Fudbalski klub Sarajevo (; ), is a professional football club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is one of the most successful clubs in the country.
Founded on 24 October 1946, FK Sarajevo was the most successful club from SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in Yugoslavia, winning two Yugoslav First League titles, finishing runners-up on two other occasions, reaching the Yugoslav Cup final twice and placing 6th in the Yugoslav First League all-time table.
Today, FK Sarajevo is one of the most prominent members of the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it has won five Bosnian championships, eight Bosnian Cups and one Bosnian Supercup. Furthermore, the club finished runners-up in the national championship another seven times. It is ranked second in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina all-time table. FK Sarajevo is the most popular football club in the country, alongside FK Željezničar, with whom it shares a fierce rivalry in the Sarajevo derby, often called the Eternal derby (Bosnian: Vječiti derbi). This fixture is not only Bosnia and Herzegovina's premier football rivalry, but it has also been recognized internationally, being featured among FourFourTwo’s 50 Biggest Derbies in the World.
The club plays its home matches at the Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, also known as the Koševo Stadium, named after legendary club striker Asim Ferhatović, and located in the city's Koševo neighborhood. The stadium has a current capacity of 34,700 and is the largest in the country. FK Sarajevo also operates the Butmir Training Centre in the Ilidža municipality, a state-of-the-art facility spanning 70,000 m² and opened in 2015. The centre includes multiple FIFA-standard pitches, modern fitness and rehabilitation infrastructure, and serves as the training base for the men’s, women’s, youth teams and Sarajevo B.
The traditional colours of the club are maroon and white, with the home kit traditionally consisting of a maroon shirt, white shorts, and maroon socks - a combination that has become one of the most iconic and recognizable in Yugoslav and Bosnian sports. The club’s historic nickname is the Maroon-Whites (Bosnian: Bordo-bijeli), in reference to its traditional maroon and white colours. Over the decades, the club has also been affectionately known as the Sarajevan Aghas (Bosnian: Age Sarajlije), a nickname that alludes both to the Ottoman-era aghas and to a well-known sevdalinka, "Vino piju nane age Sarajlije", which nostalgically evokes the city’s cultural identity. In recent years, another popular nickname has emerged: The Giants (Bosnian: Divovi), inspired by Benjamin Isović’s football ballad, "Mi smo divovi" (English: We Are Giants), which subsequently became the club’s official anthem.
In addition to its domestic achievements, FK Sarajevo is widely regarded as the most significant exporter of footballing talent in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club holds seven out of the ten highest player transfer fees in the history of Bosnian football, underlining its role as an incubator of talent for European leagues. The club’s success in the transfer market is largely attributed to its renowned youth academy, which has consistently produced top-tier talent for both domestic competitions and European clubs.
Beyond its sporting achievements, FK Sarajevo holds a significant role in the social and cultural landscape of the capital. The club reflects Sarajevo’s multicultural character and has a broad support base representing diverse communities within the city, country and the wider region.
History
FK Sarajevo was the only major football club founded by the post-war Yugoslav authorities in the city of Sarajevo. The club entered the Yugoslav First League in the 1948–49 season, and eventually competed in all but two seasons in the top tier. After Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence from Yugoslavia, FK Sarajevo became one of the country's biggest ambassadors, departing on a large world tour during the Bosnian War with the goal of gaining international support for the country's cause.
Origins
FK Sarajevo was established on 24 October 1946, at a meeting held in the main hall of the FIS building, as the result of a merger between local Sarajevo football clubs Udarnik (Vanguard) and Sloboda (Liberty). The club first appeared on the Yugoslav sports scene in 1946 under the name Fiskulturno društvo Torpedo (English: Gymnastics Society Torpedo), a homage to Torpedo Moscow. The first chairman of the newly founded club was Safet Džinović, while the positions of vice-chairmen were granted to Vojo Marković and Alojz Stanarević respectively. Furthermore, Josip Bulat was named manager.
On 5 October 1947, on the proposal of then-editor-in-chief of the popular daily newspaper Oslobođenje, Mirko Ostojić, the club name was changed to Fiskulturno društvo Sarajevo (English: Gymnastics Society Sarajevo), before being changed yet again to Sportsko društvo metalaca Sarajevo (English: Sports Society of Metalworkers Sarajevo) a year later. Finally, on 20 May 1949 the name Fudbalski klub Sarajevo was adopted. The newly formed team, which inherited the results and league standings of Udarnik, was joined by selected players from both Udarnik and Sloboda. Namely, Hodžić, Vlajičić, Šarenkapa, Pauković, Fizović, Konjević, Radović, Viđen and Mustagrudić from the former, and Mantula, Glavočević, Tošić, Pecelj, Novo, Strinić, Đ. Lovrić and Alajbegović from the latter. The team played its first match on 3 November 1946. In September 1948 SDM Sarajevo was joined by Yugoslav footballing legend Miroslav Brozović, who brought in a largely needed level of experience to the new team. The Mostar native previously wore the black and white jersey of FK Partizan, as well as captaining the Yugoslavia national team. Brozović was offered the position of player-manager which he accepted, turning his attention to promoting the team to the Yugoslav First League. FK Sarajevo first entered the top-flight Yugoslav First League after eliminating Belgrade club Sloga. They drew the first match 3:3 in Novi Sad, but then won the second match 5:1 in Sarajevo. The team was relegated after its first season in the First League but was promoted back to the top tier in 1950. From then on FK Sarajevo played in every season of the First League apart from 1957-58. The club's first taste of European competitions began during the 1960s when it took part in the 1960 Mitropa Cup and the 1961–63 Balkans Cup, while the first continent-wide European competition the club took part in was the 1962–63 Intertoto Cup.
Champions of Yugoslavia - Bosnian breakthrough Until FK Sarajevo's historic triumph, no club from any republic outside of SR Serbia and SR Croatia had ever claimed the Yugoslav First League title. The league had long been dominated by the so-called "Big Four" of Yugoslav football, but the Bosnian breakthrough finally arrived in the 1966–67 season, when FK Sarajevo emerged as champions. This victory not only marked a significant milestone for Bosnian football but also ended an unprecedented eight-season dominance by clubs from SR Serbia, who had held the national crown uninterrupted.
The 1960s: First championship
A key player for Sarajevo in their early years was the legendary striker Asim Ferhatović, known as Hase, who played for the club from 1952 to 1967. In the 1963–64 season, he was the top scorer in the First League with nineteen goals, leading the club to a fourth-place finish. The following year, Sarajevo finished second to Partizan Belgrade. In the 1966–67 season, Sarajevo won their first Yugoslav First League title, becoming the first national champions from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The historic season began with Brozović as head coach, and the team had a strong start with consecutive wins against Sutjeska Nikšić and city rivals Željezničar, followed by a draw against European Cup runners-up Partizan. Despite an early lead, Sarajevo managed seven points from their first three fixtures and, though not initially considered title favorites, they gained momentum with a victory against Hajduk Split on the Dalmatian coast. Four days later, Sarajevo defeated Olimpija 2–1 at a sold-out Koševo Stadium. Hard-fought wins against Rijeka and Red Star Belgrade followed, and by the winter break, Sarajevo had won 14 of their first 20 league matches, finishing the year in first place.
The second part of the season opened with a 1–0 away win against Dinamo Zagreb in the last sixteen of the Yugoslav Cup, thanks to a stunning goal by Boško Antić. Although Sarajevo advanced past Napredak in the quarterfinals, they eventually lost in the Cup final to Hajduk Split at the Stari plac Stadium on May 24. The team quickly rebounded, defeating Red Star 3–1 at the Rajko Mitić Stadium, with two goals from Antić and one from Prodanović. A week later, they beat OFK Beograd by the same margin, but a surprising defeat to Vojvodina in Novi Sad left them tied with Dinamo Zagreb with three games remaining. Sarajevo then defeated Vardar with a Musemić brace, while Dinamo dropped points in Rijeka. In the final league match of the season, Sarajevo hosted Čelik Zenica in front of 30,000 spectators and won 5–2, securing the club's first league title.
European Cup last 16
The league triumph qualified Sarajevo to the 1967–68 European Cup (today's UEFA Champions League), where they played their first tie against Cypriots Olympiakos Nicosia, winning 5:3 on aggregate. In the second round (one round short of the quarter-finals), Sarajevo was knocked out 2:1 on aggregate by eventual champions Manchester United of England, despite hosting a goalless draw in the first leg. The first leg was played before an audience of 40,000 spectators and refereed by the Italian Francesco Francescon. The second leg played at Old Trafford ended in controversy after the ball went out of bounds prior to the hosts scoring their second goal. Notable Sarajevo players during this era included Boško Antić, Mirsad Fazlagić, Vahidin Musemić, Fahrudin Prljača and Boško Prodanović.
Shortly after winning its first Yugoslav league title FK Sarajevo endured a period of general stagnation. The team entered the 1967/68 season as strong title favorites, but the campaign turned out to be a complete disaster. The maroon-whites, managed by former player Franjo Lovrić, did not manage to enter the championship race in hopes of defending the title, finishing mere 7th. The club management quickly named Munib Saračević manager for the 1968/69 season, but this move also turned out to be fruitless. The team concluded the disappointing campaign 11th in the league standings. In the January 1971 transfer window, six members of the championship-winning generation, including Prodanović, Tešan, and Prljača, left the club. Three more players, including star player Boško Antić, departed in July of the same year. Despite a promising start to the next season, where the team led at the winter break, they only managed to finish 7th by the end of the season. The 1973–74 season saw the arrival of several new players, including future club legend Želimir Vidović and former Red Star Belgrade and Bayern Munich striker Dušan Jovanović. Additionally, 18-year-old Safet Sušić joined from Krivaja Zavidovići and would soon become a key player, driving the club to a second significant era of success in Yugoslav football. In the first eleven seasons following their 1967 title win, FK Sarajevo's best achievements were a single 6th place league finish, two 7th place league finishes, and a quarter-final appearance in the Yugoslav Cup during the 1976–77 season. In the same year, the club narrowly avoided relegation, finishing just two points ahead of Napredak Kruševac. However, the 1978–79 season brought renewed hope for Sarajevo fans as the team finished 4th, behind Hajduk Split, Dinamo Zagreb, and Red Star Belgrade, signaling better times ahead.
The 1980s: Second championship