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NK Inter Zaprešić

Full name	Nogometni klub Inter Zaprešić
Nickname(s)	Keramičari, Div iz predgrađa
Founded	1929
Ground	Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić (Capacity: 10,000)
Chairman	Branko Laljak
Manager	Borimir Perković
League	Prva HNL
2008–09	Prva HNL, 9th
Home colours Away colours

NK Inter Zaprešić is a Croatian football club based in Zaprešić, a town northwest of the capital Zagreb originally founded in 1929. They play in the Prva HNL after they were promoted from Druga HNL at the end of the 2006–07 season. The team are nicknamed Keramičari ('The ceramics makers', because they were sponsored by a ceramics factory through much of their history) or Div iz predgrađa ('The giant from the suburb'). The team's colours are yellow and blue and they play their home games at Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Name changes 2 Honours 3 Current squad 4 Recent seasons 5 European record 6 Notable players 7 External links 8 References

[edit] History

The club was originally established in 1929 as NK Sava. In 1932 the name was changed to NK Jelačić. After the end of WW2 the club was renamed NK Zaprešić. The club kept that name until 1962, when they were renamed Jugokeramika, after their main sponsor, a local ceramics factory. That same year the club's ground, ŠRC Zaprešić, was built and opened. The club's first notable success came in the 1980s under the tenure of manager Zorislav Srebrić (1984–1989). Up until then the club had spent their entire existence in lower level leagues, but in 1987 they managed to reach the finals of the qualifying playoff for promotion to the Yugoslav Second League (which they lost against Šparta Beli Manastir). In 1987 the east stand of the ground was built, and Jugokeramika's home served as one of the venues for the 1987 Summer Universiade football tournament.

Following Croatia's independence in 1991, Jugokeramika (the factory) changed its name to Inker (an acronym for Industrija keramike, Eng: Ceramics Industry) and the club followed suit, adopting the name Inker Zaprešić. The club participated in the inaugural season of the newly established Croatian championship and finished fourth, but more memorable was their 1992 Croatian Cup win. The team was managed by Ilija Lončarević and notable players of the cup-winning squad included Croatian internationals Ivan Cvjetković, Krunoslav Jurčić and Zvonimir Soldo. Although this meant that Inker had qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA didn't let Croatian clubs to participate in European competitions due to the ongoing war, so Inker missed out on their first ever chance to participate in continental competitions. However, the club holds the distinction of playing the first ever international club match hosted by a Croatian club since Croatian independence, a friendly against Sturm Graz which was held in February 1992, and were also the first Croatian side to play abroad, when they played a friendly against Brighton & Hove Albion in England in the summer of 1991.

In the following years the club's performances rapidly declined and in 1997 they were relegated to Druga HNL, and in 1999 further down to Treća HNL. The year 2000 proved to be a turning point, and in 2001 they bounced back to second level and in 2003 got promoted back to the top-level league after 6 years of absence. In 2003 their main sponsor, Inker the ceramics factory ceased sponsoring the club, so the club was renamed once again, to Inter Zaprešić. In the 2004–05 season they finished runners-up in the league, which is still their record-high finish. The following season Inter finally debuted in Europe, but only to be knocked out by Crvena Zvezda 7–1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup (with Srđan Pecelj scoring Inter's only European goal). Inter's success between 2002 and 2005 was largely helped by players who were loaned from Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb (such as Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka and Eduardo), so Inter's fortunes turned again once they were recalled to Dinamo. They slipped down to second level in 2006, only to return to the first league once again in 2007.

[edit] Name changes

• NK Sava (1929–1932)
• NK Jelačić (1932–1945)
• NK Zaprešić (1945–1962)
• NK Jugokeramika (1962–1991)
• NK Inker (1991–2003)
• NK Inter (2003–present)

[edit] Honours

• Croatian Cup: 1
  

1992

[edit] Current squad

As of 19 November, 2009

No. Position Player 1 GK Matej Delač 2 DF Tomislav Ceraj 3 DF Vinko Buden 4 DF Srđan Pecelj 5 DF Toni Golem 6 DF Damir Krznar 7 MF Mladen Stipković 8 MF Armand Yankep 9 FW Bernard Gulić 10 MF Tomislav Jonjić 11 FW Tomislav Bosec 12 GK Goran Brašnić 13 MF Mario Grgurović 14 DF Josip Barišić 15 MF Miroslav Šarić 16 MF Tomislav Šarić (captain)

No. Position Player 17 MF Silvio Cavrić 18 MF Ante Batarelo 19 FW Luka Kujundžija 20 DF Marijan Budimir 21 DF Hrvoje Jančetić 22 FW Dodo 32 GK Ivan Čović GK Krunoslav Škof DF Saša Balić DF Jurica Kotarski DF Leon Leuštek DF Marko Žigman MF Krešimir Bingula MF Marko Hanžić MF Hrvoje Jurina MF Mislav Oršić

[edit] Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	European competitions		Top goalscorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos				Player	Goals
1992	1.HNL	22	10	6	6	37	19	26	4th	W			Igor Čalo	6
1992–93	1.HNL	30	9	9	12	35	31	27	9th	SF
1993–94	1.HNL	34	17	8	9	48	34	42	4th	R2			Renato Jurčec	11
1994–95	1.HNL	30	11	6	13	41	41	39	7th	R2			Renato Jurčec	20
1995–96	1.HNL	36							13th	QF
1996–97	1.HNL	30	6	3	21	22	65	21	16th	QF
1997–98	2.HNL-Center	32	21	4	7	62	29	67	4th	R1
1998–99	2.HNL	36	3	5	28	25	103	14	19th	R1
1999–2000	3.HNL-Center	28	11	4	13	50	47	37	6th	R1
2000–01	3.HNL-Center	30	22	0	8	88	43	66	2nd	QF
2001–02	2.HNL-South	30	11	8	11	46	40	41	8th	R2
2002–03	2.HNL-South	32	23	3	6	79	30	72	1st	R2
2003–04	1.HNL	32	11	9	12	40	38	42	8th	R1
2004–05	1.HNL	32	15	9	8	44	39	54	2nd	R1			Zoran Zekić	6
2005–06	1.HNL	32	8	7	17	30	53	31	12th	R2	UEFA Cup	QR2	Tomislav Gondžić	6
2006–07	2.HNL	30	21	5	4	60	28	68	1st	QF			Bernard Gulić	19
2007–08	1.HNL	33	8	9	16	27	59	33	11th	QF			Davor Kukec	6
2008–09	1.HNL	33	9	9	15	41	50	36	9th	R2			Ilija Sivonjić	8

Key

League: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; Pts = Points won; Pos = Final position;

Cup / Europe: PR = Preliminary round; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; Group = Group stage; QF = Quarter-final; SF = Semi-final; RU = Runner-up; W = Competition won;

[edit] European record

Season	Competition	Round		Club	Home	Away
2005/06	UEFA Cup	2Q		Red Star Belgrade	1-3	0-4

[edit] Notable players

• Ivan Cvjetković
• Hrvoje Čale
• Vedran Ćorluka
• Eduardo
• Krunoslav Jurčić
• Petar Krpan
• Damir Krznar
• Dejan Lovren
• Mihael Mikić
• Luka Modrić
• Zvonimir Soldo

[edit] External links

• Official website (Croatian)
• UEFA profile

[edit] References

v • d • e Prva HNL · 2009–10 Cibalia · Croatia Sesvete · Dinamo Zagreb · Hajduk Split · Inter Zaprešić · Istra 1961 · Karlovac Lokomotiva · Međimurje · Osijek · Rijeka · Slaven Belupo · Šibenik · Varteks · Zadar · NK Zagreb

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