FK Novi Pazar

History

Yugoslav period

The club was founded in 1928, under the name FK Sandžak, which later changed to FK Deževa. The club has played under its current name since 1962, when FK Deževa and another local football club, the FK Ras, merged under the name FK Novi Pazar. The club was a Yugoslav amateur-leagues champion, and was later a member of the Yugoslav Second League.

Its first notable achievement happened in 1984 when the club won the Serbian Republic League, at time one of Yugoslav third tiers, and were promoted to the Yugoslav Second League for the first time in 56 years of existence till then. They finished the season with 43 points (at time it was two points per victory) with 17 wins, 9 draws and 4 losses, and a score balance of 42–14. The Serbian Republic League at time was very competitive and Novi Pazar that season finished top of teams such as Radnički Kragujevac, Čukarički, Obilić, Sinđelić, Jagodina, Sloga Kraljevo, Loznica, Dubočica, Radnički Obrenovac, Budućnost Valjevo, Rudar Kostolac, Kristal Zaječar, Majdanpek, Đerdap Kladovo and 7. Juli Vrčin. The celebration of the promotion to the Second League happened in the last round in the 2–1 home victory over 7. Juli, but the major celebration happened two rounds earlier when Novi Pazar secured the league title at the 1–1 draw away in Belgrade against Sinđelić. The game was attended by 3.000 spectators of which 2.500 were Novi Pazar fans that had travelled to Belgrade. The goal for Novi Pazar was scored by Milan Glavčić who scored 23 goals overall that season and was the club's top scorer. The players that formed that notorious generation of Novi Pazar that season were goalkeepers Novica Jovanović, Dragan Goševac, Naser Halitović, defenders Dragan Kostić, Bajro Župić, Darko Vujović, Esad Karišik, Nazim Izberović, Ratko Šarac, Radojica Milojević, Salih Detanac, Izet Ljajić, Ljutvo Bogućanin, midfielders Ferid Ganić, Rizo Tutić, Mirsad Karišik, Adnan Numanović, Ismail Bihorac, Nermin Ukić, and forwards Ismet Ugljanin, Milan Glavčić, Gmitar Vukadinović, Šerif Izberović and Naser Salihu. The club president was Amir Beširović while the coach was Dušan Radonjić and his assistant was Aćif Klimenta.

Besides this major achievement, the generation of 1984 will also manage to win the, back then respectable, Yugoslav amateur-league leagues champion, which was played between the winners of the all eight leagues forming the Yugoslav third tier, the six republic leagues (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) and the two autonomous provinces ones (Kosovo and Vojvodina). As winner of the 1983–84 Serbian Republic League, FK Novi Pazar represented Serbia that year and won the tournament. After beating Liria away in Prizren by 3–0, Novi Pazar played the final home in the City Stadium where it won Crvenka by 2–0 with goals of Esad Karišik and Ismet Ugljanin. A member of that generation, Enver Gusinac, who became club captain in the seasons that followed, missed the season because of the Yugoslav People's Army conscription, made his return at that final game.

Serbia/Montenegro period

The club qualified for a promotion play-off spot for the First League of FR Yugoslavia twice, but lost on both occasions. They lost to Sutjeska Nikšić in 1994, and to Sloboda Užice in 1995. In 2002, the club was relegated to the Serbian League, third division in Serbia. After one season in the Serbian League they were promoted back to the Serbian First League. During the 1980s and 1990s the club was magnet to many of the talented Kosovo Albanian players such as Nazmi Rama, Naser Salihu, Mentor Miftari, Sadik Rrahmani, Gëzim Hasi, Besnik Kollari, Shefqer Kurti, or manager Hysni Maxhuni.

First time in SuperLiga

The club played in the second tier until 2011, when they came in third. At the end of the 2010–11 Serbian First League season, first-placed second-tier team FK BASK was not financially prepared for the Serbian SuperLiga, which caused a huge controversy and debate in Serbian football circles regarding who in BASK's place should take the birth in the top-tier Serbian SuperLiga in the following season. Two candidates emerged: FK Inđija, which had occupied a relegation place in the previous SuperLiga season, and FK Novi Pazar, which finished in non-promoting third place in the second-tier championship. Both clubs were backed by political proxies in their campaigns to take BASKS's place in the SuperLiga. Goran Ješić, who was the president of the municipality of Inđija as well as an official of the Democratic Party, represented the lobby for FK Inđija to keep its place in the top flight. FK Novi Pazar, meanwhile, was backed by the powerful lobby of Rasim Ljajić. In the end, FK Novi Pazar was promoted along with second-place Radnički Kragujevac. The 2011–12 Serbian SuperLiga was the first ever season in which FK Novi Pazar played in the top flight. Ivan Babić participated in a historic moment for FK Novi Pazar after scoring the first goal in the top division for the club.

Recent history

The season of 2012–2013 was a difficult one for the club. After the first half of the season FK Novi Pazar ranked 10th place in the Serbian Superliga. In December 2012, an accumulated financial crisis in the club resulted in several players and directors leaving the club. Irfan Vušljanin, regarded by many as one of the club's best players in recent years, was quoted saying that "I've played for many clubs, but I've never seen this kind of chaos like now in FK Novi Pazar." Like most of the playing squad, Dragoljub Bekvalac had not received payment in the previous four months and promptly resigned from the position of coach, and even considered suing the club via the district court for compensation. Days later, it was announced that famous Serbian coach Slavenko Kuzeljević, known for his success with Radnički Kragujevac, agreed to replace Bekvalac as coach. Subsequent to the announcement of the new coach, the former leader of Partizan's medical team, dr. Sead Malićević, was named the new president of the club. FK Novi Pazar finished 14th placed in the 2012–13 season which saw them remain in the first division.

During the 2013–14 season, Novi Pazar was in no danger of relegation. They won against OFK Belgrade at home and drew goalless against Partizan. They finished the season ranked 8th.

Novi Pazar improved their form in the 2014–15 Serbian Superliga season. They won 2–1 against Red Star at home, 3–1 against OFK Belgrade at home and drew 1–1 against Partizan at home and away. They finished the season placed 5th.

In season 2019/20 they finished mid table in the Serbian First League (Second Division) but due to the FSS ( Football Association of Serbia) re-structuring the Serbian SuperLiga due to the COVID-19 Pandemic by adding four more teams to the top tier of the Serbian SuperLiga and due to FK Novi Pazar having a modern UEFA standard stadium when most clubs in Serbia don't, they were awarded a place/took the place of FK Grafičar Beograd, a Belgrade club who basically had a pitch/field and no stadium to speak of. So after a three-year absence FK Novi Pazar would again join the elite national competition.

Stadium

Main article: Novi Pazar City Stadium

Novi Pazar City Stadium (Serbian Cyrillic: Градски стадион у Новом Пазару), located in the eastern part of the city, is the home venue of FK Novi Pazar. The stadium was officially opened on 12 April 2012 after one-year reconstruction and it can hold 12,000 people at full capacity.

The stadium began undergoing complete reconstruction during the first half of 2011 in an ambitious project by the Football Association of Serbia and the city of Novi Pazar. The project includes the renovation of the eastern, west and northern stands. The project includes also the covering of the whole stadium, new floodlights, new locker and press room, new ambulance, parking area, ticket office. After reconstruction, the stadium fulfill the most up to date UEFA standards. The cost of the project was estimated to be over 230 million Serbian dinars (2 million euros).

Supporters

Main article: Torcida Sandzak, Ekstremi

The three largest supporters groups of FK Novi Pazar are known as Torcida Sandžak, Ultra Azzurro and Ekstremi. Organized tifo support for FK Novi Pazar was first established in the late 1980s. Ultras of Fenerbahçe first recognized the fans of FK Novi Pazar in 2011, and a friendship now exists between the ultras of the clubs from Istanbul and Novi Pazar.

Ultras in Novi Pazar have Right-Wing views and have a recent history of both scandalous and disrespectful displays. In October 2012, Ekstremi held up a mocking display about the illegal organ harvesting in Kosovo as a provocation to Rad, a team from outside of Novi Pazar from where the supporters were mostly Christian Serbs. The incident garnered shocked reactions from media and government officials both in Serbia and in other countries. However, ultras in Novi Pazar are also known to act respectfully to visiting teams from outside of Novi Pazar.

In April 2013, during a home match against Partizan Belgrade, a supporter of FK Novi Pazar threw an activated homemade explosive device to the visiting supporters, which fell to the athletic field and did not explode. The explosive device was wrapped with tape and filled with nails. It was the same person who caused, on 26 November 2011, a false bomb alarm in the Novi Pazar City Stadium, leading to a criminal charge against him of causing panic. FK Novi Pazar club management sharply condemned the action.

Torcida Sandžak, on a different note, earned worldwide recognition when the group organized a protest in the form of a public march which was attended by thousands of people. The protest was held in a peaceful manner without negative incidents.

Kit manufacturers

League results

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from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:10

from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2002 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: PSL from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 color:rs shift:(0,13) text: SLW from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2011 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: PSL from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2017 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "JSL" from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2020 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: PSL

Novi Pazar in Europe

:Novi Pazar scores are given first in all scorelines.

Players

Current squad

– Do NOT add new players before their signing is officially announced by the club through their website, including medical and signing the contract. A transfer fee agreed doesn't mean the player will sign. – Do NOT remove players before their exit is officially announced by the club. – Do NOT add or change squad numbers until it is official on the FK Novi Pazar website – Only add numberless players that are likely to become part of the first team – Pre-season numbers can be added temporarily with A REFERENCE – This is Wikipedia, not a football newspaper. Anything unconfirmed and unsourced will be removed on sight

Other players under contract

Out on loan

Technical staff

Management

Notable players

:To appear in this section a player must have either:

• Played at least 80 games for the club.

• Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club.

• Played at least one international match for their national team at any time.

• YUG Abdulah Gegić

• SRB Rahim Beširović

• SRB Almir Gegić

• SRB Sead Hadžibulić

• SRB Sead Halilagić

• SRB Admir Kecap

• SRB Kemal Kuč

• SRB Đorđe Tutorić

• SRB Bajro Župić

• AUS Aleksandar Šušnjar

• BIH Dario Damjanović

• BIH Petar Jelić

• BIH Numan Kurdić

• BIH Denis Mujkić

• BIH Amar Rahmanović

• BIH Sead Ramović

• BIH Admir Raščić

• BIH Nemanja Supić

• BIH Almedin Ziljkić

• GUI Abdoulaye Cissé

• HON Luis López

• Liberia Omega Roberts

• MNE Stefan Lončar

• MKD Stefan Aškovski

• MKD Darko Micevski

• SIN Fahrudin Mustafić

• South Sudan Kur Gai Kur

• UGA Vincent Kayizzi For the list of current and former players with Wikipedia article, please see: :Category:FK Novi Pazar players.

Historical list of coaches

• Republic of Kosova Hysni Maxhuni (1995 – 1996)
• SRB Sead Halilagić (2006 – 2007)
• SRB Esad Karišik (2007)
• SRB Slavko Jović (2007)
• SRB Mladen Dodić (December 2007 – March 2008)
• SRB Saudin Huseinović (March 2008 – 2008)
• MNE Dušan Jevrić (2008 – October 2008)
• SRB Saudin Huseinović (October 2008 – April 2009)
• SRB Ismet Ugljanin (April 2009 – May 2009)
• SRB Ljutvo Bogućanin (interim) (May 2009 – June 2009)
• SRB Saša Štrbac (July 2009 – October 2009)
• SRB Slavko Vojičić (October 2009 – 2009)
• SRB Dušan Kljajić (January 2010 – March 2010)
• SRB Mile Vuletić (April 2010 – 2010)
• SRB Saša Štrbac (July 2010 – September 2010)
• SRB Jovica Škoro (September 2010 – January 2011)
• SRB Mladen Dodić (January 2011 – June 2011)
• SRB Izet Ljajić (interim) (June 2011)
• SRB Mihailo Ivanović (July 2011 – August 2011)
• SRB Ljubomir Ristovski (September 2011 – April 2012)
• SRB Dragoljub Bekvalac (April 2012 – December 2012)
• SRB Slavenko Kuzeljević (December 2012 – April 2013)
• SRB Nebojša Vučićević (April 2013 – August 2013)
• SRB Milan Milanović (August 2013 – December 2013)
• SRB Zoran Njeguš (December 2013 – June 2014)
• MKD Dragi Kanatlarovski (June 2014 – September 2014)
• SRB Milorad Kosanović (September 2014 – June 2015)
• SRB Petar Kurćubić (June 2015 – August 2015)
• SRB Mladen Dodić (August 2015 – October 2015)
• SRB Radmilo Ivančević (October 2015 – January 2016)
• SRB Zoran Marić (January 2016 – September 2016)
• SRB Zoran Govedarica (September 2016 – November 2016)
• SRB Nebojša Vučićević (January 2017 – April 2017)
• SRB Saudin Huseinović (interim) (April 2017)
• SRB Neško Milovanović (April 2017 – May 2017)
• SRB Marjan Živković (June 2017 – March 2018)
• SRB Stevan Mojsilović (March 2018 – April 2018)
• SRB Vladica Petrović (April 2018 – February 2019)
• SRB Neško Milovanović (February 2019 – April 2019)
• SRB Vladica Petrović (April 2019 – May 2019)
• SRB Slavko Matić (June 2019 – September 2019)
• SRB Darko Tešović (September 2019 – November 2019)
• SRB Kenan Kolašinac (November 2019 – November 2020)
• MNE Radoslav Batak (November 2020 – February 2021)
• SRB Davor Berber (February 2021 – May 2021)
• SRB Milan Milanović (June 2021 – September 2021)
• SRB Kenan Kolašinac (14 September 2021 – October 2021)
• MNE Dragan Radojičić (16 October 2021 – February 2022)
• SRB Tomislav Sivić (20 February 2022 – May 2022)
• SRB Vladimir Gaćinović (June 2022 – October 2022)
• MNE Damir Čakar (15 October 2022 – 13 December 2022)
• SRB Aleksandar Stanković (14 December 2022 – 18 March 2023)
• SRB Davor Berber (28 March 2023 – 31 May 2023)
• SRB Dragan Aničić (5 June 2023 – August 2023)
• CYP Siniša Dobrašinović (24 August 2023 – 31 December 2023)
• SRB Igor Matić (9 January 2024 – March 2024)
• SRB Slavko Matić (3 April 2024 – May 2024)
• SRB Nikola Trajković (25 May 2024 – 25 August 2024)
• SRB Tomislav Sivić (25 August 2024 – February 2025)
• SRB Vladimir Gaćinović (February 2025 – )

References

References

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19. [http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Sport/Serbia-Thousands-of-Muslim-football-fans-protest-anti-Islam-film_313718475518.html Adnkronos Group – Serbia: Thousands of Muslim football fans protest anti-Islam film] {{Webarchive. link. (7 October 2012 Retrieved 21 September 2012.)
20. [http://balkans.aljazeera.net/makale/protest-u-novom-pazaru-zbog-spornog-videa Al Jazeera Balkans: Protest u Novom Pazaru zbog spornog videa (Serbian)] {{webarchive. link. (9 November 2012 Retrieved 21 September 2012.)
21. "Thousands of Serbian Muslim Protest Over Anti-Islam Film". Abna.ir.
22. "srbijasport.net – FK Novi Pazar – Novi Pazar – Rezultati".
23. (28 August 2024). "Igrači". FK Novi Pazar official website.
24. "Tim". [[Serbian SuperLiga]].
25. (14 September 2021). "Kolašinac ponovo na klupi Novog Pazara".
26. (16 October 2021). "Radojičić preuzeo Novi Pazar".
27. (20 February 2022). "TOMISLAV SIVIĆ PREUZEO NOVI PAZAR! Iskusni stručnjak pokušaće da napravi čudo na Jošanici".
28. (15 October 2022). "Damir Čakar novi trener Novog Pazara".
29. Jakovljević, Andrej. (14 December 2022). "Pazar treći put promenio trenera, Stanković napada Evropu".
30. (28 March 2023). "Davor Berber drugi put među Pazarcima".
31. (6 June 2023). "Novi Pazar dobio novog trenera: Aničić potpisao na godinu dana".
32. (24 August 2023). "BERANAC PREUZEO KLUPU NOVOG PAZARA".
33. (9 January 2024). "Plavi upalili motore, predstavljen trener Igor Matić".
34. (3 April 2024). "Slavko Matić novi šef stručnog štaba FK Novi Pazar".
35. (25 May 2024). "Novi Pazar ima novog trenera: Čoveka koji je rekao da se nikad neće vratiti u srpski fudbal".
36. (25 August 2024). "TOMISLAV SIVIĆ NOVI TRENER FK NOVOG PAZARA".