NK Lokomotiva

NK Lokomotiva Zagreb (English: Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 1914, the club's only period of success came in the late 1940s and early 1950s before spending most of the following five decades as lower-level minnows.

Lokomotiva
Full nameNogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb
(Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club)
Nickname(s)Lokosi
Short nameLOK
Founded1 May 1914 (1914-05-01) as ŽŠK Victoria
GroundStadion Kranjčevićeva
Capacity8,850[1]
ChairmanTin Dolički
ManagerJerko Leko
LeaguePrva HNL
2019–20Prva HNL, 2nd
WebsiteClub website

Between 2007 and 2009 they won three consecutive promotions to rise from the fourth level to the first in the Croatian football league system. They hosted their home matches at Stadion Maksimir for a couple of years before moving to Stadion Kranjčevićeva, as their own ground in the Novi Zagreb's Kajzerica neighbourhood is unsuitable for the top-level football.

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.[2] 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.[3] The club's base and youth teams area are located in Kajzerica neighborhood.

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, unfortunately 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[4] and finishing as runners-up in the Croatian Football Cup, losing 1–0 to Rijeka in the final.[5] 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.[6]

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
Yugoslav football league system

Players

Current squad
As of 5 February, 2021[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  CRO Luka Matasović
2 DF  MKD Edis Maliqi
3 DF  BIH Stipo Marković
4 DF  BIH Branimir Cipetić
5 FW  CRO Nikica Jelavić
7 FW  CRO Roko Šimić
8 MF  CRO Oliver Petrak
9 FW  CRO Mario Budimir
10 MF  CRO Sammir
11 DF  CRO Ivan Čeliković
12 GK  CRO Krunoslav Hendija
14 DF  GRE Kyriakos Papadopoulos
15 MF  CRO Toni Brezina
16 DF  ALB Jon Mersinaj
17 FW  ALB Indrit Tuci
18 MF  ALB Enis Çokaj
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF  CRO Josip Pivarić
20 FW  BIH Irfan Hadžić
21 FW  NGA Ibrahim Aliyu
22 MF  ALB Francesco Tahiraj
23 FW  BEL Moutir Chajia
24 MF  BIH Mateo Marić
25 DF  BIH Kemal Osmanković
27 MF  BRA Emerson Deocleciano
29 FW  KOR Jeong-hyun Kim
31 DF  CRO Marko Lešković (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)
32 GK  CRO Krševan Santini
36 MF  CRO Marko Đira (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)
45 MF  GHA Reuben Acquah
59 MF  ALB Sherif Kallaku
77 FW  CRO Antonio Marin (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
15 MF  CRO Josip Majić (at Široki Brijeg until 30 June 2021)
30 FW  MKD Dzemal Ibishi (at Dubrava until 30 June 2021)
31 FW  CRO Luka Viduka (at Hrvatski Dragovoljac until 30 June 2021)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  BIH Ivan Milićević (at Željezničar until 30 June 2021)
— MF  ALB Albion Marku (at Laçi until 30 June 2020)4

Recent seasons
Season League Cup European competitions Top league scorer
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Player Goals
2006–07 4. HNL 30 25 2 3 94 31 77 1st ↑ Jurica Jeleć 16
2007–08 3. HNL 34 28 2 4 105 32 86 2nd ↑ Robert Mesić 34
2008–09 2. HNL 30 18 5 7 50 30 59 3rd ↑ Mateo Poljak 8
2009–10 1. HNL 30 12 6 12 35 38 42 8th Nino Bule 14
2010–11 1. HNL 30 8 9 13 24 37 33 14th R1 Nino Bule 11
2011–12 1. HNL 30 12 8 10 33 33 44 7th Andrej Kramarić 5
2012–13 1. HNL 33 16 9 8 54 38 57 2nd RU Andrej Kramarić 15
2013–14 1. HNL 36 15 7 14 57 59 52 5th Europa League QR2 Ante Budimir 14
2014–15 1. HNL 36 13 7 16 59 68 46 4th QF Domagoj Pavičić 8
2015–16 1. HNL 36 16 4 16 56 53 52 4th QF Europa League QR2 Franko Andrijašević 12
2016–17 1. HNL 36 12 8 16 41 38 44 5th QF Europa League PO Josip Ćorić 6
2017–18 1. HNL 36 14 9 13 47 48 51 5th SF Lovro Majer 11
2018–19 1. HNL 36 13 10 13 51 43 49 6th QF Dejan Radonjić 8
2019–20 1. HNL 36 19 8 9 57 38 65 2nd RU Lirim Kastrati
Marko Tolić		 11

European record
Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Agg
2013–14 UEFA Europa League QR2 Dinamo Minsk 2–3 2–1 4–4 (a)
2015–16 UEFA Europa League QR1 Airbus UK Broughton 2–2 3–1 5–3
QR2 PAOK 2–1 0–6 2–7
2016–17 UEFA Europa League QR1 UE Santa Coloma 4–1 3–1 7–2
QR2 RoPS Rovaniemi 3–0 1–1 4–1
QR3 FC Vorskla Poltava 0–0 3–2 3–2
PO KRC Genk 2–2 0–2 2–4
2020–21 UEFA Champions League QR2 Rapid Wien 0–1 N/A N/A
2020–21 UEFA Europa League QR3 Malmö FF N/A 0–5 N/A

Personnel

Coaching staff
Position Staff
Manager Jerko Leko
Assistant coaches Draženko Prskalo
Edin Mujčin
Đorđe Rakić
Goalkeeping coach Darko Horvat
Doctors Miroslav Gluhinić
Frane Bukvić
Technical director Igor Cvetković
Physiotherapists Igor Bartolović
Marko Grubić
Ivan Rendulić

Last updated: 9 January 2021
Source: NK Lokomotiva official website


Managerial history

References
  1. "Stadion Kranjčevićeva". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  2. "Povijest" (in Croatian). NK Lokomotiva.
  3. "Kranjcevic's no longer mocked, to the delight of Lokomotiva, Rudeš and all our first team players" (in Croatian). tportal.hr/. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. "Arhiva sezone 2019/20 - Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. "Rijeka - Lokomotiva 1:0 - Hrvatski nogometni savez". hns-cff.hr. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  6. UEFA.com. "Draws | UEFA Champions League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  7. "1. momčad – igrači" [First squad - players] (in Croatian). NK Lokomotiva. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
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