NK Inter Zaprešić

Inter Zaprešić
Full name	Nogometni klub Inter Zaprešić
Nickname(s)	Keramičari (The Ceramists),; Div iz predgrađa (The Giant from the Suburb)
Short name	INT
Founded	25 June 1929; 95 years ago; (as NK Sava)
Dissolved	21 July 2022;
Ground	Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić
Capacity	5,228
President	Branko Laljak
Home colours	Away colours

Nogometni klub Inter Zaprešić was a Croatian professional football club based in Zaprešić, a town northwest of the capital Zagreb.

The team were nicknamed Keramičari (The ceramics makers), because they were sponsored by a ceramics factory through much of their history) or Div iz predgrađa (The giant from the suburb). The team's colours are yellow and blue. Home games at Ivan Laljak-Ivić Stadium. On 20 July 2022, Inter has dissolved due to financial issues.^[2]

History

Early years and "Jugokeramika"

The club was originally established in 1929 as NK Sava.^[3] In 1932 the name was changed to NK Jelačić. After the end of WW2 the club was renamed NK Zaprešić. The club kept that name until 1962, when they were renamed Jugokeramika, after their main sponsor, a local ceramics factory. That same year the club's ground, ŠRC Zaprešić, was built and opened. The club's first notable success came in the 1980s under the tenure of manager Zorislav Srebrić (1985–1990).^[3] Up until then the club had spent their entire existence in lower-level leagues, but in 1987 they managed to reach the finals of the qualifying playoff for promotion to the Yugoslav Second League (which they lost against fellow Croatian side Šparta from Beli Manastir).^[3] In 1987 the east stand of the ground was built, and Jugokeramika's home served as one of the venues for the 1987 Summer Universiade football tournament.

"Inker" era

Following Croatia's independence in 1991, Jugokeramika (the factory) changed its name to "Inker" (an acronym for Industrija keramike, Eng: Ceramics Industry) and the club followed suit, adopting the name NK Inker Zaprešić. The club participated in the inaugural season of the newly established Croatian championship and finished fourth, but more memorable was their 1992 Croatian Cup win. The team was managed by Ilija Lončarević and notable players of the cup-winning squad included Croatian internationals Ivan Cvjetković, Krunoslav Jurčić and Zvonimir Soldo.^[4] Although this meant that Inker had qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup, Croatian clubs couldn't participate in European competitions due to the ongoing war, so Inker missed out on their first ever chance to participate in continental competitions. However, the club holds the distinction of playing the first ever international club match hosted by a Croatian club since Croatian independence, a friendly against Sturm Graz played in February 1992, and they were also the first Croatian side to play abroad, when they played a friendly against Brighton & Hove Albion in England in the summer of 1991.^[3] In the following years the club's performances rapidly declined and in 1997 they were relegated to 2. HNL, and in 1999 further down to 3. HNL. The year 2000 proved to be a turning point, and in 2001 they bounced back to second level and in 2003 club got promoted back to top level by winning its first Druga HNL title.

League success

In 2003 their main sponsor, the ceramics factory Inker, ceased sponsoring the club, so the club was renamed once again, to Inter Zaprešić. In the 2004–05 season they finished runners-up in the league, which is still their record-high finish. The following season Inter finally debuted in European competitions, but were knocked out in their first tie by Serbian side Red Star 7–1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, with Srđan Pecelj scoring Inter's only European goal to date.^[5] Inter's success between 2002 and 2005 was largely helped by players who were loaned from Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb (such as Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka and Eduardo), so Inter's fortunes changed again once again after they were recalled to Dinamo. They slipped down to second level in 2006, but managed to win promotion immediately in the 2006–07 season when club won its second Druga HNL title. The following years were a struggle and the main goal was to preserve Prva HNL status except in 2010–11 when the club surprisingly finished 5th overall. In 2013, they slipped down, for the third time in their history, to Druga HNL.

Recent years

In 2014, club hired Samir Toplak. Primary goal was to secure promotion, which Toplak accomplished by winning club's third Druga HNL title and got promoted to Prva HNL. Following season, club exceeded expectations by finishing 5th. Successful campaign was led by Ilija Nestorovski, who scored 25 league goals making him the league's top scorer. In 2019, in the eve of COVID-19 pandemic, club started restructuring to a sports stock company.^[6] New ownership structure sacked Toplak after five and a half years in charge, longest serving Prva HNL coach to this date, and appointed Željko Petrović.^[7] As pandemic reached Croatia, restructuring was never completed. Pandemic, ownership turmoil and managerial changes took effect on team performance which finished last in 2019–20 Prva HNL campaign, ending a five-year top flight spell.

Name changes

NK Sava (1929–1932)
HŠK Jelačić (1932–1945)
NK Zaprešić (1945–1962)
NK Jugokeramika (1962–1991)
NK Inker Zaprešić (1991–2003)
NK Inter Zaprešić (2003–2022)

Supporters

Because of Zaprešić's geographic proximity to Zagreb, the hometown of GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Inter Zaprešić always struggled to attract people to games. Nevertheless, throughout the years, a group of fans managed to organise themselves into the supporters group called Divlje Svinje (Wild Pigs).^[8]

History

In the 1990s, some members of Bad Blue Boys who wanted a new challenge came together and cheered using the flares during the game of Inter Zaprešić. Few days later, the picture of them was released in daily newspapers and the event is known as the day when Wild Pigs were formed.^[8] More and more people were joining the group on a game to game basis. In 1991, Wild Pigs were formally registered as a citizen association in Zaprešić.

At the end of the 1996–97 season, Inter Zaprešić was relegated to a lower level and members of Wild Pigs started to give up with organised support and those who left did not have enough patience and will to go on. As more and more members were leaving the group, eventually it has fallen apart.

At the end of the 2002–03 season, Inter Zaprešić came back to the top tier of Croatian football after playing 6 years in lower divisions. That was the spark needed for forming Wild Pigs once again. During 2004–05, Inter Zaprešić was a contender for the national championship which was the huge boost to fanbase and membership of the group. Several records were broken that year for the club, especially in attendance category. ^{[citation needed]}

Just a year after, at the end of 2005–06 season, Inter Zaprešić was relegated once again to lower division. The existence of the group was in question, just like in 1997. But this time, the group did not fall apart.^[8]

Reviving the group

In 2012–13, the group was revived by younger fans who organised cheering during the first home game in the second part of season. Eventually, club had support in every home and away game. At the end of the season, Inter Zaprešić was relegated to a lower division, but Wild Pigs continued with their effort to support the team.

Honours

Croatian First League
- Runners-up (1): 2004–05^[9]
Croatian Second League
- Winners (3): 2002–03, 2006–07, 2014–15
Croatian Cup
- Winners (1): 1992
Croatian Super Cup
- Runners-up (1): 1992

Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	European competitions		Top goalscorer
Season	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	Cup	European competitions		Player	Goals
1992	1. HNL	22	10	6	6	37	19	26	4th	W			Igor Čalo	7
1992–93	1. HNL	30	9	9	12	35	31	27	9th	SF			Ivan Cvjetković	6
1993–94	1. HNL	34	17	8	9	48	34	42	4th	R2			Renato Jurčec	11
1994–95	1. HNL	30	11	6	13	41	41	39	7th	R2			Renato Jurčec	12
1995–96	1. HNL	36	9	11	16	36	53	43(5)	13th	QF			Tomislav Žitković	8
1996–97	1. HNL	30	6	3	21	22	65	21	16th ↓	QF			Siniša Odorjan	8
1997–98	2. HNL	32	21	4	7	62	29	67	4th	R1
1998–99	2. HNL	36	3	5	28	25	103	14	19th ↓	R1
1999–00	3. HNL	28	11	4	13	50	47	37	6th	R1
2000–01	3. HNL	30	22	0	8	88	43	66	2nd ↑	QF
2001–02	2. HNL	30	11	8	11	46	40	41	8th	R2
2002–03	2. HNL	32	23	3	6	79	30	72	1st ↑	R2
2003–04	1. HNL	32	11	9	12	40	38	42	8th	R1			Ivica Karabogdan	10
2004–05	1. HNL	32	15	9	8	44	39	54	2nd	R1			Bernard Gulić Davor Piškor Zoran Zekić	5
2005–06	1. HNL	32	8	7	17	30	53	31	12th ↓	R2	UEFA Cup	QR2	Tomislav Gondžić	6
2006–07	2. HNL	30	21	5	4	60	28	68	1st ↑	QF			Bernard Gulić	19
2007–08	1. HNL	33	8	9	16	27	59	33	11th	QF			Davor Kukec	6
2008–09	1. HNL	33	9	9	15	41	50	36	9th	R2			Ilija Sivonjić	8
2009–10	1. HNL	30	10	3	17	36	50	33	13th	R2			Mario Grgurović Miroslav Šarić	5
2010–11	1. HNL	30	12	6	12	31	35	42	5th	R2			Aleksandar Trajkovski	4
2011–12	1. HNL	30	11	5	14	33	33	38	11th	R2			Ante Budimir Tomislav Šarić	6
2012–13	1. HNL	33	8	11	14	36	41	35	10th ↓	R1			Mislav Oršić	12
2013–14	2. HNL	33	16	5	12	47	32	53	3rd	QF			Ilija Nestorovski	22
2014–15	2. HNL	30	17	7	6	48	25	58	1st ↑	R1			Ilija Nestorovski	23
2015–16	1. HNL	36	11	14	11	39	48	47	5th	QF			Ilija Nestorovski	25
2016–17	1. HNL	36	5	13	18	26	57	28	8th	QF			Jakov Puljić	11
2017–18	1. HNL	36	11	10	15	44	63	43	7th	QF			Komnen Andrić Vlatko Blažević	8
2018–19	1. HNL	36	9	4	23	40	84	31	8th	SF			Komnen Andrić	10
2019–20	1. HNL	36	3	8	25	32	72	17	10th ↓	QF			Serder Serderov	9
2020–21	2. HNL	34	12	9	13	49	41	45	10th	R1			Martín Šroler	9
2021–22	2. HNL	34	13	9	8	34	29	48	3rd	R1			Dominik Rešetar	9

Key

League: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; Pts = Points won; Pos = Final position;

Cup / Europe: PR = Preliminary round; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; Group = Group stage; QF = Quarter-final; SF = Semi-final; RU = Runner-up; W = Competition won;

European record

Summary

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Last season played
UEFA Cup	2	0	0	2	1	7	2005–06
Total	2	0	0	2	1	7

Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 10 September 2010
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

By season

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
2005–06	UEFA Cup	QR2	Red Star Belgrade	1–3	0–4	1–7

Player records

Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: 1 goal^[5]
- Srđan Pecelj

Current squad

As of 13 April 2022^[10]

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	CRO	Luka Ivan Lukic
3	MF	CRO	Branimir Barišić
4	DF	CRO	Luka Jelenic
5	FW	KSA	Abdulah Bader A Mahbub
6	DF	CRO	Ivan Nekić
8	MF	CRO	Ivan Jajalo
9	FW	CRO	Matija Kanceljak
10	MF	CRO	Nikola Rak
11	MF	CRO	Lovro Banovec
12	GK	CRO	Ivan Križanović
13	DF	CRO	Nino Vukasović (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)
15	DF	CRO	Luka Dumančić
16	MF	CRO	Damir Magdić


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	FW	CRO	Mateo Plehan
20	DF	CRO	Luka Uzelac
23	MF	CRO	Ilan Pejić
24	FW	CRO	Dominik Rešetar
25	MF	CRO	Marko Uzelac
26	DF	KSA	Bandar Derwish W Ahmed
27	FW	CRO	Filip Soldo
28	MF	CRO	Tomislav Mazalović
29	MF	CRO	Sacha Marasović
31	DF	CRO	Luka Leon Kovač
33	DF	ARG	Gonzalo Gamarra (on loan from Slaven Belupo)
35	GK	CRO	Fran Gelo
-	MF	SVN	Rai Rudonja

Notable players

Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.

Ivan Cvjetković (CRO) (1991–93)
Krunoslav Jurčić (CRO) (1991–93)
Zvonimir Soldo (CRO) (1991–94)
Jozo Bogdanović (CRO) (1992–95)
Nermin Šabić (BIH) (1994–95)
Željko Adžić (CRO) (1996–97)
Eduardo (CRO) (2002–03)
Tomislav Dujmović (CRO) (2003–05)
Srđan Pecelj (BIH) (2003–05; 2008–10)

Ivan Radeljić (BIH) (2003–04; 2004–05)
Želimir Terkeš (BIH) (2003–04)
Klemen Lavrič (SLO) (2004)
Hrvoje Čale (CRO) (2004–05)
Vedran Ćorluka (CRO) (2004–05)
Luka Modrić (CRO) (2004–05)
Damir Krznar (CRO) (2004–10)
Vedran Ješe (CRO) (2005–06)
Veldin Karić (CRO) (2005–07)

Zoran Zekić (CRO) (2005; 2006)
Petar Krpan (CRO) (2006–07)
Ivan Santini (CRO) (2006–07)
Dejan Lovren (CRO) (2006–08)
Marijo Dodik (BIH) (2008–09)
Nino Bule (CRO) (2008–09)
Saša Balić (MNE) (2009–12)
Matej Delač (CRO) (2009–10)
Aleksandar Trajkovski (MKD) (2010–11)

Ante Budimir (CRO) (2011–2013)
Nikola Pokrivač (CRO) (2013)
Nikola Šafarić (CRO) (2015)
Ilija Nestorovski (MKD) (2013–16)
Jakov Filipović (CRO) (2016–17)
Jakov Puljić (CRO) (2016–17)
Komnen Andrić (SER) (2017–19; 2020)
Josip Brezovec (CRO) (2018–19)
Ivan Kelava (CRO) (2018–19)

Technical staff

As of April 2022^[11]

Position	Staff
Sporting director	Đuro Bago
Head coach	Borimir Perković
Assistant coach	Tomislav Gondžić
	Igor Bubnjić
	Viktor Novačić
Goalkeeping coach	Dragutin Pavalić
First team doctor	Tomislav Vlahović
	Marko Matoic
	Dejan Blažević
Physiotherapist	Nikola Štok
Physiotherapist	Nikola Fotivec
Academy coach	Srećko Bogdan