FK Partizan - History

History

Partizan was founded on 4 October 1945, as a football section of the Yugoslav Sports Association Partizan, and was named in honor of the Yugoslav Partisans, the communist military formation who fought during the World War II. The club was formed and initially managed by the group of high officers of the Yugoslav People's Army. Among them were Svetozar Vukmanović, Ratko Vujović and Koča Popović. Partizan joined the newly formed Yugoslav First League along with the cup, and had a successful start, already winning the Double in the 1946–47 debut season. The second championship title followed in 1949. Until then, Partizan played its home games on the old BSK stadium, when its own stadium was built on the same site and named JNA Stadium. In 1950, the club evolved from a football section of the Army into independent club under the umbrella organization JSD Partizan. The first clubs president became Ratko Vujović. In 1953, the remaining formal connections between Partizan and the Army finally ceased. During the 1950s, the club had a long break without winning a championship, winning only cup titles in 1952, 1954 and 1957. On 4 September 1955, Partizan participated in the first ever Champions Cup match, in Lisbon against Portuguese club Sporting.

In 1958, after 13 years of playing in blue-red kits, the club adopted the black and white colors. The change of club's image and appearance was followed by radical changes in the playing squad. The number of young players, offsprings of Partizan's youth school and known as Partizanove bebe (The Partizan's babies), soon emerged into one of the best generations Partizan ever had. Managers Spitz, Matekalo and Bobek monitored and guided their development. The decision to rely mostly on talented youngsters scouted trough all over the country quickly gave results – Partizan took three consecutive championship titles, in 1961, 1962 and 1963, the first title hat-trick in the league. In 1965, the team added the fourth title in five years, being previously interrupted by city rivals Red Star in 1964. As early as the 60s, a fierce and intense rivalry grew up between Partizan and Red Star.

The 1965–66 European Cup campaign was the crown of this generation's career. After beating the English side Manchester United 2-1 on aggregate, Partizan's babies, led by manager Abdulah Gegić, achieved the greatest success in history of Partizan, a place in 1966 European Cup Final against Real Madrid. The final game was played on 11 May, at Heysel Stadium, Brussels. Until 70th minute Partizan was 1–0 up (goal by Velibor Vasović), but lost to the Spaniards 2–1 at the end. After the defeat in the finals, club administration failed to operate on a higher level, and Partizan entered a long organizational crisis. All main players signed contracts with biggest western clubs, and the promising generation was scattered. Still, Partizan became the first club from the Balkans and Eastern Europe who reached the European Cup final.

In 1976, Partizan won its seventh championship trophy, after full decade of waiting. The eighth title followed in 1978. The same year, Partizan won, led by manager Ante Mladinić, its first European trophy, the Mitropa Cup. The Black & Whites defeated Hungarian side Honvéd in the finals by 1–0. Unexpectedly, the next 1978–79 season turned out to be the worst in Partizan history. They finished 15th in the league, barely avoiding relegation with a 4–2 victory against Budućnost in the last fixture. The new crisis was serious, which reflected in the results next season, when Partizan finished 13th. It took two more seasons, but Partizan eventually recovered.

Partizan became champion in 1983, in large part due to extraordinary performances of young Dragan Mance. He helped Partizan win the league by scoring 15 goals, and immediately became a fan favourite. He also led the club in their 1984–85 UEFA Cup second round tie against Queens Park Rangers, one of the most memorable matches in the club's history. QPR won the first leg 6–2, but Partizan advanced after a 4–0 return victory. A goal which Mance scored against the English side is considered as one of the most remarkable goals in the history of Partizan. That match was voted on the 70th position among Top 100 greatest matches in the history of football, in a poll organized by Eurosport in 2009. On 3 September 1985, the players tragically lost their teammate and the fans lost their idol – Mance died in a car crash on Novi Sad-Belgrade highway. He was only 22 years old, and at the peak of his popularity. Even today, Dragan Mance is considered to be the greatest club legend by the fans of Partizan. In his honor, the street next to the clubs stadium in Belgrade carries his name.

In 1986, Partizan won its 10th championship title with a 4–0 win over Željezničar, due to better goal difference than second-placed Red Star. However, Yugoslav FA decided that the entire last round of fixtures had to be replayed, after accusations that certain results had been fixed. Partizan refused to replay its match, after which the game was awarded 3–0 to Željezničar, and the title was given to Red Star. However, after a sequence of appeals and lawsuits which eventually led to Yugoslav Constitutional Court, the original final table of 1985–86 season, with Partizan as champions, was officially recognized in mid 1987. Also, the points deduction from 1986–87 season was annulled, and the title was given to Partizan, who headed the table without the deduction.

Partizan spent the final years in Yugoslavia undergoing significant organizational changes. In 1989, former goalkeeper Ivan Ćurković became club president while Mirko Marjanović became the president of Partizan's executive board. However, the club was overshadowed by their crosstown rival Red Star and its rampage through domestic league, European and the Intercontinental Cup. Partizan only won the 1989 national cup, 32 years after the last victory in that competition. The last trophy which they won before the breakup of Yugoslavia was the 1989 Yugoslav Super Cup, the first and the only one organized. After the collapse of SFR Yugoslavia, a new Yugoslavia was formed and was named FR Yugoslavia. In new circumstances, Partizan won two titles in a row, in 1993 and 1994. Next three championships Partizan won in 1996, 1997 and 1999. The club also won several national cups, so in 1992, 1994 and 1998. The key man for all these trophies was Ljubiša Tumbaković. He became the most successful manager in the history of Partizan. For the season 1996–1997, Partizan was reintroduced to European competitions following the lift of the UEFA ban on clubs from FR Yugoslavia, but while the national team continued where they had stopped in the spring of 1992, the clubs had all their results erased and were treated as the beginners in the European competitions. Instead of enjoying the merits of their own many-year work, they would get harder opponents from the start and the competition would begin already in July.

Tumbaković guided Partizan to another cup win in 2001, and the championship trophy in 2002. His successor Lothar Matthäus led the club to its first UEFA Champions League participation after eliminating Newcastle United, and the championship victory in 2003. However, playing in Europe has reflected in the championship race and Partizan lost the title. New coach Vladimir Vermezović won the championship in 2005, and managed to take the team to the round-of-16 during the 2004–05 UEFA Cup. Later on, Partizan was eliminated by CSKA Moscow, the eventual winner of the competition. Poor results in domestic and international competitions in 2006 have prompted the club's officials to look for a new head coach. First Jürgen Röber and later on Miodrag Ješić didn't succeed to bring back the domestic title. Although Partizan has managed to qualify for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup group stage, that season was failure.

The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro separated, and the newly founded Serbian SuperLiga started in season 2006–07. In 2008, former Partizan player Slaviša Jokanović was appointed as new head coach. The seasons 2007–08 and 2008–09 will remain as one of the most successful in club's history. In season 2008–09, the club successfully defended their double from 2007–08 season, for the first time in its history. But in Europe, Partizan suffered a real shock. The UEFA expelled Partizan from the 2007–08 UEFA Cup season due to crowd trouble at their away qualifying match in Mostar. Next season, Partizan demolished Welsh champions F.C. Rhyl, with a score of 8–0 during the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, their largest ever winning margin in European competitions. After relegations from the Champions League, Partizan qualified two times in a row for the 2nd tier of UEFA competitions. The Black & Whites played in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup and 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Under new manager Aleksandar Stanojević, Partizan won the championship in 2010 and the double in 2011. In UEFA competitions, Partizan qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League after beating Belgian side RSC Anderlecht. In the following season, Partizan failed to qualify for UEFA competitions, which didn't affect the club in national championship, but after the half-season, Stanojević was released. Partizan then signed former Chelsea manager Avram Grant, who was able to preserve the lead from the half-season. He led Partizan to their fifth consecutive league title but lost three times against fierce rivals Red Star. Grant resigned and former Partizan manager Vladimir Vermezović returned to Belgrade in May 2012. Partizan did not qualify for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, but did gain a place in the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League group stage.