NK Celje


Nogometni klub Celje, commonly referred to as NK Celje or simply Celje, is an association football club from Celje, Slovenia. They play in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. Together with Maribor, they are the only club that have participated in every season of the Slovenian PrvaLiga since its formation in 1991. Their best result is title of national champions, achieved during the 2019–20 season.

History

The club was formed in 1919 as SK Celje. Soon after the World War II, in 1946, the club changed its name to NK Kladivar. In 1964 they qualified for the Yugoslav Second League, where they played for one year.
In 1992, year after Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia, the club again changed its name, this time to Publikum. They reached the finals of Slovenian Cup in 1993 and 1995, but lost on both occasions, having been beaten by Olimpija and Mura. In 2003, Celje was in a title race with Maribor until the very last, but in the end finished second and also lost Slovenian cup finals against Olimpija in the same year. Two years later in 2005 the club reached Slovenian cup finals for the fourth time and this time they finally lifted their first trophy, defeating Gorica 1–0 in front of their own fans at the Arena Petrol. Celje were also in the finals the next year, but lost to Koper after the penalty shoot-out.
In 2020 Celje won their first title of Slovenian champions, after winning the 2019–20 Slovenian PrvaLiga season.

Stadium

For most of its early years, the club played at the Glazija Stadium, but obtained the Skalna Klet after merging with ŽŠD Celje in 1967. Glazija was demolished in 1983 and the club moved permanently to Skalna Klet. Since the stadium was in bad shape and could not meet UEFA stadia criteria, the club officials decided to build a new stadium and in 2003 the main stand of the new Arena Petrol stadium was built. The capacity at the time was 3,600 covered seats. After 2003, three new separate stands were built and when the last one opened in 2008, the stadium was completed. The current capacity of the stadium is 13,059 seats from which around 50% are covered. In July 2017, the stadium was renamed to Stadion Z'dežele.

Current squad

Honours

Domestic

League

SeasonLeaguePositionPtsPWDLGFGACup
1991–921. SNL941401413134351
1992–931. SNL103234128143747
1993–941. SNL43830141065034
1994–951. SNL6383016685027
1995–961. SNL551361312116247
1996–971. SNL447361211135561
1997–981. SNL64936147155757
1998–991. SNL742331012113035
1999–001. SNL64733111485345
2000–011. SNL55033155135952
2001–021. SNL64833146135039
2002–031. SNL25531151065738
2003–041. SNL103932116156152
2004–051. SNL35232164124728
2005–061. SNL64936154174859
2006–071. SNL745361112135451
2007–081. SNL84536136174251
2008–091. SNL45336158134839
2009–101. SNL55136149135356
2010–111. SNL83736910174155
2011–121. SNL83736910174456
2012–131. SNL549361213113939
2013–141. SNL83736107193058
2014–151. SNL27036201065831
2015–161. SNL545361112133246
2016–171. SNL555361510114839
2017–181. SNL55036148145651
2018–191. SNL549361213114551
2019–201. SNL16936191257436
Totals1. SNL1 Title13731010387268355142813311 Cup

European record

All results list Celje's goal tally first.

List of managers