FK Vardar () is a professional football club based in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, which competes in the Macedonian First League. It is the most successful football club in football in North Macedonia, that has won eleven Championship titles, six Macedonian Cups, two Macedonian Super Cups and one Yugoslav Cup. In 2017, it became the first Macedonian club to qualify for the group stage of a European competition.
Vardar was formed in 1911 as Sports Club Vardar. In the beginning of 1912 it was registered and started to play matches until the war break (1914âÂÂ18). In 1918 when the British and French entered Skopje they introduced sports activities including football. In 1919 Vardar started to compete again in the Skopje division, winning two championships in the first years of the 1920s, 1922 and 1923. In 1924 Vardar merged into Gragjanski, taking all the players and the coach to the newly made club including Vardar's city park ground. Gragjanski won three subdivision championships in a row (1936, 1937 and 1938. In 1926 Vardar was re-established by former players and continued to compete. During World War II, in 1941 Vardar merged with Gragjanski, Jug Skopje, Sparta and Slavia to form FK Makedonia, who started competing at the first federal championship in 1945. Next year the Macedonian Republic League was formed and the national team won the league as FK Makedonija.
After World War Two, FK Vardar was established with the merger of city rivals FK Pobeda (1919) and FK Makedonija (1922), in the hall of cinema "Vardar" on 22 July 1947. The fusion assembly had decided the club's color to be blue but it was changed at the next assembly the decision to red and white. FK Pobeda has competed in District League and Subdivision League until 1941 winning in 1927,1928 and 1929 Championships. After winning the Macedonian Republic League 1947 they merged with FK Makedonija, that competed in the first season of the Federal League after the World War II, and finished at the eighth place and won the relegation playoffs against FK Sloga from Novi Sad. However, during the following decade they were relegated and promoted back several times.
The present recognizable red and black color jerseys were brought back again after the 1963 Skopje earthquake when the famous Milan football club sent equipment for the Skopje's team.
The club won its first major trophy in the 1960âÂÂ61 Yugoslav Cup.
Many famous players from the region started their careers at Vardar, and their triumph in the Yugoslav Cup was a highlight. The leader of that particular generation of players was Andon DonÃÂevski, who later coached the team from 1986 to 1988. The 1985âÂÂ86 Yugoslav First League season ended notoriously due to massive irregularities during the last week of fixtures, as the Football Association of Yugoslavia headed by Slavko à  ajber voided the last week's results ordering a replay of all 9 fixtures. Twelve clubs were docked 6 points due to alleged participation in a match-fixing scandal. All teams agreed to replay their games but FK Partizan, who had won the title with a 4âÂÂ0 over FK à ½eljezniÃÂar Sarajevo, refused, after which the game was awarded 3âÂÂ0 to FK à ½eljezniÃÂar Sarajevo, which gave Red Star Belgrade the title. Red Star Belgrade played in the 1986âÂÂ87 European Cup. However, after a sequence of legal processes, the original final table, with FK Partizan as champions, was officially recognized in 1987. The following 1986-87 Federal League season saw 10 teams starting with -6 points. Vardar, who had not been deducted 6 points, won the title, and participated in the 1987âÂÂ88 European Cup, but the points deduction was later overruled after more legal proceedings, and the title was given to FK Partizan, who headed the table without the deduction. However, Vardar was recognized as a champion by UEFA, whose team included captain Darko PanÃÂev, Ilija Najdoski, Dragi Kanatlarovski and Vujadin StanojkoviÃÂ. FK Vardar went on to spend 33 seasons in the Federal top flight from 1947 to 1992 and is ranked 11th on the all-time table.
In their history, FK Vardar has had many memorable matches. The first big one came in 1961 against Dunfermline from Scotland, victory at home ground 2:0 glorious moments in Cup winners Cup. Among those, the one that stands out the most was defeating FK Partizan by a score of 5âÂÂ0. In early history, the 2âÂÂ1 victory over Varteks in the Yugoslav Cup final is remembered by the club as its first major trophy win. A game that had the highest attendance was a matchup against TrepÃÂa where FK Vardar won 2âÂÂ1 and earned promotion to the Yugoslav First League. Other matches to remember came against the great four Red Star Belgrade, Partizan Belgrade, Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split. Then 1985 home ground victory over Dinamo BucureÃÂti from Romania 1:0 in UEFA Cup competition.
Vardar celebrated Macedonia's independence by winning three consecutive titles including going unbeaten in the inaugural season. During the 90's they remained at the top of Macedonian football reaching five Macedonian Cup finals and winning four. After a lean spell by their standards, they brought the league again in 2001âÂÂ02 and the following season just missed out on qualifying for the 2003âÂÂ04 UEFA Champions League group stage. A remarkable achievement, in the Second qualifying round they eliminated CSKA Moscow and came within a goal of getting past Sparta Prague. In 2011, Vardar was originally relegated from the Macedonian First Football League, but after buying the license from Miravci it stayed. The following season they brought the league again after nine years. To date they have 17 major honors to their name. In 2012, with the new transformation, FK Vardar became the first team in Macedonia (now North Macedonia) organized as a joint stock company incorporated under the Companies Act. FK Vardar went on to spend 24 seasons in the Macedonian First Football League from 1992 to 2017 and is ranked first on the all-time table.
At the beginning of the Macedonian First Football League the most memorable matches were all the wins against rival Pelister, including the first-ever Macedonian Football Cup final in 1993 where FK Vardar won 1âÂÂ0 at the old City Stadium. The biggest international achievement of the club came in 2003 when FK Vardar came one goal short of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group stage. They had great match against Barry Town from Wales and 3âÂÂ0 victory at home ground, then another glorious 2âÂÂ1 away win over Russian heavyweights CSKA Moscow. In 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup they destroyed Ethnikos Achnas from Cyprus in both matches home and away with identical victories of 5âÂÂ1, then 1âÂÂ0 victory against Belgian side Gent at home ground.
In the 2017âÂÂ18 Champions League second qualifying round, Vardar were drawn against Swedish side Malmö FF, in the first leg away, they have played a draw (1âÂÂ1) and won the second leg in Strumica (3âÂÂ1), with the goals of Boban Grncharov, Tigran Barseghyan and Boban Nikolov. In the third qualifying round, Vardar was played against Danish side F.C. Copenhagen, they won first leg at the home in Skopje (1âÂÂ0), with the goal of Jonathan Balotelli. In the second leg in Copenhagen, Vardar had a result which would lead to the play-off round of Champions League, but in last 15 minutes, Copenhagen scored two goals, and Vardar lost the match (4âÂÂ1), and its eliminated from the Champions League.
However, FÃÂ Vardar later won a historic first point in European Cups with a 1:1 draw in the home match against Rosenborg BK.
The City Park Arena with a capacity of 33.011 spectators, it ranks among the 10 biggest stadiums in the Balkans. The field is of 105 x 68 m dimensions. There are two big boards that are located on the east and west sides, size 18 à6 m. The arena has 494 VIP seats and 386 seats for the media on the northern stand. 80% of the space in the arena is sheltered in case of bad weather. The arena is a multifunctional sports facility located in Skopje, North Macedonia. It is named after singer Toà ¡e Proeski and is mostly used for football matches. On 25 July 2012, one of the most visited matches of FK Vardar against FC BATE Borisov was played in the second qualifying round of the 2012âÂÂ13 UEFA Champions League. The west stand is known by the Komiti, FK Vardar's most faithful fans. National Arena Toà ¡e Proeski was the host of 2017 UEFA Super Cup, Macedonia's first UEFA club competition final.
FK Vardar supporters are known as "Komiti". Komiti are the first organized supporters group of Vardar and they were founded on 4 June 1987 in Skopje, at the match between FK Vardar and Red Star Belgrade. It owns 15% of the club through an association.
The fixture between Vardar and FK Pelister is the biggest and most violent match in North Macedonia. An important aspect of this match-up is the intense rivalry in the Macedonian tifo scene between the supporter clubs Komiti and ÃÂkembari. The rivalry began in the season 1989âÂÂ90 at a match in Skopje, between FK Vardar and Red Star Belgrade. A conflict occurred between the "Skopje fans" and a few "Bitola fans" who went to cheer for FK Vardar, who at that time was the most popular Macedonian football club in the former Yugoslavia. On 8 March 1991 in Bitola, FK Pelister and FK Vardar met in the Yugoslav second league and the first incident occurred. From that day forward, started the big rivalry between Komiti and ÃÂkembari along with the VardarâÂÂPelister match becoming the eternal derby. In recent years the rivalry wained slightly in importance as FK Vardar stopped being as competitive.
FK Vardar's first competitive European match was a 0âÂÂ5 loss against Dunfermline Athletic in the 1961âÂÂ62 European Cup Winners' Cup. Muarem Zekir holds the record for most appearances in Europe for the club with 21. Top scorer in UEFA club competitions is Wandeir with 13 goals. The biggest win in UEFA competition was against Ethnikos Achna FC in the 2004 Intertoto Cup defeating them twice by the score of 5âÂÂ1 and 10âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
FK Vardar became the first Macedonian club to qualify for the group stages of a European competition, after beating Fenerbahçe S.K. in the 2017âÂÂ18 UEFA Europa League playoffs.
Notable wins