NK Celje
 | |||
| Full name | Nogometni klub Celje | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Grofje (The Counts) Rumeno-modri (The Yellow and Blues) | ||
| Short name | NK Celje | ||
| Founded | 28 December 1919[1][2] (as SK Celje) | ||
| Ground | Stadion Z'dežele | ||
| Capacity | 13,059 | ||
| President | Valeriy Kolotilo | ||
| Manager | Zoran Zeljković | ||
| League | Slovenian PrvaLiga | ||
| 2025–26 | Slovenian PrvaLiga, 1st of 10 (champions) | ||
| Website | www | ||
|
| |||
Nogometni klub Celje (English: Celje Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Celje or simply Celje ([ˈtsɛ̀ːljɛ]), is a professional football club based in Celje, Slovenia. Founded in 1919, the club competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of Slovenian football. Together with Maribor, Celje are the only club to have participated in every season of the PrvaLiga since the competition was established in 1991.[3]
Celje have won the Slovenian championship three times, in 2019–20, 2023–24 and 2025–26, and the Slovenian Football Cup twice, in 2004–05 and 2024–25. Before Slovenian independence, the club, then known as Kladivar, won the Slovenian Republic League and Slovenian Republic Cup in 1963–64 and qualified for the Yugoslav Second League.[4]
The club's most successful European campaign came in 2024–25, when Celje became the first Slovenian club to reach the quarter-finals of a major UEFA club competition, losing 4–3 on aggregate to Fiorentina.[5][6] In 2026, the club reached the Champions League play-off round for the first time and, after elimination by Slovan Bratislava, qualified for the league phase of the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League.[7]
History
[edit]Origins and early football in Celje (1919–1946)
[edit]
Organised football in Celje predates the present club. A German athletic club, SK Cillier SV, was founded in the city in 1906, while the first Slovenian sports club in Celje, I. SSK Celje (I. slovenski športni klub Celje), was formally established in 1919.[8] The new club established a ground at Glazija beside Ljubljanska cesta and played its first official match against Ilirija of Ljubljana. Other clubs active in the city between the world wars included Olimp, Svoboda and Jugoslavija Celje.[8][4]
I. SSK Celje initially played friendly matches before entering regional competitions. A match against the professional side Rapid Vienna in 1920 was among the early high-profile fixtures in the city.[4] Football in Celje was reorganised after the Second World War, during which the pre-war Slovenian clubs had been dissolved.[8]
Kladivar and the Yugoslav period (1946–1991)
[edit]After the war, Fizkulturno društvo Celje and Športno društvo Olimp merged to form NK Kladivar. The combined team finished third in the Slovenian Republic League in its early post-war period.[8] The club's first major sporting peak arrived in 1963–64, when Kladivar won both the Slovenian Republic League and the Republic Cup. They then defeated Karlovac in qualification to reach the Yugoslav Second League.[8][4] Contemporary recollections describe the promotion as one of the major sporting events in Celje in the 1960s, with more than 7,000 spectators reported at Glazija for the decisive period of the campaign.[9]
In 1967, Kladivar merged with Železničar Celje, a railway club founded in 1952. The combined club remained primarily in the Slovenian Republic League until relegation in 1978–79, after which it spent much of the following period in the regional competition. By 1990–91, competing under the sponsored name Ingrad-Kladivar Celje, the team had returned to the Republic League.[8] When Slovenia became independent in 1991, Celje entered the newly established national top division and have remained there ever since.[3]
Independence and the Publikum era (1991–2007)
[edit]The transition to independent Slovenian football brought major organisational and commercial changes. In 1992, the club adopted the name NK Publikum.[8] Under Janez Zavrl, Celje reached the 1993 Slovenian Cup final. Although they lost to Olimpija, the run secured the club's first qualification for UEFA competition, and Celje made their European debut against Odense BK in the 1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup.[8] A second cup final followed in 1995, while their first European victory came against Maccabi Haifa in the 1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup.[8]
After several quieter seasons, Celje challenged strongly on two fronts in 2002–03. They finished as PrvaLiga runners-up behind Maribor and also reached the Slovenian Cup final, where they again finished second.[10] Their first major trophy since independence finally arrived in 2005. In the cup final at their new home ground, then called Arena Petrol, Celje defeated Gorica 1–0.[11] They returned to the final the following year but lost to Koper on