 | 60 | 55 | Semi-finals |
| 2009–10 | 1. SNL | 3 | 55 | 36 | 16 | 7 | 13 | 74 | 60 | Quarter-finals |
| 2010–11 | 1. SNL | 5 | 48 | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 42 | 53 | Quarter-finals |
| 2011–12 | 1. SNL | 5 | 53 | 36 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 49 | 37 | Quarter-finals |
| 2012–13 | 1. SNL | 6 | 41 | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 45 | 60 | Quarter-finals |
| 2013–14 | 1. SNL | 4 | 58 | 36 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 60 | 32 | Winners |
| 2014–15 | 1. SNL | 9 | 37 | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 40 | 46 | Quarter-finals |
| 2015–16 | 1. SNL | 4 | 52 | 36 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 48 | 49 | First round |
| 2016–17 | 1. SNL | 2 | 60 | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 48 | 39 | Quarter-finals |
| 2017–18 | 1. SNL | 6 | 47 | 36 | 14 | 5 | 17 | 40 | 48 | Semi-finals |
| 2018–19 | 1. SNL | 9↓ | 31 | 36 | 7 | 10 | 19 | 44 | 63 | Quarter-finals |
| 2019–20 | 2. SNL | 2↑ | 41 | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 40 | 22 | Round of 16 |
| 2020–21 | 1. SNL | 10↓ | 29 | 36 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 24 | 58 | did not qualify |
| 2021–22 | 2. SNL | 1↑ | 72 | 30 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 55 | 20 | First round |
| 2022–23 | 1. SNL | 9↓ | 27 | 36 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 57 | First round |
| 2023–24 | 2. SNL | 4 | 53 | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 51 | 28 | Runners-up |
* ↑ The season was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Key

| Winners | Runners-up | Promoted ↑ | Relegated ↓ |

## European record

All results (home and away) list Gorica's goal tally first.
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Agg. |
| 1996–97 | UEFA Cup | PR | Vardar | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| 1997–98 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | Oţelul Galaţi | 2–0 | 2–4 | 4–4 (a) |
| 1997–98 | UEFA Cup | 2Q | Club Brugge | 3–5 | 0–3 | 3–8 |
| 1999–2000 | UEFA Cup | Q | Inter Cardiff | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| 1999–2000 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Panathinaikos | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 |
| 2000–01 | UEFA Cup | Q | Neftchi Baku | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 |
| 2000–01 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Roma | 1–4 | 0–7 | 1–11 |
| 2001–02 | UEFA Cup | Q | Neftchi Baku | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| 2001–02 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Osijek | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| 2002–03 | UEFA Cup | Q | Rapid București | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–5 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Flora Tallinn | 3–1 | 4–2 | 7–3 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Champions League | 2Q | Copenhagen | 1–2 | 5–0 | 6–2 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Champions League | 3Q | Monaco | 0–3 | 0–6 | 0–9 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 1R | AEK Athens | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| 2005–06 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Tirana | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 |
| 2006–07 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Linfield | 2–2 | 3–1 | 5–3 |
| 2006–07 | UEFA Champions League | 2Q | Steaua București | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–5 |
| 2007–08 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | Rabotnički | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 |
| 2008 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1R | Hibernians | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| 2008 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 2R | Chernomorets Burgas | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Lahti | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| 2010–11 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Randers | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–4 |
| 2014–15 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Molde | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–5 |
| 2016–17 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–4 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Shirak | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–2 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Panionios | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–5 |

### Notes

* PR: Preliminary round
* Q: Qualifying round
* 1Q: First qualifying round
* 2Q: Second qualifying round
* 3Q: Third qualifying round
* 1R: First round
* 2R: Second round

## Notable managers

The following managers have won at least one trophy when in charge of Gorica since Slovenia's independence in 1991:
| Head coach | Period | Honours |
| Milan Miklavič | 1995–1996 | 1995–96 Slovenian First Division 1996 Slovenian Supercup |
| Toni Tomažič | 2001 | 2000–01 Slovenian Football Cup |
| Pavel Pinni | 2001–2006 | 2001–02 Slovenian Football Cup 2003–04 Slovenian First Division 2004–05 Slovenian First Division 2005–06 Slovenian First Division |
| Miran Srebrnič | 2009 2011–2013 2014 2015–2018 2021–2023 2023–2024 | 2021–22 Slovenian Second League |
| Luigi Apolloni | 2013–2014 | 2013–14 Slovenian Football Cup |