RK Vardar

RK Vardar 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. Also, 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, 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 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.
This talent promised a good future, especially with 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 fiercest 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 in the Macedonian Super League since 1999. They achieved a record win of the Macedonian handball championship by winning their twelfth title in 2018 and are the record cup winner with thirteen victories. On 15 April 2012, Vardar defeated Metalurg at the Zagreb Arena to become the first SEHA League champion. 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 sport 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 the 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 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 the 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 Black 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 to 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
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
Goalkeepers
12 Martin Tomovski
98 Damjan Stojkovski
99 Vasil Gogov
Left Wingers
14 Hanser Rodríguez
27 Marko Srdanović
62 Mario Stojanovski
Right Wingers
9 Goce Georgievski (c)
45 Darko Đukić
77 Alen Kjosevski
Line players
7 Mihail Alarov
18 Milan Lazarevski
55 Stefan Atanasovski
Left Backs
29 Matija Nikolić
33 Stefan Petrić
96 Nilton Melo
Central Backs
11 Martin Karapalevski
13 Kosuke Yasuhira
97 Marko Miševski
Right Backs
4 Tomislav Jagurinovski
73 Victor Alonso
Staff
Professional staff
Management
Former club members
Notable former players
Stojanče Stoilov
Pepi Manaskov
Stevče Aluševski
Petar Misovski
Branislav Angelovski
Kiril Kolev
Vančo Dimovski
Lazo Majnov
Naumče Mojsovski
Zlatko Mojsovski
Goran Kuzmanoski
Dejan Pecakovski
Radoslav Stojanović
Aco Jonovski
Marjan Kolev
Mitko Stoilov
Vlado Nedanovski
Martin Popovski
Marko Kizikj
Dimitar Dimitrioski
Zlatko Daskalovski
Nemanja Pribak
Filip Lazarov
Velko Markoski
Milorad Kukoski
Gradimir Čanevski
Petar Angelov
Goce Ojleski
Nikola Markoski
Milan Levov
Nikola Mitrevski
Daniel Gjorgjeski
Nikola Stojčevski
Dejan Manaskov
Borko Ristovski
Alexey Rastvortsev
Mikhail Chipurin
Alexander Dereven
Dmitrii Kiselev
Pavel Atman
Daniil Shishkarev
Sergei Gorbok
Sergey Gorpishin
Gleb Kalarash
Timur Dibirov
Strahinja Milić
Stefan Terzić
Ilija Abutović
Mijajlo Marsenić
Dejan Milosavljev
Marko Vujin
Vladimir Petrić
Janja Vojvodić
Alem Toskić
Iñaki Malumbres Aldave
Alex Dujshebaev
Arpad Šterbik
Joan Cañellas
Jorge Maqueda
Eduardo Gurbindo
Blaženko Lacković
Luka Raković
Luka Cindrić
Igor Karačić
Ivan Čupić
Lovro Jotić
Josip Vekić
Ante Gadža
Mladen Rakčević
Stevan Vujović
Vuk Lazović
Vuko Borozan
Vasko Ševaljević
Andrej Dobrković
Miladin Kozlina
Matjaž Brumen
Gregor Ocvirk
Staš Skube
Domen Sikošek Pelko
Ante Kuduz
Revaz Chanturia
Jan Sobol
Rogerio Moraes Ferreira
José Toledo
Leonardo Dutra
Dainis Krištopāns
Artūrs Kuģis
Khalifa Ghedbane
Ali Safar
Robin Cantegrel
Bakary Diallo
Jérémy Toto
Olivier Nyokas
Kévynn Nyokas
Christian Dissinger
Patryk Walczak
Jan Czuwara
Yoel Cuni Morales
Notable former coaches
Ljubomir Savevski
Andon Boškovski
Zoran Kastratović
Biljana Crvenkoska
Stevče Aluševski
Raúl González Gutiérrez
David Davis
Roberto García Parrondo
David Pisonero
Dragan Đukić
Dejan Perić
Josif Petković
Veselin Vujović
Goran Simić
Aleksandar Roganović
Notable former presidents
Sergey Samsonenko
Kit manufacturers
Hummel International
European competitions record
EHF Champions League
EHF Cup
EHF Cup Winners' Cup
Statistics
All–time Top 10 Scorers in the EHF Champions League
As of 2021–22 season
Most appearances in the EHF Champions League
As of 2021–22 season
Individual awards in the EHF Champions League
References
External links
RFM Profile
EHF Profile
http://www.seha-liga.com/klub/11/vardar-skopje
Vardar
Sport in Skopje
Handball clubs established in 1961