Founders and origins Partizan was founded on 4 October 1945 in
Belgrade, as a football section of the
Central House of the Yugoslav Army "Partizan", and was named in honour of the
Partisans, the communist military formation who fought against fascism during
World War II in Yugoslavia. The club was formed and initially managed by the group of young high officers of the
Yugoslav People's Army and veterans of the
Spanish Civil War. Among them were
Koča Popović,
Peko Dapčević,
Svetozar Vukmanović,
Bogdan Vujošević, Mijalko Todorović, Otmar Kreačić,
Božo Švarc and
Ratko "Čoče" Vujović – elected the first president of the club. Two days after its establishment, Partizan made its first step on the football scene, with the friendly match against selection of
Zemun that ended 4–2.
Silvester Šereš entered the record books as the first goal scorer in the history of Partizan, while goalkeeper
Franjo Glaser was simultaneously the first club manager. Just three weeks later, Partizan went on the first of many international tours, travelling to
Czechoslovakia where they beat the selection of
Slovak Army with 3–1. At the time, just months after the
World War II in Yugoslavia ended, no organized football competition was yet restored, so Partizan played only friendly games and tournaments both home and abroad. The club's first international engagement was a meeting against another army side,
CSKA Moscow from what was then Soviet Union, on 6 December 1945 in Belgrade. , voted Partizan's best player of all time in 1995.
Partizan's babies – the first European final (1958–1966) starting lineup coached by
Abdulah Gegić. By the mid-1950s, the first big Partizan generation was well over its peak. Only two titles and four cups in its first 15 years of existence were not enough for a club of Partizan's stature, ambition and popularity. In 1958, the club left way behind 13 years of playing in blue-red kits and adopted the now famous black and white colors. The change in the club's image and appearance was followed by radical changes in the playing squad. The number of young players, offspring of Partizan's own youth ranks known as
Partizanove bebe (The Partizan's babies), soon emerged into one of the best generations Europe's ever seen. The rise of the generation began with
Milutin Šoškić,
Fahrudin Jusufi,
Jovan Miladinović,
Velibor Vasović,
Milan Galić,
Ilija Mitić,
Zvezdan Čebinac and
Vladica Kovačević. Very soon, they were joined by
Lazar Radović,
Velimir Sombolac,
Ljubomir Mihajlović and
Mustafa Hasanagić, and finally
Ivan Ćurković,
Josip Pirmajer,
Branko Rašović and
Radoslav Bečejac. Managers
Illés Spitz,
Florijan Matekalo and
Stjepan Bobek monitored and guided their development. The decision to rely mostly on talented youngsters scouted from all over the country quickly gave results – Partizan took three consecutive championship titles, in
1961,
1962 and
1963, the first title hat-trick in the
Yugoslav First League. Efficient and attractive performances earned the club its popular nickname "
Parni valjak" ("The Steamroller"). In
1964–65, the team added the fourth title in five years (interrupted by city rival
Red Star during the
1963–64 season). As early as the 1960s, a fierce and intense rivalry grew up between Partizan and Red Star. scored two goals in the
first ever European Champion Clubs' Cup The
1965–66 European Cup campaign was the crown of this generation's career. After eliminating
French Nantes (2–0, 2–2) and
German champion
Werder Bremen (3–0, 1–0) in the first two rounds, Partizan were drawn against
Sparta Prague in the quarter-finals. In the first leg, held in
Prague, Partizan suffered a hard 4–1 defeat. Although they were not given any chances in the return leg in Belgrade, Partizan pulled off a convincing 5–0 win in front of 50,000 spectators, and with aggregate score 6–4 qualified for the semifinals. The semi-finals would see Partizan taking part in an emotional tie that would bring
Manchester United, in their first season back in the European Cup after the
Munich air disaster, returning to the scene of their final game, at the
JNA Stadium, before embarking on that fateful journey home (on the way home from a European Cup quarter-final victory against Red Star, which was played at JNA Stadium, the aircraft carrying the Manchester United players, officials and journalists crashed while attempting to take off after refuelling in Munich).Manchester United, led by
George Best and
Bobby Charlton, awaited finally them on the last step to the finals. Partizan won the first leg at JNA Stadium 2–0, and resisted the heavy pressure on
Old Trafford, conceding only once; with a 2–1 aggregate scoreline, they eliminated the English giants. Partizan's babies achieved the greatest success in history of Partizan, a place in the
1966 European Cup Final against
Real Madrid. The final game was played on 11 May at
Heysel Stadium,
Brussels. Until the 70th minute, Partizan was 1–0 up through a goal by
Velibor Vasović, but ultimately lost to the Spaniards 2–1. Partizan may have come close to a famous victory, but they had now missed their chance as the side was immediately broken up with their star players heading west. Still, Partizan became the first club from the
Balkans and
Eastern Europe to have played in a European Cup final.
The brief return – the first European trophy (1976–1982) On 11 July 1976, in
Ljubljana, Partizan played the last game of the season against
Olimpija and needed a win to clinch the title ahead of rivals
Hajduk Split. In the last second before the final whistle,
Nenad Bjeković scored the winning goal and Partizan won 0–1. The
seventh championship trophy was finally won, after full decade of waiting, by the new generation of players, such as
Momčilo Vukotić, Bjeković,
Rešad Kunovac,
Ilija Zavišić,
Refik Kozić,
Ivan Golac,
Radmilo Ivančević,
Boško Đorđević,
Nenad Stojković. Partizan then won its eighth title in
1977–78, enforced with
Nikica Klinčarski,
Petar Borota,
Slobodan Santrač,
Aleksandar Trifunović,
Xhevat Prekazi and
Pavle Grubješić. That same year, Partizan won its first European trophy, the
Mitropa Cup. The
Black & Whites finished first in Group A, ahead of
Perugia and
Zbrojovka Brno and defeated Hungarian side
Honvéd in the finals, 1–0. Its manager was
Ante Mladinić. Unexpectedly, the following 1978–79 season turned out to be the worst in Partizan history: they finished 15th in the league, barely avoiding relegation with a 4–2 victory against
Budućnost in the last fixture. The new crisis was serious, which reflected in the results next season, when Partizan finished 13th. It took a two more seasons, but Partizan eventually recovered.
Memorable years (1982–1991) in a 1985 traffic collision made him into a club legend. When
Momčilo Vukotić, Nenad Stojković and
Nikica Klinčarski were joined by
Ljubomir Radanović,
Zvonko Živković,
Zoran Dimitrijević and
Dragan Mance, another great generation was formed. Partizan became champion for
1982–83 season, in large part due to extraordinary performances of a young
Dragan Mance. He helped Partizan win the league by scoring 15 goals, and immediately became a fan favourite. He also led the club in their
1984–85 UEFA Cup second round tie against
Queens Park Rangers, one of the most memorable matches in the club's history. QPR won the first leg 6–2, but Partizan advanced after a 4–0 return victory. A goal which Mance scored against the English side is considered one of the most remarkable goals in the history of Partizan. That match was voted 70th among the Top 100 greatest matches in the history of football in a poll organized by
Eurosport in September 2009. On 3 September 1985, the players tragically lost their teammate and the fans lost their idol – Mance died in a car crash on
Novi Sad-Belgrade highway. He was only 22 years old, and at the peak of his popularity. Even today, Mance is considered to be the greatest club legend by the fans of Partizan. In his honour, the street next to the club's stadium in Belgrade has carried his name since 2011. In
1985–86, Partizan won the title with a 4–0 win over
Željezničar due to better goal difference than second-placed Red Star. However,
Yugoslav FA President
Slavko Šajber decided that the entire last round of fixtures had to be replayed after accusations that certain results had been fixed. Partizan refused to replay its match, after which the game was awarded 3–0 to Željezničar, and the title was given to Red Star, who thus got to play in
1986–87 European Cup. Because of these events, 12 clubs started the next
1986–87 season with a deduction of six points, Partizan among them.
Vardar, who had not been deducted six points, won the title and subsequently participated in
1987–88 European Cup. However, after a sequence of appeals and lawsuits which eventually led to Yugoslav Constitutional Court, the original final table of
1985–86, with Partizan as champions, was officially recognized in mid-1987. Also, the points deduction from
1986–87 season was annulled and the title was given to Partizan, who headed the table without the deduction. These controversial events prevented the generation of
Milko Đurovski,
Fahrudin Omerović,
Zvonko Varga,
Vladimir Vermezović,
Admir Smajić,
Goran Stevanović,
Nebojša Vučićević,
Miloš Đelmaš,
Srečko Katanec,
Fadil Vokrri and
Bajro Župić from showing their full potential in Europe. Partizan spent the final years in Yugoslavia undergoing significant organizational changes. In 1989, former goalkeeper
Ivan Ćurković became club president while
Mirko Marjanović became the president of Partizan's executive board. Most important, Partizan players in these final years were
Predrag Mijatović,
Slaviša Jokanović,
Predrag Spasić,
Dragoljub and
Branko Brnović,
Budimir Vujačić,
Vujadin Stanojković,
Darko Milanič and
Džoni Novak. However, this great generation was overshadowed by their crosstown rival Red Star and its rampage through domestic league, Europe and the world. Partizan only won the
1989 national cup, 32 years after the last victory in that competition. The last trophy won before the breakup of Yugoslavia was the 1989 Yugoslav Super Cup, the first and the only one organized. Also in the same season 1988/89, Partizan won the prestigious international tournament
Uhrencup, which is played every year in Switzerland and to this day. That year, Partizan took three trophies which is a club record in one season. In 1987, Partizan signed
Chinese national team players
Jia Xiuquan and
Liu Haiguang and they entered history as they, along
Xie Yuxin and
Gu Guangming, were the first Chinese footballers ever to have played in Europe.
Dark decade and domestic success (1990s) . After the death of President
Josip Broz Tito in 1980, ethnic tension grew in Yugoslavia, with the follow, that in the early 1990s the Yugoslav state began to fall apart, and the civil war broke out. At the end of May in 1992, the
United Nations Security Council imposed
sanctions against the country, which led to political isolation, economic decline and
hyperinflation of the
Yugoslav dinar, and finally dislodged Yugoslav football from the international scene. The disintegration of Yugoslavia, the
Yugoslav wars from 1991 to 1995, the resulting difficulties, as well as the sanctions had hit all Yugoslav clubs hard. After the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia in 1991, a new Yugoslavia was formed out from
Serbia and
Montenegro and was named
FR Yugoslavia. Notwithstanding, Partizan won during the war two titles in a row, in
1993 and
1994. The next two championships Partizan won came in
1996 and
1997, but after only few years of peace, the Yugoslav clubs stood again before difficult times. Between 1998 and 1999, peace was broken again because the situation in
Kosovo worsened with continued clashes between Yugoslav security forces and the
Kosovo Liberation Army. The confrontations led to the
Kosovo War and finally to the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, which started four days after the 112th
Red Star–Partizan derby, and this without a
UN Mandate. The bombing campaign was criticized, especially for the number of
civilian casualties that resulted from the bombing. By this time, Partizan won in
1999 a further championship title, again during a war. During these turbulent 1990s, the club won also several national cups, this in 1992, 1994 and 1998. The key man for these trophies was
Ljubiša Tumbaković, who became the most successful manager in Partizan's history. In 1997, Partizan was reintroduced to European competitions following the lift of the
UEFA ban on clubs from FR Yugoslavia, but while the national team continued where they had stopped in the spring of 1992, the clubs had all their results erased and were treated as the beginners in the European competitions. The decision met with incomprehension among the club officials of the Yugoslav clubs. That decision will have long-term catastrophic consequences for Partizan – instead of enjoying the merits of its own many-year work, they would get harder opponents from the start and the competition would start already in July. This decade has been marked by numerous team changes and the circle of selling the best players to richer European clubs after just a couple of seasons of first-team football and replacing them with fresh young talents. Many players are credited with the successes of the nineties, such as
Predrag Mijatović,
Slaviša Jokanović,
Savo Milošević,
Albert Nađ,
Dragan Ćirić,
Zoran Mirković,
Saša Ćurčić,
Branko Brnović,
Goran Pandurović,
Dražen Bolić,
Niša Saveljić,
Damir Čakar,
Budimir Vujačić,
Ivan Tomić,
Georgi Hristov,
Đorđe Tomić,
Ivica Kralj,
Mateja Kežman and many others.
The new beginning (2000–2007) The new millennium has arrived, but the goals remain the same. In the last 12 years, Partizan has won eight national championships, four cups and managed to qualify two times for the
UEFA Champions League and five times for the
UEFA Europa League. Led by
Ljubiša Tumbaković, the club won two championship titles in a row, in
2001–02 and
2002–03. In Europe, Partizan did not have much success in those seasons, though the next one would become its best season in Europe after
1965–66, where it reached the 1966 European Cup final. The club's management took the 2003 season very seriously, appointing as its new coach the former
World Player of the Year Lothar Matthäus, and brought some top and experienced players like
Taribo West from
1.FC Kaiserslautern,
Ljubinko Drulović from
Benfica and
Tomasz Rząsa from
Feyenoord. For the first time in its history, the club played in the
UEFA Champions League after eliminating
Bobby Robson's
Newcastle United. In Belgrade, Partizan lost by 0–1, but in rematch at
St James' Park, they won by
Ivica Iliev's goal in regular time and reached the group stages after a penalty shoot-out. Later on, Partizan was drawn in a tough group with Real Madrid (the previous year's Champions League semi-finalist),
Porto (the winner of the
2002–03 UEFA Cup and the eventual winner of the
competition) and
Marseille (the eventual runners-up of the
2003–04 UEFA Cup). The
Partizan Stadium was a tough ground for the opposition and the team did not lose a home game, playing out a 0–0 draw with Real Madrid's famous
Galácticos, which included players such as
Zinedine Zidane,
Ronaldo,
Luís Figo,
Roberto Carlos,
Raúl and
David Beckham; a 1–1 draw with Porto, led by coach
José Mourinho; and Marseille, with its superstars
Fabien Barthez and
Didier Drogba, while playing some inspired football in the away match in Madrid (0–1), Marseille (0–3) and Porto (1–2). They are the first Serbian team to qualify for the main draw of this elite European club competition since its inception in 1992. Playing in Europe was reflected in the championship, and Partizan lost the title. New coach
Vladimir Vermezović taken the charge of a team and he superiority won the championship in
2005. Also, he became the only coach who has managed to take the team to the knockout stage of a European competition since new format. That happened in the
2004–05 UEFA Cup, where Partizan reached the
round-of-16. Later on, he was eliminated by CSKA Moscow, the eventual winner of the competition. Poor results in domestic and international competitions in 2006 prompted the club's officials to look for a new head coach. First,
Jürgen Röber was brought in, then later
Miodrag Ješić, though neither succeeded in winning the domestic title. Although Partizan has managed to qualify for the
2006–07 UEFA Cup group stage, that season was viewed as a failure.
Contemporary history (2007–2020) Former Partizan player
Slaviša Jokanović were appointed as Partizan's new head coach, with the club also adding a new sport director in
Ivan Tomić. The club strengthened its squad with some foreigners like
Juca,
Almami Moreira and
Lamine Diarra. The
2007–08 and
2008–09 season will remain as one of the most successful in club's domestic history. In 2008–09, the club successfully defended their league and cup
double from the 2007–08 season, the first time this occurred its history. But in Europe, Partizan suffered a real shock: UEFA expelled Partizan from the
2007–08 UEFA Cup season and fined the club €30,056 due to crowd trouble at their away qualifying match against
Zrinjski Mostar, which forced the match to be interrupted for ten minutes. UEFA judged travelling Partizan fans to have been the culprits of the trouble, but Partizan were allowed to play the return leg while the appeal was being processed. Partizan's appeal, however, was rejected and Zrinjski Mostar qualified for the next round, although Partizan beat them by an aggregate score of 11–1. Next season, the club enforced its squad with
Brazilian striker
Cléo; Partizan demolished Welsh champions
Rhyl with a score of 8–0 (12–0 on aggregate) on 21 July 2009. This score is their largest ever winning margin in European competitions. After relegation from the Champions League, Partizan qualified two times in a row for the second tier of UEFA competition. The
Black & Whites played in the
2008 UEFA Cup and
2009 Europa League group stage but as the same in 2007, the club did not advance any further. Unfortunately, even though a good European season was behind them, the club ended the season trophyless. {{football squad on pitch|align=right – Partizan After Jokanović, the club decided to give a chance to the young coach and former Partizan footballer
Aleksandar Stanojević. He became the youngest head coach in the history of Partizan. Stanojević took over the club in very difficult period and managed to win the championship in
2010, although Partizan was 10 points behind from the 1st placed
Red Star Belgrade. In the 2011, the club won the
double. In UEFA competitions, Partizan qualified for the
2010–11 UEFA Champions League after beating
Anderlecht for the second time. At the Partizan Stadium the result was 2–2. In Brussels at the
Constant Vanden Stock Stadium result was also 2–2. The key man was
Cléo, who scored two goals against the Belgians. After penalty drama, Partizan reached again the UEFA Champions League group stage. Now, the draw for the group phase decided that Partizan will play in group H, alongside
Arsenal,
Shakhtar Donetsk (the winner of the
2008–09 UEFA Cup) and
Sporting Braga (the eventual runner-up of the
2010–11 UEFA Europa League). On the matchday 1, Partizan lost against
Shakhtar on
Donbas Arena in
Donetsk (0–1). Next game Partizan played against
Arsenal at
Partizan Stadium and lost 1–3 after they played inspired football with a 10-man team in the last 30 minutes of the match. In two matches against
Sporting Braga, Partizan failed to score and they lost both games (0–2 in Braga; 0–1 in Belgrade). The last two rounds in the group have also brought inspired football, but unfortunately it wasn't enough so Shakhtar Donetsk and
The Gunners defeated Partizan once again, 0–3 in Belgrade and 1–3 at the
Emirates Stadium. In the following season, the elimination during the
2012 Europa League qualifying stage, didn't affect the club in national championship, but after the half-season, Stanojević was released. Partizan then signed former
Chelsea manager
Avram Grant, who was able to preserve the lead from the half-season. He led Partizan to their fifth consecutive league title but lost three times against fierce rivals
Red Star. Grant resigned Following the victory in the eternal derby and in pre-last round, Rašović secured a sixth consecutive title, a total of 25th in history of the club. As a champion of the Serbian SuperLiga for
2012–13 season, Partizan managed to equalize a national record by the number of championship titles won. Without a single trophy and group stage of some European competition, the
season was the worst in last ten years. After a year of absence from the European scene, Partizan entered at the
2014–15 UEFA Europa League by beating
Neftchi total score 5–3 (3–2 at home and 1–2 away). Partizan is after the draw, placed in Group C with
Tottenham Hotspur,
Beşiktaş and
Asteras Tripolis. Partizan began the Europa League in excellent form and remained undefeated against the English giant Tottenham, but in the next four games, the club were defeated. The
2014–15 season was a successful for Partizan, winning the Serbian championship and securing passage to the group stage of the Europa League. After falling out of the play–off for the Champions League in the summer of 2015, Partizan has directly entered the
2015–16 UEFA Europa League. The club was placed in Group L alongside
Athletic Bilbao,
AZ Alkmaar and
FC Augsburg. Partizan made three victories in group stage (3–2 at home and 2–1 in away against AZ and 3–1 in Augsburg against same team), but he failed to get in Round of 32. Partizan failed to defend the title, but won
Serbian Cup after five years, without conceding goal. Partizan is first team who managed to win the Serbian Cup without conceding goal in history. A few days after the sixth double in club history (on the
2016–17 season), coach Nikolić left the club and signed with Hungarian club
Videoton. A couple days after Nikolić's departure,
Miroslav Đukić returned to Partizan. In the second qualifying round for the
2017-18 UEFA Champions League, Partizan eliminated
Budućnost Podgorica (2–0 on aggregate), but in the third round they were eliminated by
Olympiacos (3–5 on aggregate). In the play-off round for
2017–18 UEFA Europa League, Partizan played against Videoton and ex coach Marko Nikolić. After a 0–0 draw in Belgrade, Partizan defeated Videoton 4–0 in
Felcsút and reached the group stage, where they were drawn in
UEFA Europa League's Group B alongside
Dynamo Kyiv,
Young Boys and
Skënderbeu Korçë. Partizan drawn 1–1 with
Young Boys in the first match of Group B. Partizan later played against
Dynamo Kyiv; after leading 2–0 at half-time, they lost 3–2. The next two Partizan matches were against
Skënderbeu Korçë; in
Korçë, they drew 0–0, and then won 2–0 in
Belgrade. Partizan then beat Young Boys 2–1 at home, and secured a place on the knock-out stage. In the last match of the group, Partizan lost 4–1 to Dynamo Kyiv in Kyiv, although they were already qualified. Partizan ranked second in the group with eight points (two more than Young Boys and five less than Dynamo Kyiv). In the round of 32, Partizan played against
Viktoria Plzeň; in Belgrade, they took the lead, but then conceded a late goal, which came from an offside position, thus ending the match with a 1–1 draw. In
Plzeň, Viktoria won 2–0, and Partizan were eliminated from
UEFA Europa League at the round of 32. The result was 3–1 for Viktoria on aggregate. At the start of 2019–20 season squad was strengthened with Israeli international
Bibras Natcho, Japanese international
Takuma Asano and talented Nigerian striker
Umar Sadiq. In July and August 2019, Partizan secured their ninth participation in the group stage of
UEFA Europa League. Under
Savo Milošević's leadership, Partizan knocked out
Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. (1–0 and 3–0),
Yeni Malatyaspor (3–1 and 0–1) and
Molde FK(2–1 and 1–1) in the qualifiers. On 30 August, Partizan was drawn on Group L of the
2019-20 UEFA Europa League alongside
Manchester United,
FC Astana and AZ Alkmaar. On 19 September, Partizan opened the group stage campaign with a 2–2 home draw against AZ. Due to
UEFA sanctions, this game was played
behind closed doors with only U15s allowed to attend – official attendance at the game was 22,564. Partizan beat Astana (2–1 away) on matchday 2, but lost the two following games against Manchester United (0–1 in
Belgrade and 3–0 in
Manchester). They still managed to draw in
Alkmaar against AZ (2–2) and beat Astana 4–1 at home on the last two games of the group. However, this was not enough to get through as they finished third in the group just one point behind AZ. In the
SuperLiga, Partizan won second place with 14 points less than Red Star. In the
Serbian Cup, Partizan defeated Red Star in the semi-finals with a score of 1–0 after the 58-th minute goal by
Bibras Natcho. In the final at the
Čair Stadium in
Niš, they met
Vojvodina. After the regular time, it was 2–2, as Partizan equalized in the last moments of the match with a spectacular goal by
Strahinja Pavlović. However, Vojvodina was better after the penalty shootout with 4–2, so after a long time, Partizan finished the season without a trophy.
The third decade of the 21st century The third decade, a new challenge Partizan debuted in the inaugural season of the newly formed competition
UEFA Europa Conference League 2021–22. In Second qualifying round Partizan knocked out
DAC Dunajská Streda (1–0 and 2–0). The draw for the third qualifying round decided that Partizan would face
Sochi. In the first leg played on
Fisht Olympic Stadium result was 1–1, in the return leg in Belgrade the two sides once more played a draw this time it was 2–2. Because of the new rule that away goals no longer count after thirty minutes of extra time the match went into penalties which Partizan won 4–2. The last opponent in the qualifying Play-off round was Portuguese
Santa Clara, Partizan lost 2–1 in the first game in
Ponta Delgada but won 2–0 at home and thus advanced to Group stage. Partizan was placed in
Group B together with
Gent,
Anorthosis Famagusta and
Flora. The Serbian team finished second in the group with eight points and secured a place in
knockout phase. After the draws in
Nyon, Sparta Prague was chosen as Partizan's next opponent, this was the first meeting between the two clubs since 1966. In the first game played on February 17, 2022, Partizan won 1–0 at
Stadion Letná with a goal by
Queensy Menig. Fantastic ball by
Saša Zdjelar. He employed Menig, who escaped the defense and brilliantly lobbed
Dominik Holec. In the second leg a week later, Partizan won 2–1 with two goals by
Ricardo. And after seventeen years, Partizan reached the Round of 16 in some UEFA competition. In the round of 16, Partizan suffered a heavy defeat against
Feyenoord 2–5 and 1–3, who ended up playing in the finals against
Roma. In the
2021–22 Serbian SuperLiga season, Partizan finished second to Red Star after leading for most of the season. As a result, Aleksandar Stanojević resigned after two seasons without winning the domestic title. The following
2022–23 season, Partizan finished 4th in the Serbian Superliga, which happened for the first time since
1990. As many as three coaches were changed (
Ilija Stolica,
Gordan Petrić,
Igor Duljaj), but the results got worse and worse, until The Black & Whites fell to fourth place in a series of desperate results, which started with the unexpected elimination from
Sheriff Tiraspol in the
knockout phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League. After the club's worst season in the 21st century, Partizan went through a complete squad reconstruction for the
2023–24 season. The club signed eleven new players among others (
Aleksandar Jovanović,
Matheus Saldanha,
Ghayas Zahid and
Xander Severina). In the Europa Conference League qualifiers, they played against Azerbaijani team
Sabah in the third round. In the first game, Sabah won 2–0, while in the second game, Partizan managed to make up for the deficit from the first game, scoring two goals in regular time, and then secured a place in the play-off round after penalties. Partizan was eliminated in the play-off round by the Danish
Nordsjælland, after losing both games (0–1 at home and 0–5 away). They finished the season in second place in the Serbian SuperLiga, while in the national cup, they reached the semi-finals, where they were defeated by Red Star. Partizan began their European journey in the 2024/25 season in the second qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League against Dynamo Kyiv. In the first game, played on 23 July 2024 in
Lublin, Partizan was defeated 6–2. In the return game, played on July 31 in Belgrade, Partizan lost 3–0, losing with an aggregate score of 9–2. The team then continued their participation in the Europa League qualifiers in the third round against Swiss club
Lugano. The first game, played in Belgrade on August 8, 2024, ended with a 1–0 victory for Lugano. In the second leg in
Lugano on August 15, the match ended 2–2 after extra time, and Partizan was eliminated with a 3–2 aggregate score.
New Wave - 80th birthday - Babies 3.0 Under new interim administration appointed on 22 October 2024 and confirmed on 2 June 2025, Partizan embarked on a comprehensive club rebuild project. Austerity measures and budget restrictions have been coupled with major rejuvenation of the squad, under the helm of new Head Coach
Srđan Blagojević (appointed on 1 January 2025). Partizan started season 2025 / 2026 and the European campaign with the youngest team in club and Serbian football history According to CIES audit, Partizan sits among the European clubs with the highest percentage (49%) of first-team minutes by players aged 21 and under. One of the upcoming youngsters, Partizan's 3rd captain
Ognjen Ugrešić recorded his Serbia debut in
Andorra on 14 October 2025, while
Milan Roganović and
Andrej Kostić collected their first senior caps for
Montenegro. Despite winning 4 and losing 2 games in UEFA qualifiers, Partizan's young team failed to qualify into the league stage of
UEFA Conference League. Nonetheless, Srđan's Babies or Partizan Babies 3.0 have inspired the fans, boosted season-ticket sales and contributed to Partizan claiming the highest attendance in
UEFA Europa League 1st qualifying round and 2nd highest average gate among all clubs in former Yugoslavia. FK Partizan marked the 80th club anniversary on 4 October 2025 with a
punk rock concert, organised at the stadium ahead of the league game against
Vojvodina Novi Sad. == Crest and colours ==