FK Sarajevo

FK Sarajevo was the only major football club founded by the post-war Yugoslav authorities in the city of Sarajevo. The club entered the Yugoslav First League in the 1948–49 season, and eventually competed in all but two seasons in the top tier. After Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence from Yugoslavia, FK Sarajevo became one of the country's biggest ambassadors, departing on a large world tour during the Bosnian War with the goal of gaining international support for the country's cause.

Origins

FK Sarajevo was established on 24 October 1946 as the result of a merger between local Sarajevo football clubs Udarnik (Vanguard) and Sloboda (Liberty). The club first appeared on the Yugoslav sports scene in 1946 under the name FD Torpedo that represented an homage to Torpedo Moscow. The first chairman of the newly founded club was Safet Džinović, while the positions of vice-chairmen were granted to Vojo Marković and Alojz Stanarević respectively. Furthermore, Josip Bulat was named manager. The newly formed team, which inherited the results and league standings of Udarnik, was joined by selected players from both Udarnik and Sloboda. Namely, Hodžić, Vlajičić, Šarenkapa, Pauković, Fizović, Konjević, Radović, Viđen and Mustagrudić from the former, and Mantula, Glavočević, Tošić, Pecelj, Novo, Strinić, Đ. Lovrić and Alajbegović from the latter. The team played its first match on 3 November 1946. Another historical assembly was held on 5 October 1947 when it was decided, on the proposal of then editor of the popular daily newspaper Oslobođenje, Mirko Ostojić, that the club name would be changed to FD Sarajevo later SDM Sarajevo, before it was finally changed to the current name in 1949. In September 1948 FD Sarajevo was joined by Yugoslav footballing legend Miroslav Brozović, who brought in a largely needed level of experience to the new team. The Mostar native previously wore the black and white jersey of FK Partizan, as well as captaining the Yugoslavia national team. Brozović was offered the position of player-manager which he accepted, turning his attention to promoting the team to the Yugoslav First League. FK Sarajevo first entered the top-flight Yugoslav First League after eliminating Belgrade club Sloga. They drew the first match 3:3 in Novi Sad, but then won the second match 5:1 in Sarajevo. The team was relegated after its first season in the First League but was promoted back to the top tier in 1950. From then on FK Sarajevo played in every season of the First League apart from 1957 to 1958. The club's first taste of European competitions began during the 1960s when it took part in the 1960 Mitropa Cup and the 1961–63 Balkans Cup, while the first serious European competition the club took part in was the 1962–63 Intertoto Cup.

Champions of Yugoslavia - Bosnian breakthrough

Up until Sarajevo's Yugoslav First League title, no club from any of the other republics within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (other than SR Serbia and SR Croatia) had ever won the title. The big four of Yugoslav football dominated the league and the Bosnian breakthrough finally came thanks to FK Sarajevo during the 1966–67 season. Sarajevo's title win ended the eight consecutive season-long run in which clubs from SR Serbia were crowned national champions (record).

The 1960s: First championship

A key player for Sarajevo in their early years was legendary striker Asim Ferhatović, nicknamed Hase, who played for the club from 1952 to 1967. In 1963–64, he was the top scorer in the First League with nineteen goals, while the club finished fourth. The following year the club finished second (to Partizan Belgrade). Sarajevo won their first Yugoslav First League title in 1966–67, becoming the first national champions from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sarajevo started the historic season with Brozović at the helm of the coaching staff. The team had a dream start with back-to-back wins against FK Sutjeska Nikšić and their city rivals FK Željezničar. This was followed by a draw against the European Cup runners-up, FK Partizan, in which Sarajevo squandered an early lead. With seven points from their first three fixtures, Sarajevo was still not considered a title favorite, but that was to change after Brozović's boys returned from the Dalmatian coast with a win against Hajduk Split. Four days later Sarajevo beat NK Olimpija 2:1 at a sold-out Koševo stadium. Hard-earned wins against HNK Rijeka and Crvena Zvezda followed, and by the winter break Sarajevo had won 14 out of their first 20 league fixtures, finishing the year at pole position. The team opened the second part of the season away to Dinamo Zagreb in the last sixteen of the Yugoslav Cup winning 1:0 courtesy of a Boško Antić stunner. In the quarterfinals, Sarajevo got the better of FK Napredak, but eventually lost in the Cup final to Hajduk Split, played at the Stari plac stadium on 24 May. The team was quickly back to winning ways, defeating Crvena Zvezda at the Rajko Mitić Stadium 3:1 with two goals by Antić and one by Prodanović. A week later OFK Beograd was defeated with the same margin, but a shock defeat to FK Vojvodina in Novi Sad brought Dinamo Zagreb on level points with three games to go. FK Vardar was defeated next thanks to a Musemić brace, while Dinamo dropped points in Rijeka. In the last league fixture of the season Sarajevo hosted NK Čelik in front of 30,000 spectators and went on to win 5:2, bringing home the club's first league title.

The Last 16 of the European Cup

The league triumph qualified Sarajevo to the 1967–68 European Cup (today's UEFA Champions League), where they played their first tie against Cypriots Olympiakos Nicosia, winning 5:3 on aggregate. In the second round (one round short of the quarter-finals), Sarajevo was knocked out 2:1 on aggregate by eventual champions Manchester United of England, despite hosting a goalless draw in the first leg. The first leg was played before an audience of 40,000 spectators and refereed by the Italian Francesco Francescon. The second leg played at Old Trafford ended in controversy after the ball went out of bounds prior to the hosts scoring their second goal. Notable Sarajevo players during this era included Boško Antić, Mirsad Fazlagić, Vahidin Musemić, Fahrudin Prljača and Boško Prodanović.

Shortly after winning its first Yugoslav league title FK Sarajevo endured a period of general stagnation. The team entered the 1967/68 season as strong title favorites, but the campaign turned out to be a complete disaster. The maroon-whites, managed by former player Franjo Lovrić, did not manage to enter the championship race in hopes of defending the title, finishing mere 7th. The club management quickly named Munib Saračević manager for the 1968/69 season, but this move also turned out to be fruitless. The team concluded the disappointing campaign 11th in the league standings. In the 1971 January transfer window six members of the championship winning generation, including Boško Prodanović, Anđelko Tešan and Fahrudin Prljača, left the club while three more followed in July of the same year, including star player Boško Antić. The next season brought hope with the team going into the winter break clinching first spot, but only managing to finish 7th at the end of season. The 1973/74 season brought in a handful of new players, including the likes of future club legend Želimir Vidović and former Red Star Belgrade and Bayern Munich striker Dušan Jovanović. Furthermore, that same year 18-year-old Safet Sušić joined the club from Krivaja Zavidovići, and would go on to be one of the main catalysts for the club's second major spell at the top of Yugoslav football in the coming years. It is important to note that all FK Sarajevo was able to muster in the first eleven seasons after taking home the title in 1967 was one 6th place league finish, two 7th place league finishes and a 1/4 final finish in the Yugoslav Cup in 1976/77. In that same year the club barely retained its place in the top-tier with a two-point advantage over relegated Napredak Kruševac. The 1978/79 season though, brought a breath of fresh air for Sarajevo fans, with the team finishing 4th behind Hajduk Split, Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade, and in doing so signalled things to come.

The 1980s: Second championship

Sarajevo had a second successful spell between 1978 and 1985, led by the attacking duo Predrag Pašić – Safet Sušić, which established itself among the most prolific tandems in Yugoslav and Bosnian football history. Predrag Pašić nicknamed "Paja" was a winger or striker and had emerged through the club's youth ranks, eventually going on to play for Sarajevo up until his move to VfB Stuttgart after the title winning season in 1985. On the other hand, Sušić nicknamed "Pape" played the positions of playmaker and attacking midfielder, and wore the maroon-white jersey from 1973 to 1982, when he moved to Paris Saint-Germain F.C. In 1978–79, Sušić scored 15 goals and was named Player of the Season as Sarajevo finished fourth. The following year, Sušić's 17 goals helped retain his Player of the Year title, but he was also joint top scorer in the league.

On 4 May 1980, during the 23rd round of 1979–80 Yugoslav First League at Koševo Stadium during the game between Sarajevo and Osijek the news broke out of death of the Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito. The game was locked at 1–1. Later a song by local band Zabranjeno Pušenje dedicated a part of the song "Nedelja kad je otisao hase" to that sad event. The club came runner-up that season, seven points behind Red Star Belgrade, therefore qualifying for the 1980–81 UEFA Cup. Sarajevo was knocked out in the first round by German powerhouse Hamburger SV, that won 7:5 on aggregate. Sarajevo returned to the UEFA Cup in 1982–83 (having finished fourth during the 1981–82 Yugoslav First League), beating Bulgaria's Slavia Sofia 6:4 in the first round and Romanian club FC Corvinul Hunedoara 8:4 in the second, thanks to a 4:0 home win in the second leg. In the third round (last 16), Sarajevo lost their first leg 6:1 to Belgian club RSC Anderlecht, and despite winning the second leg 1:0, were eliminated by the eventual champions. Sarajevo also reached the Yugoslav Cup final that season, losing 3:2 to Dinamo Zagreb in Belgrade. Sarajevo won their second championship title in 1984–85, finishing four points ahead of runners-up Hajduk Split. The new championship season didn't start in spectacular fashion for Sarajevo, but as the season continued the team kept gaining momentum and grasped first spot on way to the winter break. Boško Antić's boys didn't start the second part of the season on a positive note, winning only two points out of their first three fixtures. Their main rival Hajduk Split also started the second part of the season on the wrong foot, winning just one out of their first three matches, which kept Sarajevo above by one point. Antić's team went on to beat Sloboda and draw Dinamo Zagreb and Željezničar, before traveling to Split for the crucial game against Hajduk. A packed Poljud stadium witnessed a 0:0 draw that ensured Sarajevo's one-point advantage over the Croatian side. The title race eventually came down to just the maroon whites and the Dalmatian side, with hard-won victories on both sides. Three games until the finish Hajduk secured a comfortable route over Rijeka, while Sarajevo had a much more difficult time in Novi Sad against Vojvodina; the hosts broke the deadlock after just two minutes of play. Luckily for the huge number of traveling fans, Boško Antić's men were able to equalize ten minutes from the break through a Jakovljević effort, and to eventually snatch the win seven minutes from time courtesy of a phenomenal volley from the edge of the box by Slaviša Vukićević. The maroon-whites now needed five points from their three last fixtures to clinch the title. A routine 3:0 victory over Iskra was followed by a tough match against Vardar in Skopje that ended in a 2:2 draw after the hosts went up 2:0 just before halftime. It all came down to the final league game against Red Star Belgrade, played at a sold-out Koševo stadium, where the maroon-whites needed just a point to mathematically clinch the title. Musemić broke the deadlock in the 23. minute and Jakovljević doubled Sarajevo's lead with fifteen minutes to go. The visitors were able to pull one back through Boško Gjurovski in the 85th minute, but it was too little too late. The celebrations began, Sarajevo had won its second Yugoslav league title. The triumph qualified the club for the first round of the 1985–86 European Cup, where they shockingly lost both legs to Finnish side Kuusysi Lahti. This result is still considered Sarajevo's worst in major European competitions. The championship winning generation included the likes of Husref Musemić, Faruk Hadžibegić, Davor Jozić, Dragan Jakovljević, Miloš Đurković, Predrag Pašić, Mirza Kapetanović, Slaviša Vukićević, Zijad Švrakić, Senad Merdanović and Mehmed Janjoš.

Final years in Yugoslavia

FK Sarajevo entered a turbulent period after clinching its second Yugoslav league title. Three major members of the championship-winning squad left the team in the summer of 1985. Star striker Husref Musemić joined Red Star Belgrade. Faruk Hadžibegić moved to Spanish side Real Betis. Team captain Predrag Pašić moved to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. The club management, in search of replacements, turned its sights to young players from lower-tier sides, bringing in Bernard Barnjak, Vladimir Petković and Zoran Ljubičić. Even though the team started the season on a high note, it finished a disappointing 15th at the end of the 1985/86 season, avoiding relegation by virtue of a superior goal difference compared to relegated OFK Beograd. The following season again culminated in a lowly finish, as new manager Denijel Pirić led the team to a disappointing 13th place in the league standings. Further departures followed at the end of the season as Miloš Đurković joined Beşiktaş, Muhidin Teskeredžić made the move to Sturm Graz, Davor Jozić joined Serie A side A.C. Cesena, Zijad Švrakić transferred to Adana Demirspor and Branko Bošnjak joined NK Olimpija. The following two seasons again brought mediocre league finishes as the maroon-whites concluded the respective campaigns on 13th and 14th spots, barely avoiding relegation on both occasions. As with previous seasons, a handful of players left the club during the summer transfer window, with Slaviša Vukićević moving to Créteil, goalkeeper Enver Lugušić joining Konyaspor and Dragan Jakovljević moving to FC Nantes. On a positive note, the 1989/90 season brought the return of fan-favorite Husref Musemić, who had spent the previous season playing for Scottish side Hearts. His nine goals in 26 appearances did little to improve league results, as the team again concluded the campaign in 13th spot, along with an early exit in the Yugoslav Cup after a defeat to Macedonian third division minnows, FK Sileks. The 1990/91 season saw Fuad Muzurović again being named manager after a ten-year absence. Furthermore, Soviet goalkeeper Aleksei Prudnikov was brought in from Velež Mostar, thus becoming the first foreign player in the history of the club. The team was able to conclude the season in 11th spot, defeating Red Star Belgrade in a crucial, hallmark game, only days after the Belgrade outfit won the European Cup. The 1991/92 season was marked by the disintegration of Yugoslavia, and was subsequently abandoned by Slovenian, Croatian and Bosnian sides. Football was abruptly halted in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the duration of the war that would last for four years. Notable FK Sarajevo players in the pre-war period were Miloš Nedić, Dragan Jakovljević, Boban Božović, Dane Kuprešanin and Dejan Raičković.

Recent years

Since the Bosnian independence, the club has won 11 domestic titles, 5 of which were Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina honors. In addition the club reached play-off stage/final qualifying round for European competitions on 4 occasions, once for UCL (vs Dynamo Kyiv) and three for UEL (vs CFR Cluj, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Celtic).

War and independence

The Bosnian War in the early 1990s shut down competitive football in the territory, and as a result FK Sarajevo became a touring club in 1993, under manager Fuad Muzurović, featuring players such as Elvir Baljić, Almir Turković, Senad Repuh and Mirza Varešanović, all future national team players for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many of the club's supporters, including the infamous Horde Zla joined the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and fought in the war. FK Sarajevo played a number of friendly games during this time, such as the now-famous 4–1 victory over the local UN peacekeeping force in 1994, a 1–1 draw against Parma F.C. while on tour in Italy, and a 3–1 victory over the Iranian national team in Teheran.

In 1994–95, the first-ever Bosnia and Herzegovina championship was held. Sarajevo came first in their six-team league in Jablanica, and came runners-up in the final league stage in Zenica, behind local club Čelik. Sarajevo again finished as runners-up to Čelik in 1996–97 (by two points), but beat the Zenica-based club in the Cup final and Super Cup. The Cup was retained the following year, and despite finishing third in the league, Sarajevo was runner-up due to play-offs. There was no play-off in 1998–99; the title was given to Sarajevo but it does not count.

In 2004, Safet Sušić, who played at FK Sarajevo from 1973 to 1982, was voted Bosnia and Herzegovina's best player of the last 50 years at the UEFA Jubilee Awards. Sarajevo were runners-up in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Premier League in 2006–07, but won their second title the following season, beating Zrinjski Mostar by three points. Sarajevo have been a regular in Europa League qualification in the 21st century, but are yet to make the group stages. Off the back of their 2006–07 league title under manager Husref Musemić, Sarajevo played in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its current format. They beat Maltese champions Marsaxlokk F.C. 6:0 away in their first game, eventually winning 9:1 on aggregate. The second round saw Sarajevo defeat Belgians KRC Genk on away goals due to a 2:1 away win in the first leg, although the club was knocked out in the play-offs for the competition's Group stage by Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv who won 4:0 on aggregate. The club made the play-offs round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League and faced CFR Cluj but lost 3–2 on aggregate. The team defeated Spartak Trnava and Helsingborg to get to the playoff round.

Vincent Tan era - a financial injection

Vincent Tan, a Malaysian businessman and the owner of the Championship club Cardiff City, bought FK Sarajevo in late 2013 pledging to invest $2 million into the club. Under the deal, Cardiff will cooperate with FK Sarajevo, exchanging players and taking part in a football academy, yet to be established, which Tan has said would lure new talents. Under Tan's management the club brought in quality players with the likes of Miloš Stojčev, Džemal Berberović and Nemanja Bilbija who helped the club win the 2013–14 Bosnian Cup, their first silverware since winning the Premier League in 2006–07. Prior to the Cup triumph, Robert Jarni was brought in as the new manager of the club in December 2013 by Tan, but was quickly dismissed only 4 months into his tenure (on 7 April 2014, while the team was still in the semi-finals of the Bosnian Cup) due to the team failing to keep its chances of winning the domestic league title alive during later stages of the 2013–14 season. FK Sarajevo played a friendly match against Tan's Cardiff City FC U21 winning 4–1. In 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, FK Sarajevo eliminated FK Haugesund and Atromitos to qualify for the play-off round, where it lost to German side Borussia Mönchengladbach. On 17 July 2014, Tan presented pledges of assistance of €255,000 each to two hospitals in Doboj and Maglaj during the halftime break of the UEFA Europa League qualifying match between Sarajevo and Norwegian club Haugesund at the Olympic Stadium in Sarajevo. The money raised would be used to purchase and donate much-needed medical equipment for the two hospitals. In June 2014, Tan made a personal donation of €114,000, while the people of Malaysia raised a total of €169,000 toward Bosnia's flood relief fund. In May 2014, the heaviest rains and floods in 120 years hit Bosnia and the surrounding region. The worst affected areas were the towns of Doboj and Maglaj, which were cut off from the rest of the country when floods deluged all major roads. Damage from landslides and floods was estimated to run into hundreds of millions of euros and twenty-four people lost their lives. The cost of the disaster, an official said, could exceed that of the Bosnian War. On 5 August 2014, Sarajevo signed a cooperation agreement with third-tier Bosnian club NK Bosna Visoko, by which Sarajevo will loan its talented youngsters to the Visoko-based side and will have first-buy rights on all of Bosna players. The agreement was signed by Adis Hajlovac and Mirza Laletović on behalf of Bosna, and Abdulah Ibraković on behalf of Sarajevo. The agreement de facto names Bosna the club's farm team. On 26 September 2014, manager Dženan Uščuplić was relieved of his duties as first-team manager and was transferred back to the youth academy. On 30 September 2014, former Barcelona, Real Sociedad and Bosnia and Herzegovina national team striker Meho Kodro was appointed manager. On 24 February 2015, Sarajevo signed a three and a half-year general sponsorship agreement with Turkish Airlines which has been labeled the most lucrative in Bosnian professional sports history. On 21 April, after poor league results, the club sacked Kodro and once again named Dženan Uščuplić manager until the end of the season. On 30 May the team defeated Sloboda Tuzla in the season's last fixture, thus winning the league title after an eight-year drought. The next season was a turbulent one for the club. After Uščuplić left his post, former Partizan and CSKA Sofia manager Miodrag Ješić took over the helm, only to be sacked after a string of disappointing results, with Almir Hurtić leading the side to a disappointing 4th-place finish in the league. On 29 August 2016, after another string of bad results at the start of the 2016–17 season, Hurtić was sacked and Mehmed Janjoš was named manager.

Club's domestic revival

Since March 2019, FK Sarajevo is run by Vietnamese businessman Nguyễn Hoài Nam and the PVF Investment and Trading, JSC (Promotion Fund of Vietnamese Football Talents F.C.).

The club has won back to back titles in Bosnia under managers Husref Musemić and Vinko Marinović; both 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons of the Bosnian Premier League and a 2018–19 Bosnian Cup triumph as well.