ND Gorica

This article is about the Slovene football club. For the Croatian football club, see HNK Gorica.

Gorica

Full name	Nogometno društvo Gorica
Nickname(s)	Vrtnice (The Roses) Plavo-beli (The Blue and Whites)
Founded	October 1947; 77 years ago (October 1947) (as FD Gorica)[1]
Ground	Nova Gorica Sports Park
Capacity	3,100
President	Uroš Blažica
Head coach	Nenad Stojaković
League	Slovenian Second League
2023–24	Slovenian Second League, 4th of 16
Website	www.nd-gorica.com
Home colours Away colours

Nogometno društvo Gorica, commonly referred to as ND Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Slovenian football club based in Nova Gorica that competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of Slovenian football. They are one of the most successful Slovenian clubs with four Slovenian PrvaLiga and three Slovenian Cup titles. The club plays its home matches at the Nova Gorica Sports Park, which has a capacity of 3,100 seats.

History

Yugoslav period (1947–1991)

The history of football in the Goriška region goes back to 1907, when the first football club Jugoslavija was formed by the Slovenes of Gorizia.^[1]

October 1947 marks the beginning of the club with the foundation of FD Gorica in Šempeter pri Gorici, where it operated until 1963.^[1] They started in the second-level but quickly promoted to the Slovenian Republic League in 1950 under the new name Železničar Nova Gorica. Five years later they became republic champions and qualified for the Yugoslav Second League, which was club's biggest achievement during the time of Yugoslavia. In 1963 the club merged with Branik Solkan and the club's activity was transferred to Nova Gorica, where it remains ever since.^[2] They stabilised as a mid-table club in the 1960s, renamed as NK Vozila in 1971 and achieved better results only in the last years before Slovenia's independence. Managed by Pavel Pinni, Vozila finished third in the 1988–89 season of the Slovenian Republic League.

Slovenian independence (1991 to present)

Following Slovenia's independence in 1991, the club played in the 1. SNL under the name HIT Gorica and during the 1995–96 season, Gorica won the Slovenian championship for the first time. In the next season, the club played its first Slovenian Supercup final and won their second trophy with a 3–1 victory over Olimpija. During the league domination of Maribor, the club managed to win two Slovenian cup titles in a row (2000–01 and 2001–02).

On the last day of the 2003–04 season on 30 May 2004, Gorica won its second title after one of the most dramatic rounds in the Slovenian league history. Before the last round, Maribor was leading the table with 54 points, one point ahead of Gorica. In the final round, Maribor played an away match against their rivals Mura and Gorica played at home against Koper. Maribor lost the game 2–1 after a second-half comeback by Mura, meaning that Gorica, who eventually won against Koper 2–0, had secured their second title.^[3]

The second title started an impressive run for Gorica as the team won another two league titles in a row (2004–05 and 2005–06).^[4] After the last title, Gorica was a runner-up in the 2006–07 and 2008–09 seasons, while finishing third in 2007–08 and 2009–10.^[5]

In 2013, Gorica started cooperating with the Italian club Parma.^[6] On 21 May 2014 they won their first trophy after eight years as they defeated Maribor 2–0 in the cup final.^[7] After 28 seasons in the top division, Gorica was relegated for the first time in the 2018–19 season after losing the relegation play-offs against Tabor Sežana.^[8]

Current squad

As of 29 August 2024^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SVN Alen Jurca 2 DF  CHN Yu Guizhe (on loan from Hubei Istar) 4 DF  SVN Alen Korošec 6 MF  SVN Cene Kitek 7 FW  SVN Nejc Močnik 8 MF  AUS Luka Prso 9 FW  SVN Tim Matavž 10 MF  SVN Luka Pihler 11 FW  BIH Luka Marjanac 16 MF  CAN Antony Ćurić 17 DF  SVN Miha Žejen

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  ITA Alessandro Comita 19 MF  SUI Marko Simić 20 FW  SVN Adriano Bloudek 21 FW  SVN Lucas Mačak (on loan from Celje) 22 DF  SVN Adis Hodžić 24 DF  SVN Tilen Vendramin 25 DF  CRO Robert Ćosić 27 MF  SVN Maj Blažič 28 FW  SRB Luka Bulatović 32 GK  ITA Dennis Zeriali 97 DF  NED Ziad Ouled-Haj-M'hand

Honours

League

• Slovenian First League
  • Winners (4): 1995–96, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06
  • Runners-up (5): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2016–17
• Slovenian Second League
  • Winners: 2021–22

Cup

• Slovenian Cup
  • Winners (3): 2000–01, 2001–02, 2013–14
  • Runners-up (2): 2004–05, 2023–24
• Slovenian Supercup
  • Winners: 1996
  • Runners-up: 2014

Domestic league and cup results

Season	League	Position	Pts	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Cup
1991–92	1. SNL	4	46	40	15	16	9	63	40	Round of 16
1992–93	1. SNL	12	31	34	11	9	14	39	46	First round
1993–94	1. SNL	5	35	30	12	11	7	40	38	First round
1994–95	1. SNL	3	41	30	18	5	7	66	30	Quarter-finals
1995–96	1. SNL	1	67	36	18	13	5	49	22	Quarter-finals
1996–97	1. SNL	3	65	36	18	11	7	52	33	Round of 16
1997–98	1. SNL	3	65	36	20	5	11	64	36	Round of 16
1998–99	1. SNL	2	62	33	18	8	7	55	31	First round
1999–2000	1. SNL	2	62	33	19	5	9	55	34	Semi-finals
2000–01	1. SNL	7	43	33	13	4	16	52	46	Winners
2001–02	1. SNL	4	51	33	14	9	10	38	40	Winners
2002–03	1. SNL	8	34	31	7	13	11	34	43	Quarter-finals
2003–04	1. SNL	1	56	32	15	11	6	55	29	Round of 16
2004–05	1. SNL	1	65	32	18	11	3	49	23	Runners-up
2005–06	1. SNL	1	73	36	21	10	5	75	30	Semi-finals
2006–07	1. SNL	2	58	36	17	7	12	66	63	Semi-finals
2007–08	1. SNL	3	57	36	16	9	11	61	50	Round of 16
2008–09	1. SNL	2	56	36	17	5	14	60	55	Semi-finals
2009–10	1. SNL	3	55	36	16	7	13	74	60	Quarter-finals
2010–11	1. SNL	5	48	36	13	9	14	42	53	Quarter-finals
2011–12	1. SNL	5	53	36	14	11	11	49	37	Quarter-finals
2012–13	1. SNL	6	41	36	10	11	15	45	60	Quarter-finals
2013–14	1. SNL	4	58	36	16	10	10	60	32	Winners
2014–15	1. SNL	9	37	36	10	7	19	40	46	Quarter-finals
2015–16	1. SNL	4	52	36	15	7	14	48	49	First round
2016–17	1. SNL	2	60	36	16	12	8	48	39	Quarter-finals
2017–18	1. SNL	6	47	36	14	5	17	40	48	Semi-finals
2018–19	1. SNL	9↓	31	36	7	10	19	44	63	Quarter-finals
2019–20[a]	2. SNL	2↑	41	20	13	2	5	40	22	Round of 16
2020–21	1. SNL	10↓	29	36	7	8	21	24	58	did not qualify
2021–22	2. SNL	1↑	72	30	23	3	4	55	20	First round
2022–23	1. SNL	9↓	27	36	5	12	19	31	57	First round
2023–24	2. SNL	4	53	30	15	8	7	51	28	Runners-up

1. The season was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key

P – Matches played W – Matches won D – Matches drawn L – Matches lost GF – Goals for GA – Goals against Pts – Points

Winners

Runners-up

Promoted ↑

Relegated ↓

European record

All results (home and away) list Gorica's goal tally first.

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1996–97	UEFA Cup	PR	Vardar	0–1	1–2	1–3
1997–98	UEFA Cup	1Q	Oţelul Galaţi	2–0	2–4	4–4 (a)
		2Q	Club Brugge	3–5	0–3	3–8
1999–2000	UEFA Cup	Q	Inter Cardiff	2–0	0–1	2–1
		1R	Panathinaikos	0–1	0–2	0–3
2000–01	UEFA Cup	Q	Neftchi Baku	3–1	0–1	3–2
		1R	Roma	1–4	0–7	1–11
2001–02	UEFA Cup	Q	Neftchi Baku	1–0	0–0	1–0
		1R	Osijek	1–2	0–1	1–3
2002–03	UEFA Cup	Q	Rapid București	1–3	0–2	1–5
2004–05	UEFA Champions League	1Q	Flora Tallinn	3–1	4–2	7–3
		2Q	Copenhagen	1–2	5–0	6–2
		3Q	Monaco	0–3	0–6	0–9
2004–05	UEFA Cup	1R	AEK Athens	1–1	0–1	1–2
2005–06	UEFA Champions League	1Q	Tirana	2–0	0–3	2–3
2006–07	UEFA Champions League	1Q	Linfield	2–2	3–1	5–3
		2Q	Steaua București	0–2	0–3	0–5
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1Q	Rabotnički	1–2	1–2	2–4
2008	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R	Hibernians	0–0	3–0	3–0
		2R	Chernomorets Burgas	0–2	1–1	1–3
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Lahti	1–0	0–2	1–2
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Randers	0–3	1–1	1–4
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Molde	1–1	1–4	2–5
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Maccabi Tel Aviv	0–1	0–3	0–4
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Shirak	2–2	2–0	4–2
		2Q	Panionios	2–3	0–2	2–5

Notes

• PR: Preliminary round
• Q: Qualifying round
• 1Q: First qualifying round
• 2Q: Second qualifying round
• 3Q: Third qualifying round
• 1R: First round
• 2R: Second round

Notable managers

The following managers have won at least one trophy when in charge of Gorica since Slovenia's independence in 1991:

Head coach	Period	Honours
Milan Miklavič	1995–1996	1995–96 Slovenian First Division 1996 Slovenian Supercup
Toni Tomažič	2001	2000–01 Slovenian Football Cup
Pavel Pinni	2001–2006	2001–02 Slovenian Football Cup 2003–04 Slovenian First Division 2004–05 Slovenian First Division 2005–06 Slovenian First Division
Miran Srebrnič	2009 2011–2013 2014 2015–2018 2021–2023 2023–2024	2021–22 Slovenian Second League
Luigi Apolloni	2013–2014	2013–14 Slovenian Football Cup

References

1. "Obdobje: 1947–1963" (in Slovenian). ND Gorica. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
2. "Obdobje: 1963–1980" (in Slovenian). ND Gorica. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
3. "Napeto do konca, Gorica prvak" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 30 May 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
4. "HIT Gorica tretjič zapored prvak" [Third title in a row for Gorica]. Delo (in Slovenian). 4 June 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
5. "Gorica – Arhiv – Prva liga Telekom Slovenije" (in Slovenian). Slovenian PrvaLiga. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
6. "Gorica potrdila sodelovanje s Parmo" [Gorica confirmed cooperation with Parma] (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
7. A. V. (21 May 2014). "Ne Maribor, Gorica je pokalni prvak" [Not Maribor, Gorica is the cup winner] (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
8. D. S. (2 June 2019). "Sežanci vzeli Goričanom prvoligaški status" (in Slovenian). Nova Gorica: RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
9. "Prva ekipa 2023/24" (in Slovenian). ND Gorica. Retrieved 30 August 2024.

External links

• Official website (in Slovene)
• ND Gorica at PrvaLiga (in Slovene)
• ND Gorica at Soccerway