FK Sloboda Užice
Encyclopedia
FK Sloboda Užice is a football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 club from Užice
Užice
Užice is a city and municipality in western Serbia, located at the banks of the Đetinja river. It is the administrative center of the Zlatibor District...

, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

. In 2010 Sloboda
FK Sloboda Užice
FK Sloboda Užice is a football club from Užice, Serbia. In 2010 Sloboda merged with Sevojno Point, which had just been promoted to the Super Liga, and from then the club plays in the Super Liga, under the new name FK Sloboda Point Sevojno, until the name "Sloboda Užice" was restored as the club's...

 merged with Sevojno Point
FK Sevojno
For the current club competing in the Serbian SuperLiga, see FK Sloboda Point Sevojno.FK Sevojno Point was a football club from Sevojno, Serbia.-History:...

, which had just been promoted to the Super Liga
Serbian Superliga
Serbian SuperLiga is a Serbian professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Serbian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Serbian First League...

, and from then the club plays in the Super Liga
Serbian Superliga
Serbian SuperLiga is a Serbian professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Serbian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Serbian First League...

, under the new name FK Sloboda Point Sevojno, until the name "Sloboda Užice" was restored as the club's official name on October 13, 2011.

1920s and 1930s

The club was founded in spring 1925 as part of sports society named URSK Sloboda (Užički radnički sportski klub Sloboda). The founders were communist activists Miloš Marković (who was two years earlier the founder of FK Radnički Niš) and Josip Šiber. From the very beginning, football had a priority over other sports in the newly founded sports society.

The first official match was played on 24 June 1926 against FK Mladi Radnik
FK Radnicki Kragujevac
Fudbalski Klub Radnički 1923 is a professional football club from Kragujevac, Serbia....

 from Kragujevac
Kragujevac
Kragujevac is the fourth largest city in Serbia, the main city of the Šumadija region and the administrative centre of Šumadija District. It is situated on the banks of the Lepenica River...

 ending in a 2-2 draw. In the 1928-29 season the club began participating in the regional Western Morava county league, along with other area clubs such as FK Era from Užice, Car Lazar and Obilić from Kruševac
Kruševac
Kruševac is a city and municipality, and the administrative center of the Rasina District, in central Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the municipality has a population of 127,429, while the town has 57,627....

, Ibar from Kraljevo
Kraljevo
Kraljevo is a city and municipality in central Serbia, built beside the river Ibar, 7 km west of its confluence with the Western Morava. It is located in the midst of an upland valley, between the mountains of Kotlenik in the north, and Stolovi in the south.In 2011 the city has population of...

, Jedinstvo from Čačak
Cacak
Čačak is a city in central Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Moravica District of Serbia. Čačak is also the main industrial, cultural and sport center of the district...

 and Takovo
FK Takovo
FK Takovo is a football club from Gornji Milanovac, Serbia. The club is a part of the Sports Society Takovo.It was founded in 1911 and is one of the oldest clubs in Serbia. The club currently competes in the Morava Zone .-External links:...

 from Gornji Milanovac
Gornji Milanovac
Gornji Milanovac is a town and municipality located in Serbia at 44.012691° North, 20.273572° East. Its name means "Upper Milanovac" while Milanovac stems from name "Milan" in the Serbian language. The population of town is 24,048.The city was founded in 1853...

.

In 1929 the club officially got accepted under the umbrella of the Yugoslav Football Association
Football Association of Yugoslavia
The Football Association of Yugoslavia was the governing body of football in Yugoslavia, based in Belgrade, with a major administrative branch in Zagreb....

 as well as the Workers' Sports Union.

Due to financial difficulties, the club didn't compete in the early 1930s, playing only friendly matches. The club scaled down its football activities in this period, turning its focus towards politics. Due to its ties to worker unions, the club got infiltrated by members and sympathizers of the banned Yugoslav Communist Party (KPJ), becoming in essence the focal point for communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

 activity in the city of Užice. Authorities reacted by forcing the club to drop the term "radnički" (reference to workers) from its name in early 1932. For the May Day
International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries...

 that year, Sloboda's co-founder Josip Šiber placed the Red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...

 on the club's facilities. While the authorities conducted an investigation into the event, the flag re-appeared on the cliff overlooking the city. In December 1932, Sloboda ended up losing its license by the national police of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...

 and was forced to shut down because of "spreading communist ideas".

Soon after, the club resumed its activities under new name - USK Građanski (Užički sportski klub Građanski) - which was the authorities' attempt to distance the club from its ties to workers as well as fostering a new civic identity. FK Era, the other club from the city, merged into Građanski. In the season 1936-37 Građanski became champion of the regional Western Morava county league, but still failed to qualify to the national level second-tier Yugoslav Second League, losing the playoff tie. During those qualification matches, the club supporters traveled by bus to Kragujevac to support their team against the local Erdoglija in what is considered to be the first supporters trip outside Užice.

In 1938, the club was again banned by the authorities, but a year latter, the ban got lifted, and the club continued this time under yet another new name Budućnost. However, Second World War began soon. During the occupation of the country by Axis forces, the club didn't have any activity, and most of its players participated in fighting to liberate the country. Many of them perished during the war.

1945–1991

On 5 May 1945 the club was reestablished under its original name, Sloboda and was now named FK Sloboda Titovo Užice. Next year the club won the local league and played for several years in the regional Serbian League. After the restructure of the Football Association, it became a member of the Kragujevac sub-division of the Football Federation. Until 1947 the club played its matches on the field in Krčagovo, but from then on began playing in a new stadium in Begluk, where under floodlights played its first night match against Metalac Belgrade
OFK Beograd
Omladinski fudbalski klub Beograd, commonly referred to as OFK Beograd , is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia, more precisely from the Karaburma urban neighborhood. It currently is the oldest team playing in the Serbian SuperLiga. The name means "Youth Football Club Belgrade" in Serbian...

.

In 1956 the club reached its greatest achievement until then, by playing in the so-called IV Zone League (one of the 5 leagues forming the Yugoslav Second League
Yugoslav Second League
Yugoslav Second League was the second tier football league of SFR Yugoslavia. The top clubs were promoted to the top tier, the Yugoslav First League....

) among other teams like Radnički Niš, Radnički Kragujevac, Rabotnički Skopje
FK Rabotnicki
FK Rabotnički is a football club that plays at the Philip II Arena in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. They currently compete in the Macedonian First League.-History:...

, Pobeda Prilep
FK Pobeda
FK Pobeda is a football team in the Republic of Macedonia from the city of Prilep. It was founded in 1941 as Goce Delčev and renamed in 1950 to FK Pobeda. The club plays at the Goce Delčev Stadium ....

, Trepča Kosovska Mitrovica
KF Trepca
Trepça Mitrovicë Football Club is a football club based in Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo. The club was founded in 1932 and currently plays in the top division of football in Kosovo, the Kosovar Superliga...

, and others. The club suffered relegation after that season, but in that period it managed to accomplish some stability as regular participant in the Kragujevac Association League.

In the season 1962-63 played the qualifications for the Yugoslav Second League against FK Bor
FK Bor
FK Bor is a football club based in Bor, Serbia.- History :The club was founded in 1919 as a Serbian-French sports society under the name Asotiation Sportive Bor or ASB for short. It was managed by a Frenchman named Loren, the director of mechanical services in Bor mining company...

, and after each team winning its home matches by 2-0, the final was played in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

´s JNA stadium, where it failed to win.

It was finally in its fourth attempt, in 1965, that the club managed to qualify to the Yugoslav Second League as second-place team in the Serbian League group South. In the qualifications it managed to overcome Belgrade's FK Železnik
FK Železnik
FK Železnik was a football club from Belgrade, Serbia.Founded in 1930, the club merged into FK Voždovac in June 2005 and thus ceased activities.-History:...

 and Tetovo's FK Teteks
FK Teteks
FK Teteks is a football club from the city of Tetovo in the Republic of Macedonia. They currently play in the Macedonian First League.-History:...

. In this period a date to remember is 19 February 1967, when in a match for the Yugoslav Cup
Yugoslav Cup
The Yugoslav Cup, officially the Marshal Tito Cup, was one of two major football competitions in the former Yugoslavia, the other one being the Yugoslav League Championship. The Yugoslav Cup took place after the league championships when every competitive league in Yugoslavia had finished, in order...

 the top league Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...

 managed to win Sloboda by 2-1 only in the extra-time. The match was played in front of a 14,000-spectator crowd. The following two seasons are remembered by the fans as the most successful until then. The club menaged to conclude the first half of the championship in first place in both seasons, but in both occasions failed to reach the First League
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...

 qualifications at the end.

Following this period, the league restructuring and some poorer results made the club return to the Serbian League (Yugoslav 3rd tier) all the way until 1980, when it was promoted to the Yugoslav Second League group East (the Second League was back then divided into two groups, East and West). The qualification was achieved by crushing win over FK Topličanin by 5-0. In this period the club achieved stability, and in the season 1987/88 by finishing in the top half of the league table achieved qualification to the newly formed unified Second League. In this period, the late 1980s, the level of football played in Yugoslavia is by many considered the best ever.

Recent history

In the season 1991-92 the club was at the top of the Second League by most of the time, but at the end failed to reach promotion to the top league, achieving that in the following season, 1992–93 and qualified to play in the First League of FR Yugoslavia for the 1993-94 season. Despite wins in Čačak against FK Borac Čačak
FK Borac Cacak
Fudbalski klub Borac Čačak is a professional football club based in Čačak, Serbia.It was founded in 1926. Borac plays at the Čačak Stadium which has a capacity of 5,000....

 by 4-1, and in Pljevlja
Pljevlja
Pljevlja is a town and municipality located in the northern part of Montenegro. The city lies at an altitude of...

 against FK Rudar Pljevlja by 1-0, because of the restructuring of the league it only played in 1995 against the best teams of the First League.

In June 1995 it managed to stay in the First League by winning in the promotion/relegation matches the Second League FK Novi Pazar
FK Novi Pazar
FK Novi Pazar is a football club based in the city of Novi Pazar, the largest city in the Sandžak region . The team currently plays in the Serbian SuperLiga, which is the top division of the Serbian football league system. Current president of FK Novi Pazar is Rasim Ljajić, Minister for Welfare in...

 in Novi Pazar
Novi Pazar
Novi Pazar is a city and municipality located in southwest Serbia, in the Raška District. According to the official census in 2011, number of inhabitants of municipality is 92,776, while the city itself has a population of 60,638...

 in a penalty shoot-out. The following season, 1995-96 it ended in 4th place in the B First League, qualifying to play in the A First League in the second part of the championship. But, at the end, it finished last, despite wins against FK Proleter Zrenjanin
FK Proleter Zrenjanin
FK Proleter Zrenjanin was a football club from the city of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia.-Early period:...

 and FK Mladost Lučani
FK Mladost Lucani
FK Mladost Lučani is a football club based in Lučani, Serbia.They played in the Serbian Superliga, the top division of Serbian football. They were the champions for the 2006-2007 season in Serbian First League and have been promoted to the Serbian Superliga...

.

In the following seasons the club suffered a series of relegations, and despite few participations in the Second League, the club ended up mostly playing in the Srpska Liga (third national tier) during the 2000s.

In 2010 the club announced its merge with FK Sevojno
FK Sevojno
For the current club competing in the Serbian SuperLiga, see FK Sloboda Point Sevojno.FK Sevojno Point was a football club from Sevojno, Serbia.-History:...

, that achieved promotion to the Serbian SuperLiga
Serbian Superliga
Serbian SuperLiga is a Serbian professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Serbian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Serbian First League...

, and a new era in the club seemed to begin.

Stadium

The stadium FK Sloboda Point Užice on Begluk is the ground of the club in Užice
Užice
Užice is a city and municipality in western Serbia, located at the banks of the Đetinja river. It is the administrative center of the Zlatibor District...

, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

. The stadium is currently used mostly for football matches.
The stadium has a capacity for 12,000 spectators and was built in 1946, while it was reconstructed in 1980.

On the existing stadium in Užice
Užice
Užice is a city and municipality in western Serbia, located at the banks of the Đetinja river. It is the administrative center of the Zlatibor District...

 is planned the reconstruction of the entire western stands with 5200 seats and stands of northern and southern extension panels. The project will be financed by the Government of the Republic of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, together with the city authorities of Užice
Užice
Užice is a city and municipality in western Serbia, located at the banks of the Đetinja river. It is the administrative center of the Zlatibor District...

.

Current squad

As of August 2011.

For recent transfers, see List of Serbian football transfers summer 2011.

Notable former players

Radomir Antić
Radomir Antic
Radomir Antić is a Serbian former football defender and former football manager for the Serbian national team.Following a 17-year playing career he found his true calling in coaching....

 Dušan Arsenijević Milan Čančarević
Milan Cancarevic
Milan Čančarević is a Serbian former football player and current head coach of FK Loznica....

 Dragan Ćulum Slobodan Dogandžić Milovan Đorić Ljubinko Drulović
Ljubinko Drulovic
Ljubinko Drulović is a retired Serbian footballer, and a current coach....

 Branko Gavrilović Tihomir Jelisavčić Ratko Jokić Petar Krivokuća
Petar Krivokuca
Petar Krivokuća is a Serbian defender who played for SFR Yugoslavia....

 Rešad Kunovac
Rešad Kunovac
Rešad Kunovac is a Bosnian former football player and current coach. He was the assistant to Radomir Antić, the head coach of the Serbian national team until 2010....

 Miloš Marić
Miloš Maric
Miloš Marić is a Serbian football midfielder, currently playing for Lierse S.K. in Belgium.-Career:...

 Đuro Marić Nenad Markićević Miodrag Medan
Miodrag Medan
Miodrag Medan is a former footballer who played as a forward for clubs in Yugoslavia and Greece.-Playing career:Born in Mostar, Medan began his career playing for local side FK Lokomotiva Mostar...

 Zoran Njeguš
Zoran Njeguš
Zoran Njeguš is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is current manager of Serbian Football Club Spartak from Subotica.-References:* *...

 Goran Pandurović
Goran Pandurovic
Goran Pandurović is a former Serbian football player, who plays as goalkeeper.He spend most of his career playing with FK Partizan and Stade Rennais....

 Miroslav Pavlović
Miroslav Pavlovic
Miroslav Pavlović was a Serbian football player.On the national level he played for Yugoslavia national team , and was a participant at the 1974 FIFA World Cup and at Euro 1968....

 Milojko Pivljaković Saša Simić
Uroš Stamatović
Uroš Stamatovic
Uroš Stamatović is a retired Serbian footballer and current assistant coach for the Canadian Soccer League Serbian White Eagles FC.Stamatović has played over 200 first-league matches and scored over 30 goals.-References:* at...

 Srboljub Stamenković Nemanja Vidić
Nemanja Vidic
Nemanja Vidić is a Serbian footballer who captains English Premier League club Manchester United. He was part of the Serbia national football team from 2002 to 2011....

 Dragoljub Vitić Mirko Vitić Miroslav Vukašinović
Miroslav Vukašinovic
Miroslav Vukašinović is a former Serbian football player and manager.For two months during the latter part of 2006/07 season Vukašinović coached FK Voždovac, but stepped down in April 2007 following a bad run of form and results.In early November 2007, Vukašinović was named as coach of Hajduk Kula...

 Ivan Vukomanović
Ivan Vukomanovic
Ivan Vukomanović is a football player from Serbia.He plays in the defensive midfield.Previous clubs include Alania Vladikavkaz, Girondins Bordeaux, FC Dynamo Moscow, Red Star Belgrade, 1. FC Köln, SC Lokeren, Maccabi Herzliya F.C...

 Aleksandar Vulović Milan Živadinović
Milan Živadinovic
Milan Živadinović is a Serbian former football player and most recent manager of Myanmar.He is known as a coach who advocates an old-school system of coaching...

 Vladan Vićević
Vladan Vicevic
Vladan Vićević is a retired Serbian-born Salvadoran international football player.Vićević, born in Titovo Užice, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, played with his hometown club FK Sloboda Užice for a decade between 1986 and 1996 before moving to El Salvador to play with C.D. Águila...

 Mirsad Omerhodžić
Mirsad Omerhodžić
Mirsad Omerhodžić is a Croatian football manager and former player.-Career:As a player he started his career at FK Novi Pazar but it was while playing for another Second Yugoslav League club, FK Sloboda Užice, that he became noted for having scored 19 league goals in one season...

 Tomáš Poláček
Tomáš Polácek
Tomáš Poláček is a Czech professional football midfielder.He started to play for SK Slavia Praha at the age of 14. In 2000 FK Siad Most bought him from Slavia's reserve squad. He was one of the best in here and in fall 2005 they were promoted to Czech first league. On 1 August 2005 after the 4th...

 Maroš Klimpl
Maroš Klimpl
Maroš Klimpl is a Slovakian football midfielder playing with Aris Limassol.In July 2009, he joined Football League Championship side Cardiff City on trial. On 31 August 2009, he agreed a deal to join Scottish First Division side Dundee. On 4 May 2010, he was informed along with 3 other players...



Coaching history

Krešimir Arapović
Krešimir Arapović
Krešimir Arapović was a Bosnian football player and manager.Born in Čapljina, Mostar Oblast, in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, he became a trophy winning HNK Hajduk Split player and coach. He played mostly as an offensive right-winger.He stated playing football while with the Partisans during the...

 Đorđe Kačunković (1965)
  • --- Ćosić (1970–1971) Terzić (1971) Marković (1972) Vukotić (1972–1973)
  • --- Radonjić (1988–1991) Ivan Čančarević (1991) Miroslav Vukašinović
    Miroslav Vukašinovic
    Miroslav Vukašinović is a former Serbian football player and manager.For two months during the latter part of 2006/07 season Vukašinović coached FK Voždovac, but stepped down in April 2007 following a bad run of form and results.In early November 2007, Vukašinović was named as coach of Hajduk Kula...

     (1992) Ivan Čančarević (1992–1994) Berić (1994) Slobodan Dogandžić (1995) Milovan Rajevac (1995–1996) J. Jovanović (1996) S. Jagodić (1996)

M. Radivojević (1997) Slobodan Dogandžić (1997) Jokić (1997–1998) Dimitrijević (1998) Vojčić (1999) Jovanović (1999)
  • --- Milan Čančarević
    Milan Cancarevic
    Milan Čančarević is a Serbian former football player and current head coach of FK Loznica....

     (2003–2004) Predrag Ristanović (2004) Zoran Ristanović (2004–2006) Slobodan Dogandžić (2007) Berić (2008) Ivan Čančarević (2008–2009) Zoran Njeguš
    Zoran Njeguš
    Zoran Njeguš is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is current manager of Serbian Football Club Spartak from Subotica.-References:* *...

     (2009–2010) Ljubiša Stamenković (2010–present)


External links

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