РК Вардар RK Vardar |
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Full name | Ракометен клуб Вардар Скопје (Rakometen klub Vardar Skopje) |
Founded | 1961 |
Arena | Jane Sandanski Arena |
Capacity | 7.500 |
President | Sergey Samsonenko |
Head coach | Raúl González Gutiérrez |
League | VIP Super League |
2015/2016 | 1st |
Colours | |
Club colours | |
Website Official site |
RK Vardar (HC Vardar) (Macedonian: РК Вардар) is a handball club from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. The team currently competes in the EHF Champions League and in the regional SEHA League. Vardar is the most successful team in the country having won ten Macedonian League titles and eleven Macedonian Cups.
RK Vardar was founded in 1961, as part of the Vardar Sports Club in Skopje, which had been founded in 1947. The handball team did not have much of a role in the former Yugoslavia, but rose to power in the late 1990s becoming one of the two clubs (RK Pelister being the other) to dominate the Macedonian handball scene after the independence of the country. They have participated in the EHF Champions League five times and made it to the semifinals of the Cup Winner's Cup three times. Except for 2005, when they came in 4th place, the club has achieved either championship or runner-up in the Macedonian Super League during the past decade since 1999. They achieved a record winner of the Macedonian handball championship by winning their tenth title in 2016 and are the recent record cup winner also with eleven. On 15 April 2012, Vardar defeated Metalurg at the Zagreb Arena to become the first SEHA League champion.
Unlike the usual situation in handball of clubs renting halls from municipalities or private owners, RK Vardar itself is the owner of the Jane Sandanski Arena where they play all their home matches in the EHF Champions League, the regional SEHA League and in the domestic competitions.