HNK Cibalia
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| Full name | Hrvatski nogometni klub Cibalia |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Nebesko plavi (The Sky-blues) |
| Founded | 1919 (as HGŽK Cibalia) 1945 (as Dinamo Vinkovci) |
| Ground | Stadion HNK Cibalia |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Chairman | Miroslav Gagro |
| Manager | Peter Pacult |
| League | Prva HNL |
| 2015–16 | Druga HNL, 1st (promoted) |
| Website | Club home page |
HNK Cibalia, or just Cibalia, is a Croatian football club from the town of Vinkovci in eastern Croatia. Cibalia currently play in the Prva HNL, Croatia's first tier. Their stadium is located in the south part of their home town and can hold 12,000 spectators. The name Cibalia comes from the Roman settlement called Colonia Aurelia Cibalae which was the precursor of the present-day town of Vinkovci. In the period from 1945 to 1990 the club was called Dinamo Vinkovci.
The club was originally founded in 1919 as HGŽK Cibalia Vinkovci, and in 1925 the team merged with local rivals RŠK Sloga. In the 1930s the club was coached by Bane Sekulić, Károly Nemes and Rajmond Breznik. During World War II the club suspended all activities and ceased to exist. After the war re-established clubs Sloga and OFD Graničar merged and formed NK Dinamo Vinkovci which began competing within the Yugoslav football system. The club would see several humble decades before finally making it to the Yugoslav First League in 1982. They played in the top-tier league for five seasons until they were relegated to the Yugoslav Second League in 1987.
In 1990 the team returned its traditional name of Cibalia. The club spent much of the 1990s in the Prva HNL, Croatian top level. It remained in the Prva HNL until the 2003–04 season when it was relegated to the Druga HNL. The club was also penalized by UEFA in the same season with a deduction of six points for failure to fulfill financial obligations related to past player transfers. Nevertheless, in the 2004–05 season, Cibalia outdid all of its opponents in the second league by a large margin, won the promotion playoffs and returned to Prva HNL. It was in this season that they also had Croatian mixed martial arts legend Mirko Filipović play the final 8 minutes of a match vs HNK Vukovar.
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