FK Pelister

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ФК Пeлистер
FK Pelister
Full nameFudbalski klub Pelister / Фудбалски клуб Пелистер
Nickname(s)Зелено-Бели (The Green-Whites)
Short namePelister, PEL, FKP
Founded1945; 79 years ago (1945)
GroundPetar Miloševski Stadium
Capacity10,000
OwnerMunicipality of Bitola
ChairmanMitko Stojkovski
ManagerVlatko Kostov
LeagueMacedonian Second League
2022–23Macedonian Second League, 4th
WebsiteClub website
Active departments of Pelister
RK Eurofarm Pelister RK Eurofarm Pelister 2 KK Pelister

FK Pelister (Macedonian: ФК Пелистер) is a football club based in the city of Bitola, North Macedonia. They are currently competing in the Macedonian Second League.

History

FK Pelister was originally formed in 1945. In 1946, they won the Bitola regional title and that same year they merged with Rabotnik. The club won the Bitola title once again in 1950 and 1951. During that time the most influential players were: Georgievski, Dimitrovski, Petrovski, Naumovski, Lazarevski, Sekerdžievski, Avramovski, Nestorov and Eftimovski.

The team played primarily in the lower divisions of the former Yugoslavia and were champions of the Macedonian Republic League on four occasions, along with winning the Macedonian Republic Cup four times in: 1959, 1962, 1985 and 1991. They earned promotion to the Yugoslav Second League group east (that included clubs from Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia) for the first time in 1974, which was a big success for that generation. Some of the most famous players at the time were: Grbevski, Dukovski, Cvetkovski, Taškov, Bogoevski, Gočevski, Ristevski, Tristovski, Mickovski, Dimovski, Markovski, Upalevski and the manager Stavre Eftimovski. Soon after, they were relegated but made another comeback in 1982 with Mitko Butlevski as chairman and Ivan Čabrinović as manager. The club played 350 matches and had an overall record of 143 wins, 69 draws and 138 losses in the Yugoslav Second League. The biggest success came in the 1990–91 Yugoslav Cup when they reached the 1/8 final, getting eliminated on away goals by the eventual champion Hajduk Split. Pelister played their final season in the Yugoslav league system in the 1991–92 Yugoslav First League finishing in 15th place.

After winning the Cup in 2001

Following the formation of the First Macedonian Football League, Pelister had early success consistently finishing in the Top 5.[1] They also made it to the Macedonian Cup final the first two seasons coming up short both times. The club became rivals with Vardar Skopje which created the Eternal derby of Macedonia and continued the Pelagonia regional derby with Pobeda Prilep. In 2000, Pelister became the first team in independent Macedonia to reach the third phase of a European competition. They made it to round three of the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup, losing 1–5 on aggregate to one of the winners Celta de Vigo. Finally, the club earned its first major trophy in 2001 by winning the Macedonian Cup, after which they played in the UEFA Cup.[2] In 2003, the team fell on hard times caused by financial problems and was relegated. A few years later, former players Mitko Stojkovski and Toni Micevski were able to save the club from collapse. After taking over the club they brought instant success with the team winning the 2005–06 Macedonian Second League title. The following year they made a successful comeback to the Macedonian First League and got to the 2006–07 Macedonian Cup semifinal. In the 2007–08 season, the club had its best season to date finishing in 3rd place.[3] Once again, they played in the UEFA Cup where they lost 0–1 on aggregate to APOEL. Another case of financial difficulties and poor results, once again relegated them back to second division for the 2011–12 season. This time, however, relying mostly on young players from Bitola and led by captain Dragan Dimitrovski, Pelister made an immediate return to the top division, but after the 2014–15 season, the club was once again relegated. This time it happened under the managerial leadership of Gjoko Hadžievski and new owner Cermat, represented by Zoran Ristevski.[4] Under the ownership of Cermat and municipality of Bitola, after being relegated the team has continued to languish in the second division. But, after a following season, the club was again immediately returned to the First League, despite the relegation battle. In the following season, the club won the 2016–17 Macedonian Cup for the second time and ended up playing in the Europa League, which was the first participation in a European competition since 2008. Unfortunately, this was not an end to the turbulent period for the club, since they were relegated for the fourth time the following season. The problems went deeper as players and board left the club, while facing more financial problems. Despite all that, they still made the final of the 2017–18 Macedonian Football Cup.

The club focuses heavily on youth players from the Bitola region with a strong talent development. Gjorgji Hristov, Dragi Kanatlarovski, Toni Micevski, Nikolče Noveski, Toni Savevski and Mitko Stojkovski are some of the famous Bitola natives to start their careers with the club. Therefore, Pelister is known as the nursery of young and talented players who have left and gone to have success at various clubs in Macedonia and abroad.[5]

Colours and crest

Pelister's crest evolution

The club colours have traditionally been green and white. The crest is formed in a shape of a shield, at the top left corner it has always had the number 1945 inscribed, which is the year of the club's foundation. In the latest version it includes the Cyrillic letters FK, on the right side. Shape of a mountain forms in the backdrop (to honor the mountain peak Pelister) with the name of the club in the center and a classic leather football underneath it. Early versions of the crest included the colour black, but now the entire badge uses only two colours, green and white.

Prior to the 2016 season, Australian club Pascoe Vale FC (Formerly Pascoe Vale Pelister) announced they would adopt a new logo, inspired by that of FK Pelister, to tie back to their original namesake and immigrant origins.

Supporters

Čkembari (Macedonian: Чкембари) are an Ultras group, established in 1985, who support the Macedonian sports clubs from Bitola that compete under the Pelister banner, mainly FK Pelister in football and RK Pelister in handball. The group was founded in 1985 when a caravan of 15 buses traveled to support RK Pelister who was playing against Partizan Bjelovar in a handball relegation play-off match. At that time they used the name BMČM – Bitolčani, Motorcyclists, Čkembari, Macedonians (Macedonian: БМЧМ – Битолчани, Мотокари, Чкембари, Македонци) later shortened to just Čkembari. Soon after, the first green and white banners were created that read: „Hell Boys“ (Macedonian: Пеколни момци) and „Green Conquerors“ (Macedonian: Зелени освојувачи) which started organized support for Pelister at every match.

Rivalries

The club's main rival is FK Vardar from Skopje; their matches are called the Eternal derby of Macedonia. The other significant rival are FK Pobeda in what is known as the Pelagonia derby. It’s a derby between the two best clubs from two cities with fierce rivalry, Bitola and Prilep, both located in the ancient Macedonian province of Pelagonia.[6]

Honours

Mitko Stojkovski with the 2001 Macedonian Cup

Recent seasons

Season League Cup European competitions Top goalscorer
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Player Goals
1992–93 1. MFL 34 14 8 12 47 36 36 4th RU
1993–94 1. MFL 30 14 8 8 49 31 36 4th RU
1994–95 1. MFL 30 15 6 9 57 40 51 5th
1995–96 1. MFL 28 13 4 11 51 40 43 5th SF
1996–97 1. MFL 26 9 6 11 36 35 33 9th R2 Vancho Micevski 12
1997–98 1. MFL 25 10 7 8 31 24 37 6th Fernando Jefferson 10
1998–99 1. MFL 26 7 8 11 30 50 29 10th R2
1999–00 1. MFL 26 14 5 7 48 30 47 4th SF Toni Micevski 11
2000–01 1. MFL 26 10 4 12 41 38 34 8th W Intertoto Cup R3 Vancho Micevski 12
2001–02 1. MFL 20 8 3 9 37 35 27 10th R2 UEFA Cup QR Vancho Micevski 19
2002–03 1. MFL 33 7 7 19 30 60 28 11th ↓ R2 Igor Momirovski 8
2003–04 2. MFL 32 16 4 12 48 42 52 6th R2
2004–05 2. MFL 33 12 7 14 40 43 43 6th PR
2005–06 2. MFL 33 19 4 7 52 22 61 1st ↑ PR
2006–07 1. MFL 33 14 3 16 37 32 45 6th SF Blagojche Glavevski 7
2007–08 1. MFL 32 17 7 9 42 27 58 3rd R2 Blagojche Glavevski 8
2008–09 1. MFL 30 7 7 16 25 42 28 10th QF UEFA Cup QR1 Dragan Dimitrovski 9
2009–10 1. MFL 26 11 6 9 28 27 39 4th SF Dragan Dimitrovski 9
2010–11 1. MFL 33 5 3 25 25 82 18 12th ↓ R2 Igor Talevski 5
2011–12 2. MFL 30 19 4 7 42 23 61 1st ↑ R2
2012–13 1. MFL 33 9 10 14 27 36 37 10th QF Blagojche Glavevski 6
2013–14 1. MFL 33 14 10 9 40 40 52 6th QF Dimitar Vodenicharov 10
2014–15 1. MFL 33 7 9 17 21 35 30 9th ↓ R2 Boško Stupić 6
2015–16 2. MFL 27 9 12 6 33 32 39 3rd ↑ R2 Blagojche Glavevski 6
2016–17 1. MFL 36 14 10 12 44 35 52 4th W Lucas Cardoso 11
2017–18 1. MFL 36 8 10 18 37 68 34 10th ↓ RU Europa League QR1 Ive Trifunovski 7
2018–19 2. MFL 27 11 8 8 27 20 41 3rd R2 Blagojche Glavevski 10
2019–201 2. MFL West 16 10 3 3 32 14 33 1st ↑ N/A Blagojche Glavevski 6
2020–21 1. MFL 33 12 9 12 38 48 45 6th R2 Borche Manevski 7
2021–22 1. MFL 33 2 8 23 16 54 14 12th ↓ SF Petar Ljamchevski 3
2022–23 2. MFL 30 17 7 6 64 26 58 4th R2 Borche Manevski 15

1The 2019–20 season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.[7]

Pelister in Europe

[8]

Results

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup R1 Luxembourg Hobscheid 3–1 1–0 4–1
R2 Sweden Västra Frölunda 3–1 0–0 3–1
R3 Spain Celta de Vigo 1–2 0–3 1–5
2001–02 UEFA Cup QR Switzerland St. Gallen 0–2 3–2 3–4
2008–09 UEFA Cup QR1 Cyprus APOEL 0–0 0–1 0–1
2017–18 UEFA Europa League QR1 Poland Lech Poznań 0–3 0–4 0–7

UEFA club competition record

Competition GP W D L GF GA
UEFA Champions League 0 0 0 0 0 0
UEFA Europa League 2 0 0 2 0 7
UEFA Cup 4 1 1 2 3 5
UEFA Intertoto Cup 6 3 1 2 8 7
Total 12 4 2 6 11 19

Club rankings

Club records in UEFA competitions

  • Biggest Win in UEFA Competition: 17/06/2000, Pelister 3–1 Hobscheid, at Bitola
  • Biggest Defeat in UEFA Competition: 30/06/2017, Lech Poznań 4–0 Pelister, at Poznań
  • Club Appearances in UEFA Competition: 4
  • Player with Most UEFA Appearances: North Macedonia Mile Dimov – 9 appearances
  • Top Scorer in UEFA Club Competitions: North Macedonia Ilir Elmazovski and North Macedonia Martin Georgievski – 3 goals

Players

Current squad

As of 12 February 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK North Macedonia MKD Andrej Jovchevski
2 DF North Macedonia MKD Stefan Ivanovski
4 MF North Macedonia MKD Gabriel Krstevski
5 DF North Macedonia MKD Stefan Kostov
6 DF North Macedonia MKD Hristijan Grozdanoski
7 DF North Macedonia MKD Blagoja Ljamchevski
8 FW North Macedonia MKD Darko Razmoski
10 FW North Macedonia MKD Borche Manevski
11 FW North Macedonia MKD Boban Zdravevski
12 GK North Macedonia MKD Ilche Petrovski
13 MF North Macedonia MKD Andrej Siljanoski
14 MF North Macedonia MKD Mario Naumoski
15 MF North Macedonia MKD Mario Debreshlioski
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF North Macedonia MKD Hristijan Stojanovski
19 FW North Macedonia MKD Mihail Talevski
20 MF North Macedonia MKD Jovancho Trajkovski
21 MF North Macedonia MKD Vildan Kerim
23 MF North Macedonia MKD Petar Ljamchevski
24 MF North Macedonia MKD Jordancho Naumoski
25 DF North Macedonia MKD Borjan Panovski
30 FW North Macedonia MKD Bojan Spirkoski
34 DF North Macedonia MKD Filip Milenkovski
35 FW North Macedonia MKD David Josheski
45 FW North Macedonia MKD Simeon Hristov
90 GK North Macedonia MKD Nataniel Dimovski

Club officials

As of 10 August 2023[10]

Position Staff
President North Macedonia Mitko Stojkovski
Sporting Director North Macedonia Vančo Micevski
General Secretary North Macedonia Bruno Presilski
Executive Director North Macedonia Blagica Talevska
Econom North Macedonia Goce Stavrevski
Head Coach North Macedonia Vlatko Kostov
Assistant Coach North Macedonia Vangel Altiparmakovski
Conditioning Coach North Macedonia Saše Veljanvoski
Goalkeeping Coach North Macedonia Goran Pašovski

Historical list of coaches

References

  1. ^ "Macedonia – List of Final Tables". Igor Kramarsic and Goran Mancevski. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  2. ^ "UEFA Cup 2001/02 – Pelister 3:4 St Gallen". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
  3. ^ "Pelister planning refit in Bitola". Igor Panevski. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  4. ^ "TV ORBIS – FK PELISTER VO RACETE NA CERMAT 08.10.2014". TV Orbis. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  5. ^ "Najdobrite nadeži i natamu se od Bitola". Makedonski Sport. Archived from the original on 2014-03-07.
  6. ^ "Macedonian Derbies". macedonianfootball.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-12. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  7. ^ "Вонредна седница на Управен одбор на Фудбалска федерација на Македонија: Прекин на натпреварувачката сезона 2019/2020". Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија. 4 June 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Club record in UEFA competitions". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-09. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  9. ^ "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  10. ^ FK Pelister official website Archived 2023-08-18 at the Wayback Machine Оперативен тим (in Macedonian)

External links