NK Lokomotiva Zagreb

History

NK Lokomotiva was founded as ŽŠK Victoria (Željezničarski športski klub "Victoria") in 1914.

After World War I, the name of the club was changed to Željezničar, under which they competed between the two wars. At that time, they were mostly in the shadow of the city's bigger clubs Građanski, Concordia and HAŠK. They played in the first level only in the 1940–41 season.

In 1945, the club was renamed Lokomotiva and soon their most productive years followed. They continuously played for 8 seasons (1947–1955) in the Yugoslav First League with the best league result in 1952, when they finished third, behind Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade. Some of the players at that time were Vladimir Čonč, Vladimir Firm, Drago Hmelina, Franjo Beserdi and Oto Bobek, younger brother of legendary Stjepan Bobek. They won Yugoslav Second League in 1956, but were relegated again from the First League in the summer of 1957 and never returned to the Yugoslav top flight again. They played in the Yugoslav Second League until 1970 and then also in the Yugoslav Inter-Republic League in the last years before the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

After Croatian independence and the formation of the Prva HNL in 1991, Lokomotiva played in the lower leagues of Croatian football, mostly spending their time in the Treća HNL. In 2006, before relegation to the fourth division, Lokomotiva became the feeder team for Dinamo Zagreb. This sparked a story of one of the most incredible rises through the leagues in Croatian football. Lokomotiva gained promotion in each of the next three season, finishing first in the Četvrta HNL in the 2006–07 season, second in the Treća HNL in the 2007–08 season, and third in the Druga HNL in the 2008–09 season.

The promotion from the second to the first division of Croatian football in 2009 meant that in the 2009–10 season, Lokomotiva would be back in the top flight for the first time after 52 years. The side recovered from a poor start in the league and finished in a respectable 8th position out of 16 teams, with notable victories 4–2 away against NK Zagreb, home 3–0 over Rijeka, and 2–1 over Hajduk Split. Their top scorer, Nino Bule, finished with 14 goals.

Due to rules against second sides being in the same division, they legally split their connection to Dinamo Zagreb. To meet the criteria for the Prva HNL, they played their games at Stadion Maksimir before moving on to Stadion Kranjčevićeva which is now the club's home. The club's base and youth teams area are located in Kajzerica neighborhood, at a ground known as Igralište na Kajzerici, which itself was a prominent motorcycle speedway stadium in the 1960s.

The 2012–13 season was one of the best in recent history for Lokomotiva. They finished in second place ahead of clubs such as Rijeka, Hajduk Split and RNK Split. Young star Andrej Kramarić, on loan from Dinamo Zagreb, finished second in the scoring charts with 15 goals. With the second-place finish, Lokomotiva qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round. In their first European encounter, the side faced FC Dinamo Minsk, losing on the away goals rule after winning 2–1 away from home, but losing 3–2 at home.

Lokomotiva established itself as a 1. HNL side, finishing between 4th and 6th place for the next six seasons. The club managed its first European aggregate victory over Airbus UK Broughton F.C. in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League and navigating three stages of qualifying rounds in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, before losing 4–2 to Belgian Pro League side K.R.C. Genk in the playoff round.

In the 2019–20 season, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lokomotiva had the best season in its history, finishing in second place in the league and finishing as runners-up in the Croatian Football Cup, losing 1–0 to Rijeka in the final. With Croatia's improved UEFA Ranking, this meant that Lokomotiva went into the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds for the first time in its history, where it drew SK Rapid Wien in the second qualifying round.

Name changes

• ŽŠK Victoria (1914–1919)
• ŠK Željezničar (1919–1941)
• HŽŠK (1941–1945)
• FD Lokomotiva (1945–1946)
• FD Crvena Lokomotiva (1946–1947)
• NK Lokomotiva (1947–present)

Honours

;Croatian football league system

• Croatian First League
  • Runners-up (2): 2012–13, 2019–20
• Croatian Second League
  • Third place (1): 2008–09
• Croatian Cup
  • Runners-up (2): 2012–13, 2019–20

;Yugoslav football league system

• Yugoslav First League
  • Third place (1): 1952
• Yugoslav Second League
  • Champions (1): 1955–56
  • Runners-up (2): 1957–58, 1958–59

Crest and colours

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

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 NK Lokomotiva Zagreb 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

Out on loan

Dual registration

Other players under contract

Out on loan

Recent seasons

European record

Summary

Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 7 September 2022 Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

Record by season

Personnel

Coaching staff

CRO Marko Grubić CRO Ivan Rendulić

Historical list of coaches

• YUG Bogdan Cuvaj (1946–1952)
• YUG August Bivec
• YUG Slavko Kodrnja
• YUG Mirko Kokotović
• YUG Hermenegildo Kranjc
• YUG Ivan Medarić
• CRO Sreten Ćuk (2007 – Dec 30, 2008)
• CRO Ilija Lončarević (Jan 1, 2009 – Mar 6, 2009)
• CRO Željko Pakasin (C) (Mar 7, 2009 – Apr 29, 2009)
• CRO Roy Ferenčina (Apr 29, 2009 – Oct 3, 2010)
• SRB Ljupko Petrović (Oct 3, 2010 – Mar 14, 2011)
• CRO Krunoslav Jurčić (Mar 14, 2011 – May 26, 2011)
• CRO Marijo Tot (Jun 1, 2011 – Oct 29, 2011)
• CRO Ante Čačić (Oct 31, 2011 – Dec 23, 2011)
• CRO Tomislav Ivković (Dec 23, 2011 – May 11, 2015)
• CRO Marko Pinčić (C) (May 11, 2015 – Jun 3, 2015)
• CRO Ante Čačić (Jun 3, 2015 – Sep 21, 2015)
• CRO Sreten Ćuk (Sep 21, 2015 – May 30, 2016)
• CRO Valentin Barišić (May 30, 2016 – Jul 6, 2016)
• CRO Mario Tokić (C) (Jul 6, 2016 – Jul 25, 2016)
• CRO Tomislav Ivković (Jul 25, 2016 – Nov 14, 2016)
• CRO Mario Tokić (Nov 14, 2016 – Dec 5, 2017)
• CRO Draženko Prskalo (C) (Dec 5, 2017 – Dec 27, 2017)
• CRO Goran Tomić (Dec 27, 2017 – Jan 9, 2021)
• CRO Jerko Leko (Jan 9, 2021 – Mar 13, 2021)
• CRO Samir Toplak (Mar 14, 2021 – May 28, 2021)
• CRO Silvijo Čabraja (Jun 8, 2021 –Mar 19, 2025)
• CRO Damir Ferenčina (C) (Mar 19, 2025 – Apr 24, 2025)
• CRO Mario Cvitanović (Apr 24, 2025 – Jun 17, 2025)
• CRO Nikica Jelavić (Jun 17, 2025 –)

References

References

1. "Povijest". NK Lokomotiva.
2. "Kranjcevic's no longer mocked, to the delight of Lokomotiva, Rudeš and all our first team players". tportal.hr/.
3. "1960 World Championship".
4. "1960 World Championship".
5. "Arhiva sezone 2019/20 - Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga".
6. "Rijeka - Lokomotiva 1:0 - Hrvatski nogometni savez".
7. UEFA.com. "Draws {{!}} UEFA Champions League".
8. "NK Lokomotiva Kit History".
9. "Momčad". NK Lokomotiva Zagreb.