Hajduk Split

Hajduk Split is a football (soccer) club from Croatia.

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HNK Hajduk Split is a Croatian football (soccer) club, one of two most popular football clubs in the country. Hajduk is based in the city of Split (city), Croatia.

History

Hajduk Split was founded in the famous, centuries old pub U Fleků in Prague (then also a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) by a group of students from Split: Fabijan Kaliterna, Lucijan Stella, Ivan Šakić, and Vjekoslav Ivanišević. They attended the pub following a match between AC Sparta Praha and SK Slavia Praha and decided it was time their own town founded its professional club. They all knew how popular the sport was in Split (their home), and how well their friends there played.

Hajduk Split was officially registered with the authorities on February 13, 1911. The name originates from the hajduks, romanticized bandits that fought the Ottoman Turks. The founders subsequently designed Hajduk Split's emblem, and a group of Catholic nuns from a monastery in Split created copies which were distributed to fans.

Hajduk gathered the pro-Croat party of citizens of Split, Croat unionists or puntari. That is why Hajduk Split specifically has the name "hrvatski nogometni klub" (Croatian football club) and has the Croatian coat-of-arms in its logo. Hajduk Split itself was against the Austro-Hungarian government's policy of not allowing the unification of Croatian provinces and keeping them separated (the government and the emperor did not allow the reunion of Dalmatia with the rest of Croatia). Hajduk reached its first period of glory in the late twenties, when it won two Yugoslav championships, breaking the domination of clubs from Belgrade and Zagreb. Particularly interesting is Hajduk Split's war episode. After the Italian occupation of Split during World War II, Hajduk Split ceased to compete in defiance, and declined an offer to join the Italian first division, which included the incentive of a new stadium being built by the authorities and presented to Hajduk Split free of charge.

In 1944 in football (soccer), Hajduk Split and staff clandestinely joined Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslav Partisans on the island Vis and continued to play as an official Partisan army team. With its proficiency and its unique Dalmatian spirit, Hajduk Split reportedly impressed the Partisan commander and future Yugoslav president, Marshal Josip Broz Tito. He officially invited Hajduk to move to Belgrade and become an official Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) team. However, Hajduk's players refused this offer and continued playing in their hometown, Split (city). The club, however, continued to enjoy the reputation of "Tito's favorite" long after the war.
Hajduk had its best years in SFR Yugoslavia, particularly the 1970s. The so-called "Zlatna generacija" ("Golden Generation") won five consecutive cups and three championships in the 1972 in football (soccer) to 1979 in football (soccer) period. It was the third most successful club in Yugoslavia far outstripping the fourth, its present day rival, NK Dinamo Zagreb. In the summer of 1991, Hajduk restored its traditional emblem including the Croatian chequy and removed the red star from it.

Since 1979, Hajduk have played at the Poljud stadium. It was built by the SFR Yugoslav Federal Government for the 1979 Mediterranean games that were held in Split. Thanks to lavish federal funding, the stadium is quite impressive, not so much in size (though it is large) as it is in architecture, having one of the most distinctive and beautiful designs in the world at the time of its construction. In the SFR Yugoslavia, Hajduk was a team that had supporters all over the country, among all national and religious communities, not only among the Croats. It is important to mention the big popularity of Hajduk among Albanians in Yugoslavia, especially in Kosovo, where the popularity of Hajduk can be compared with that in Dalmatia.

Modern club

Hajduk is famous for its youth school. It is one of the most prolific producers of high quality footballers which often continue careers in famous European teams. Some of Hajduk's former players include: Alen Bokšić (ex Juventus, Lazio, Middlesbrough), Robert Jarni (ex Juventus, Betis, Real Madrid), Slaven Bilić (ex Karlsruhe, Everton), Igor Štimac (ex West Ham, Derby County), Milan Rapaić (Perugia, Fenerbahçe, Standard Liege), Igor Tudor (Juventus), Ivica Šurjak (ex Paris SG), Luka Peruzović (ex Anderlecht), Aljoša Asanović (ex Derby County, PAO), Ivan Buljan (ex Hamburger SV) and Zlatko Vujović (ex Bordeaux).

When the Croatian national team won third place at the 1998 World Cup in France, amongst the first 11, there were 5 former Hajduk players.

Before that, Hajduk played its games at the "Kod stare plinare" stadium ("By the old gas facility"), also known as "Stari Plac Stadion" ("Old Square") or "Staro Hajdukovo" ("Old Hajduk's"). Before the transformation that area into the football pitch, the area was known as "Kraljeva njiva" ("King's Field") and it was part of a military camp.

The fans are called Torcida Split (since 1950) as they took their name after their idolized Brazilian fan groups, which are named torcidas, from the Portuguese 'torcer', to cheer on. Supporters popularly call the players of Hajduk bili (dialect for 'bijeli', plural form of white) and are the oldest organized supporters' group in Europe.

Hajduk is by far the most popular sport team in the Croatian region of Dalmatia. Hajduk also has a strong fan base throughout the rest of Croatia, especially in littoral areas, as well as in Slavonia. Hajduk is also a very important part of the region's identity.

Outside of Croatia, Hajduk also has many supporters throughout the rest of the world. It is said that Hajduk has never played a single game anywhere in the world without at least a small group of Torcida in the stands. Countries with huge fan clubs membership include Brazil, Chile New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, USA and Canada - mostly countries with significant Croat immigration from Dalmatia.

Honours

Hajduk won two Kingdom of Yugoslavia Yugoslav First League, seven Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslav First League, six Croatian championships, as well as nine Yugoslav Cup titles, four Croatian Cups and five super cups. Abroad, Hajduk Split has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup (now UEFA Champions League) three times (last time 1995), and two European semifinals: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1973, and UEFA Cup 1984 in football (soccer).

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European record
Summary

Source:
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

1960s–1980

1980–1990

1990–2000

2000–present

Note: Hajduk score always listed first.

As of July 25, 2009

Notable players

Trivia: in the season 2001, Goran Ivanisevic was registered for Hajduk as player.

List of Hajduk managers
- Just Oldrich (1911)
- Josip Šwagrovsky (1912)
- Otto Bohata (1913)
- Norbert Zajiček (1914)
- Zdenko Jahn (1915–1918)
- Karel Stiasny (1919)
- Rudolf Štapl (1920)
- Frano Zoubek (1920)
- Franz Mantler (1921)
- Jindrich Šoltis (1922)
- Vaclav Pinc (1922)
- Jaroslav Bohata (1923)
- Luka Kaliterna (1923–1930)
- Erwin Puschner (1930)
- Luka Kaliterna (1930–1936)
- Ante Blažević (1936)
- Karel Senecký (1937)
- Luka Kaliterna (1937)
- Illés Spitz (1938–1939)
- Ljubo Benčić (1939–1940)
- Jiři Sobotka (1940)
- Ljubo Benčić (1940)
- Jiři Sobotka (1941)
- Ljubo Benčić (1941–1948)
- Luka Kaliterna (1948–1951)
- Branko Bakotić (1951)
- Jozo Matošić (1952–1954)
- Aleksandar Tomašević (1954–1955)
- Ljubo Benčić (1955–1956)
- Frane Matošić (1956–1958)
- Ivo Radovniković (1958–1959)
- Milovan Ćirić (1959–1961)
- Leo Lemešić (1961–1962)
- Florijan Matekalo (1962)
- Lenko Grčić (1963)
- Milovan Ćirić (1963)
- Ozren Nedoklan (1964)
- Frane Matošić (1965)
- Dušan Nenković (1965–1969)
- Slavko Luštica (1969–1971)
- Tomislav Ivić (1972)
- Branko Zebec (1972)
- Tomislav Ivić (1973–1976)
- Josip Duvančić (1976–1977)
- Vlatko Marković (1977–1978)
- Tomislav Ivić (1978–1980)
- Ante Mladinić (1980–1982)
- Petar Nadoveza (1982–1984)
- Stanko Poklepović (1984–1985)
- Sergije Krešić (1986)
- Josip Skoblar (1986–1987)
- Marin Kovačić (1987)
- Ivan Vutsov (1987)
- Petar Nadoveza (1988–1989)
- Luka Peruzović (1990)
- Josip Skoblar (1991–1992)
- Stanko Poklepović (1992–1993)
- Ivan Katalinić (1993–1995)
- Ivan Buljan (1995)
- Mirko Jozić (1995–1996)
- Ivan Buljan (1996–1997)
- Luka Bonačić (1997)
- Tomislav Ivić (1997)
- Luka Bonačić (1997–1998)
- Zoran Vulić (1998)
- Ivan Katalinić (1998–1999)
- Ivica Matković (1999–2000)
- Petar Nadoveza (2000)
- Zoran Vulić (2000–2001)
- Nenad Gračan (2001–2002)
- Slaven Bilić (2002)
- Zoran Vulić (2002–2004)
- Petar Nadoveza (2004)
- Ivan Katalinić (2004)
- Blaž Slišković (2004–2005)
- Igor Štimac (2005)
- Miroslav Blažević (2005)
- Ivan Gudelj (2005)
- Luka Bonačić (2005–2006)
- Zoran Vulić (2006–2007)
- Ivan Pudar (2007)
- Sergije Krešić (2007)
- Robert Jarni (2007–2008)
- Goran Vučević (2008)
- Ante Miše (2008–present)
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Related pages

Cibalia Vinkovci, Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Inker Zapresic, Nogometni Klub Croatia Sesvete, Osijek, Rijeka, Sibenik, Slaven Belupo Koprivnica, Varteks Varazdin, Zadar, Zagreb