RK Maribor Branik

Handball in Maribor

The first handball team in Maribor was formed in 1925, when the women's selection of the 1. SSK MB played their first Czech handball match at the Ljudski vrt area. In 1928, the 1. SSK Maribor have won the national league. The first men's handball team was formed in 1949, named Polet. They were renamed to Branik in 1951, when they participated in the Yugoslav First League qualifiers. In 1954, Branik have won their first Slovenian Republic League title, and were promoted to the Yugoslav First League. The women's team won the league one year later, in 1955. Between 1955 and 1968, Branik did not achieve any major success and were even relegated to the local Styrian League in 1966, but returned to the top Slovenian division two years later. They were relegated again in 1972, but once again returned in 1979 after spending a few years in the local regional leagues. In 1977, the team was merged with Kovinar Tezno to form Maribor. The team was struggling in the next decade and did not achieve any major results. After the independence of Slovenia, the team was reformed with a help from some former handball players, including Marko Šibila. They reached the 3. DRL (Third National Handball League).

Maribor Branik

In 2003, a new club called Maribor Branik was founded. In their first season, the team was promoted to the 2. DRL East. In 2005–06, they were promoted to the 1. B DRL, where they stayed until the 2008–09 season. They were the runners-up and were promoted to the elite Slovenian First League of Handball. In the same year, they finished in the third place in the Slovenian Handball Cup. In their first season in the top division, they finished eight and were the runners-up in the Slovenian Handball Cup, where they lost to Celje in the final, which was held at the Tabor Hall. As the runners-up, they gained a place in the 2010–11 EHF Cup Winner's Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to the Spanish side San Antonio. In the same season, the team finished in the fifth place in the Slovenian League. They again finished in the fifth position in the 2011–12 season, and were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2011–12 EHF Challenge Cup by Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel. The club's most successful season is the 2012–13, when they reached the group stages of the EHF Cup, defeating Dudelange, Kópavogs and Siscia in the qualifications. They were drawn in the group with Danish team Tvis Holstebro, Norwegian Elverum and Polish Wisła Płock. With seven points out of six games, they qualified to the quarter-finals of the competition. They were eliminated by Göppingen with 57–56 on aggregate. In 2013–14 and 2014–15 Maribor finished in the third place in the Slovenian League, which is their best result since the club establishment. The club was about to enter the regional SEHA League alongside Celje and Gorenje in the 2014–15 season, but all three Slovene clubs rejected entrance due to an unacceptable financial demands.

Arena

Maribor Branik play their matches at the Tabor Hall in the Tabor District of Maribor. The capacity of the hall is 3,800, but for the handball games, the capacity is reduced. The reserve venue for Maribor Branik is the Ljudski vrt Sports Hall, a 2,100 capacity all-seater indoor hall at the left bank of the river Drava.

Supporters and rivalry

The club had a supporters group called Maribor Supporters. They started to attend a games in the 2008–09 season, when the club was playing in the Slovenian Second League. However, the supporters group was official established in 2011. In February 2012 there was an incident, when the small number of Maribor Supporters chanted a song about the Srebrenica massacre against the Bosnian team Gradačac in the first leg of the 2011–12 EHF Challenge Cup. The group was banned from attending the Branik's home games. Maribor Branik do not have any major rivals, however, matches between Maribor Branik and RK Celje are considered as the Styrian derby, named after the Styria region in Slovenia, with Maribor and Celje being the two biggest cities in the region. The games against RK Jeruzalem Ormož and RK Trimo Trebnje are also considered as derbies.

Colours, kits and crest

Originally, the club's colours were white and black, as this is the main colour of the Branik Sports Association. However, at the start of the 2011–12 season, RK Maribor Branik changed their main colour to purple for better recognition, as purple is considered as one of the city's colours due to popularity of NK Maribor, the most successful association football club in the country. Maribor Branik's main home kit colour is purple with black shorts, while the away kit is all-white. The third kit is all-black, but it is rarely used. The club's first crest was a shield-shape with a black and white abstract silhouette of a handball player. In 2012, they changed the colours of the crest to purple and white.

Current squad

Roster 2016/17
Updated: 22 February 2017

Maribor Branik in European handball

The table includes matches from the official EHF competitions only.

By competition

Honours

League

Cup

Notable former players

The following former Maribor Branik players have made at least one appearance for the senior national team in the official EHF recognized matches.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia

Macedonia

Montenegro

Serbia

Slovenia

Source: Handball Federation of Slovenia.