RK Pelister - History

History

The club was the first handball team in Macedonia, formed in 1946 under the name Pelagonija.

From the 1983/1984 season Pelister began to participate regularly in the Yugoslav First League. Around that time the slogan "He who hasn't played in Bitola doesn't know what real support looks like" gained popularity, being uttered by the likes of Vlado Šola, Lino Červar and Zlatan Saračević. Pelister became the first ever Macedonian club to play in Europe, in 1986 against Atlético Madrid BM. In the 1987/1988 season they reached the quarter-finals of the EHF Cup where they were eliminated by East German club ASK Vorwärts. The first leg in Bitola was won by six goals, but the second leg in Berlin resulted in a loss by seven points, ending the club's European run.

When the Macedonian League was formed in 1993, Pelister became the most successful club, winning the majority of domestic titles in that decade. In 1996, they made it to the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup where they lost on aggregate by one goal to the eventual champion TBV Lemgo. A record, 7,000 fans were in attendance for the rematch at the Sports Hall Mladost. Seven players on Macedonia's squad at the 1999 World Men's Handball Championship in Egypt played for the club.

The club's most successful European run was made during the 2001/02 season when they played in the EHF Challenge Cup. First, they started by beating Zilant Kazan in the 3rd round and advanced to round 4, where they went on to defeat Paris St. Germain on away goals. In the quarterfinal they got past Kilkis GAC 52-51, setting up a semifinal match-up with Frederiksberg IF. Pelister would go on to win that tie in dramatic fashion in Bitola, when Naumče Mojsovski scored a goal in the final seconds of the game to even the score on aggregate, going through on a penalty shootout by the final score of 61-60. In the final, Pelister lost to Skjern Håndbold but even in that match-up they still ended up winning the home game by 7 goals. Proving yet again that it was no easy task for any road team to win at the Sports Hall Mladost.

In 2005, Trifun Kostovski's Kometal became sponsor of the club bringing back the glory days with the team winning another double crown and capturing its sixth domestic league title, which was a record at the time. However, the success was short lived as Kometal left the following season. Since then, Pelister has been marred by financial problems and has not achieved the same level of success.