FK Lovćen


Fudbalski klub Lovćen Cetinje is a football club based in Old Royal Capital Cetinje, Montenegro. It was founded on 20 June 1913. It was named after Mount Lovćen near Cetinje. Lovćen is the oldest football club in Montenegro and one of the oldest in Southeastern Europe.
As one of the most successful Montenegrin teams, Lovćen won the Montenegrin Cup 2014.
Today, Lovćen is a member of Montenegrin First League.
FK Lovćen is a part of Lovćen Cetinje sports society.

History

Period 1913–1941

The club was founded on 20 June 1913, as a Workers' sports club Lovćen. Among the founders were Montenegrin painters Luka and Milo Milunović, and Luka Milunović was the first president and a captain of the team.

As the oldest Montenegrin football club, Lovćen participated in its first national competitions in the 1910s and 1920s. First trophy of Lovćen was 'Sports olympiad' on Cetinje 1914, a tournament which included football clubs from Montenegro, Albania and Austria-Hungary. Until World War II, Lovćen won five Montenegrin championships. They also won two Zeta Olympiad annual tournaments and seven City Championships of Cetinje. During that era, Lovćen had strong rivals in another club from Cetinje, SK Crnogorac, and in two clubs from Podgorica, FK Budućnost and GSK Balšić. These four teams were the best football clubs in Montenegro before World War II.

For supporting the prohibited Labours' Party, FK Lovćen was prohibited during the 1937, same as FK Budućnost. The club was renewed in 1944 and in 1945. Lovćen played its first matches after the restructuring. That year, in Cetinje, Lovćen and Budućnost played the first Montenegrin clubs' match after World War II. Budućnost won – 4:2.

CompetitionTitlesRunner-upChampion seasons
Montenegrin championship
5
5
Spring 1925, Autumn 1925, Spring 1927, Autumn 1928, 1935
'Zeta olympiad'
2
1
1926, 1927
'Sports olympiad'
1
-
1914

Montenegrin championship - Elimination tournament for Montenegrin football clubs; 'Zeta olympiad' - Cup tournament for Montenegrin football clubs; 'Sports olympiad' - tournament held on Cetinje, with participation of clubs from Montenegro, Albania and Austro-Hungaria.

Period 1945–1992

With FK Budućnost, FK Sutjeska and FK Arsenal, Lovćen was a member of the first official football competition after World War II - 1946 Montenegrin Republic League. FK Lovćen finished as a second team and gained an opportunity to participate in the qualifiers for the inaugural season of Yugoslav First League, but didn't succeed. In the first leg, Lovćen won against Makedonija Skopje ', and in the second they eliminated Borac Banja Luka '. In the last qualifier for the First League, Lovćen lost against Metalac Beograd '.

Another chance to get promotion to the First League, Lovćen got as a champion of Yugoslav Second League – group 'B' in 1956. In the first leg, Lovćen eliminated Zenica ' and participated in the play-off group. During the group matches, the club from Cetinje played against Vardar Skopje ', Lokomotiva Zagreb ' and Borovo '. After the six group matches Lovćen failed to get promotion, with one point below the First League zone.

In their third and last play-off for the First League in the SFR Yugoslavia, in 1957, Lovćen was eliminated in the first qualifying leg against Željezničar Sarajevo '.

One more big success of Lovćen was in 1947, by winning the U21 Championship title of Yugoslavia.

Until the collapse of Yugoslavia, Lovćen usually participated in Yugoslav Second League. Montenegro's oldest club played 552 games in that competition. The best performance in a united Yugoslav Second division was achieved in the 1954/55 season, when together with seven wins, two draws and nine defeats, they secured sixth place in the standings. The most successful season, however, was in 1968/69 – Lovćen won fourth place with a score of 12–11–7. After Budućnost and Sutjeska, Lovćen was the most successful Montenegrin club at that time.

Period 1992–2006

In the federal state of Serbia and Montenegro, Lovćen played in the second and third league. The best results, Lovćen made during the 1998/99 season, when they finished the Second league 8th of 18 table places. For a few seasons, the club was the winner of the Montenegrin Republic Cup.

During the last days of the Serbia and Montenegro Federation, Lovćen was relegated in the Third League and in its last seasons they made the weakest appearances during the newest history.

Period 2006–

After the independence of Montenegro, Lovćen participated in the first season of the Montenegrin Second League. Lovćen finished first in the 2006/2007 season of the Second League, and was directly promoted to the Montenegrin First League.

At the first match in the First League, Lovćen played on 11 August 2007. against OFK Petrovac in Cetinje – 2:2, with attendance of 2,000 supporters. In 2009, for the first time since the independence, Lovćen appeared in the final Cup of Montenegro, when they lost the game against OFK Petrovac. Before that match, in the semifinals, Lovćen eliminated FK Budućnost.

Lovćen made its greatest success in the First League during the 2013/14 season. After the first half-season, the club from Cetinje finished third. During the spring season, the club made a historic row of 11 matches without a loss. Lovćen finished the season in second place, which was the best ever result in the club's history.

In the same season, on 21 May 2014, for the first time, Lovćen won the Montenegrin Cup. During the 2013/2014 Montenegrin Cup, Lovćen eliminated Zora, Crvena stijena, Zeta and Petrovac. In the finals, Lovćen won the game against Mladost, so the club from Cetinje won their first national trophy.

With that success, for the first time in the club's history, Lovćen qualified for the European Cups.

After 10 consecutive seasons in top-tier competitions, in the 2016/17 season, FK Lovćen finished in 11th position, so they were relegated to Montenegrin Second League.

Lovćen in European competitions

For the first time, Lovćen gained a participation in the European competitions after the season 2013/14. As a Montenegrin Cup winner and the runner-up in the Montenegrin First League, Lovćen debuted in Europa League 2014/15.
During their first appearance in European competition, Lovćen was eliminated by Željezničar Sarajevo. After the draw in the first match in Sarajevo, Lovćen lost 0:1 at the game, which was played at Petrovac Stadium.

Matches

;Notes
Most of their seasons, Lovćen spent in the second and third football level in SFR Yugoslavia and, after that, in FR Yugoslavia. In the 1940s and 1950s, Lovćen participated in the Yugoslav First League playoffs, but without promotion to the top-tier. After Montenegrin independence, the club made their first appearances in the First League.
Except for that, the club for Cetinje often played play-off matches for placement to the First or Second Yugoslav League. Lovćen played one season in the UEFA Europa League.

Sponsors

As of 20 January 2020

Former players

For the list of former and current players with Wikipedia article, please see :Category:FK Lovćen players.

During the history, several notable players started their careers or played for FK Lovćen. Below is the list of international players and domestic players who, during their career, played for FK Lovćen and represented their countries at national teams or made international careers.

Current staff

Managerial history

Since their promotion to the First League, Lovćen was led by 10 different coaches. During that period, the club had best results with club Mojaš Radonjić in the 2013/14 season. At that time, Lovćen won their first and only national title with first promotion to the European competitions. Radonjić is also the manager with the most matches in Lovćen's staff.

Stadium

FK Lovćen plays their home games at Stadion Obilića Poljana, whose capacity is 2,000 seats. Obilića Poljana is home of FK Lovćen since 1957. Before that, the team played their home games at the old stadium near today's location and on the stadium near the Cetinje Monastery.

First game on Obilića Poljana was Yugoslav Second League match FK Lovćen - NK GOŠK, played in August 1957. Highest attendance in the history of stadium was recorded on Yugoslav Cup game between FK Lovćen and NK Dinamo Zagreb. Game was attended by 6,500 spectators.

Women's football

While FK Lovćen is the oldest men's club in Montenegro, Women's Football Club Lovćen was founded in May 2010. Since then, the club played and organized numerous tournaments, and on the 2015-16 season for the first time played in Montenegrin Women's League and Montenegrin Cup.