FK Vardar

FK Vardar is a professional football club based in Skopje, North Macedonia, which competes in the Macedonian First League. They are the most successful club in Macedonian football, having won eleven Macedonian First League titles, five Macedonian Cups, two Macedonian Super Cups and one Yugoslav Cup. In 2017, they became the first Macedonian club to qualify for the group stage of a European competition. History Beginning After WW2 FK Vardar was established with the merger of city rivals FK Pobeda (1919) and FK Makedonija (1922), in the hall of cinema "Vardar" on 22 July 1947. The foundation assembly had decided the club's color to be blue and it was, but already at the next assembly the decision was changed to red and white. FK Pobeda has competed in the first season of the Federal League after the World War II, finished at the eighth place and won the relegation playoffs against FK Sloga from Novi Sad, FK Vardar was a member of the Federal league from the very beginning. However, during the following decade they were several times relegated and promoted back again. The present recognizable red and black color jerseys were brought back again after the 1963 Skopje earthquake when the famous Milan football club sent equipment for the Skopje's team. First Federal League The club won its first major trophy in the 1960–61 Yugoslav Cup. Many famous players from the region started their careers at Vardar, and their triumph in the Yugoslav Cup was a highlight. The leader of that particular generation of players was Andon Dončevski, who later coached the team from 1985 to 1988. Due to massive irregularities during the last 34th week of fixtures, the 1985–86 Yugoslav First League season ended notoriously. Football Association of Yugoslavia headed by Slavko Šajber voided the last week's results ordering a replay of all 9 fixtures. Twelve clubs were docked 6 points due to alleged participation in the match-fixing scandal. All teams agreed to replay their games but FK Partizan, who had won the title with a 4–0 over FK Željezničar Sarajevo, refused, after which the game was awarded 3–0 to FK Željezničar Sarajevo, which gave Red Star Belgrade the title. Red Star Belgrade played in the 1986–87 European Cup. However, after a sequence of legal processes, the original final table, with FK Partizan as champions, was officially recognized in 1987. The following 1986-87 Federal League season saw 10 teams starting with -6 points.