Full name | Fudbalski klub Radnički 1923 |
---|---|
Nickname(s) |
Crveni Đavoli (The Red Devils) Radnički (The Labourers) |
Founded | 1923 |
Ground | Čika Dača Stadium, Kragujevac |
Capacity | 15,100 |
Head Coach | Slaviša Kovačević |
League | Serbian League West |
2015–16 |
Serbian First League, 16th Relegated |
Website | Club home page |
Fudbalski klub Radnički 1923 (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Рaднички 1923), commonly known as Radnički Kragujevac (Serbian Cyrillic: Рaднички Крагујевац), is a professional football club from Kragujevac, Serbia and the major part of the Radnički Kragujevac Sports Society. The name Radnički means "Labourers'" in Serbian and its roots come from the relation the club had with labour movements during the first half of the 20th century.
The club was formed in 1923, during an assembly in the Park restaurant in Kragujevac, under the name Mladi Radnik (English: Young Labourer). The first club president was Aleksandar Ratković. The first match played Mladi Radnik against local club SK Triglav and lost 2–0. The first visitor for a match against Mladi Radnik was SK Radnički from Belgrade. The match was played on 16 August 1925, and SK Radnički won 5–0. One week later, the club won its first match against Radnički Niš with 7–1.
In 1929, Mladi Radnik changed its name to Radnički, an adjective invoking labour and workers in Serbian, as its roots come from the relation the club had with labour movements during the first half of the 20th century.
The club's stature and significance began increasing from 1933. It got its own stadium in 1935, and the first match at the new stadium was played on 18 August 1935, against local rivals Slavija, which was won by 1–0 and the first goal scored Jeremija Nikolić. At that time the club had also a number of international matches. Radnički was in the prewar years of the World War II host of teams like Olympique Marseille, Ferencváros and Honvéd Budapest, Rapid Wien and some others. The club competed in the highest league of the Kragujevac Football Subassociation which gave access to the qualifiers for the Yugoslav Championship. Radnički won the Subassociation league in 1934, 1935, 1938 and 1939, however it only managed to qualify once to the national league, in the 1935–36 season. They had a fierce rivalry with FK Šumadija 1903 in this period.