- Celje Pivovarna Laško
Infobox Football club
clubname = Celje Pivovarna Laško
fullname = Rokometni klub Celje Pivovarna Laško
founded = 1947
nickname = CPL
arena =Zlatorog Arena
capacity = 6,000 | chairman = flagicon|SloveniaBoško Šrot
manager = flagicon|SloveniaTone Tiselj
league =
season =
position =
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm1=FFFF00|body1=FFFF00|rightarm1=FFFF00|shorts1=339933|socks1=FFFFFF
leftarm2=FFA000|body2=FFA000|rightarm2=FFA000|shorts2=000000|socks2=FFFFFFCelje Pivovarna Laško is a handball club from
Celje ,Slovenia . They were the winners of the Champions League in the 2003-04 season, becoming European club champions. The team plays its home matches in theZlatorog Arena , a 6.000 capacity handball arena in Celje. The club is famous for its passionate and devoted supporters, led by the organised fan groupFlorijani .History
The first handball match in
Celje was played in the year 1942. AfterWorld War II , handball became the most popular sport in this Slovenian town. By May 1945, there were already two established teams in Celje: Celje and Olimp. The two teams were city rivals and played multiple matches against each other. Therefore, the year 1946 is marked as the official beginning of handball in Celje.In 1947, the two rival teams finally united to form a new, central sports society,
Športno društvo Kladivar . Among the 21 sports that were incorporated in this association, was the handball club. The first season of the national league began in 1949, and Celje won the first title amongst the competition of six other teams without a defeat. The winning streak continued until 1954; with an exception of a single draw against other Slovenian teams. The knowledge and skill of the game was successfully transferred from a former German national handball player and a WWIIPOW Fritz Knoffler , and thanks to him, the Celje handball club was already one of the best in formerYugoslavia . The first Yugoslavian league season where Celje handball club participated, was in 1950. But nevertheless, interest in the sport of large arena handball was slowly dying down in the 1950s. Most of the teams then turned to a small arena handball, which was becoming increasingly popular. The first generation of Celje players started to practice small arena handball, and played their first game on concrete, on the open, in front of the local railway station. They played againstLjubljana handball club and won with staggering 43:4. In 1953, the first such league season in Yugoslavia had begun, but the Celje team only took a disappointing last place among the six teams. The Celje handball club wasn't so successful as anticipated, for they were playing in a regional league until 1961, when after two failed qualifications in 1959 and 1960, finally managed to enter the First Republic (Slovenian) League. With this event, the rise of the small arena handball (handball as we know it today) in Celje began.In the meantime, talented players from the youngster team of Celje (such as Persinger, Telič, the Goršič brothers etc.) led by
Jože Kuzma with the help ofTone Goršič andFranc Ramskugler had become 4 time consecutive vice-champions of the youngster First Republican League.In the winter of 1964, the new city rivals-ŽRK Celje and Partizan Celje, unified once again under the name of ŽRK Celje. In the same year, ŽRK Celje became the Slovenian vice-champion. One year later, they won the Slovenian national cup against their arch rivals,Ljubljana , with the score of 17:11. In the new 1965/66 season, Celje finally became the Slovenian republic first league champions, and after successful qualifications one season later inSlavonski Brod , finally became members of the eliteFirst Yugoslavian Federal Handball League . The maiden season in the first Yugoslavian league wasn't so successful, as Celje was relegated back to the republic league (the Slovenian First Republican league was basically the Yugoslavian second division), but managed to come back to the first league the following season.Jure Koren was the first Celje player who was drafted in the Yugoslavian national team. Celje managed to stay in the first division for three seasons, when it was once again relegated to a newly established Second Yugoslavian Federal Handball League in 1971. Tone Goršič and Franc Ramskugler created a new generation of players, such as Peunik, Luskar, Mrovlje and others, with the support of more experienced players such as Marguc, Koren, Levstik and Pucko. The Celje team was playing in the second division for four full seasons, gaining valuable experience and skill. The work on the young players had paid of, for in 1976, in the newArena Golovec , the Celje team beatVeleš in the qualifications, and once again became a member of the first division. The success of regaining a place amongst the elite obviously had a positive impact, because the Celje team managed to come to three Yugoslavian Cup finals, although all three of them were lost toPartizan in 1976,Medveščak in 1978 andMetaloplastika in 1980. The star of this successful team wasVlado Bojovič , who was also successful in the national team, where he played 108 matches scoring 124 goals. He was the captain of the national team nine times, and participated on two world cups in 1978 and 1982. He was also part of the team on1976 Montreal Summer Olympics , making him the most successful Slovenian player, who played for Celje. The youngster team of Celje, on the other hand, were already the first division champions in 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1982, and vice-champions in 1976, 1978, 1981, 1987 and 1988.In 1978 the sponsorship of the team was in
Aero hands. After two consecutive 7th places in the first division, Celje was again relegated in the 1978/79 season, came back in 1983/84 season, but was relegated back into the second division the same year. A seven year crisis occurred, when Celje was struggling even in the second division until the season 1988/89, when they were preparing a new, better team, which would be capable of regaining a position in the first division.Newer History
In 1990, the sponsor became Pivovarna Laško (
Laško Brewery ), which hugely contributed to the prosperity of the club. Pivovarna Laško is still the sponsor of the team. In the 1990/91 season, the team smoothly won the second division and once again formally came into the first Yugoslavian league. The celebrations of the Celje players lasted for only a month, forSlovenia declared its independence fromYugoslavia onJune 26 1991 . The next dayJLA tanks stormed into Slovenia andYugoslavia was no more. The years of 1991 to 2000 Celje Pivovarna Laško dominated the domestic league, winning every season. To contribute to that, the youngsters had won 17 trophies in the mentioned nine years.Representatives of Celje, such as Turnšek and Jug, were the most active in the creation of the newly formedRokometna Zveza Slovenije (Slovenian Handball Federation] . The first match of the Slovenian national team was played in theArena Golovec onMarch 18 1992 . The vast majority of the national team consisted of players from Celje Pivovarna Laško.----This article is under construction. Please be patient.--------------------
Accomplishments
*National Championship of Slovenia: 16
**1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008*National Cup of Slovenia: 11
**1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004*Champions League: 1
**2004*
EHF Men’s Champions Trophy : 1
**20042008-09 Team
External links
* [http://www.rk-celje.si/ Official site] (Slovenian only)
* [http://www.florijani.com/ Florijani website]
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