1914-1918: The founding years
On March 6, 1914, in Novi Sad, a group of students from the Serbian Orthodox Grammar School met in Sava Šijakov's weaving mill, which was located at 12 Temerin Street, and with the help of Serbian intellectuals and craftsmen founded a football club. The club was founded in secret because the former Austro-Hungarian authorities did not allow larger organized gatherings of Serbian youth in the Vojvodina region, which was predominantly inhabited by Serbs. The association was given the name Vojvodina to keep alive the memory of the territorial unity of Serbs in Serbian Vojvodina, where Serbs, at least on paper, were given the same rights as all other citizens in the Habsburg monarchy, for which they had previously fought for centuries. Vojvodina was a kind of Serbian duchy, whose name derived from the Serbian vojvodstvo for army command, or from vojvoda, meaning "the one who leads warriors" or army commander.
Among the founders that day were the future textile industrialist Milenko Šijakov and the future university professor Vladimir Milićević. Milenko Hinić, who later became a chemist, and future lawyers Radenko Rakić and Kamenko Ćirić, as well as Gojko Tosić, Đorđe Živanov, Branko Gospođinački and future doctor of law Kosta Hadži.
The first match in the club's history was against the local club FK Šajkaš in the village of Kovilj, which they won 5-0. Vojvodina played in bright blue colours as well as white shorts, and the team consisted mainly of schoolchildren and students who had come home for the summer holidays from Prague, now the capital of the Czech Republic. In the end, it was to remain with this single game, as the First World War broke out shortly afterwards. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian authorities banned all Serbian organizations and clubs in Novi Sad, and Vojvodina was on the verge of dissolution for the first time.
1918-1941: The Millionaire Team
During the First World War, the sport came to a standstill, but after the liberation of the Vojvodina region by the armed forces of Serbia, the work in the club was resumed on the initiative of Serbian students from Prague. Milenko Šijakov was chosen as the first president of the club, the son of the owner of the weaving mill Sava Šijakov, the place of the meeting where Vojvodina was founded before. Doctor Živko Bajazet, the long-time president of the Commercial Bank of Serbia as well as a member of the Sokol gymnastic movement, was to become the first secretary of the association. Vojvodina was financed exclusively by membership fees and by generous donations such as from Maks Grin and Daka Popović, the Novaković brothers, Ilija Balabušić and by members of the Dunđerski family.
Some of the Vojvodina players and management who studied in Prague were also members of Slavia Prague. The Czech club supported Vojvodina in the difficult times before and during the First World War and contributed to the club's development. In 1920, the first set of red and white jerseys was brought from Prague to Novi Sad. During the club meeting on 23 July 1922, it was decided that in honour of Slavia Prague, the red and white colours of the jerseys would become the official club colours. The club logo was also partially derived from Slavia Prague's logo, where, however, the red star of the Czech team was replaced with the blue star, so that Vojvodina's logo would have all the colours of the Serbian flag. On 28 June 1924, on Vidovdan, a Serbian commemorative holiday, the Karađorđe stadium was opened jointly with the Jewish football club Juda Makabi. Until then, both clubs played in the stadium of the Hungarian football club UTK. It was named after the leader of the first Serbian uprising against the Ottoman occupation in the 19th century Đorđe Petrović, called Karađorđe. The first coach as well as technical director and chief organizer of Vojvodina became doctor of law Kosta Hadži, one of the founders and the most important person of the club, as well as the founder of the Football Association of Novi Sad.
Under his leadership, Vojvodina won the Novi Sad regional league in 1926, the first title in the club's history. Vojvodina was the first club to offer professional contracts to players and to sign players from abroad, such as Czech Josef Čapek and Hungarians Sándor Dudás and Abraham Saraz. One of the best and most influential Vojvodina players at the time was striker Dušan Marković, who played for the club from 1921 to 1935. In the late 1930s, Vojvodina started signing numerous players who later became known as the Millionaires or the Millionaire Team. One of the most famous among them was Jožef Velker, who became one of the most important players of the club. In 1932, 1934 and 1935, as well as from 1937 to 1940, the Millionaires won the Novi Sad league. Since then Vojvodina had a serious claim to winning the first Yugoslav league. During the 1940-41 season, Vojvodina played for the title, but the final stage of the championship was interrupted because, without any prior declaration of war or ultimatum, on 6 April 1941 the armies of Nazi Germany and its allies Italy and Hungary attacked the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which eventually led to the mobilization of the Yugoslav armed forces and made the continuation of the competition impossible.
1941-1944: Tragedy during the Second World War
During the Second World War, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded, occupied and partitioned by the Axis powers in 1941. Parts of northern Serbia, or what is now AP Vojvodina, fell to Croatia, under the rule of the fascist Ustaša movement under Ante Pavelić, to the Kingdom of Hungary, including Novi Sad, or were under German administration. One of the first decisions of the Hungarian occupiers was to ban FK Vojvodina and confiscate its property.
Large parts of the club's archives were destroyed by the new authorities and most of the trophies won up to that point were lost forever as a result. The occupation was accompanied by severe attacks against the local civilian population. Numerous Serbs, Jews, Roma as well as civilians of other ethnicities were massacred or murdered, including women, children and the elderly, deported to concentration camps, e.g. to the Šarvar concentration camp, or expelled from their homes.
Among those affected were also numerous members of the association. These war crimes provoked or encouraged the resistance of the population in the occupied territories. Numerous citizens from all ethnic groups - mainly Serbs, but also some anti-fascist and pro-Serb local Hungarians, Slovaks and others - joined the resistance against Nazism and fought together against the fascist occupation of their homeland, among them also numerous members and players of the club.
The year 1942 was particularly tragic, when the infamous raid in Novi Sad took place. In a single action by Hungarian troops, over 4000 local Serbs, Jews and Roma were murdered. The Novi Sad massacre under General Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeydner claimed the most victims when the Hungarian commander had 1246 civilians shot from January 21-23. Likewise, several hundred civilians were thrown under the ice of the frozen Danube and drowned. During this period, almost the entire Vojvodina team, including Božidar Petrović, brothers Milan and Pera Simin, Dušana Šućov, Svetozar Džanić, Milan Stoja, Živko Brzak and Radovan Bozin, as well as numerous club officials and supporters perished. Today, a sculpture cast in bronze in the Petrovaradin district, depicting a man, a woman and a child, commemorates the horrific act. Behind it are plaques engraved with the names of the identified victims in Serbian and Hebrew script.
1944-1962: The Golden Generation
After the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army entered Novi Sad at the end of 1944, the entire reorganization of sporting life slowly began. An orderly game operation was at first not to think of. Vojvodina had lost almost its entire team, as well as numerous club members and fans. Nevertheless, the surviving club members, players and the remaining board, led by Kosta Hadži, Đuro Živić, Branko Milovanović and Aleksandar Kanazir, initiated the resumption of play shortly after the liberation. However, on 24 July 1946, the new communist authorities decided to merge three clubs from Novi Sad: FK Vojvodina, FK Slavija and FK Radnički under the new name FK Sloga. This decision met with much resistance from the population, who continued to call the club Vojvodina. The club initially played in the second division until 1948, when it achieved promotion to the 1st Yugoslav League. In 1950, after long resistance from fans, the club was renamed Vojvodina again. In 1951 Vojvodina reached the Yugoslav Cup final for the first time.
This was the beginning of the so-called Golden Generation, which became known for its technical football. Throughout the 1950s Vojvodina regularly found themselves in the top half of the table. In 1953 they finished fourth, in 1957 they won the vice-championship, and in 1959 they finished third, establishing themselves long-term in the top flight of Yugoslav football. Vojvodina also performed well on the international stage, reaching the Mitropa Cup final in 1957 and the semi-finals two years later. In the 1961/62 Fairs Cup, the precursor to the UEFA Cup, Vojvodina reached the quarter-finals after victories over AC Milan and Iraklis Thessaloniki. Among the club's best-known players during this period were Vujadin Boškov, Todor Veselinović and Zdravko Rajkov. Vojovidna's future coach, striker Todor Veselinović, was the club's top scorer in the Yugoslav league on four occasions, from 1956 to 1958 and in 1961, a generation that also included future Bundesliga player Stevan Bena.
1962-1968: The first championship title
Vojvodina finished runners-up in 1962, but the club's results deteriorated in the years that followed and they were even threatened with relegation. However, 1964 marked a turning point when Vujadin Boškov took over as technical director and Branko Stanković as coach. Vujadin Boškov modernised the club by improving the infrastructure and building a sports centre, as well as organising a scouting network. Thus, the club management around president Arsa Kovačević was able to offer all the necessary conditions that a successful season required. Branko Stanković changed the style of play and shifted the focus to discipline and running. The only player who had a free hand was Silvester Takač, one of the best players of that generation. Eventually, Vojvodina became Yugoslav champions for the first time in 1966. Members of this generation included Žarko Nikolić and Đorđe Pavlić.
In the following season Vojvodina achieved good results on the international stage. In the first round of the 1966/67 European Champion Clubs' Cup, they defeated SK Admira Vienna with a goal from Silvester Takač. In the second round they played against Atlético Madrid. Vojvodina won the first leg 3-1 in Novi Sad with goals from Silvester Takač, Ilija Pantelić and Ivica Brzić, while Atlético legend Luis Aragonés scored for the Spaniards. In the second leg, Atlético Madrid won 2-0, which eventually led to an aggregate score of 3-3. Under the rules at the time, a third game had to be played. Hoping to gain an advantage, the Spanish suggested that the decisive match be played again at the Estadio Vicente Calderón, and to compensate they offered financial compensation. Vojvodina were to receive $50,000, as well as another $1,000 for each player, and accommodation and airfare would also be covered by Atlético Madrid.
Aware of the risk and believing in their own strength, Vojvodina's management accepted the proposal, but the decision was met with strong incomprehension at home. In the end, Vojvodina won the deciding match 3:2 after extra time thanks to a goal by Silvester Takač. In the following winter transfer period, Vojvodina sold their goal-scorer to Stade Rennais in order to finance the planned purchase of new floodlights. This proved to be a bad decision, however, as Takač was irreplaceable.
In the quarter-finals, Vojvodina played top Scottish side Celtic Glasgow. Vojvodina won the first leg 1-0, but in Glasgow they were eliminated 2-0 by a stoppage-time goal from Celtic captain Billy McNeill. In the end, Celtic Glasgow also ended up winning the European Champions Cup and Celtic players said afterwards that Vojvodina were the best team they had played that season. In fact, Celtic only lost to Vojvodina during that season.
Vojvodina finished the 1966/67 season in fourth place and qualified for the 1967/68 Fairs Cup. After wins over GD Fabril from Portugal, 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig, as well as Göztepe Izmir, they again reached the quarter-finals of a European Cup, but were eliminated there against FC Bologna. On 22 April 1968, Vojvodina, as well as the Yugoslav national team, tragically lost one of their players. Stevan Nešticki died in a car accident in Novi Sad. He was only 28 years old. In his honour, a local football tournament and a street in Novi Sad bear his name.
1968-1977: International successes
In the 1971/72 season, Vojvodina finished fourth in the table and failed to qualify for the UEFA Cup. The club spent the next two seasons in the bottom half of the table. In 1974 Todor Veselinović was hired as the new coach and successor of Gojko Zec. The new coach had immediate success with the club. In the 1974/75 season, Vojvodina secured the runner-up championship and participation in the 1975/76 UEFA Cup. In 1976, Vojvodina won the Intertoto Cup, their first European Cup. In 1977, the Red and Whites won their second European title, the Mitropa Cup, after victories over AC Florence, Sparta Prague and Vasas Budapest. Todor Veselinović coached the team throughout the competition, except for the last match, which Branko Stanković again took a seat on the bench, as he did from 1964 to 1967, when he made Vojvodina champions in 1966.
1977-1990: The second championship
In 1985 Vojvodina reached the semi-finals of the Yugoslav Cup, but lost 3-2 to RedStar Belgrade. Unexpectedly, the 1985/86 season turned out to be the worst in the club's history, and Vojvodina finished bottom of the second division. Željko Jurčić eventually had to vacate his chair for Tonko Vukušić. Under Vukušić, the club achieved immediate promotion back to the second division. In the summer of 1987, the club signed Miloš Šestić, a former Red Star player, as well as the former coach of CA Osasuna to replace Vukušić, Ivica Brzić. At the end of the 1987/88 season, Vojvodina finished in tenth place, achieving the set goal of continuing to play in the top flight the next season. After that, a shake-up in the team took place. For the 1988/89 season, Vojvodina hired Ljupko Petrović, who had just led Spartak Subotica back to the top flight with the championship, as their new coach.
The club also signed a number of talented players, including Siniša Mihajlović, Slaviša Jokanović, Miroslav Tanjga, Goran Kartalija and Budimir Vujačić from SC Freiburg. The team improved quickly under Petrović's leadership and spent almost the entire championship as the league leader. The second championship trophy was finally won by three points over Red Star after more than 23 years of waiting. The following season, Vojvodina were unfortunate losers to Honvéd Budapest in the first round of the 1989/90 European Champions Cup. They lost the first leg 1-0, but things went much better in the second leg. Vojvodina were already leading 2-0 when a late own goal meant the end for the club. They finished eleventh in the league and had to relinquish the championship to Red Star, against whom they were eliminated in the second round of the cup.
1990-2005: The eternal third
In 1990 Vojvodina failed to defend the championship they had previously won. From 1992 to 1997 Vojvodina finished 3rd in the league each time, a full six times in a row, and five of those under coach Milorad Kosanović. This had never been achieved before by any club in Yugoslavia, giving Vojvodina the reputation of the eternal third. In addition, they provided the top scorer of the 1992/93 season in striker Vesko Mihajlović, who scored 22 goals, and in 1995 they secured the autumn championship. Due to UN sanctions, clubs from Yugoslavia were not allowed to participate in European competitions and the question of how strong this generation would be in international competition remained unanswered. However, in 1995 Vojvodina played a friendly match in Amsterdam against Ajax, which the 'Old Lady' of Serbian football won 3-2. That same year, Ajax won the 1994/95 UEFA Champions League. In 1997, Vojvodina reached the cup final but lost to Red Star.
In the 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup, Vojvodina reached the semi-finals of the competition after defeating Stabæk Fotball, Örebro SK and Baltika Kaliningrad. There they defeated SC Bastia 4-0 after a 0-2 first leg, but they narrowly failed to beat Werder Bremen 1-0 and 1-1 in the final. From the 2000/01 season, Vojvodina ran into both sporting and financial difficulties. The team was close to relegation and club director Svetozar Šapurić left the club. As a result, promising players often could not be kept for long after attracting the attention of more successful and financially stronger clubs. Milan Jovanović moved to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2003 and Miloš Krasić to PFK ZSKA Moscow in 2004. From that point on, a sporting slump occurred. Vojvodina achieved only mediocre results in the years that followed, but after the arrival of new president Ratko Butorović in 2005, the club gradually re-established itself among Serbia's top teams.
2005-today: Establishment as a top team
In 2007 Milovan Rajevac led the team to third place in the Serbian Super League, qualifying for the UEFA Cup, and to the Serbian Cup final, where they lost to Red Star. Ivica Brzić took over as Novi Sad coach from the 2007/08 season. In the 2007/08 UEFA Cup, Vojvodina beat Hibernians Paola in the first qualifying round. Their opponents in the second round were Atlético Madrid, whom they last played over 40 years ago in the 1966/67 Fairs Cup, the forerunner of the UEFA Cup, where they won three legendary matches. This time Atlético Madrid came out on top, beating Vojvodina 3-0 at the Estadio Vicente Calderón with goals from Maxi Rodríguez, Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero, and Los Colchoneros also won the return leg 2-1. In the league, Vojvodina once again finished third.
After the season, Gojko Kačar, a key player, left the club for Hertha BSC for €3 million. In the 2008/09 season, the club finished runners-up under Zoran Marić. The next season Vojvodina finished fifth in the league and lost the cup final 3-0 to Red Star. Besides, they provided the top scorer as well as top scorer of the league and finally the best player of the 2009/10 season with Dragan Mrđa, who scored 22 goals and assisted 7. After the sale of Dušan Tadić as well as the top scorer to the Netherlands and Switzerland respectively, Dragan Mrđa was replaced by Aboubakar Oumarou in 2010/11, who managed to meet the high expectations. For the new 2010/11 season, Zoran Milinković was also hired as coach. This overall positive development of recent years continued. They finished the season in third place once again and reached the final of the Serbian Cup, where they lost to Partizan this time.
In the summer of 2011, Željko Brkić left for Udinese Calcio, but Stephen Appiah, who reached the quarter-finals with Ghana at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, joined Vojvodina, as did Almami Moreira, who had previously enjoyed success with Standard Liege and Partizan, as well as Bundesliga experience with Hamburger SV. Despite the January 2012 transfer of Slobodan Medojević to VfL Wolfsburg, who paid €2.5 million for him, expectations remained high at the club, but another third-place finish and a place in the cup semi-finals followed. In the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League, they narrowly failed to beat Rapid Wien in the 3rd qualifying round despite a 2-1 home win. At the winter break of the 2012/13 season, Miroslav Stevanović moved to Sevilla FC, but despite this loss, the club managed to stay in the top flight of the league. Likewise, Vojvodina reached the final of the national cup, for the fourth time in the last seven years. On 28 April 2013, the club became the first football club in Serbia or South-Eastern Europe to open a professional and modern football academy, which is a benchmark in youth development and youth work in the entire region. The academy was opened by club legend and former successful European coach Vujadin Boškov. The flagship project has attracted a lot of positive public attention in the region.
In the cup final, Vojvodina faced FK Jagodina, a club that had shown positive development in recent years. At the Partizana stadium, where the match was played, Vojvodina travelled with over 11,000 fans, one of the largest away mobilisations of supporters of any club in the entire region. Despite this strong support, FK Jagodina, who won the cup in their first final, defeated the favourites from Novi Sad 1-0 with a penalty goal from Milan Đurić. For Vojvodina, on the other hand, it was their sixth cup final in total, and they played four of them in the last seven years. After the club lost its sixth final as well, the media or the club talked about Vojvodina's "cup curse". The club finished the 2012/13 season in 3rd place and qualified for the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League.
On 8 June 2013, however, the club suffered a major setback when long-time club president Ratko Butorović was found dead at the age of 59 in the apartment of his Hotel Park in Novi Sad at 10:15 local time. Relatives, club members, club staff and its players quickly gathered outside the hotel. Initial police investigations found no evidence of a violent death. After the autopsy, the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Novi Sad confirmed Butorović's natural death. On 9 June 2013, 11:00 a.m. local time, an official funeral service was held in the Crystal Hall of the Park Hotel in the presence of over 700 relatives, friends, athletes and celebrities, including the CEO of the gas utility Srbijagas Dušan Bajatović, representatives of many Serbian football clubs and the Serbian Football Federation, the Vojvodina team, former players such as Željko Brkić, as well as representatives of numerous sports clubs from Novi Sad. Several wreaths were laid in front of the main building of the Serbian Football Federation. Former players, including Slobodan Medojević from Wolfsburg, did so on behalf of the club.
After the transfer of his body to Nikšić, a kilometre-long funeral procession was held, which was accompanied by thousands of citizens and took almost an hour to reach the cemetery in the suburb of Kočani, where the family grave was located. The coffin was carried to the grave by several players from the chapel. Butorović was then buried in the presence of a large number of relatives, friends, athletes, celebrities and politicians from Serbia and Montenegro, as well as the entire club management, coaching staff and team, but also journalists. Among the mourners were the current Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Đukanović, the first and only President of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marović, former footballer Mateja Kežman, former boxers Tadija Kačar and Dragomir Vujković, singer Nataša Bekvalac, as well as former players and club coaches. On behalf of the Montenegrin Football Federation, Dejan Savićević and the football coach of the Montenegrin national football team Branko Brnović appeared. Likewise, the club management of the Montenegrin first division club FK Zeta appeared. Ratko Butorović was considered arguably the most curious club president in Europe due to his flamboyant style, which he cultivated even at Vojvodina matches, eventually polarizing the public and thus often subjecting him to criticism. He was also frequently accused of links to organised crime, but the allegations were never substantiated and no charges were ever brought against him.
Butorović was known in recent years mainly for his great love for the club, which under his era became financially stable, enjoyed regular investments in infrastructure and reached a high level in youth work. Above all, it was through his initiative that the stadium underwent several renovations, including the renovation of the V.I.P. rooms and the addition of new seats. The biggest investment was the construction of the club's training ground named FC Vujadin Boškov, as well as its expansion and modernization, making it one of the most modern in Europe today and one of the most significant development steps in the club's history. This was followed by the installation of a Philips LED scoreboard, the purchase of a modern Setra team bus worth €140,000 and two minibuses for the youth section. Furthermore, the installation of four new 1400 lux floodlights worth €300,000 took place, as well as the opening of the Vojvodina Football Academy, the latter a milestone in South-Eastern Europe. Finally, Butorović's involvement was followed by one of his last acts, when shortly before his death he managed to push through further reconstructions to the stadium, which included a new south stand, the renovation of the east and south-west stands and the roofing of the entire stadium, which will eventually give the stadium a capacity of 22,000 seats. The construction of the south stand is already underway. Due to these facts, Ratko Butorovic is seen as the main figure in the development of the club, whose establishment as a top Serbian team was achieved under his reign. Despite his unexpected and surprising death, the club managed to react quickly. They unanimously elected his son Balša Butorović as the new club president at that time, who had supported and guided his father in building the club for years. Despite a turbulent few weeks, Vojvodina kicked off the 2013/14 Europa League season with a 4-1 away win over Hibernians FC, narrowly edging out Sheriff Tiraspol in the play-off round.
In the same season, Vojvodina won a title after 25 years - when they won the Yugoslav championship in 1989 - with the Serbian Football Cup.
