KK Rabotnički () is a basketball club based in Skopje, North Macedonia. They currently play in the Macedonian First League. The club has won the Macedonian championship 15 times and the Macedonian Cup 10 times.
History
The club was founded in 1946 in Skopje. Rabotnicki was founded thanks to Slavko Matovski who "gathered" a group of young enthusiasts and taught them the secrets of this sport. On August 2 and 3, 1946, the First Basketball Championship in Macedonia was held, on a modified field at the Skopje City Stadium, which actually served as qualifications for the Yugoslav Basketball League for the 1946 season.That championship was within the framework of the Second Physical Education Meeting and the basketball clubs that participated were Makedonija (in less than a year, after the merger of several sports clubs, the club was reorganized into Vardar), Rabotnicki, and Vancho Prke from Shtip. Last time, Rabotnicki defeated Vancho Prke with 30:8. In the last match, Rabotnicki lost to Macedonia with 30:18 and thus Macedonia gained the right to participate in the second season (first season with clubs) of the elite league.At that time, Slavko Matovski, Dragan Lukoski - Adzija, Trajan Ivanovski, Boris Anastasov, Atanas Radevski, Vojce Dimitrovski, Ilija Kovkarov and others played for Rabotnicki. Since the club's founding, the men's team of Rabotnicki has included Nikola Matovski, Lazarevic, Hristovski, Stojanovski, Dimovski, Stefan and Toso Todorovski, Dimovski, Atanasovski for many years.After becoming the runner-up in 1946, Rabotnicki went on to win seven Macedonian Championships (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953). In 1953, they managed to qualify for the elite Yugoslav Basketball League.Rabotnicki competed in the First Federal League – East, but only for one season. From that time, it is worth mentioning the third place in the State Youth Championship in 1957.A new generation was being born (Knjazev, Fišić, N.Matovski, Drnkov, Masten, Mirovski, Lečić...) which won the Macedonian Championship for the 8th time in 1961 and only in 1964 did it win the right to once again join the elite First Federal League.In 1964 under the leadership of Lazar Lečić, KK Rabotnički became a member of the First Federal Basketball League. From 1963 to 1970, J. Lukovski and S. Andonovski played for the former Yugoslavia national team, and in the period from 1970 to 1977: Bocevski, Radosavljević, Georgievski, Kovačević and Radulović, and at the same time Blagoja Georgievski is one of the most prominent athletes of the Macedonia and one of the few Macedonian athletes who holds the highest sports title – Meritorious Athlete of the former Yugoslavia. In the 1975–1976 season, he reached the semifinals of the European Cup Winners Cup.Rabotnicki spent the 1978/79 season in the Second Yugoslav League and then became the champion, while the following season, Rabotnicki returned to the First Yugoslav League. That 1979/80 season, the head of the coaching staff was Lazar Lečić, and the head coach was Aleksandar Knjazev. The team captain was Janko Lukovski.The other players were Blagoja Georgievski, Stevan Geshovski, Delcho Staninov and Marin Dokuzovski who played from 1978 to 1989 . Rabotnicki competed in the Yugoslav League on a regular basis until 1992. They have never won a Federal championship but they were finalists in the Federal Yugoslav Cup on two occasions in 1976 and 1983. Godel Era Since the Macedonian Republic League became the new Macedonian First League, Rabotnički have been the most successful Macedonian basketball team of all time, winning a record 15 league titles and 9 national cups. The basketball clubs from the Republic continued their competitions within the Republic itself. For the 1992/93 State Championship from the two basketball leagues – East and West, the first four teams from both groups secured participation in the First Mac-Partner Basketball League.The club played as Godel Rabotnicki, under the auspices of the leather company "Godel", the club won seven Championship titles in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, as well as three Cup titles in 1993, 1994, 1998. In the 1999/00 season, for the first time since the Macedonian First League existed, the team did not win a title, as it lost to Gostivar's Nicole Ferth in the final, shattering the myth of the invincible "giant". Fershped Era In the 2000/01 season, Rabotnicki was without a general sponsor, but that did not prevent them from winning the Championship. For the following season, "Fersped" came as the club's new sponsor. That same season, Fersped Rabotnicki won the Championship again, in the final against KK Kumanovo.In the 2002/03 season, Feršped Rabotnicki defeated Polo Trade in the league final, while in the 2003 Cup they defeated MZT Skopje. In the 2003/04 season, Feršped again won the double crown, against MZT in the Championship, and against Nemetali Ogražden in the Cup.In the same season, in the South Conference of the FIBA Europe Cup, Rabotnicki became the vice-champion. The 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons were marked by a rivalry with Vardar. During these two seasons, both teams played in all the League and Cup finals, all in favor of Feršped Rabotnicki.The following season in the League, Rabotnicki became the runner-up, losing in the final to Strumica 2005, while in the Cup 2007 they reached the final. The club received a wild card to participate in the Adriatic League for the 2007–08 season, but later withdrew from the competition. In the 2007/08 season, Rabotnicki reached the semifinals of the Championship and the Cup. In the 2008/09 season, Feršped Rabotnicki won the domestic Championship, became the runner-up in the Balkan League, while in the Cup they reached the semifinals. Recent Seasons Since the 2009/10 season, Rabotnicki has been without a general sponsor. In the domestic championship, it finished in sixth place in the Super League, and in the 2010 Cup, it reached the quarterfinals. In the Balkan League, it only survived until the first phase of the competition.In the 2010/2011 season, the new general sponsor of the club was "KUBUS", with which the 2011 Cup was won, while in the Championship the second place was won, but after two seasons, the sponsor left. Since the 2011/2012 season, the main sponsor of the club is the Municipality of Centar and for the 2012/2013 season, the Rabotnicki basketball club was transformed into a Joint Stock Company.In the 2013/14 season, Rabotnicki won second place in the Championship. The following season, Rabotnicki won the 2015 Macedonian Cup. In the 2014/2015 Championship, Rabotnicki was eliminated in the semifinals by Kumanovo 2009. In 2015, Rabotnicki competed in the renewed Supercup, becoming the runner-up in that edition.The same season, they reached the quarterfinals of the Championship and the Cup. Rabotnicki reached the semifinals of the 2017 Cup and the Championship in the 2016/17 season. In the 2017/18 season, Rabotnicki was the runner-up in the 2018 Cup, while in the Championship, after a break of nine years, Rabotnicki were champions again. The club became the first club to reach a tenth Cup title, after winning the 2019 edition. Later in June, Rabotnicki were defeated in the Championship final.
Home Ground Rabotnichki currently play as a host at SRC Kale hall.Before they used to play in their own City Park Basketball hall.The City Park hall is under reconstruction.
Honours
Domestic competitions Macedonian Republic League Winners (9): 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 Macedonian Republic Cup Winners (4): 1976, 1983, 1985, 1988 Macedonian League Winners (15): 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2018 Macedonian Cup Winners (10): 1993, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2019 Macedonian Super Cup Winner Winners (2): 2001, 2011
European achievements FIBA Saporta Cup Semi-finalist (1): 1975–76 FIBA Europe Conference South Runners-up (1): 2003–04 Balkan International Basketball League Runners-up (1): 2008–09
Players Roster 2026-2027
Depth chart
Retired numbers KK Rabotnički retired numbersNo.PlayerPositionTenure 13 Blagoja Georgievski PG 1968–1984
KK Rabotnicki in European competitions In their rich European history KK Rabotnicki competed in many European competitions. Their most successful period was in the 1990s. They competed for eleven seasons in four different cups.
BIBL League Seasons 2009: (7-5) 2nd 2010: (3-7) 9th
Seasons and results of Rabotnicki in Europe:
1975 FIBA European Cup Round Team Home Away Group stage Olympiacos90–7991–71 CSKA Sofia117–8890–84 Tours Basket107–9099–83Semi-final Olimpia Milano104–8990–67
1993 Saporta Cup Round Team Home Away Round 1 BV Den Helder85–6292–76Group stage Saski Baskonia102–97113–90 Tofaş109–10792–87 Olimpija Ljubljana66–8889–77 Bellinzona92–9487–70 Split85–9182–74
1995 FIBA European League Round Team Home Away Round 1 Budivelnyk65–6483–69
1995 Europe Champions Cup Round Team Home Away Qualif.Round HKK Brotnjo78–6476–59
1996 FIBA Saporta Cup Round Team Home Away Group stage Rīgas ASK84–9799–80 Włocławek86–8882–76 Scavolini Pesaro78–7195–77 Hopsi Polzela89–9174–66 Fenerbahçe78–8490–61
1997 FIBA Saporta Cup Round Team Home Away Group stage ToPo Helsinki80–8185–55 Joventut Badalona55–70105–72 BIPA-Moda57–7778–63 Tofaş76–7773–47 Žemaitijos Lokiai78–8886–70
1999 FIBA Saporta Cup Round Team Home Away Group stage Bosna51–8259–52 TAU Cerámica57–7370–49 PSG Racing57–7083–43 Illiabum Clube68–7667–68 Znicz Pruszków64–6584–41
2000 Radivoj Korać Cup Round Team Home Away Qualif.Round Igokea63–7170–70
2002 FIBA Euro Challenge Round Team Home Away Group stage Peristeri59–7285–72 NIS Vojvodina81–83102–77 Pinar Karşıyaka66–9699–91 Hapoel Jerusalem89–9090–64 Yambolgaz-9275–6973–85
2003 FIBA Euro Challenge – South Conference Round Team Home Away Group stage Fenerbahçe91–8780–65 CSU Ploiești75–6660–46 APOEL Nicosia81–7793–100Semi-final Keravnos96–75Final Tuborg Izmir78–80
2004 FIBA Euro Challenge Round Team Home Away Group stage UNICS Kazan95–9987–53 Nymburk102–8684–60 Hapoel Galil Elyon97–10992–87 Fenerbahçe67–79109–60 CSKA Sofia82–8184–97 Kyiv Basket62–88102–73
2017 FIBA Europe Cup Round Team Home Away Qualifying Round 1 Parma Basket73–9588–63
2024 FIBA Europe Cup Round Team Home Away Group stage Sabah BC -81–83 CS Rapid București -57–87 Donar -62-65
Rivalries KK Rabotnički Skopje's long standing city rival is MZT Skopje, the other basketball club in Macedonia. They also have supporters in the capital city named Family Aerodrom. The rivalry started after the Independence of Macedonia, and the matches between these rivals have been labeled as the Eternal derby.
Team Mutual score Rabotnički 92 MZT Skopje Aerodrom 82
Notable players
Goran Veselinovski Toni Simić Gjorgji Čekovski Goran Samardziev Dime Tasovski Aleksandar Dimitrovski Pero Blazevski Ognen Stojanovski Pero Antić Bojan Trajkovski Dimitar Mirakovski Aleksandar Kostoski Dušan Bocevski Jordančo Davitkov Gjorgji Knjazev Dejan Jovanovski Mirza Kurtović Todor Gečevski Srdjan Stanković Marjan Gjurov Riste Stefanov Goce Gerasimovski Vlatko Vladičevski Vrbica Stefanov Darko Sokolov Budimir Jolović Emil Rajković Dimitar Karadžovski Vlado Ilievski Toni Grnčarov Vasko Najkov Marjan Srbinovski Jane Petrovski Marko Simonovski Aleksandar Ugrinoski Eftim Bogoev Boris Nešović Đorđe Vojnović Goran Dimitrijević Enes Hadžibulić Ivica Dimčevski Bojan Krstevski Kiril Nikolovski Boban Stajić Marko Ivanović Zoran Jovanović Miško Marić Dragoljub Vidačić Dragan Smiljanić Slobodan Kanjevac Vladimir Dragutinović Vladimir Filipović Miljan Pavković Vladimir Popović Srdjan Božić Predrag Joksimović Aleksandar Mitrović Kendrick Johnson Marcus Ginyard Russell Robinson Sean Evans Paul Culbertson Antoni Wyche William Coleman Phil Zevenbergen Hameed Kashif Gary Ware