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Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
in Slovenia is governed by the Football Association of Slovenia ( sl, Nogometna zveza Slovenije). Slovenia has participated in international football as an independent nation since 1991, when the country gained independence from
SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
. The Slovenia national football team has qualified for three major tournaments ( UEFA Euro 2000,
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
and
2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
). The three biggest clubs in Slovenia are
Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...
, Mura and Olimpija.


History

Since being part of Austria-Hungary, football came to the territories that are today part of Slovenia in the late 19th century from Vienna. The first football club was founded in 1900 by the German minority in Ljubljana, the Laibacher Sportverein. They were soon followed by the Hungarian minority in Lendava (
Nafta The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
in 1903) and the German minority in
Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...
(
Athletik SK Athletik Sportklub, commonly referred to as Athletik SK or simply Athletik, was a Slovenian football club from Celje. The club was founded in 1906 by the Germans of Celje. It was also referred to as Cillier Sportverein in the first part of the 1 ...
in 1906). The game soon spread among Slovenian high school students, who formed their own teams in most of Slovenia's major cities, most notable being Hermes in Ljubljana and Jugoslavija in Gorizia. In 1911, the first Slovenian citizens football club, Ilirija, was founded in Ljubljana, followed by Slovan two years later. After the end of World War I and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed to Yugoslavia, the
Yugoslav Football Association The Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ) ( sr, Фудбалски савез Југославије, Fudbalski savez Jugoslavije, hr, Nogometni savez Jugoslavije; bs, Fudbalski savez Jugoslavije; sl, Nogometna zveza Jugoslavije; mk, Фуд ...
was formed, which was divided in regional subassociations. Football clubs Ilirija, Slovan and German teams from
Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...
founded the Ljubljana Football Subassociation in 1920, which is the forerunner of today's Football Association of Slovenia. Ljubljana Subassociation covered the territory of Slovenia and was responsible for organizing the football activities within its territory. They formed the Slovenian national team, which played its first game against France in 1921. At club level they formed a league system with several levels which started being played in 1920. The Ljubljana Subssociation first league champions played along the champions of the other Yugoslav subassociations in the Yugoslav Championship. The most successful teams were Ilirija with twelve subassociation titles, followed by
I. SSK Maribor 1. slovenski športni klub Maribor ( en, First Slovene Sports Club Maribor) or simply I. SSK Maribor was a football club from Maribor. The club was founded in 1919. I. SSK Maribor had a fierce rivalry with NK Železničar Maribor. History The cl ...
with three titles, and Primorje,
SK Ljubljana Sport klub Ljubljana ( en, Ljubljana Sports Club), commonly referred to as SK Ljubljana, was a Slovenian football club from Ljubljana. The club was founded in April 1936 on the basis of football section of ASK Primorje. SK Ljubljana was dissolv ...
and Železničar Maribor with two each.
Stanko Tavčar Stanko Tavčar (2 February 1898 in Dobrova, Austro-Hungary – 11 July 1945 in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia) was a Yugoslav footballer and later a medical doctor.
was the first Slovenian footballer to play for the Yugoslav national team. Most of the competitions were suspended in 1941 due to outbreak of World War II. In
SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
, the majority of Slovenian clubs played in the
Yugoslav football league system The Yugoslav football league system refers to the system of interconnected leagues in association football which was in place during the existence of Yugoslavia and organized by the Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ). The exact formats an ...
, while the Slovenian national team continued playing as a regional amateur selection. The first post-war champions, Nafta, competed in the Yugoslav top division in the 1946–47 season, an achievement that was later repeated only by Olimpija and
Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...
. Olimpija was the most successful Slovenian team in the period; they played 22 seasons in the Yugoslav top flight, reached the Yugoslav Cup final in 1970, and also competed in European competitions on three occasions. Most Slovenian clubs usually played in the third-tier
Slovenian Republic League The Slovenian Republic Football League ( sl, Slovenska republiška nogometna liga) was the highest football league in Slovenia within the Yugoslav football system. During the time of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia it was known as the Ljubljana Subas ...
, where the most successful teams were Maribor and Ljubljana with five titles each. During the 1945–1990 period, only a handful of Slovenian players managed to get into the Yugoslav national team, with
Branko Oblak Branko Oblak (born 27 May 1947) is a Slovenian football coach and former international player. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or deep-lying playmaker. Playing career Brane, as he is often known, started playing football at the you ...
,
Srečko Katanec Srečko Katanec (; born 16 July 1963) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Uzbekistan national team. At international level, he was capped for both the Yugoslavia and Slovenia national teams. ...
and Danilo Popivoda being the famous three. After Slovenia's independence in 1991, national league and cup competitions were formed on the basis of the old republic structures, with the first Slovenian PrvaLiga season therefore including 21 teams. In the same year,
SR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična republika Slovenija, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Sociali ...
regional selection reformed as the
Slovenian national football team The Slovenia national football team ( sl, Slovenska nogometna reprezentanca) represents Slovenia in men's international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia, the governing body for football in Slovenia. The squad ...
and played their first official match in 1992 against Estonia.


League system


References

{{Sport in Slovenia