Hrvatski nogometni klub Cibalia, commonly known as Cibalia Vinkovci or simply Cibalia, is a Croatian football club from the town of Vinkovci in eastern Croatia. Cibalia currently play in the Prva NL, Croatia's second-tier league. Their stadium is located in the south part of their home town and can hold 10,000 spectators. The name Cibalia comes from the Roman settlement called Colonia Aurelia Cibalae which was the precursor of the present-day town of Vinkovci. In the period from 1945 to 1990 the club was called NK Dinamo Vinkovci.

History The club was founded in 1919 as HGŽK Cibalia Vinkovci, and in 1925 the team merged with local rivals RŠK Sloga. In the 1930s the club was coached by Bane Sekulić, Károly Nemes and Rajmond Breznik."FK Bačka Mol", page 92 After World War II the club was banned by the new Communist regime. After the war re-established clubs Sloga and OFD Graničar merged and formed NK Dinamo Vinkovci which began competing within the Yugoslav football system. The club would see several humble decades before finally making it to the Yugoslav First League in 1982. They played in the top-tier league for five seasons until they were relegated to the Yugoslav Second League in 1987.

In 1990 the team returned its traditional name of Cibalia. The club spent much of the 1990s in the Prva HNL, Croatian top level. It remained in the Prva HNL until the 2003–04 season when it was relegated to the Druga HNL. The club was also penalized by UEFA in the same season with a deduction of six points for failure to fulfill financial obligations related to past player transfers. Nevertheless, in the 2004–05 season, Cibalia outdid all of its opponents in the second league by a large margin, won the promotion playoffs and returned to Prva HNL. It was in this season that they also had Croatian mixed martial arts legend Mirko Filipović play the final 8 minutes of a match vs HNK Vukovar.

Cibalia also had some success playing in the Croatian Cup, where it reached the final in 1999 (lost to Osijek) and semi-final in 2000, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The 2009–10 season was Cibalia's best ever season in the top division of Croatian football. They finished third after giants Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split, having spent most of the season in second position. They qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League but eventually lost to Northern Irish side Cliftonville and exited the tournament.

Cibalia were relegated from the 1. HNL in 2018 and also faced bankruptcy. They ended up being relegated directly to the third division, where they finished the season in first place and were promoted after receiving a second division license in May 2019.

Honours

Yugoslav Second League (West): Winners (1): 1981–82 Yugoslav Third League (SR Croatia): Winners (1): 1974–75 Yugoslav Cup Quarter-finals (1): 1977 Croatian First League: Third place (1): 2009–10 Croatian Second League: Winners (3): 1997–98, 2004–05, 2015–16 Croatian Third League (East): Winners (1): 2018–19 Croatian Cup: Runners-up (1): 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup: Semi-finals (1): 2003

Supporters and rivalries

The club has a relatively large but local following. Their main supporter group are called Ultrasi."To My Kibice Plus" nr 36 (June 2012) Their main rivals are the group Kohorta Osijek from NK Osijek.

Current squad

Recent seasons SeasonLeagueCupEurope / OtherTop league scorer(s)DivisionPWDLFAPtsPosNameGoals19921. HNL223910132415 9th DNQJosip Markovinović31992–931. HNL30119103130315thR2Davor Čop81993–941. HNL341113103727357thR2Josip Markovinović81994–951. HNL309101126333710thQFJosip Markovinović51995–961. HNL361112134355459thR2Goran Meštrović61996–971. HNL301101935563313th ↓R1Antun Andričević, Ivica Marinčić51997–982. HNL3022538019711st ↑R11998–991. HNL32107153444269thRUIvan Bošnjak71999–20001. HNL331112104239456thSFIvan Bošnjak142000–011. HNL3251893145339thR2Intertoto CupR2Mario Meštrović72001–021. HNL30991234373610thR1Mladen Bartolović62002–031. HNL32127133944435thQFMladen Bartolović92003–041. HNL32871739533111th ↓SFIntertoto CupSFZoran Ratković102004–052. HNL3221836523651st ↑R1Danijel Kuzmanović142005–061. HNL32910133347379thR2Mladen KrižanovićAleksandar Stojanovski<br/ >Ivan Žgela42006–071. HNL33951933533210thQFZoran Zekić122007–081. HNL33117154048408thQFŽeljko Malčić122008–091. HNL33108153353388thSFŽeljko Malčić9 2009–10 1. HNL301695462057 3rd R1Dino Kresinger9 2010–11 1. HNL30128103324444thSFEuropa LeagueQR2Dino Kresinger11 2011–12 1. HNL3013611353545 5th SFMladen Bartolović8 2012–13 1. HNL33951929443211th ↓SFTomislav Mazalović7 2013–14 2. HNL33185104139592ndR2Hrvoje Tokić16 2014–15 2. HNL30108123644386thR2Jakov Puljić16 2015–16 2. HNL33201035420701st ↑R2Frane Vitaić15 2016–17 1. HNL3649232679219thR2Frane Vitaić7 2017–18 1. HNL36682236752610th ↓↓R2Ivan Galić7 2018–19 3. HNL3021546724681st ↑R1Dominik Dogan16 2019–20 2. HNL19271013341316thR1Mate Bajić5 2020–21 2. HNL34156135043514thR1Gerald Diyoke, Filip Jazvić7 2021–22 2. HNL30118114442416thR1Domagoj Pušić, Filip Jazvić8 2022–23 1. NL33131553726543rdR1Ivan Mihaljević7 2023–24 1. NL33114183757378thR2Karlo Miljanić10 2024–25 1. NL331210114739465thDNPJosip Pejić9 2025–26 1. NL3317795133582ndR2Gabrijel Boban13

European record

Summary

CompetitionPldWDLGFGALast season played UEFA Europa League 2 0 1 1 0 1 2010–11 UEFA Intertoto Cup 10 3 3 4 13 16 2003Total123451317

Source:,uefa.com Last updated on 10 September 2010Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

By season SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayAgg.2000–01Intertoto Cup R1 FK Obilić3–11–1 4–2 R2 FC Tatabánya0–02–3 2–32003–04Intertoto Cup R2 FC Shakhtyor4–21–1 5–3 R3 Tampere United0–12–0 2–1 SF VfL Wolfsburg1–40–4 1–8 2010–11 Europa League QR2 Cliftonville 0–0 0–1 0–1

Player records Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 10 appearances Jure Jurić Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: 3 goals Ivan Maroslavac

All-time total in the Prva HNL

PointsGamesWinsDrawsLossesGFGAHNK Cibalia515438129128181470587

Historical list of coaches

Bane Sekulić Károly Nemes Rajmond Breznik Dražan Jerković (1975–76) Otto Barić (1976–79) Ivan Marković Tonko Vukušić (19xx–1984) Nedeljko Gugolj (1984–8X) Martin Novoselac (1986–88) Ivo Šušak (1988–89) Stipe Kedžo (1989–90) Tonko Vukušić (1990-9x) Mile Petković (1992) Stanko Mršić (1993–95) Davor Čop (interim) (1994) Tomislav Radić (1995–96) Davor Čop (interim) (1995) Mile Petković (1996–97) Tomislav Radić (1997) Tonko Vukušić (1997–98) Krasnodar Rora (1998) Mijo Ručević (1998–99) Srećko Lušić (1999–2000) Davor Čop (2000–01) Mile Petković (2001–03) Bruno Buhač (interim) (2003) Srećko Lušić (2003) Vjeran Simunić (2003–04) Davor Mladina (2004–05) Branko Karačić (2005–06) Igor Štimac (2006) Ivica Matković (2006) Mile Petković (2006–07) Srećko Lušić (2007–08) Stanko Mršić (2008–11) Siniša Jalić (interim) (2011) Samir Toplak (2011–12) Miroslav Bojko (interim) (2012) Željko Kopić (2012) Miroslav Bojko (2012–13) Damir Petravić (2013–14) Stanko Mršić (2014) Zoran Tomić (2014) Siniša Sesar (2014–15) Bruno Buhač (interim) (2015) Damir Milinović (2015) Miroslav Bojko (2015–16) Siniša Sesar (interim) (2016) Stanko Mršić (2016) Siniša Sesar (interim) (2016–17) Peter Pacult (2017) Mladen Bartolović (2017–19 Mar 18) Davor Rupnik (2018) Petar Tomić (2018–19) Davor Mladina (29 June 2019 -20) Petar Tomić (2020 –20 Sep 21) Darko Jozinović (21 Sep 2021 -19 Apr 22)Darko Jozinović novi je trener Cibalije - Novosti Ivan Karaula (19 Apr 2022 - Jun 22)Darko Jozinović napustio klupu Cibalije! – VKTV Tomislav Radotić (Jun 2022 –21 Jun 23) Ivan Karaula (Sep 2023 – present)

Sources

Nogomet 85, Slaven Zambata Nogomet 86, Slaven Zambata Nogometno YU prvenstvo 85 Nogometni godišnjak Hrvatska 92 Arena – "Hrvatska na Europskom prvenstvu" 1996. YU fudbal 87–88 VIII/88 Nogomet – Croatian football news; number 17, May 1999, p58

References

External links

Cibalia profile at UEFA.com Cibalia profile at Sportnet.hr