NK Celje

The club was formed in 1919 as SK Celje. In 2003, Celje was in a title race with Maribor until the last two rounds, but in the end finished second and also lost the Slovenian cup final against Olimpija during the same season. Two years later, in 2005, the club reached the final for the fourth time and this time they finally lifted their first trophy, defeating Gorica 1–0 in front of their own fans at the Arena Petrol. Celje were also in the finals the next year, but lost to Koper after a penalty shoot-out. In early 2007, they dropped Publikum from their name. In 2020, Celje won its first Slovenian league title after winning the 2019–20 Slovenian PrvaLiga season. After struggling in the following two seasons, they managed to finish second in 2022–23, before once again winning the league title in the 2023–24 season. As champions, Celje managed to reach the league phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League, their first ever appearance in the main stage of any European competition. After a moderate performance in the league phase, they reached the quarter-finals of the competition, a feat achieved for the first time by any Slovenian club in a major European club contest. In the same season, the club won the 2024–25 Slovenian Cup with a 4–0 win over Koper in the final. This granted Celje a spot in the qualifying stage of the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League, with the club eventually reaching the league phase of the UEFA Conference League for the second season in a row after eliminating Baník Ostrava in the play-offs. ==Stadium==

For most of its early years, the club played at the Glazija Stadium, and also acquired the Skalna Klet after merging with ŽŠD Celje in 1967. As the Glazija Stadium was demolished in the early 1980s, the club permanently moved to the Skalna Klet. However, the stadium was in poor condition and could not meet UEFA stadium regulations, so the club's officials decided to build a new stadium. In 2003, the main stand of the new Arena Petrol was built. The capacity at the time was 3,600 covered seats. After 2003, three new separate stands were built, and when the last one opened in 2008, the stadium was completed. The current capacity of the stadium is 13,059 seats, of which around 50% are covered. In July 2017, the stadium was renamed to Stadion Z'dežele. ==Current squad==

League • Slovenian First League (since 1991) • Winners (3): 2019–20, 2023–24, 2025–26 • Runners-up (3): 2002–03, 2014–15, 2022–23 • Slovenian Republic League (prior 1991) • Winners (1): 1963–64 • Runners-up (6): 1936–37, 1950, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1970–71, 1973–74 Cup • Slovenian Cup (since 1991) • Winners (2): 2004–05, 2024–25 • Runners-up (9): 1992–93, 1994–95, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2020–21 • Slovenian Republic Cup (prior 1991) • Winners (1): 1964 • MNZ Celje Cup • Runners-up: 1991–92 ==Domestic league and cup results==

;Key • P – Matches played • W – Matches won • D – Matches drawn • L – Matches lost • GF – Goals for • GA – Goals against • Pts – Points ==European record==

''All results (home and away) list Celje's goal tally first.'' ==List of managers==

• Bojan Prašnikar (1989–1991) • Stanko Božičevič (1992) • Janko Benčina (1992) • Janez Zavrl (1993–1994) • Ivan Marković (1994) • Filip Mendaš (1994) • Borut Jarc (1994–1996) • Milovan Tarbuk (1996–1997) • Stanko Poklepović (1997–1998) • Edin Osmanović (1998–1999) • Nikola Ilievski (1999–2000) • Marijan Pušnik (2000–2004) • Ivica Matković (2004–2005) • Marko Pocrnjič (2005) • Nikola Ilievski (2005–2006) • Janez Žilnik (2006) • Pavel Pinni (2007–2008) • Slaviša Stojanović (2008–2009) • Milan Đuričić (2009–2010) • Damijan Romih (2010) • Stane Bevc (2010–2011) • Damijan Romih (2011–2012) • Marijan Pušnik (2012) • Miloš Rus (2013–2014) • Simon Rožman (2014–2015) • Iztok Kapušin (2015–2016) • Robert Pevnik (2016) • Igor Jovićević (2016–2017) • Tomaž Petrovič (2017) • Dušan Kosič (2017–2020) • Jiří Jarošík (2020–2021) • Agron Šalja (2021) • Simon Sešlar (2021) • Simon Rožman (2022) • Roman Pylypchuk (2022–2023) • Albert Riera (2023) • Damir Krznar (2023–2024) • Albert Riera (2024–2026) • Ivan Mayewski (2026) • Vítor Campelos (2026–present) ==References==