# VK Novi Beograd

VK Novi Beograd (Serbian Cyrillic: ВК Нови Београд) is a professional water polo club based in New Belgrade, Serbia. As of 2023–24 season, the club competes in the Serbian League, Regional League A1 and LEN Champions League.

## History

The club was founded in 2015, by Serbian politician and former water polo player Aleksandar Šapić. In 2020–21 season, the club made its debut in top-tier Serbian Water Polo League A, where they finished as runners-up. Also, they made the semi-finals of the Serbian Water Polo Cup. In second-tier European competition LEN Euro Cup, Novi Beograd made it to the eight-finals.
In 2021–22 season, the club significantly improved its roster, and made debut in the Regional League and LEN Champions League. Also, Novi Beograd was named as host of LEN Champions League final tournament from 2021 to 2023. After coming up short in the Serbian Water Polo Cup, losing to VK Radnički Kragujevac in the final game, Novi Beograd eventually won the Regional League in 2021–22 by defeating the VK Jadran Split with 14–11 in the final game, securing their first trophy in history. Duško Pijetlović was named the MVP of the final tournament. It was also only the second trophy for the Serbian clubs in the competition's history. Novi Beograd won the 2021–22 Serbian Water Polo League A as well. Novi Beograd finished their most successful season in club's history by losing in the final of 2021–22 LEN Champions League to Pro Recco on penalties.
In 2022–23 season, Novi Beograd managed to defent the national championship, but was eliminated in the Regional League in semifinals, and was a runner-up in the Serbian Cup competiotion and the LEN Champions League. In 2023–24 season, Novi Beograd was triple-champion, having been crowned the Serbian League champion, the Regional League champion (for the second time) and Serbian Cup champion.

## Season by season

| Season | Tier | League | Regional League | Domestic cup | European competitions | European competitions |
| 2023–24 | 1 | Champions | Champions | Champions | 1 LEN Champions League | 4th place |
| 2022–23 | 1 | Champions | Semi-finalist | Runners-up | 1 LEN Champions League | Runners-up |
| 2021–22 | 1 | Champions | Champions | Runners-up | 1 LEN Champions League | Runners-up |
| 2020–21 | 1 | Runners-up | - | SF | 2 LEN Euro Cup | Eight–finals |
| 2019–20 | 2 | CX | - | QF | - |
| 2018–19 | 2 | 2nd place | - | - | - |
| 2017–18 | 2 | 10th place | - | - | - |
| 2016–17 | 2 | 6th place | - | - | - |

### In European competition

* Participations in Champions League: 3x
* Participations in Euro Cup: 1x
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 2020-21 | Euro Cup | Round of 16 | Vouliagmeni | 7-7 | 8-9 | 15–16 |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group A) | Ferencváros | 11-14 | 10-11 | 3rd place |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group A) | Olympiacos | 9-12 | 12-12 | 3rd place |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group A) | Barceloneta | 11-9 | 12-12 | 3rd place |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group A) | Radnički Kragujevac | 16-10 | 13-11 | 3rd place |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group A) | Dinamo Tbilisi | 19-7 | 17-8 | 3rd place |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group A) | Brescia | 11-11 | 16-13 | 3rd place |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group A) | Jadran Split | 14-7 | 17-12 | 3rd place |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Quarter-final (F8) | Marseille | 16–10 | |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Semi-final (F8) | Brescia | 14–13 | |
| 2021-22 | Champions League Finalist | Final (F8) | Pro Recco | 13–13 (3–4 p) | |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group B) | Ferencváros | 14-13 | 12-14 | 2nd place |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group B) | Marseille | 11-4 | 17-13 | 2nd place |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group B) | Jug Dubrovnik | 12-12 | 11-11 | 2nd place |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group B) | Sabadell | 16-11 | 8-6 | 2nd place |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group B) | Spandau 04 | 13-8 | 16-5 | 2nd place |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group B) | Orvosegyetem SC | 17-9 | 11-9 | 2nd place |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Preliminary round (Group B) | Brescia | 11-9 | 9-12 | 2nd place |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Quarter-final (F8) | Olympiacos | 13–11 | |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Semi-final (F8) | Barceloneta | 8–8 (4–2 p) | |
| 2022-23 | Champions League Finalist | Final (F8) | Pro Recco | 11–14 | |

## Honours
### Domestic competitions

* National Championship
** Winners (3): 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
** Runners-up (1) : 2020–21
* National Cup
** Winners (1): 2023–24
** Runners-up (2) : 2021–22, 2022–23

### Regional competitions

* Regional League
** Winners (2): 2021–22, 2023–24

### European competitions

* LEN Champions League
** Runners-up (2) : 2021–22, 2022–23