Pre-independence (1921–1992) Željezničar was formed by a group of railway workers. During the early 20th century, there were several football clubs in
Sarajevo. They were rich and usually backed by various organizations, most of them on an ethnic basis:
Bosnian Muslims,
Bosnian Serbs,
Bosnian Croats,
Bosnian Jews, unlike Željezničar. Since it was a financially poor club, they used to organize dance nights and all the profits made were later used to buy shoes and balls. Financial problems were not the only ones. The club's embrace of members of all ethnic backgrounds was seen as a threat by many at the time, so Željezničar was suppressed in various ways. Despite that, the club managed to survive, and even beat wealthier clubs. The first official match, a friendly, was played at Kovačići, a Sarajevo settlement, on 17 September 1921 against
SAŠK Napredak which resulted in a 5–1 defeat. The next day another game was played, a 2–1 loss against Sarajevski ŠK. In 1941,
World War II came to Sarajevo, and all football activity was stopped. Many footballers were members of the resistance troops, and some of them were killed. After the war, Željo was reborn, and in 1946, it won the
Bosnian Republic championship which was one of the 7 regional leagues formed in order to provide participants to the restored Yugoslav championship starting next season. As winners, Željezničar became one of the Bosnian representatives in the
Yugoslav top-flight. Soon after, the Sarajevo citizens formed a new club called
FK Sarajevo, the club that has remained a major annoyance to Željezničar's fans (known as
The Maniacs) until today. That had an influence on the club, so it needed several years to come back to the first division. For most of the time, Željezničar played in the top level. It was relegated four times (the last time in the
1976–77 season), but every time (except the first time in 1947) it returned quickly.
Planinić affair reached
1984–85 UEFA Cup semi-finals as manager of Željezničar. Father of
Amar Osim In 1964, the
Football Association of Yugoslavia found Željezničar guilty for match fixing. Alongside Željezničar,
Hajduk Split and
Trešnjevka were found guilty and were ejected from the First Yugoslav League. Among others, Željezničar players
Ivica Osim and
Mišo Smajlović were banned from football for one year, and executives from Željezničar including then club president Nusret Mahić were banned from football for life. After a month it was decided that the clubs will stay in the league but points will be deducted, six from Željezničar and five from Hajduk and Trešnjevka each.
UEFA Cup 1971–72 quarter-finalists The club first appeared in European competitions during the 1963
Mitropa Cup, however serious competitions had to wait until the early 1970s when the team finished the
1970–71 Yugoslav First League season in 2nd place, a result which allowed the club to play in the
1971–72 UEFA Cup where they made the
quarter-finals on their very first appearance losing to
Ferencvárosi in a penalty shootout.
1971–72 Yugoslav champions 1971–72 Yugoslav First League table (top 5 only): Željezničar's greatest
domestic success at the time came in the
1971–72 season when the team won the
championship title, their only top-tier title in the
Yugoslav period, which qualified the club for the
European Cup during the
1972–73 season where they were eliminated in the first round by
Derby County. Željezničar also finished in third place in the top-tier league on
two occasions in a league
traditionally dominated by the big four clubs (
Red Star Belgrade,
Partizan, Hajduk Split and
Dinamo Zagreb).
1980–81 Marshal Tito Cup finalists scored twice in the
1980–81 Yugoslav Cup final. Former
Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team manager In the 1980–81 season, Željezničar reached the
Yugoslav cup final (
Marshal Tito Cup), but lost 2–3 to another Bosnian side
Velež Mostar with both
Mehmed Baždarević and
Vahid Halilhodžić scoring a brace for their respective teams. The venue for the final was the
Red Star Stadium in
Belgrade played in front of 40,000 fans. That season, Željezničar finished the
1980–81 Yugoslav First League in a disappointing 14th position which meant the club did not play in Europe even though it made the Yugoslav Cup final.
UEFA Cup 1984–85 semi-finalists Željezničar's best international result was recorded in the 1984–85 season. The team, led by manager
Ivica Osim, reached the
semi-finals of the UEFA Cup (renamed to UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season) where they were eliminated by
Hungarian team
Videoton. Željezničar finished the domestic championship in
third place in the season before, qualifying them for the competition. Željezničar appeared to have had the result at home, leading 2–0 (3–3 on aggregate) against the Hungarians that would send them into a final against Spanish club
Real Madrid on the away goals rule; however, two minutes from full-time Videoton scored a crucial goal, eliminating the home side 4–3 on aggregate.
Edin Bahtić finished the competition as second-top scorer with 7 goals, one short of
József Szabó. Prior to this success, the team played the quarter-final stage of the
inaugural year of the UEFA Cup competition.
Post-independence (1992–present) After the
independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
war broke out and football stopped. The game between Željezničar and
FK Rad scheduled to be played on 5 April 1992 at
Stadion Grbavica as part of Round 26 of the
1991–92 Yugoslav First League was abandoned 35 minutes (14:55 p.m. local time) before kick-off due to
gunfire around the stadium, a result of the
first attack on Sarajevo. Ultimately, the club's final completed match in the Yugoslav Championship was a 6–1 defeat on 29 March 1992 in Belgrade against
Partizan. Players like
Mario Stanić,
Rade Bogdanović,
Gordan Vidović,
Suvad Katana and many others had days earlier went abroad to escape the horror of war, leaving it up to
junior players to play out remaining rounds of the championships. However, all of Željezničar's matches in the 2nd half of the 1991–92 season were declared void due to rule, as the club could not play out remaining matches due to the ensuing war. In 25 (out of possible 33) rounds completed, the club collected 6 wins, 4 draws and 15 losses, with a 22:42 goal difference. The stadium was right on the front lines, and on 7 May 1992, the western side was destroyed along with
SD Željezničar premises near by, They continued their journey in the
UEFA Cup, losing to
Málaga due to a penalty they scored in the second leg. Željezničar finished as runners-up both seasons after Amar Osim's departure. After they secured qualification for the
2005–06 UEFA Cup through their league position, they failed to get a licence for European competition, missing out on substantial financial gain from UEFA. This led to many problems for the club, and over the next four seasons Željezničar struggled in the middle of the league. As the best Bosnian club, the club played in European cups every year. The best result (for Bosnian club football as well since independence) came in 2002, when Željezničar reached the third qualifying round of the
UEFA Champions League, having eliminated
Akraness and
Lillestrøm in previous rounds to get there.
Sir Bobby Robson's Newcastle United, captained by
Alan Shearer, were too strong, winning 5–0 on aggregate when
Sanel Jahić received a red card in the 69th minute of the reverse leg at
St James' Park. The game was held at
Koševo Stadium in front of 36,000 fans from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to this day is among the best attended games in Bosnian club football history, although short of a match at the same stadium between the
Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team's
2–1 friendly win over
Italy in November 1996, which was attended by 40,000. Newcastle United reached the second group stage of the tournament later on in the season. The club, as result of losing to Newcastle United, entered the UEFA Cup first round, but lost to Málaga who were an eventual quarter-finalist.
2010s: Three-time league champions With the return of Amar Osim in the summer of 2009, Željezničar once more claimed the title in the
2009–10 season, but failed to take the double as they lost in the final of the
2009–10 Bosnian cup to
Borac Banja Luka on away goals, while remaining undefeated. In the following
2010–11 season, the club failed to defend their Premier League title, finishing third. However, Željezničar managed to win the
national cup instead, their fourth, against
Čelik Zenica. During the
2011–12 season, they brought back the league title to Grbavica, their sixth domestic league title, three rounds before the end of the season, breaking many records on the way (run of 35 games without loss; 12 straight league wins; 3 seasons in Bosnian Cup competition without loss). Željezničar also won the
2011–12 Bosnian cup, claiming their second double in their history, both won under the managing of Amar Osim. As a result, Amar Osim became the most successful manager in terms of trophies won since the creation of the club, with nine. The club was for a long time undefeated in the
Bosnian Cup matches since the first round of the
2008–09 Bosnian Cup season, having won two Cup finals and losing one on aggregate since the 2008–09 season. During the 2010–11 season, Željezničar won their fourth cup title. They advanced to the final beating
Široki Brijeg on 3–0 aggregate. In the final they clash with rivals from the former Yugoslav League, Čelik Zenica. The first game was played at Grbavica Stadium which finished 1–0 in favor of the home team. The second game was played at
Bilino Polje Stadium which Željezničar won 3–0 and won 4–0 on aggregate. That concluded Željezničar's season in which they were automatically gave to compete in the
UEFA Europa League. Željezničar were able to celebrate their 90th birthday with a trophy. In the
2011–12 season, Željezničar won their 6th title in the team's existence. They won the title with three rounds left in the competition. They repeated the successful campaign in cup competition also when they won the title with 1–0 on aggregate against Široki Brijeg. That was the first double for any club since unified
Bosnia and Herzegovina football competitions started in 2002–03 season. In the
2012–13 season, Željezničar won their 7th title in the club's history, 6th Bosnian one, once again under the guidance of Amar Osim. Between 2013 and 2018, Željezničar was trophyless, despite finishing 2nd on three occasions. The trophy drought ended in May 2018, as the club won the
2017–18 Bosnian Cup under the guidance of manager
Admir Adžem. Following a string of poor results, manager
Milomir Odović resigned in October 2018. On 31 December 2018, Amar Osim returned for a second time to manage the club, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract with the club.
2020s: 100 years of the club and partial decline for the 100 years of Željezničar during a league game against
Velež Mostar, 18 September 2021 The
2019–20 Bosnian Premier League season ended abruptly on 1 June 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Željezničar having to settle with a second spot finish on table. City rivals
Sarajevo won the title even though Željezničar won six points from two
derby matches played during the league season. In the
2019–20 Bosnian Cup, they finished at the semi-final stage as the competition was also cancelled due to the pandemic. The club started the
2020–21 season strongly, winning their four opening matches, however their run in the
2020–21 UEFA Europa League was affected due to the pandemic. The first qualifying round match between
Maccabi Haifa, originally scheduled to be played on 27 August 2020 was postponed due to five members from Željezničar's delegation testing positive for COVID-19 and the whole team being put into quarantine by the
Israeli authorities. Originally six players earlier tested positive and did not travel, being left in Sarajevo. The team returned to Sarajevo before UEFA made a decision to finally play the match on 9 September at
Sammy Ofer Stadium in
Haifa. Željezničar traveled again but lost 3–1 (thus eliminated after revised rules due to the pandemic) after being in quarantine 9 days prior with little to no training and no competitive matches since a shock loss at home to
Mladost Doboj Kakanj in the 5th round on 21 August of the
2020–21 Bosnian Premier League season. During an eight-game winless run in the league, which had culminated with a home draw against Mladost Doboj Kakanj, Amar Osim was sacked by the club on 11 April 2021. Following lackluster showings and mid-table finishes in the 2020–21 and
2021–22 seasons, Željezničar qualified for the
2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers in the
2022–23 season. The
2023–24 season was the club's most unsuccessful one in its post-war history, as it ended up in an unexpected relegation battle.
Dino Đurbuzović was appointed as Željezničar's caretaker manager in April 2024, and helped the side avoid relegation with three games remaining. The
2024–25 season turned out to be far better for the club, as Željezničar finished in fourth, winning its biggest amount of points in over ten years and securing a spot in the
2025–26 UEFA Conference League qualifying phase. However, it also marked yet another trophyless season, with the club reaching the
2024–25 Bosnian Cup semi-finals, before getting eliminated by Široki Brijeg. In December 2025, Bosnian‑American businessman Sanin Mirvić joined Željezničar as its strategic partner and financial investor. ==Stadium==