Slavija Istočno Sarajevo
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| Full name | Fudbalski klub Slavija | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1908 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Gradski SRC Slavija Stadium,
Istočno Sarajevo |
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| Chairman |  Slavko Tošović |
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| Manager | Dušan Jevrić |
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| League | Premijer liga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-07 | 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fudbalski klub Slavija (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски kлуб Славија) is a Serbian football club from Istočno Sarajevo, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. FK Slavija is a member of the Football Association of Republika Srpska and it is active in the Premijer liga of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The club's home stadium is Gradski SRC Slavija Stadium.
Dominantly the club of Serbs, Slavija was by far the best club from Bosnia between the two world wars, having played 11 top league seasons (out of possible 16) in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The only other Bosnia-based club that managed to make it to top national level was Croat-dominated SAŠK (6 seasons).
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[edit] History
The football club was founded in 1908 as part of the wider sports society of Sarajevo gymnasium students informally known as Đački sportski klub (ĐSK). Its early activities were very sporadic and basically clandestine as Austro-Hungarian occupational authorities that just annexed Bosnia instituted a ban on any kind of organized gathering. In early 1909 the football section got its first pairs of boots and started holding regular practices and training sessions at Sarajevo Polje grounds.
[edit] 1910s
It wasn't until 1911 that ĐSK played its debut match, defeating a selection of Vienna soldiers 4-2. Throughout 1912, ĐSK played friendlies in parts of Austria-Hungary populated by South Slavs. A notable trip from that year was to the city of Split where ĐSK played local side Hajduk. The first match took place on April 7, 1912 and Hajduk won 4-1. A day later on April 8, the teams played another match with ĐSK winning this time 2-1.
During 1913 the club built a home ground located at Koševo neighbourhood. During the same year an ethnic split occurred within the organization as certain number of members left ĐSK to form Hrvatski sportski klub, which later became SAŠK. However, most others stayed at Koševo and soon changed the ĐSK's name to Srpski sportski klub (SSK).
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip in mid-1914 as well as subsequent Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia and the eventual outbreak of World War I, the position of Serbs in Bosnia became increasingly difficult. SSK members were no exception as many of them got forcedly mobilized and forced to fight in the Austro-Hungarian army.
Football quickly became an afterthought and SSK was completely inactive all throughout World War I. After the end of war and the creation of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, SSK reactivated in 1919.
[edit] 1920s
In 1921 SSK changed its name to SK Slavija. Over the next few years Slavija built a 4,000-capacity stadium in Marijin Dvor area of Sarajevo. In line with its student background the club devoted its potential to developing young players.
Slavija's first appearance in the Kingdom's top football competition took place in 1924. It featured only seven clubs and was played in the cup system. Young Slavija team crashed out at the very first stage, losing the quarterfinal to Belgrade's SK Jugoslavija 2-5.
Next season, 1925, saw Slavija get a quarterfinal bye. However, in semifinal, Jugoslavija was waiting again and Sarajevo club again conceded defeat in Belgrade, although the final score was a little more favourable this time 2-3.
The 1926 season again started with a bye, but semifinal proved to be disastrous as Građanski demolished Slavija 0-7 in Zagreb.
Slavija didn't compete in top competition over the next three seasons.
[edit] 1930s
The 1930 season saw the return to top flight that now featured six clubs and was played in league system. Slavija finished the season in 5th place with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 6 losses, all of which wasn't enough to avoid the drop.
Next chance for top flight football came in 1932/1933 season. By then the competition changed format once more as it was now played in fall-spring league rhythm and expanded to 11 clubs. Slavija finished 9th in the league with 7 wins, 2 draws, and 11 losses, which was just enough to stay afloat.
Football was not played in Kingdom of Yugoslavia during 1933/34 season, so the next opportunity came in 1934/35. The league now featured 10 teams, and Slavija again barely avoided relegation, finishing third from the bottom with 7 wins, 1 draw, and 10 losses.
The 1935/36 season finally provided a much sought breakthrough for Slavija as the club came within a hair of becoming the champion of Yugoslavia. The top league now featured 14 clubs, most ever in its history up to that point. Another change was that the home-and-away cup system was brought back. Led by Milan Rajlić and Slavko Zagorac on the pitch, and Risto Šošić from the bench, Slavija first came up against Cetinje's Crnogorac, beating them 5-4 on aggregate. Next up was Građanski from Skopje in the quarterfinals - after losing the first game 1-2, Slavija recorded a famous 10-1 win in the return leg. This momentum carried into the semifinals against Novi Sad's NAK as Slavija progressed 4-2 on aggregate. That set the stage for the famous two-legged final against the powerhouse BSK team. First leg finished 1-1, but BSK prevailed 0-1 in return.
The competition for the 1936/37 returned to 10 clubs and league system. Encouraged by their previous season's historic runner-up success, Slavija entered the new campaign with high hopes. They were soon dashed, however, as the club recorded 7 wins, 3 draws, and 8 losses, which was enough from a mid-table 5th place finish.
Next season was virtually identical with 7 wins, 4 draws, and 7 losses that again translated to 5th place in the table. Small consolation was that this was the first time season played in the league system that Slavija didn't have more losses than wins.
Once again just like in World War I, following the Nazi Germany invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia the club was inactive until the end of World War II in the Balkans. After the war, SK Slavija was disbanded without any explanation by the new communist authorities and its stadium was torn down while its stands and bleachers were given to FK Željezničar for use in their Grbavica ground that was under construction.
After the break-up of SFR Yugoslavia, Slavija was re-formed. Since gaining promotion for the 2004/2005 season, Slavija competes in Premijer liga.
[edit] Notable players
Although Slavija has always been a club that fostered strong Serbian sentiment, its rosters over the years have also featured some Croats, Bosniaks, Jews, Hungarians, Czechs, Austrians and Germans.
The club almost exclusively relied on its own youth system, which it mostly filled with young players from Sarajevo area, but after it established itself in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's top league during 1930s, Serbs from other parts of Bosnia started flocking to Slavija as well.
Slavija's most notable player ever was undoubtedly Slavko Zagorac, a classy fullback who spent decade and a half with the club and received 7 caps for Kingdom of Yugoslavia national football team between 1932 and 1938.
Two other Slavija players had the honour of being capped for the national team. They are Milan Rajlić and Florijan Matekalo who both debuted in 1940 with a single cap each.
Then there are Branko Stanković and Predrag Đajić who were promising juniors in Slavija when Nazi Germany invaded in April 1941. Since the club was disbanded by the time World War II ended, both of them had to find another club. They both landed at newly established Red Star Belgrade where they achieved great careers that led to many appearances for FPR Yugoslavia national football team.
[edit] Achievements
- Kingdom of Yugoslavia Narodna liga
- Runner-up: 1935-36
- Republika Srpska Prva liga
- Champions: 2003-04
- Republika Srpska Cup
- Champions: 2005-06
- Football Cup of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Runner-up: 2006-07
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Supporters
The supporters of the club are known as Sokolovi (Falcons).
[edit] External links
- FK Slavija website (Serbian)
- Milomir Odović podnio ostavku, sportin.ba, August 19, 2007
- Dušan Jevrić novi trener Slavije, sportin.ba, September 6, 2007
