Yugoslav years (1945–1991) In 1945, ŠD Tabor and ŠD Udarnik sports clubs merged and formed a new club called NK Enotnost, together with the players of the former
SK Ljubljana. After finishing the first half of the season in second place three points behind
Maribor, Olimpija had a string of good results after the winter break and ended the season with eleven consecutive wins which brought them their first Slovenian League title. The team for their final match included
Robert Englaro,
Aleš Čeh,
Dejan Djuranovič and
Sandi Valentinčič, and was coached by Lučjo Pertič.
Financial difficulties and dissolution (2003–2005) In the 2003–04 UEFA Cup Olimpija beat Irish side
Shelbourne in the qualifying round 4–2 on aggregate. In the next round they met
Liverpool, and took the lead through captain
Anton Žlogar's goal, the first leg at
Bežigrad Stadium ending in a 1–1 draw as
Michael Owen scored an eqaliser 12 minutes from time. Olimpija's last European season was then cut short as they were soundly beaten 3–0 through goals by
Anthony Le Tallec,
Emile Heskey and
Harry Kewell in the away leg at
Anfield. Olimpija had a string of mixed results for the remainder of the season, getting knocked out in the round of 16 of the
2003–04 Slovenian Cup and finishing runners-up in the
2003–04 Slovenian PrvaLiga. However, most sponsors (including Schollmayer) decided to abandon the club at the end of the season which led to serious financial difficulties for the club. Following Schollmayer's exit, Olimpija were forced to sell almost all of their players. Although the club had started competing in the
2004–05 championship, the club had struggled on the pitch and failed to obtain competition licences issued by the
Football Association of Slovenia, which led to its dissolution. filed for bankruptcy in the middle of the 2004–05 season. In 2005, a successor club was established under the name
NK Bežigrad, and currently competes in the Slovenian top flight under the name Olimpija Ljubljana. However, some English-language sources regard the current Olimpija club as a continuation of the original club.
Claimed connection to Ilirija and the year 1911 Amid political turmoil in the early 1990s, during the
breakup of Yugoslavia, Olimpija began claiming direct lineage to
Ilirija, an association football club established in 1911.
Name changes • NK Enotnost (1945–1948; founded as a merger of the newly established ŠD Tabor and ŠD Udarnik sports clubs and joined by former SK Ljubljana players) • NK Odred (1948–1961) • NK Triglav (1961–1962) • NK Olimpija (1962–2005) ==Honours==