Montenegrin Men's Handball Cup


The Montenegrin Men's Handball Cup is an elimination handball tournament held annually. It is the second most important national title in Montenegrin handball after the Montenegrin First League.
It has been held annually since Montenegrin independence in 2006.

History

Montenegrin clubs in Yugoslav Cup

Before Montenegrin independence, clubs from that Republic played in national handball Cup of Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro. Most successful was RK Lovćen with two trophies won.
First significant success at that time made RK Mornar, who played in Yugoslav Cup 1994-95 finals, but lost against RK Crvena zvezda. Two years later, another Montenegrin team played in the final of Yugoslav Cup - RK Lovćen, but they were defeated against RK Partizan. Same rivals played in the Cup finals 2000-01 and once again RK Partizan won the trophy.
First trophy for RK Lovćen came in 2001-02 on final-four in Vršac, defeating RK Sintelon in the final. Year later, Lovćen won the final four in Belgrade. Serbia and Montenegro Cup final 2004-05 was the last one in which participated RK Lovćen. On that game, Montenegrin side was defeated by RK Vojvodina.

Below is a list of Yugoslav Cup trophies won by Montenegrin clubs.
ClubWinnersRunners-upWinning years
Lovćen Cetinje
2
3
2001-02, 2002-03
Mornar Bar
-
1

Montenegrin Cup (2006-)

Except Montenegrin First League of Men's Handball as a top-tier league competition, after the independence, Handball Federation of Montenegro established Montenegrin Cup as a second elite national tournament. Inaugural season of Montenegrin Cup was 2006-07, and by now most successful was RK Lovćen with 9 titles. One title won RK Berane, RK Sutjeska, RK Partizan Tivat and RK Komovi Andrijevica.
Three different teams won the first three editions of the Cup - RK Berane, RK Sutjeska and RK Lovćen. That was the beginning of successful era of RK Lovćen who won seven consecutive titles from 2009 to 2015. Except that, on season 2013-14, RK Lovćen scored 41 goals in the final game against RK Danilovgrad which is the all-time record.
On season 2015-16, RK Partizan won their first Cup trophy, and next two years, the Cup winner was RK Lovćen. Big surprise came on season 2018-19, as the Cup winner became RK Komovi, based in the small town Andrijevica.

Competition

Tournament format

There are two phases of Montenegrin Men's Handball Cup. At first, there are two elimination phases in February - round of 16 and the quarterfinals.

Winners of quarterfinals are participating in the second phase - Final tournament, which held on the Montenegrin Independence Day - May 21.

Final four

Traditional event, Final tournament of Montenegrin Cup, every year is organising on 20/21 May. During the first day, there are two Semi-finals, and final match is playing on the Independence Day.
Until today, hosts of Montenegrin Cup Final tournament were cities Cetinje ', Danilovgrad ', Tivat ', Pljevlja ', Budva ', Bijelo Polje ' and Mojkovac .

Participants

During the history, 15 different clubs played at the Final tournament of Montenegrin Handball Cup. Below is the list of participants on every Final tournament.
There is no any single team which participated on every final tournament. Most appearances on final tournament have Lovćen. On season 2012/13, Danilovgrad became first team from the Second league which participated on the Final tournament. Next time, one team from Second League played in final tournament 2017/18 - RK Ivangrad.

Winners and finals

Season by season

During the past, most successful team in Montenegrin Cup was RK Lovćen Cetinje.

Below is the list of final matches of Montenegrin Handball Cup
YearVenueWinnerRunner-upScore
2006/07DanilovgradRK BeraneRK Lovćen Cetinje23:21
2007/08DanilovgradRK Sutjeska NikšićRK Berane24:23
2008/09CetinjeRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Budućnost Podgorica26:25
2009/10PljevljaRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Sutjeska Nikšić18:17
2010/11CetinjeRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Mojkovac31:25
2011/12CetinjeRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Mojkovac23:19
2012/13CetinjeRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Mojkovac28:22
2013/14DanilovgradRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Danilovgrad41:28
2014/15BudvaRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Budvanska Rivijera25:21
2015/16TivatRK Partizan TivatRK Lovćen Cetinje24:17
2016/17MojkovacRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Mojkovac22:15
2017/18TivatRK Lovćen CetinjeRK Partizan Tivat23:18
2018/19Bijelo PoljeRK Komovi AndrijevicaRK Budvanska Rivijera26:21

Trophies by team

Montenegrin Cup

There are seven different clubs which participated in the final match of Montenegrin Cup.
Four of them won a trophy.
ClubWinnersRunners-upWinning Years
RK Lovćen Cetinje922009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
RK Sutjeska Nikšić112008
RK Berane112007
RK Partizan Tivat112016
RK Komovi Andrijevica1-2019
RK Mojkovac-4
RK Budvanska Rivijera-2
RK Budućnost Podgorica-1
RK Danilovgrad-1

Overall

Below is an overall list, including titles won in both national Cups - Montenegrin Cup and FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro Cup.
ClubWinnersRunners-upWinning Years
RK Lovćen Cetinje1152002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
RK Sutjeska Nikšić112008
RK Berane112007
RK Partizan Tivat112016
RK Komovi Andrijevica1-2019
RK Mojkovac-4
RK Budvanska Rivijera-2-
RK Mornar Bar-1
RK Budućnost Podgorica-1
RK Danilovgrad-1