FK Čukarički


Fudbalski klub Čukarički is a Serbian professional football club from Belgrade, more precisely from the Čukarica municipality, that currently plays in the Serbian SuperLiga, the top tier of Serbian football. Some famous players who have worn Cukaricki colours were Aleksandar Kolarov, Milos Ninkovic, Nenad Mirosavljevic, Andrija Pavlovic, Nikola Stojiljković, Dragoljub Srnic,Slavoljub Srnic,Igor Matic and Slobodan Tedić.
Founded in 1926, the club spent the first years of its existence in the amateur field. In the days of Yugoslavia, Čukarički played predominantly in the lower divisions of the country. The first time for a stir, the club caused in the seasons 1971–72 and 1993–94, when they reached the Yugoslav Second League respectively the Yugoslav First League, as well as in 1996 and 1997, when the qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup succeeded.
On 17 April 2012, the club was bought by Dragan Obradović, the owner of the Serbian construction and wholesale company ADOC. Since then Čukarički is the first ever professional football club in Serbia to have been privatized, and is also one of the first clubs in Southeast Europe which were ever bought.

History

Beginnings of Čukarički/ History in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia/Montenegro Period (1926–2006)

The club had emerged from Čukarica, more precisely in the working-class neighborhood of the Belgrade municipality, which is located on the right bank of the Sava River. The club was formed on 4 July 1926 during a meeting that took place in a restaurant named Majdan, where the club got its official name, ČSK–Čukarički sport klub, and the decision was made that the club colors should be black and white, a tradition which is still present. The first president was Miloš Ilić, known as the first Serbian aviator respectively combat pilots of the 1st class, and by that time a reservist of the Yugoslav Royal Air Force. The first players of the club were amateurs, which organized the pitch, made their own jerseys and nets.
ČSK started in the third league of the Belgrade League system, but in 1928 managed to promoted to the second Belgrade League, where the club was able to keep several seasons. In the season 1931–32, ČSK became champion and thus played from the next season in the Belgrad B-League, which they gained finally in 1935. So, the club celebrated its first decade of existence with championship success. During this first period of success, especially striker Aleksandar Petrović, called Pikavac, was one of the most important figures of the club. Coming from Palilulac Belgrade in 1932, he played in ČSK until 1936, when he was transferred to SK Jugoslavija, one of the major national clubs. As a member of the Yugoslav national team, he is remembered as one of the best dribblers of Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
In 1936, ČSK entered to the Belgrade First A-League, which was one of the Yugoslav Second League's at that time, but relegated after two years. The generational change in the squad is considered to be the reason for such a bad season, but after only one year, the club was back and won immediately the championship. However, in that season the club was merged with FK Istra, a move that was not supported by many members of the direction board, and much less among the players. Because of this, local popularity fell and the vast majority of the players moved to neighbouring clubs Banovac, Makiš and Šećeranac. This made a stagnation in the club and during the following seasons the club did not compete in any level until 1942.

The club during the World War II (1942–1944)

During World War II, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded in April 1941 by the Axis powers and divided. Parts of Serbia fell to the Independent State of Croatia, the Kingdom of Hungary, or were under Nazi-Germany administration, among Belgrade, which was occupied by the Wehrmacht. Under difficult circumstances, it was permitted for certain clubs to play football, including ČSK. Already after the invasion, the club returned 1942 after six years of abstinence successfully in the competition and won the First Belgrade League, thus played next season in the Serbian League, the top national tier during the war. In the 1942–43 season the club finished 4th, a remarkable achievement because they finished in front of several favourites like Jedinstvo Belgrade or BASK.
In that period there was a popular domestic tournament named Letnji Pehar, where the best clubs competed like BSK, SK 1903, Obilić Belgrade and so also ČSK. Finally, the club defeated SK Banovac in the quarter-finals, but lost against SK 1903 in the semi-finals. The 1943–44 Belgrade First League season was formed by 10 clubs however after 8 rounds it was interrupted with ČSK placed as 6th. By the end of the war the club did not play under its name, only restoring its name in 1948 as FK Čukarički, now part of the Čukarički Sports Association.

From the subclass to the first league in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia/Montenegro Period (1944–2003)

In 1948, playing in the Belgrade Second League, which was the 6th tier of the newly formed league system of the Socialist Yugoslavia, the club finished 4th. It was coached by Jovan Veselinović and the squad was formed mostly by experienced older players. In 1950–51 with an already renovated squad, it finishes third and qualified to the Belgrade First League where it also finished third achieving promotion to the 1953–54 Belgrade Podsavezna League, the national fourth tier, where they finished third, again. Led by the coach Žikica Spasojević and striker Petar Popović they achieved the promotion to the 1954–55 Serbian League, the third tier.
In summer 1955, Vule Radosavljević was made the main coach, however the club ended the first half of the season at bottom. Radosavljević was replaced by Dragomir Kojadinović and there were also changes at club direction board which may have contributed to a comeback with the team finishing the season in 8th place. This earned them participation in the pley-off for the Yugoslav Second League, however they failed to qualify. In 1955–56, many players left the club, and led by coach Brana Aćimović they finished 2nd in the Belgrade Podsavezna League. 1956 is the year of the beginning of the fall as many important club players retired in that period.
Also, numerous club directions and coaches succeeded. So, the club played constantly in Belgrade leagues. Great achievement was brought on to the club ten years later in the 1966–67 season when they finished first in the Second Belgrade League and won the Belgrade Cup the same year. They were promoted to the Serbian League where they were constantly on top. So, these seasons, the club competed for promotion to the Yugoslav Second league, which he reached as a champion of the 1971–72 season. There, Čukarički held for several years, but did not succeed to promotion to the Yugoslav First League.
In the early 1990s, the club played again in the third tier and between 1993 and 1995 in the second league of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the 1994–95 season, the club managed finally for the first time in its history the promotion to the first league, where they played until 1998. In the Yugoslav Cup in 1995, Čukarički came into the quarterfinals and also competed in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1996 and 1997. Their biggest success during this period came in the 1999–00 season, when they finished 6th in the first league, in which 21 teams participated. The club remained till 2003 in the first division.

Near insolvency

After four years in the first league, Čukarički were relegated in 2003. Although succeeded in 2004 as champion of the group West the direct re-promotion, the club was relegated again in 2005. Čukarički was renamed in the early 2000s, as the Serbian company Stankom was dedicated as the main sponsor and funder of the club. Therefore, the club was known for a long time under the name Čukarički Stankom. By the arrival of the company Stankom the club was somewhat stabilised. So, they improved the organisation and day to day running of the club, they increased the stadium capacity to about 5,000. The results of the club under this company remained sub-par.
, here in the jersey of Manchester City, played from 2003 to 2006 for the club and is regarded as the most famous player who ever played for Čukarički.
From August 2007 to December 2008, the former Bundesliga manager Dragoslav Stepanović coached the club. After seven defeats in a row and the time between last place in the 2008–09 season, he was relieved of his duties. At the end of the season, the team made the 9th place in the table under coach Dejan Đurđević and remained in the league.

History in Independent Serbia/Modern Times

The 2009–10 Serbian SuperLiga season ended for Čukarički with a 13th place finish barely escaping relegation just three points ahead of Napredak Kruševac. The next season 2010–11 Serbian SuperLiga would be a disaster for the club, finishing rock bottom and suffering relegation. The club embarrassed itself in the 2010/11 season as it could not win a single one of its thirty league matches and finished with just five points in last place.
Things in the Second League/Division for Čukarički did not improve the club's fortunes. The club barely survived relegation in the 2011–12 Serbian First League. The club was in a very difficult financial situation and was on the verge of bankruptcy, however, the year 2011 marked a turning point, as the construction and wholesale company ADOC, which operates in the pharmacy, diagnostics and construction industry, bought up Čukarički and immediately invested in the club, making Čukarički the first professional football club in Serbia, which was privatized, and also one of the few clubs in Southeast Europe, which are privately owned. the next season saw immediate success due to the privatisation of the club, in the 2012–13 Serbian First League Cukaricki finished second behind champions Napredak Krusevac and were promoted back to the Serbian SuperLiga, their first season back in the Serbian SuperLiga as a privatised club saw immediate results finishing the 2013–14 Serbian SuperLiga in 5th place and booking a spot Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round.
After privatisation the club would go on to playing in the UEFA Europa League recording wins against UE Sant Julià from Andorra, Domzale from Slovenia, FC Ordabasy from Kazakhstan, and Banants from Armenia. Losses in European competition came against somewhat stronger clubs such as SV Grödig from Austria, Gabala FK from Azerbaijan, Fehérvár FC from Hungary and Molde FK From Norway. Probably Cukaricki most famous European result coming in the first leg in Norway against Molde, securing a 0-0 draw but losing the return leg in Belgrade 1-3 and thus been eliminated in that season's UEFA Europa League. The 2014–15 Serbian SuperLiga saw Cukaricki finish in 3rd place, Behind only the two big Belgrade clubs FK Partizan who were crowned champions in 14/15 and Red Star Belgrade who finished in second place, again Cukaricki qualified for Europa League first qualifying round. Since its privatisation and return to the Serbian top flight as a privatised club Cukaricki has always finished in the higher places in the Serbian Super Liga. The 2019–20 Serbian SuperLiga saw Cukaricki finish in 6th place, missing out on qualifying for European football, on the plus side teenage striker Slobodan Tedic was sold for 3 Million Euros to English powerhouse Manchester City. The 19/20 season saw Luka Stojanovic and Slobodan Tedić top score with 9 goals each and captain Marko Docic also was influential scoring 7 times.

European record

Matches

;Notes
, also known as Stadion na Banovom brdu, was inaugurated in 1969 and has an all-seated capacity of 4,070.
The supporters are known as Brđani, a colloquial name attributed to people from Belgrade residential area known as Banovo Brdo where the club offices and the stadium are located. The group was formed in 1991.

Honours and achievements

First team

Notable players

This is a list of FK Čukarički players with senior national team appearances:
; Serbia and its predecessors
;Other
PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
2007–2010Nike
2010–2014Kappa
2014–Adidas:sr:ADOC|ADOC