Vardar (football club)

Vardar Football Club was founded in 1947 by football enthusiasts Skopje from the Pobeda and Macedonia teams, who decided to join forces and established a new football club. It was named after the Vardar River flowing in the capital.

At the first meeting of the team, it was decided that the newly formed team will play in blue. However, at the next meeting, the colors of the club changed to white and red. The current red-black color form “Vardara” received in 1963 , after the earthquake in Skopje. This year was also marked by a significant sporting event: the club entered the elite division of Yugoslav football. The Red-Blacks in the transitional matches defeated the Syllable from Novi Sad .

By this moment, Vardar already had a prestigious trophy in his piggy bank, won in the rank of the second division team - the Yugoslav Cup (the only trophy of the North Macedonian clubs). In 1961, the players of Vardar surprised everyone, defeating the Belgrade Partizan and Radnichki , as well as Split , on the way to the final. In the decisive match, the squad from Skopje defeated Varteks from Varazdin - 2: 1. The leader of Vardara in those years was forward Andon Donchevsky. For 14 years, the super-scorer scored 217 goals in 305 matches in a red and white T-shirt.

The club’s next impressive success is also associated with his name. In the 1986/87 season, Donchevsky, as a coach, led Vardar to victory in the championship of Yugoslavia . Subsequently, the team from Skopje was stripped of this title. The fact is that due to the scandal associated with suspicions of organizing match-fixing matches, a number of teams started in the championship with an indicator of “minus six” in the “Points” column. Then the "Partisan" managed to prove his innocence in court and return six points. This allowed Belgrade to get ahead of Vardar in the revised table. Nevertheless, the players of Vardar gained the right to represent Yugoslavia in the 1987/88 Champions Cup. True, participation was short-lived: no luck with the draw. Last year’s winner of the Porto tournament won against Vardar, who twice beat the red-blacks. At that time, the club had a lot of iconic characters, including the owner of the Golden Boot -1991 Darko Pancheva .

Independence of Northern Macedonia “Vardar” met as a flagship. In the first sovereign season, the “red-blacks” did not lose a single match in the championship, completed the tournament with a difference of “103” goals and conceded goals and easily became champions. For the next two years, Vardar confirmed its reputation, and then went into the shadows until 2002. Then followed two consecutive titles at the beginning of the two thousandth - and again a decline.

The team faced a crisis, as a result of which it almost flew out of the top division. A new take-off occurred in the 2011/2012 season - having lost only once, Vardar again confidently ascended to the highest level of the national podium.

Eurocup campaigns of the "red-black" in most cases were short-lived. For more than two rounds, the Macedonians did not pass in any of the tournaments.

In the UEFA Champions League 2003/2004, the club created a sensation, knocking out the Russian CSKA in the second round with a total score of 3: 2 (away win 2: 1 and home draw 1: 1). In the confrontation with the Prague “Sparta”, “Vardar” did not have only one goal to break into the group stage.

On January 27, 2014, the club was headed by Russian coach Sergei Andreev . ^[one]

The main rival is Pelister (Bitola) , the match with which they call the Eternal Derby .

• First league
  •   Champion (10) ( record ): 1992/93 , 1993/94 , 1994/95 , 2001/02 , 2002/03 , 2011/12 , 2012/13 , 2014/15 , 2015/16 , 2016/17
  •   Vice Champion (4): 2000/01 , 2004/05 , 2017/18 , 2018/19
  •   Bronze medalist (3): 1995/96 , 2003/04 , 2005/06

• League Two Yugoslavia
  •   Champion (6): 1951 , 1955/56 , 1959/60 , 1962/63 , 1971/72 , 1978/79

• Yugoslav Cup
  •   Winner (1): 1960/61

• Macedonia Cup
  •   Winner (5) ( record ): 1992/93 , 1994/95 , 1997/98 , 1998/99 , 2006/07
  •   Finalist (1): 1995/96

• Macedonian Republic Cup *
  •   Winner (14): 1952/53, 1954/55, 1964/65, 1965/66, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1971/72, 1975/76, 1978 / 79, 1979/80, 1991/92

• Macedonia Super Cup
  •   Winner (2): 2013 , 2015

• Yugoslav period .

•    Dredge Setinov (2000)
•    Pericha Gruevski (2000)
•    Alexo Makov (2000 - 2001)
•    Zharko Odzakov (2001)
•    Gyoko Hadzhievsky (2001 - 2003)
•    Zoran Stratsov (2003 - 2004)
•    Tony Yakimovsky (2004)
•   Guildo Rodriguez (2004)
•    Vuyadin Stanoikovich (2004 - 2005)
•    Dragan Kantlarovski (2005 - 2007)
•    Zoran Stratsov (2007 - 2008)
•    Kirill Doichinowski (2008)
•    Ratko Dostanich (2008)
•    Milko Djurovski (2008 - 2009)
•    Zikicha Tasevski (2009)
•    Pane Blazhevsky (2009)
•    Mario Vujovic (2009)
•    Georgi Todorowski (2009 - 2010)
•    Ilico Giorgoski (2010)
•    Zoran Stratsov (2011)
•    Ilico Giorgoski (2011 - 2012)
•    Blagoya Milewski (2012 - 2013)
•    Nikola Ilievsky (2013)
•    Blagoya Milewski (2013 - 2014)
•    Sergey Andreev (2014 - 2015)
•    Gotse Sedloski (2015 - 2017)
•    Chedomir Janevski (2017 - 2018)
•    Boban Babunsky (2018 -nv )

• Three points taken.
• According to the results of the playoff tournament.

He played 55 matches in European competitions: + 12 = 13-30, 51-93. The highest achievement is reaching the third qualifying round of the Champions League 2003/04 and the Champions League 2017/18 . Group stage in UEFA Europa League 2017/18 . The largest number of matches in European competitions for Vardar was held by Muarem Zekir - 21. The largest number of goals was scored by the Brazilian Vandeir - 13.

As of March 12, 2018

•   Artak Dashyan
•   Hovhannes Hambartsumyan
•   Arthur Miranyan
•   Darko Panchev
•   Sasha Ilic
•   Philip Despotovsky
•   Christian Kirovsky
•   Boban Babunsky
•   Nikola Joshevsky
•   Cesar Romero

• Official site
• Profile on worldfootball.net
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• Soccer365.ru profile
• Profile on ceroacero.es