Vardar Skopje

Beginning

After WW2 FK Vardar was established with the merger of city rivals FK Pobeda (1919) and FK Makedonija (1922), in the hall of cinema "Vardar" on 22 July 1947. The foundation assembly had decided the club's color to be blue and it was, but already at the next assembly the decision was changed to red and white. FK Pobeda has competed in the first season of the Federal League after the World War II, finished at the eighth place and won the relegation playoffs against FK Sloga from Novi Sad, FK Vardar was a member of the Federal league from the very beginning. However, during the following decade they were several times relegated and promoted back again. The present recognizable red and black color jerseys were brought back again after the 1963 Skopje earthquake when the famous Milan football club sent equipment for the Skopje's team.

First Federal League

The club won its first major trophy in the 1960–61 Yugoslav Cup. Many famous players from the region started their careers at Vardar, and their triumph in the Yugoslav Cup was a highlight. The leader of that particular generation of players was Andon Dončevski, who later coached the team from 1986 to 1988. Due to massive irregularities during the last 34th week of fixtures, the 1985–86 Yugoslav First League season ended notoriously. Football Association of Yugoslavia headed by Slavko Šajber voided the last week's results ordering a replay of all 9 fixtures. Twelve clubs were docked 6 points due to alleged participation in the match-fixing scandal. All teams agreed to replay their games but FK Partizan, who had won the title with a 4–0 over FK Željezničar Sarajevo, refused, after which the game was awarded 3–0 to FK Željezničar Sarajevo, which gave Red Star Belgrade the title. Red Star Belgrade played in the 1986–87 European Cup. However, after a sequence of legal processes, the original final table, with FK Partizan as champions, was officially recognized in 1987. The following 1986-87 Federal League season saw 10 teams starting with -6 points. Vardar Skopje, who had not been deducted 6 points, won the title, and participated in the 1987–88 European Cup, but the points deduction was later annulled after more legal proceedings, and the title was given to FK Partizan, who headed the table with the deduction. But for UEFA, Vardar was recognized as a champion. In 1986–87 Federal League team had a group of wonderful players, led by the talented Darko Pančev and including Ilija Najdoski, Dragi Kanatlarovski and Vujadin Stanojković. FK Vardar went on to spend 33 seasons in the Federal top flight from 1947 to 1992 and is ranked 11th on the all-time table.

After independence

Vardar celebrated Macedonia independence by winning three consecutive titles including going unbeaten in the inaugural season. During the 90's they remained at the top of Macedonian football reaching five Cup finals; winning four and have always been the team to beat. After a lean spell by their standards, they brought the league again in 2001–02 and the following season just missed out on qualifying for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League group stage. A remarkable achievement, in the Second qualifying round they eliminated CSKA Moscow and came within a goal of getting past Sparta Prague. In 2011, Vardar was originally relegated from the Macedonian First Football League, but after a buying the license from Miravci it stayed. The following season they brought the league again after nine years. To date they have 17 major honors to their name. In 2012, with the new transformation, FK Vardar became the first team in North Macedonia organized as a joint stock company incorporated under the Companies Act. FK Vardar went on to spend 24 seasons in the Macedonian First Football League from 1992 to 2017 and is ranked first on the all-time table.

Memorable moments

In their history, FK Vardar has had many memorable matches. The first big one came in 1961 against Dunfermline from Scotland, victory at home ground 2:0 glorious moments in Cup winners Cup. Among those, the one that stands out the most was defeating FK Partizan by a score of 5–0. In early history, the 2–1 victory over Varteks in the Yugoslav Cup final is remembered by the club as its first major trophy win. A game that had the highest attendance was a matchup against Trepča where FK Vardar won 2–1 and earned promotion to the Yugoslav First League. Other matches to remember came against the great four Red Star Belgrade, Partizan Belgrade, Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split. Then 1985 home ground victory over Dinamo Bucurset from Romania 1:0 in UEFA Cup competition. At the beginning of the Macedonian First Football League the most memorable matches were all the wins against rival Pelister, including the first-ever Macedonian Football Cup final in 1993 where FK Vardar won 1–0 at the old City Stadium. The biggest international achievement of the club came in 2003 when FK Vardar came one goal short of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group stage. They had great match against Barry Town from Wales and 3–0 victory at home ground, then another glorious 2–1 away win over Russian heavyweights CSKA Moscow. In 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup they destroyed Ethnikos Achnas from Cyprus in both matches home and away with identical victories of 5–1, then 1–0 victory against Belgian side Gent at home ground.

First time in Europa League group stage

In the 2017–18 Champions League second qualifying round, Vardar were drawn against Swedish side Malmö FF, in the first leg away, they have played a draw (1–1) and won the second leg in Strumica (3–1), with the goals of Boban Grncharov, Tigran Barseghyan and Boban Nikolov. In the third qualifying round, Vardar was played against Danish side F.C. Copenhagen, they won first leg at the home in Skopje (1–0), with the goal of Jonathan Balotelli. In the second leg in Copenhagen, Vardar had a result which would lead to the play-off round of Champions League, but in last 15 minutes, Copenhagen scored two goals, and Vardar lost the match (4–1), and its eliminated from the Champions League. But, the participation in the European competitions in that season Vardar continued in the Europa League play-off round, in whom were drawn against Turkish giants Fenerbahçe. Surprisingly, Vardar won both matches against them, in the first leg in Skopje won 2–0, with the goals of Barseghyan and the bizarre own goal of Mehmet Topal, and in the second leg in Istanbul 2–1, with a goals of Jaba Jighauri and Nikola Gligorov, and Vardar qualified for the group stage of the Europa League for the first time in its history and became the first Macedonian club to qualify for the group stage of a European competition. In the group stage, Vardar were drawn in Group L against Zenit Saint Petersburg, Rosenborg and Real Sociedad. In the debut match, Vardar were outclassed by Zenit in Skopje (0–5) and lost the match in Trondheim against Rosenborg (3–1), but was scored first goal in the group stages of European competition by Juan Felipe. In third match Vardar was again trashed by Real Sociedad at home (0–6), which was a highest defeat in the European competition matches. However, FК Vardar later won a historic first point in European Cups with a 1:1 draw in the home match against Rosenborg BK.