OFK Bačka

History

The club was founded in 1945 and plays in the stadium Stadion Slavko Maletin Vava, capacity of 2,500, which was officially inaugurated on 7 July 1951. In 1959, Bačka archived promotion to the Yugoslav Second League group East, but, at the end of the 1959–60 season, ends up relegated. However, Bačka returns for the season 1961–62 and this time stays in national second level for 14 consecutive years.

Its major accomplishment was the promotion to the 1988–89 Yugoslav Second League which was a unified second league. This edition of the Second League, compared to the previous ones Bačka played in, was stronger because it was a unified Second League in which clubs from all over Yugoslavia played in, thus more restricted and difficult to qualify to, while the other editions from the 1960s and 1970s had the second league divided into two groups, East and West. In total, during Yugoslav period, Baćka spent 16 editions in the Second League.

In the Yugoslav Cup, Bačka best performance was in the 1968–69 edition when Bačka reached the quarter-finals, not advancing further because they were stopped by one of the Yugoslav "Big Four", Hajduk Split, who got to eliminate Bačka by 2–1 only after extra-time. Bačka managed to qualify to the final stages of the national cup on several occasions, the next being in the 1993–94 FR Yugoslavia Cup when they lost in the last 16 against Radnički Niš.

After the 1988–89 season in the Second League, during the following two decades the club plays mostly in the third national level, the Serbian League Vojvodina, occasionally dropping to the Bačka Zone League at times when the financial crisis was more notorious. The rise will start when Bačka won the 2012–13 Vojvodina League West. Immediately afterwords, Bačka won the 2013–14 Serbian League Vojvodina thus qualifying to the Serbian First League, the second national level. It will take only two seasons in the first league for Bačka to finish second in the 2015–16 edition and this way directly qualify for the Serbian SuperLiga. The 2016–17 Serbian SuperLiga will be the first time in club's history that Bačka will play in national top level.

Name

The name of the club always was FK Bačka. It comes from the region of Bačka where the city Bačka Palanka is located. The club should not be confused with another one with same name, FK Bačka 1901. That club is from Subotica and was founded in 1901, making him the oldest club not only in the territory of present-day Serbia, but in all of former Yugoslavia. FK Bačka 1901 played in several editions of the Yugoslav First League during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia period, prior Second World War, however later and more recently both often competed at same lower levels. While FK Bačka 1901 played in Yugoslav First League, more recently didn't manage more than playing in Serbian League Vojvodina, third level while FK Bačka Bačka Palanka never played in Yugoslav highest level, but in 2016 got to be promoted to the Serbian SuperLiga. A third club including the name Bačka is TSC Bačka Topola which never played top-level but on several occasions reached second levels both during the time of Yugoslavia and after. However, this case is different because Bačka is included only because of the name of the city they are located at, Bačka Topola.

Honors

Stadium

The Bačka stadium, known as Stadion Slavko Maletin Vava, was inaugurated on the date the city of Bačka Palanka celebrates its slava, July 7, 1951. It has a capacity of 5,500. The west stand is completely covered while the east stand is not. The stadium is located in downtown of Bačka Palanka.

The first field where FK Bačka played was where the old railway station was located. As the club was growing and gaining popularity, a decision was made to relocate the stadium from the outskirts to the city center where it still stands. Its location is in an exclusive part of the town, 20 meters from the city center and the pedestrian area.

The stadium is known for its high attendance. The biggest one recorded was on March 12, 1969, in a Yugoslav Cup quarter-finals game against Hajduk Split, when 10.000 spectators were present inside.

Current squad

First team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Players with multiple nationalities

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

For recent transfers, see List of Serbian football transfers winter 2016–17. For summer transfers, see List of Serbian football transfers summer 2016.

Notable former players

For the list of all current and former players with Wikipedia article, please see: Category:FK Bačka Bačka Palanka players.

Coaches

On April 1947 Bačka got his first professional coach, Vladimir Jurak from Zagreb, and ever since a number of paid professional coaches came, like Ilija Ranković from Belgrade, László Bozóky from Hungary, Josip Takač from Subotica and Gojko Džepina from Belgrade.

Fans

In addition to a number of audiences and supporters Bačka has its ardent fans. They gather in the eastern stand.

Trivia