Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: äÃÂôñðûÃÂúø úûÃÂñ ÃÂopaàÃÂðÃÂð ÃÂÃÂúð, ) is a Bosnian professional football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the main part of the Borac Banja Luka Sports Society. Borac Banja Luka is one of the most popular football clubs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name Borac means "Fighter".
Currently, Borac is a part of the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina and plays its home matches at the Banja Luka City Stadium, which has a capacity of 10,030 seats.
The football club Borac Banja Luka was founded on 4 July 1926. Originally it was named RadniÃÂki sportski klub Borac, which means Labour Sports Club Borac, Borac meaning "Fighter", and its roots come from the relation the club had with local labour movements during the first half of the 20th century. The club was founded by a group of football enthusiasts including the writer, activist and People's Hero of Yugoslavia Veselin Masleà ¡a, Rudolf "Rudi" Hiter, Savo NovakoviÃÂ, Nikola Pucar, Brane Pucar, Mustafa SoftiÃÂ, Nikola KukoviÃÂ, à ½arko Vranjeà ¡eviÃÂ, Mile Stefanoviàand Brane Stefanoviàamong others. They financed the club believing that by backing and supporting it, they would directly help promote the labor movements struggle that was underway. The name "Borac" was given by Masleà ¡a who said: "If you are going to fight for workers' rights, why don't you give the club name Borac?".
The club's first president was Rudolf Hiter, and Savo NovakoviÃÂ was named vice president, with a supervisory board headed by ÃÂoko JovanoviÃÂ. As football attracted more and more attention in the city on the Vrbas river, Banja Luka got the right to organise its own sub-association gathering the clubs of the entire Krajina region, a new, bigger and modern stadium was built. The opening ceremony took place on September 5, 1937, on the ground of the present-day Banja Luka City Stadium.
The club's first success in this early period came in 1928 when RSK Borac won a tournament played in Sarajevo. Before World War II, the major club in Banja Luka was à  K Krajià ¡nik, however, after 1945, it was disbanded, and Borac replaced Krajià ¡nik as the city's main club. Borac played conference leagues in order to qualify for the re-established Yugoslav First League were defeated Sloboda Novi Grad 14âÂÂ3 on aggregate, FK Kozara from Banja Luka with 8âÂÂ4 on aggregate and Borac Kozarska Dubica 7âÂÂ0 on aggregate and became Banja Luka district champions. In 1945, RSK Borac has renamed FK Borac Banja Luka and played for two years in the Yugoslav Third League, before it was promoted to the Yugoslav Second League in 1948.
In 1961, Borac was promoted to the Yugoslav First League for the first time but was instantly dropped back down at the end of the season. The club had to wait for almost a decade to the return to the top flight. It was in the 1970âÂÂ71 season, and the club stayed in the top league for four consecutive seasons. In this period, precisely in 1974, Borac achieved the Yugoslav Cup final. They were defeated by Hajduk Split in Belgrade, and as the runner-up, they have provided placement for the 1975âÂÂ76 European Cup Winners' Cup season. In the first round of Cup Winners' Cup, Borac played against US Rumelange from Luxembourg. The first leg was played in Banja Luka where Borac recorded a record win in European competitions by a 9âÂÂ0.
The second leg was won by Borac by 1âÂÂ5, meaning 14âÂÂ1 on aggregate, and played in the second round against R.S.C. Anderlecht. The "Red-Blues" won the home match but it was 1âÂÂ3 on aggregate at the end for the Belgians, who became winners of the European Cup Winners' Cup that season. Borac Banja Luka was the only team who beat R.S.C Anderlecht in one match (at home by 1âÂÂ0) during the cup season. In the 1974âÂÂ75 season, Borac played in the second league, but the club achieved a quick promotion and thus ensured the beginning of a new 5-year first league period that lasted until 1980. The following nine seasons, Borac spent in the second League, before a final top league period between 1989 and 1992. Borac's best placement in the first League was in 1992, when it finished the season as 4th. In total, Borac played 487 matches in Yugoslav First League during a 46 years long period.
From 1988 to 1992, Borac enjoyed the best period in its long history. In 1988, Borac achieved its biggest success. Under coach Husnija FazliàBorac won the Yugoslav Cup, the second major football competition in former Yugoslav football and became the only second league club that ever achieved this. In the final, Borac defeated Yugoslav football giant Red Star by 0âÂÂ1 at JNA stadium in Belgrade. The historic goal was scored by Senad LupiÃÂ, one of the Borac's legends. At the ceremony, the president of Yugoslav Football Association Antun ÃÂiliàgave the golden plaques to Borac players and the head coach. The next day, tens of thousands of Borac supporters gathered at Krajina square in Banja Luka and gave their team a hero's welcome.
In 1992, Borac won its first international trophy, the Mitropa Cup. The club won the cup in the Italian city Foggia.
At that time there was an ongoing civil war in Yugoslavia, but despite that, they travelled to Italy in the hope to write history. After the elimination of U.S. Foggia in front of 30,000 spectators, Borac met in the final BVSC Budapest at Pino Zaccheria Stadium. Filipoviàscored but gave only a temporary advantage to Borac because the Hungarians were equalized by Tuboly. That was the result of regular time, so the winner was decided by penalties. Borac won 5âÂÂ3 from the white spot and got the trophy. Saà ¡ivareviÃÂ, Stavljanin, FilipoviÃÂ, Bilbija, and Simeunoviàscored for Borac, and goalkeeper Simeunoviàsaved his goal twice. Borac head coach was Smilevski, who was recently named the member of Borac's "Best Eleven" squad in its history. Borac played a total of twelve games in UEFA competitions and has never lost a European match at its home ground. Also, seven Borac players have participated in the Yugoslav national football team in its history.
The First League of the Republika Srpska was the top flight of the Republika Srpska before 2002. Borac won the Republika Srpska championship three times (2001, 2006 and 2008). Their 2008 title was won dominantly with 14 points ahead of Sloga Doboj. Borac has won five Republika Srpska Cups, in 1995 against Rudar Prijedor, 1996 against Jedinstvo BrÃÂko, 2009 against Radnik Bijeljina, 2011 again against the club from Bijeljina and in 2012 against Sloboda MrkonjiÃÂ Grad. In 2002, the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina was created as three national competitions were merged in one.
It became the country's most prestigious level of football competition. Also, since 2002, the clubs from the entire country are competing in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup. In 2010, Borac won the Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup and finished third in the national championship. During the 2010âÂÂ11 UEFA Europa League season, they played in the second round against FC Lausanne-Sport but were knocked out in front of sold-out Banja Luka City Stadium with 1âÂÂ2 on aggregate for the Swiss club. In 2011, Borac became the football champion of Bosnia and Herzegovina with only 4 defeats and 15 conceded goals during 30 matches. The club won also the Republika Srpska Cup. In the following 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Champions League season, Borac began its qualifying with a match against Maccabi Haifa, which they lost by 5âÂÂ1. In the second leg, Borac showed great performance and won 3âÂÂ2 by two goals from Kruniàand one from VidakoviÃÂ, however, they were eliminated. In 2012, Borac finished the national championship third and qualified for the European football competition season. Borac got ÃÂelik Nikà ¡iàfrom Montenegro as their opponent. Borac was knocked out by the away goal rule (3âÂÂ3a).
On 15 August 2024, Borac achieved its first-ever participation in a European club competition by defeating Faroese KàKlaksvÃÂk 4âÂÂ3 on aggregate, thereby qualifying for at least the League phase of the third tier of continental club football in Europe. This made them only the second club from Bosnia and Herzegovina to compete in the group or league phase of a European competition. They then became the first Bosnian club to progress from this phase of a European competition and host European matches in the second half of their season - after finishing 20th in the table with eight points from six games, they won a subsequent two-legged playoff against NK Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia to reach the last 16 of the 2024âÂÂ25 UEFA Conference League.
Borac Banja Luka's traditional home colours are red and blue with white socks (colours that are contained on the Yugoslav flag). Borac has maintained the red-blue shirt for its home kit throughout the history of the club. Its traditional away colours are all blue or all red. After a long-standing partnership with the Serbian sports clothing company NAAI, the club's kits are currently manufactured by Diadora, an Italian sports clothing company.
Borac Banja Luka's present crest contains the name of the club and the name of the City of Banja Luka in the background formed from the sections that are coloured as the Serbian flag. On the top of the crest, the year of the club foundation is located. In addition, the whole crest is framed in gold colour.
The home stadium of Borac is the Banja Luka City Stadium. It has 10,030 seats and is one of the most modern stadiums in the country. The stadium was built in 1937 and its main donator was Bogoljub Kujundà ¾iÃÂ, the ban of the Vrbas banovina. Since then, the stadium underwent several expansions and reconstructions in the years 1973, 1981, 2010 and 2012. In 2010, the stadium underwent a complete reconstruction. New seats were installed on east and west stands, locker rooms were renovated, a completely new VIP lounge and room for media was built, new lighting, sound systems and video surveillance were installed, and trophy and technical rooms were renovated. In 2012, the new north stand was built with a capacity of 2,492 seats, which increased the total capacity of the stadium to 9,730. According to recent plans, the east stand will be covered by a roof in the upcoming years. The construction of the south stand began, which will increase the total capacity to approximately 13,000 seats.
In 2008, an expert committee has chosen the concept of building a new stadium. The new stadium will have 30,000 seats, and the whole complex will cover 205,000 square meters. It will include two additional football fields, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts. The cost of the whole project is estimated to be â¬50 million and it will meet the highest FIFA and UEFA demands.
Borac always had a considerable number of supporters. The organized supporters of FK Borac are known as Leà ¡inari (Serbian Cyrillic: ÃÂõÃÂøýðÃÂø) and they are the oldest organized supporter group in Republika Srpska. They were established in 1987. The gathering point of the club's most loyal and passionate fans was the East stand of Banja Luka City Stadium until 2017 when it was changed to the North stand. Borac supportes have a good relationship with fans of Vojvodina, known as Firma and friendship with fans of Genoa.
Since the season 2008âÂÂ09, the time when Borac started to be standard in the Bosnian Premier League once again, a great rivalry started to develop between them and FK à ½eljezniÃÂar. Starting from the 2009âÂÂ10 season the two teams mainly competed against each other for one of the titles (the league title or national cup) and even the attendance almost got on par with the acclaimed Sarajevo derby. The rivalry also has a root in the fact that Sarajevo and Banja Luka are, by a good margin, the two biggest cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the first being also the capital of the whole country while the second takes the role as the de facto capital of Republika Srpska entity. Since the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the teams met each other 22 times (6 of which are in a national cup), although they played the first time against each other in 1947 Yugoslav Cup. In those 22 matches, à ½eljezniÃÂar won 12 times, while Borac managed to win 7 times, with 3 matches ending in a draw. The goal difference is 31:19 in favour of à ½eljezniÃÂar (Not including results from the 2015 to 2016 season).
Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.
On 4 November 2025, Borac retired squad number 8 in memory of Mladen à ½ià ¾oviÃÂ, the club's former player and manager who had died while managing RadniÃÂki 1923 in Serbia the previous day.