Origins Founded in 1945, FK Spartak Subotica is the second most successful club in northern Serbia after
Vojvodina. They participated in the first postwar club competition, the
1946–47 Yugoslav First League, and from then on were relegated to the second league then promoted again to the first league in a persistent cycle. Their biggest success was reaching the 1993–94 FR Yugoslavia Cup final against
Partizan which they lost 1-6. However, football in Subotica has long tradition. During the pre-WWII period, the city was the seat of the Subotica Football Subassociation, one of the subassociations which existed within the Yugoslav Football Association, and which organised league competitions whose winners qualified for the Yugoslav championship where the national champion was decided. Subotica was home to three major clubs that made it to the Yugoslav championship before 1941:
Bačka,
SAND and
ŽAK Subotica. Bačka has the distinction of being the oldest football club in the entire territory of former Yugoslavia. During World War Two, when Subotica was invaded by Axis forces in 1941 and incorporated into Hungary, its football clubs were likewise absorbed into the Hungarian league system. At the end of the war Yugoslavia regained control of Subotica. Some clubs such as SAND were dissolved; others, like Bačka, continued, but at a much lower level; and some new ones were formed, such as Radnički and Građanski. ŽAK Subotica remained active until their main sponsor,
Yugoslav Railways, dissolved it to form a new club named "Spartak", the nickname of a legendary athlete from Subotica,
Jovan Mikić who, during the war, was a
Partisan commander. Besides the players, the stadium, the team colours and the fans, Spartak also inherited from ŽAK the backing of the Yugoslav Railways.
1946 to 2006 During the period of socialist Yugoslavia, Spartak played in either the
Yugoslav First or
Second league. Although they never won the national championship, they produced good home grown players who succeeded domestically and abroad, brought in talented players from other regions of Yugoslavia, and contributed a number of players to the national team. During this period, the highlight was their appearance in the
1961–62 Yugoslav Cup, even though they lost. Spartak was a finalist again in
1994. By then the old
SFR Yugoslavia had broken up after which Serbia and Montenegro established
FR Yugoslavia. Spartak was a regular participant of the
First League of FR Yugoslavia until the
1999–2000 season when they were relegated and a period of decline began which lasted until 2008 when they merged with
FK Zlatibor Voda from neighbouring town of
Horgoš. Playing under the name FK Spartak Zlatibor Voda, the club was promoted to the
2009–10 Serbian SuperLiga.
2006 till nowadays Spartak's biggest success since the establishment of Serbia in 2006, came in the
2018–19 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. They first defeated Northern Irish club
Coleraine F.C. in Round 1, then went on to achieve what is considered their brightest moment in club history, defeating Czech powerhouse
AC Sparta Prague. They were eventually eliminated from the UEFA Europa League in the 3rd qualifying round, losing to Danish club
Brøndby IF over two legs. ==Supporters==