NK Varaždin (2012)

This article is about the football club established in 2012. For the dissolved club, see NK Varaždin (1931–2015).

NK Varaždin
Full nameNogometni klub Varaždin
Founded1 July 2012; 12 years ago (2012-07-01)
GroundStadion Varteks
Capacity8,818
PresidentDražen Vitez
Head coachNikola Šafarić
LeagueCroatian Football League
2023–24Croatian Football League, 6th of 10
Websitehttps://nk-varazdin.hr/

Nogometni klub Varaždin, commonly referred to as NK Varaždin, is a Croatian professional football club based in Varaždin, that competes in the Croatian Football League, the top tier of Croatian football.

History

The club was founded as FC Varaždin Football School (Croatian: NK Varaždin Škola nogometa, Varaždin ŠN) as a phoenix club of NK Varaždin (1931–2015) in 2012 after the latter's suspension;[1] the club was dissolved during the second part of the 2011–12 season due to high financial debt. Legally, the two clubs' track records and honours are kept separate by the Croatian Football Federation, but the 2012 club is a continuation of the older club, which did return to competition in 2013, overlapping with the life of Varaždin ŠN. However, the older club finally declared bankruptcy and dissolved in 2015, leaving the name NK Varaždin available once again.[2]

After steadily progressing through the levels of the Croatian football league system, NK Varaždin competed in the top division for the first time in the 2019–20 season, where they finished in eighth place.[3] However, they were relegated the following season after finishing bottom of the table.[4]

Players

Current squad

As of 11 September 2024[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Croatia CRO Oliver Zelenika
3 DF North Macedonia MKD Vane Jovanov
4 MF Croatia CRO Luka Škaričić
5 DF Mauritania MTN Lamine Ba
6 DF Croatia CRO Ivan Nekić
7 FW Croatia CRO Jurica Poldrugač
8 MF Croatia CRO Tomislav Duvnjak
9 FW Croatia CRO Marko Dabro
10 MF Croatia CRO Leon Belcar
11 FW Croatia CRO Michele Šego
12 GK Croatia CRO Josip Silić
13 DF North Macedonia MKD Mario Mladenovski
14 MF Croatia CRO Ante Ćorić
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF Croatia CRO Novak Tepšić
17 FW North Macedonia MKD Dimitar Mitrovski
19 FW England ENG Thierry Nevers
20 MF Switzerland SUI David Mištrafović
21 GK Croatia CRO Domagoj Mamić
22 MF Croatia CRO Luka Mamić
23 DF Croatia CRO Frane Maglica
24 MF Croatia CRO Mario Marina
25 DF Croatia CRO Antonio Boršić
27 FW Montenegro MNE Aleksa Latković
29 FW Croatia CRO Niko Domjanić
30 DF Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Enes Alić

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
32 MF Croatia CRO Nick Ocvirek (at Croatia Radnik Križevci until 30 May 2025)
— DF Croatia CRO Hrvoje Crnčec (at Croatia Cibalia until 29 June 2025)
— DF Croatia CRO Vito Težak (at Slovenia Beltinci until 31 May 2025)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Croatia CRO Bruno Bujan (at Croatia Marsonia 1909 until 29 June 2025)
— MF Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Tin Levanić (at Croatia Jarun until 30 May 2025)

Season-by-season record

Season League Cup European competitions Top scorer
Division Pld W D L GF GA Pts Pos. Player Goals
2012–13 2. ŽNL Varaždin County East 22 14 3 5 71 24 45 3rd DNQ
2013–14 2. ŽNL Varaždin County East 22 14 4 4 62 24 46 3rd ↑ DNQ
2014–15 1. ŽNL Varaždin County 30 21 5 4 81 38 68 1st ↑ DNQ
2015–16 3. HNL East 30 10 4 16 40 47 34 11th DNQ
2016–17 3. HNL East 30 18 6 6 53 27 60 2nd ↑[1] R32
2017–18 2. HNL 33 18 7 8 50 32 61 2nd R32
2018–19 2. HNL 26 16 3 7 40 30 51 1st ↑ R16 Leon Benko 22
2019–20 1. HNL 36 9 9 18 29 50 36 8th R16 Domagoj Drožđek
Dejan Glavica 		6
2020–21 1. HNL 36 6 10 20 30 61 28 10th ↓ R16 Jorge Obregón 7
2021–22 2. HNL 30 19 6 5 56 29 63 1st ↑ R16 Igor Postonjski
Michele Šego 		7
2022–23 HNL 36 12 10 14 41 51 46 6th R16 Fran Brodić 12
2023–24 HNL 36 10 12 14 39 47 42 6th QF Fran Brodić
Domagoj Drožđek
Igor Postonjski 		7

Key

  • DNQ = Did not qualify
  • R32 = Round of 32
  • R16 = Round of 16

Notes

1. a : Although NK Međimurje finished top of the 2016–17 3. HNL East, they did not apply for promotion, so runners-up NK Varaždin gained promotion to 2. HNL.

References

  1. ^ "NK Varaždin – Soccer – Team Profile – Results, fixtures, squad, statistics – Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Promjenom imena do kluba neopterećenog s dugovima" [Bankrupt club changes its name to avoid its debts]. Regionalni tjednik (in Croatian). 19 July 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  3. ^ "1. HNL 2019/2020 – 36. Round". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  4. ^ "1. HNL 2020/2021 – 36. Round". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Ekipa" (in Croatian). NK Varaždin. Retrieved 22 August 2023.