Football Club Koper, commonly referred to as FC Koper or simply Koper, is a Slovenian football club based in the Istrian city of Koper that competes in the Slovenian First League, the top flight of Slovenian football. The club was founded in 1920. They won the Slovenian First League once, in the 2009–10 season, and the Slovenian Cup four times, most recently in 2021–22.
The club's home ground is Bonifika Stadium, which has a capacity for 4,047 spectators.
History The club was formed as Circolo sportivo Capodistriano in 1920. The team was made up of students, workers and fishermen. Its colours were black and white. In 1928, the club was renamed as Unione sportiva Capodistriana. Six years later, the club was renamed as Libertas.
After World War II, the club became part of a larger sports association and renamed as Aurora. By 1948, there were five clubs operating in the Koper area: Aurora, Meduza, Partizan, Edilit, and Adria. In 1955, Aurora and Meduza merged, creating NK Koper. The club played under this name in different Yugoslav leagues until 1991 and was one of the most successful Slovenian clubs. After Slovenia's independence, the club played in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. At the beginning of the 1990s, the club was achieving mid-table success. By the end of the 1990s, the club had been relegated to the second division twice, had serious financial problems, and renamed as FC Koper. With the advent of the new millennium, Koper consistently achieved positions in the upper half of the table. In 2002, they competed in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup, their first international competition. Two years of mid-table anonymity and significant financial difficulties followed, in part because the former owner, Georg Suban, left substantial debts to the club and took half of the team with him when he moved to the other Slovenian PrvaLiga team, Mura.
The fans took control of the club and tried to improve its finances to save it from going bankrupt like three other major Slovenian clubs (Olimpija, Mura and Ljubljana), with reasonable success. In the 2005–06 season, Mladen Rudonja returned to the club and brought with him the Serbian-American businessman Milan Mandarić, who paid off all the remaining debts. After the first half of the season, before the arrival of the new patron, Koper was battling against relegation, but in the second part of the season, with a new coach, Milivoj Bračun, the club started an unbeaten run that led them to reach the third place in the Slovenian PrvaLiga and to win the Slovenian Cup for the first time. This also qualified the team to play in the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds in the 2006–07 season. The following seasons were more difficult, with the club narrowly avoiding relegation in 2009. In the 2009–10 season, the team was expanded and, under the leadership of veteran player Miran Pavlin, eventually won the Slovenian PrvaLiga championship for the first time, securing a place in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, where they were defeated by Dinamo Zagreb 5–4 on aggregate (1–5, 3–0). In the aftermath, Pavlin left the club.
Following the 2016–17 season, Koper failed to obtain a competition licence and was excluded from the Slovenian top division.
Name changes 1920: Formed as Circolo sportivo Capodistriano 1928: Renamed as Unione sportiva Capodistriana 1946: Renamed as Aurora Koper 1955: Merger of Aurora Koper and Meduza Koper to form NK Koper 1990: Renamed as FC Koper Capodistria 2001: Renamed as Sport Line Koper (sponsorship) 2005: Renamed as FC Anet Koper (sponsorship) 2008: Renamed as FC Luka Koper (sponsorship) 2017: Renamed as FC Koper
Stadium
Bonifika Stadium is the team's home ground, named after the area where it is situated in the town of Koper. The stadium was built in 1948. In 2010, the stadium underwent extensive reconstruction and its current capacity is 4,047 seats.
Current squad
Honours Yugoslavia League Slovenian Republic League (third tier in Yugoslavia) Winners: 1984–85, 1987–88 Runners-up: 1986–87
Cup Slovenian Republic Cup Winners: 1989–90, 1990–91 Runners-up: 1988–89
Slovenia League Slovenian First League Winners: 2009–10 Runners-up: 2007–08, 2013–14, 2021–22, 2025–26 Slovenian Second League Winners: 1999–2000 Runners-up: 1997–98 Slovenian Third League Winners: 2018–19 Littoral League (fourth tier) Winners: 2017–18
Cup Slovenian Cup Winners: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2014–15, 2021–22 Runners-up: 2008–09, 2024–25 Slovenian Supercup Winners: 2010, 2015 Runners-up: 2007 MNZ Koper Cup Winners: 2017–18, 2018–19
Domestic league and cup results In Yugoslavia
1947–48: 4th (STO League) 1948–49: 1st (STO League) 1949–50: 3rd (STO League) 1950–51: 3rd (STO League) 1951–52: 4th (STO League) 1952–53: 1st (STO League) 1953–54: 4th (Slovenian Republic League) 1954–55: 6th (Slovenian Republic League) 1955–56: 9th (Ljubljana-Littoral League) 1956–57: 2nd (Littoral League) 1957–58: 1st (Littoral League) 1958–59: 5th (Littoral League) 1959–60: 3rd (Littoral League) 1960–61: 2nd (Koper Subassociation League) 1961–62: 2nd (Koper Subassociation League) 1962–63: 1st (Koper Subassociation League) 1963–64: 1st (Koper Subassociation League) 1964–65: 1st (Slovenian Regional League – West) 1965–66: 12th (Slovenian Republic League) 1966–67: 1st (Slovenian Regional League – West) 1967–68: 6th (Slovenian Republic League) 1968–69: 11th (Slovenian Republic League) 1969–70: 3rd (Slovenian Regional League – West) 1970–71: 1st (Slovenian Regional League – West) 1971–72: 5th (Slovenian Republic League) 1972–73: 10th (Slovenian Republic League) 1973–74: 7th (Slovenian Republic League) 1974–75: 14th (Slovenian Republic League) 1975–76: 10th (Slovenian Regional League – West) 1976–77: 3rd (Koper Subassociation League) 1977–78: no senior team in league system 1978–79: no senior team in league system 1979–80: 1st (Slovenian Regional League – West) 1980–81: 9th (Slovenian Republic League) 1981–82: 11th (Slovenian Republic League) 1982–83: 4th (Slovenian Republic League) 1983–84: 4th (Slovenian Republic League) 1984–85: 1st (Slovenian Republic League) 1985–86: 18th (Yugoslav Second League) 1986–87: 2nd (Slovenian Republic League) 1987–88: 1st (Slovenian Republic League) 1988–89: 5th (Yugoslav Inter-Republic League) 1989–90: 14th (Yugoslav Inter-Republic League) 1990–91: 12th (Yugoslav Inter-Republic League)
In Slovenia SeasonLeaguePositionPtsPWDLGFGACup1991–921. SNL843401513123833Round of 161992–931. SNL835341113104145Round of 161993–941. SNL73230111094338First round1994–951. SNL11↓263098132434First round1995–962. SNL6↑4129118103330Round of 161996–971. SNL10↓313687212861did not qualify1997–982. SNL2↑683020827520First round1998–991. SNL11↓323388173461did not qualify1999–20002. SNL1↑723022627621Round of 162000–011. SNL646331210114343did not qualify2001–021. SNL35633151174526Round of 162002–031. SNL54531129104141First round2003–041. SNL45032131184132Round of 162004–051. SNL11363299143841Round of 162005–061. SNL35736169114939Winners2006–071. SNL645361015115146Winners2007–081. SNL26436181086850Semi-finals2008–091. SNL842361012143947Runners-up2009–101. SNL17336211055935Round of 162010–111. SNL36036179105743Semi-finals2011–121. SNL458361610104835Quarter-finals2012–131. SNL45536141395242Quarter-finals2013–141. SNL2693621695236First round2014–151. SNL84036124203558Winners2015–161. SNL84036117184054Quarter-finals2016–171. SNL6↓50361214104340Round of 162017–18Littoral League1↑652321201182Round of 162018–193. SNL1↑7128232311115Quarter-finals2019–202. SNL1↑442013524213Quarter-finals2020–211. SNL94236119164156Semi-finals2021–221. SNL26736191075438Winners2022–231. SNL65036148144640Quarter-finals2023–241. SNL548361212125149Quarter-finals2024–251. SNL3663619986035Runners-up2025–261. SNL2673420777143Second round
Key
P – Matches played W – Matches won D – Matches drawn L – Matches lost GF – Goals for GA – Goals against Pts – Points
WinnersRunners-upPromoted ↑Relegated ↓
Record in UEFA competitions All results (home and away) list Koper's goal tally first. Season Competition Round Opposition Home Away Agg.2002Intertoto Cup1R Helsingborgs IF 0–0 0–1 0–12003Intertoto Cup1R Zagreb 1–0 2–2 3–22R Dubnica 1–0 2–3 3–3 (a)3R Egaleo 2–2 3–2 5–4SF Heerenveen 1–0 0–2 1–22006–07UEFA Cup1Q Litex Lovech 0–1 0–5 0–62007–08UEFA Cup1Q Široki Brijeg 2–3 1–3 3–62008–09UEFA Cup1Q Vllaznia 1–2 0–0 1–22010–11UEFA Champions League2Q Dinamo Zagreb 3–0 1–5 4–52011–12UEFA Europa League1Q Shakhter Karagandy 1–1 1–2 2–32014–15UEFA Europa League1Q Čelik Nikšić 4–0 5–0 9–02Q Neftchi Baku 0–2 2–1 2–32015–16UEFA Europa League1Q Víkingur Reykjavík 2–2 1–0 3–22Q Hajduk Split 3–2 1–4 4–62022–23UEFA Europa Conference League2Q Vaduz 0–1 1–1 1–22025–26UEFA Conference League1Q Željezničar 3–1 1–1 4–22Q Viking 3–5 0–7 3–122026–27UEFA Conference League2Q NSÍ 1–3 2–0 3–3 Key 1Q: First qualifying round 2Q: Second qualifying round 1R: First round 2R: Second round 3R: Third round SF: Semi-final
References
External links
Unofficial NK Koper website FC Koper at PrvaLiga FC Koper at Soccerway