Sportklub Rote Elf, commonly referred to as SK Rote Elf or SK Rdeča 11 in the Slovene-language newspapers, was a football club from

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava stati ...

. The club was founded in 1919 and competed in the first official season of the Slovenian football, the 1920 Ljubljana Subassociation League. It was renamed to MAK in 1921, before disbanding in 1923.

History

The club known as the Rote Elf already existed prior the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and was one of the two major German sports clubs in the city of

at the time; the other being Marburger Sportvereinigung. After the war, in 1919, the club was reestablished. It remained faithful to its pre-war principles, as the club was non-nationalistic and was based on

Austro-Marxism Austromarxism (also stylised as Austro-Marxism) was a Marxist theoretical current, led by Victor Adler, Otto Bauer, Karl Renner, Max Adler and Rudolf Hilferding, members of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria in Austria-Hungary an ...

, and is one of the first workers' clubs in the area of Slovene lands. The team was composed of both the German and Slovenian footballers. Rudolf Winkler was the team's captain and is considered as the all-time best player of the club. In 1920, Rote Elf inaugurated their renovated football pitch called Sportplatz Kreuzhofwiese, in a match against Slovan from

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the a ...

. However, only less important matches were played there; the team played more important matches at the bigger Sportplatz Rapid im Volksgarten, which was owned by

SV Rapid Marburg Sportvereinigung Rapid Marburg, commonly referred to as SV Rapid Marburg or simply Rapid, was a football club from Maribor. The club was founded in 1919 by the Germans of Maribor and was the five-time runner-up of the Ljubljana Subassociation Le ...

. In the inaugural season of the

Ljubljana Subassociation 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 ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own m ...

, Rote Elf finished in sixth place out of seven teams. As the Austro-Marxism lost its sense in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

, it was getting harder and harder for the club to attract footballers from the working class. To solve this problem, the club was renamed to MAK (german: Marburger Athletik Klub; sl, Mariborski Atletik Klub) in May 1921, however, this move did not help in achieving better recognition among the players and the citizens of Maribor. The club entered the 1922–23 Ljubljana Subassociation League, but withdrew from the competition in late 1922 and soon ceased all operations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rote Elf, SK Association football clubs established in 1919 Football clubs in Yugoslavia Defunct football clubs in Slovenia Sport in Maribor 1919 establishments in Slovenia Association football clubs disestablished in 1923