# Eternal derby (North Macedonia)

Eternal derby (Macedonian: Вечно дерби), also known as the Macedonia derby (Macedonian: Македонско дерби), is the name given to matches between the two most popular clubs from North Macedonia, the Skopje-based FK Vardar and Bitola-based FK Pelister, supported by Komiti and Čkembari respectively, with fans at times infamously engaging in hooliganism during the derby.
The rivalry can be traced back to the 1989–90 season and a match in Skopje, between FK Vardar and Red Star Belgrade. A conflict occurred between the "Skopje fans" and a few Bitola fans who went to cheer for Vardar, who at that time was the most popular Macedonian football club in the former Yugoslavia. On 5 August 1990 in Bitola, Pelister and Vardar met in the Yugoslav second league and the first incident occurred. From that day forward, started the big rivalry between Komiti and Chkembari along with the Vardar-Pelister match becoming the Eternal derby of Macedonia.
However, the rivalry is playing at the stands but not much at the ground because Vardar there are many more honours than a rival from Bitola. In a present time there is a small number of attendance and Pelister were many times and Vardar once relegated to the Macedonian Second League so the rivalry has lost its formerly importance. As of May 2018, there have been 68 derbies played in total since the establishment of the Macedonian championship in 1992, with Vardar winning 38 and Pelister 14 games, while 16 matches ended in a draw.

## Statistics

The records does not include the awarded matches and a matches decided by a one goal difference.

### Head-to-head

| Competition | Played | Vardar wins | Draws | Pelister wins | Vardar goals | Pelister goals |
| Yugoslav championship (1990–1992) |||||||
| First League | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Second League | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Yugoslavia totals | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Macedonian championship (1992–present) |||||||
| First League | 59 | 31 | 16 | 12 | 90 | 63 |
| Second League | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Macedonian Cup | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 11 |
| Macedonia totals | 73 | 39 | 19 | 14 | 111 | 74 |
| All Time | 79 | 43 | 20 | 16 | 121 | 79 |
Last updated on 18 August 2024.

### Records

* Bigger grade difference
** Vardar
*** Point system 3–1–0: +44 (72 vs 28), 2002–03
** Pelister
*** Point system 3–1–0: +18 (47 vs 29), 1999–2000

## Official match results
### Key
#### Colors

Vardar win  Draw  Pelister win

#### Competitions

* SF = Semi-finals
* QF = Quarter-finals
* R16 = Round of 16

### Results

| Season | Competition | Date | Home team | Result | Away team | Goals (Home) | Goals (Away) |
| 1990–91 | YUG Second League | 5 August 1990 | Pelister | 1–1$^1$ | Vardar | Ćirić | Gunev |
| 1990–91 | YUG Second League | 24 February 1991 | Vardar | 1–0 | Pelister | Ranđelović | |
| 1991–92 | YUG First League | 1 September 1991 | Vardar | 2–1 | Pelister | Babunski, Kostov | Grozdanov |
| 1991–92 | YUG First League | 8 March 1992 | Pelister | 0–3$^2$ | Vardar | | |
| 1992–93 | First League | 28 November 1992 | Vardar | 1–1 | Pelister | Urošević | V. Micevski |
| 1992–93 | Macedonian Cup Final | 23 May 1993 | Vardar | 1–0 | Pelister | Savov | |
| 1992–93 | First League | 13 June 1993 | Pelister | 0–3$^3$ | Vardar | | |
| 1993–94 | First League | 7 November 1993 | Pelister | 2–1 | Vardar |
| 1993–94 | First League | 22 May 1994 | Vardar | 4–0 | Pelister | Spaseski (2), Eftimov, Miloshevski | |
| 1994–95 | First League | 2 October 1994 | Pelister | 0–0 | Vardar | | |
| 1994–95 | First League | 15 April 1995 | Vardar | 6–3 | Pelister | Petreski (2), Ćirić, Miloshevski, Shakiri (2) | T. Micevski (3) |
| 1995–96 | First League | 29 October 1995 | Pelister | 2–1 | Vardar |
| 1995–96 | Macedonian Cup SF | 17 April 1996 | Vardar | 3–0 | Pelister | Shakiri, Serafimovski, Petreski | |
| 1995–96 | Macedonian Cup SF | 1 May 1996 | Pelister | 1–1 | Vardar |
| 1995–96 | First League | 8 May 1996 | Vardar | 7–0 | Pelister | Karadzhov, Markovski, Nikolovski, Trajchev, Serafimovski, Stojkoski, Stanić | |
| 1996–97 | First League | 8 September 1996 | Vardar | 0–0 | Pelister | | |
| 1996–97 | First League | 23 March 1997 | Pelister | 1–0 | Vardar | Jakimovski | |
| 1997–98 | First League | 31 August 1997 | Vardar | 1–1 | Pelister |
| 1997–98 | First League | 14 March 1998 | Pelister | 3–2 | Vardar |
| 1998–99 | First League | 3 October 1998 | Pelister | 1–2 | Vardar |
| 1998–99 | First League | 30 April 1999 | Vardar | 2–1 | Pelister |
| 1999–2000 | First League | 21 November 1999 | Vardar | 3–2 | Pelister | Petreski, Krstev, Shakiri | D. Glavevski, Sivevski |
| 1999–2000 | Macedonian Cup QF | 15 March 2000 | Pelister | 1–0 | Vardar |
| 1999–2000 | Macedonian Cup QF | 22 March 2000 | Vardar | 1–2 | Pelister |
| 1999–2000 | First League | 28 May 2000 | Pelister | 1–1 | Vardar | Stisniovski | Krstev |
| 2000–01 | First League | 24 September 2000 | Vardar | 3–1 | Pelister | Bozhinov, Shakiri, Miserdovski | Iliev |
| 2000–01 | Macedonian Cup QF | 25 February 2001 | Pelister | 2–1 | Vardar | Dimov, Momirovski | Beganović |
| 2000–01 | First League | 1 April 2001 | Pelister | 0–1 | Vardar | | Miserdovski |
| 2000–01 | Macedonian Cup QF | 4 April 2001 | Vardar | 3–2$^4$ | Pelister | Zaharievski, Bozhinov, Beganović | Deliovski, Delovski |
| 2001–02 | First League | 23 September 2001 | Pelister | 1–2 | Vardar | Momirovski | Nachevski, Gjoshevski |
| 2001–02 | First League | 25 November 2001 | Vardar | 2–2 | Pelister | Bozhinov, Ristovski | V. Micevski, Stisniovski |
| 2002–03 | First League | 17 August 2002 | Pelister | 1–2 | Vardar | Pitoshka | Oliveira, Dimov |
| 2002–03 | First League | 3 November 2002 | Vardar | 3–1 | Pelister | Oliveira, Spasovski, Gjoshevski | Kapinkovski |
| 2002–03 | First League | 13 April 2003 | Pelister | 0–2 | Vardar | | Vasoski, Bozhinovski |
| 2006–07 | First League | 1 October 2006 | Pelister | 1–2 | Vardar | Delovski | Naumov, Wandeir |
| 2006–07 | First League | 17 December 2006 | Vardar | 2–1 | Pelister | Ristevski, Naumov | Blazhevski |
| 2006–07 | Macedonian Cup SF | 11 April 2007 | Vardar | 2–1 | Pelister | Wandeir, Demiri | Dimov |
| 2006–07 | First League | 29 April 2007 | Pelister | 1–2 | Vardar | Blazhevski | Kirovski, Ristevski |
| 2006–07 | Macedonian Cup SF | 2 May 2007 | Pelister | 1–1 | Vardar | Momirovski | Ristevski |
| 2007–08 | First League | 11 October 2007 | Vardar | 1–0 | Pelister | Milosavljev | |
| 2007–08 | First League | 16 March 2008 | Pelister | 2–1 | Vardar | Todorovski, Elmazovski | Bajevski |
| 2007–08 | First League | 26 April 2008 | Vardar | 1–3 | Pelister | Peev | Miranda (3) |
| 2008–09 | First League | 23 August 2008 | Vardar | 3–0 | Pelister | Janchevski (3) | |
| 2008–09 | First League | 16 November 2008 | Pelister | 0–0 | Vardar | | |
| 2008–09 | First League | 12 April 2009 | Pelister | 0–0 | Vardar | | |
| 2009–10 | First League | 25 October 2009 | Pelister | 1–0 | Vardar | Altiparmakovski | |
| 2009–10 | First League | 21 March 2010 | Vardar | 1–0 | Pelister | S. Hristov | |
| 2009–10 | First League | 28 March 2010 | Pelister | 1–0 | Vardar | Veljanovski | |
| 2010–11 | First League | 28 August 2010 | Vardar | 1–0 | Pelister | Djangarovski | |
| 2010–11 | First League | 27 November 2010 | Pelister | 1–2 | Vardar | Talevski | Gjurgjevikj (2) |
| 2010–11 | First League | 21 May 2011 | Pelister | 1–0 | Vardar | Talevski | |
| 2012–13 | First League | 30 September 2012 | Vardar | 3–1 | Pelister | Petrov, Tanevski, Kostovski | B. Glavevski |
| 2012–13 | Macedonian Cup QF | 7 November 2012 | Pelister | 0–1 | Vardar | | Petrov |
| 2012–13 | Macedonian Cup QF | 21 November 2012 | Vardar | 2–0 | Pelister | Petrov, Giménez | |
| 2012–13 | First League | 6 March 2013 | Pelister | 0–0 | Vardar | | |
| 2012–13 | First League | 13 April 2013 | Vardar | 0–1 | Pelister | | Elmazovski |
| 2013–14 | First League | 6 October 2013 | Pelister | 1–2 | Vardar | Júnior | Ademović, Stojkov |
| 2013–14 | First League | 9 March 2014 | Vardar | 1–1 | Pelister | I. Naumoski | Ljamchevski |
| 2013–14 | First League | 23 April 2014 | Vardar | 0–0 | Pelister | | |
| 2014–15 | First League | 3 August 2014 | Pelister | 0–1 | Vardar | | Petrov |
| 2014–15 | First League | 4 October 2014 | Vardar | 1–0 | Pelister | F. Petkovski | |
| 2014–15 | First League | 22 March 2015 | Vardar | 1–1 | Pelister | Ibričić | Todorovski |
| 2015–16 | Macedonian Cup R16$^5$ | 30 September 2015 | Vardar | 4–1 | Pelister | Dashyan, Velkovski, Hambardzumyan, Grncharov | Nedanoski |
| 2015–16 | Macedonian Cup R16$^5$ | 21 October 2015 | Pelister | 0–2 | Vardar | | Trajkovski (o.g.), Stojkov |
| 2016–17 | First League | 28 September 2016 | Vardar | 1–1 | Pelister | Kojašević | Lucas |
| 2016–17 | First League | 30 November 2016 | Pelister | 0–1 | Vardar | | Juan Felipe |
| 2016–17 | First League | 9 April 2017 | Vardar | 3–1 | Pelister | Boareto, Spirovski, Barseghyan | Kovachev |
| 2016–17 | First League | 28 May 2017 | Pelister | 2–3 | Vardar | Ilijoski, Bujchevski | Nikolov, P. Petkovski, Juan Felipe |
| 2017–18 | First League | 24 September 2017 | Pelister | 0–1 | Vardar | | Blazhevski |
| 2017–18 | First League | 19 November 2017 | Vardar | 1–0 | Pelister | Musliu | |
| 2017–18 | First League | 1 April 2018 | Pelister | 0–0 | Vardar | | |
| 2017–18 | First League | 13 May 2018 | Vardar | 2–3 | Pelister | Barseghyan, Blazhevski | Trifunovski, Konjarski, B. Naumovski |
| 2020–21 | First League | 4 October 2020 | Pelister | 1–1 | Vardar | Charleston (o.g.) | Cvetanoski |
| 2020–21 | First League | 21 February 2021 | Vardar | 2–2 | Pelister | F. Petkovski, Mirchevski | Pejaković, Manevski |
| 2020–21 | First League | 4 April 2021 | Pelister | 2–0 | Vardar | Manevski (2) | |
| 2021–22 | Macedonian Cup QF$^6$ | 15 December 2021 | Pelister | 0–0$^7$ | Vardar | | |
| 2022–23 | Second League | 3 December 2022 | Pelister | 2–2 | Vardar | N. Naumoski, Manevski | S. Hristov, Markoski |
| 2022–23 | Second League | 9 May 2023 | Vardar | 1–1 | Pelister | Desnikj | Manevski |
| 2024–25 | First League | 18 August 2024 | Vardar | 1–0 | Pelister | Dianessy | |
| 2024–25 | First League | 3 November 2024 | Pelister | 1–0 | Vardar | Ivanovski | |
| 2024–25 | First League | 29 March 2025 | Pelister | | Vardar | | |
$^1$ Vardar won 4–2 on penalties and won the one point. $^2$ Match suspended at half-time (score: 0–0) due to the crowd trouble. Later the match was replayed on 1 April, but the another match suspended after 45 minutes (score: 0–1) because of attack on referee. Vardar were awarded a 0–3 win. $^3$ Match suspended before the kick-off due to the crowd trouble when Čkembari burned seats, collapsed the protective fence and clashed with the police. Vardar were awarded a 0–3 win. $^4$ The 2000–01 Macedonian Cup quarter-final tie was won by Pelister on away goals rule. $^5$ Pelister was played in the Second League in that season. $^6$ Vardar was played in the Second League in that season. $^7$ Pelister won 3–2 on penalties.

## Players who have scored for both clubs in the derby

* Dejan Blazhevski (4 goals, 2 for Pelister and 2 for Vardar)
* Saša Ćirić (2 goals, 1 for Pelister and 1 for Vardar)
* Mile Dimov (2 goals, 1 for Pelister and 1 for Vardar)

## Managers who have worked at both clubs

* Boban Babunski
* Ilija Dimoski
* Kiril Dojchinovski
* Perica Gruevski
* Gjoko Hadjievski
* Alekso Mackov
* Gorazd Mihajlov
* Srgjan Zaharievski

## Honours

These are the major football honours of Vardar and Pelister.
| Competition | Vardar | Pelister |
| Yugoslav Championship (1947–1992) | 0(1) | 0 |
| Macedonian Championship (1992–present) | 11 | 0 |
| Yugoslav Cup (1947–1992) | 1 | 0 |
| Macedonian Cup (1992–present) | 5 | 2 |
| Macedonian Supercup (2011–2015) | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 19(20) | 2 |

## Head-to-head league ranking

The table lists the place each team took in each of the seasons.
| P. | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 21 | 23 |
| 1st | | | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | 1 | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | 1 | 1 | | | |
| 2nd | 2 | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 3rd | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | 3 |
| 4th | | | 4 | 4 | | | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | | | | 4 | 4 | | 4 | | | | | 4 | | | 4 |
| 5th | | | | | 5 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | 5 | | | | 5 | | | | | |
| 6th | 6 | 6 | | | | | | 6 | | | | | | 6 | | | 6 | | | 6 | | | | 6 | |
| 7th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8th | | | | | | | | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9th | | | | | | | 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 9 | | | | |
| 10th | | | | | | | | | 10 | 10 | | 10 | | | | 10 | | | 10 | | | | 10 | | |
| 11th | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | | | | | 11 | | | | | | 11 | |
| 12th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 12 | | | | | | | |
| 13th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 15th | | 15 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Key
* First League
* Second League
* Vardar
* Pelister
Source: rsssf.org