FK Smederevo

Football club infobox
clubname = Smederevo

| fullname = Fudbalski klub Smederevo
nickname = "Oklopnici"
founded = 1924
ground = Fortress Stadium,
Smederevo
capacity = 17,200
chairman = flagicon|Serbia Goran Bogdanović
manager = flagicon|Serbia Dragan Đorđević
league = Prva Liga Telekom Srbija
season = 2007-08
position = Meridian Superliga, 10th
"Relegated" |

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pattern_la2=_blueborder|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=_blueborder
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

FK Smederevo (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Смедерево) is a football team based in Smederevo, Serbia.

History

Acting on suggestion from chief engineer Ernest Radlinski, the club was first founded on May 6, 1924 by "Srpsko akcionarsko rudarsko topioničarsko industrijsko društvo" (SARTID) as the iron factory's football team. In the beginning, FK Sartid's roster was mostly filled with second and third tier professional players from Hungary, Austria and Germany and the club failed to make much noise on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's football scene.

Then in 1944, it was essentially disbanded by Yugoslavia's new communist authorities following the end of World War II, along with the entire Sartid factory whose property was nationalized.

Though it's not certain if what followed can be viewed in continuity with FK Sartid, many fans consider it to be a part of club's history, so depending on one's opinion, either a new club appeared or the name was simply changed to Metalac in 1944.

The following period was marked by numerous name changes.

Two years later in 1946 the name was switched to Jedinstvo, and it lasted only three years until 1949 when it was changed to FK Smederevo.

In 1958 Smederevo merged with Metalac to form OFK Budućnost, the name that stuck around until 1962 when it was switched back to FK Smederevo. That setup lasted until 1967 when the club became Metalurg.

In 1976, the name was switched to FK Smederevo for the third time, lasting until the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia in 1992.

All throughout this 48-year period, the club toiled in lower leagues (Serbian regional league, etc.).

FK Sartid was reborn in 1992 when Sartid metallurgical concern took over the club's ownership and sponsorship, and promptly switched to its original name. The renaissance commenced immediately as the club went from Smederevo zone league to Yugoslav First League in 6 seasons. The 1998/99 campaign will go down in history as the club's first in top flight. The club's success in this period was tied to their main board president Dušan Matković. In addition to his position at FK Sartid, Matković was also a high ranking official of Slobodan Milošević's party SPS as well as Minister of Industry in the government of Mirko Marjanović. The allegations that the club was involved in various illegal and irregular activities, and also protected from persecution because of their powerful benefactor, during this period are numerous.

After several years of reaching the playoffs, they won the 2003 Serbia and Montenegro Cup, with a victory over the Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) from Belgrade. In 2004 the team changed its name back to FK Smederevo.

The most noted player is former team captain Goran Bogdanović. He retired after 2003/2004 season.

It's worth noting that Mateja Kežman, who is now playing for Fenerbahçe in Turkey, began playing football in this club. Marko Pantelić who later went on to star for Red Star Belgrade and Hertha Berlin also spent a season with the club.

Recent history

2001/02

The trio of Nenad Mirosavljević (15 league goals), Vladimir Mudrinić (earned a mid-season move to Zenit St. Petersburg) and Goran Bogdanović led the way on pitch during 01/02 campaign that, among other things, will be remembered for the absence of now customary mid-season Sartid coaching change(s). Head coach Škoro confidently guided his team to a 3rd place league finish and a Yugoslav Cup final where they were unlucky to lose to the more experienced Partizan side.

On the European front, Sartid competed in UEFA Intertoto Cup where they recorded a memorable first round win versus Dundee (0-0 away, 5-2 at home before 16,000 fans). Unfortunatelly, the journey ended in second round versus an experienced TSV 1860 München side featuring veterans Vidar Riseth and Thomas Häßler (1-3 away, 2-3 at home).

2002/03

The year that started off in high style almost turned sour towards the end with a string of poor results that sent the team spiraling down the table. Management reacted quickly, sacking coach Skoro in April and bringing in Milenko Kiković for his second stint with the club. The move paid immediate dividends and relegation was avoided comfortably. And if that wasn't enough cause for celebration, Sartid managed to beat Red Star Belgrade 1-0 in National Cup final at Partizan Stadium, achieving the club's greatest success in history.

Similarly to Sartid's domestic campaign, the year in Europe started off glowingly. They quickly disposed of Welsh side Bangor City to reach the UEFA Cup first round where Ipswich Town was waiting. The hopes were further raised following a favourable away result 1-1, meaning they just needed to keep a clean sheet at home to progress. However, the combination of Marcus Bent converting an early 9th minute penalty and Sartid failing to score for the remainder of the match spelled painful elimination.

2003/04

The 2003/04 campaign was another fairly stable season in top league result wise. Though as usual not on the coaching front. New head coach Ratko Dostanić, brought in before the season, started off tremendously. In UEFA Cup, he led the squad to a memorable win in a matchup against FK Sarajevo. With Dostanic firmly in charge, Sartid's form continued in the domestic league, too. At the midway point of the season Sartid was sitting in third place, just behind Belgrade powerhouses Red Star and Partizan. During the winter break, Dostanic wanted the team captain Goran Bogdanovic promoted to the role of technical director, but new club president Thomas Kelly would have none of it so Dostanic decided to leave. Old face Milenko Kikovic was brought back to coach and he managed to complete a successful season for the club.

2004/05

The following 04/05 season was not nearly as happy. It started off alright with demolition of lowly Andorran side Sant Juliŕ in Intertoto Cup first round, but the painful next round exit at the hands of Dinamo Minsk turned out to be ominous. All throughout the domestic campaign Smederevo battled relegation threat. During the winter break coach Kiković resigned leaving the team in 10th place with 17 points. New head coach Tomislav Sivić managed to narrowly keep the club in top flight.

2005/06

The 2005/06 season has been another difficult one for the club. The embarrassing Intertoto Cup first round exit to Prilep's FK Pobeda was a sign of things to come. After managing only 13 points from 11 league matches, head coach Tomislav Sivić resigned on November 1, 2005 in the wake of the team's third straight league loss. Following a period under a caretaker, club appointed Spaniard Jaime Bauza on November 28, 2005. Though the team's overall play somewhat improved, it was not enough to avoid relegation at the end of the season.

Current squad

Stadium

FK Smederevo's stadium is one of the most modern stadiums in Serbia. The stadium can hold up to 17,200 spectators. It also has one of the best pitches in the country.

Supporters

The supporters of FK Smederevo are known as Despoti ("The Despots").

Notable former players

*flagicon|Serbia Mateja Kežman
*flagicon|Serbia Marko Pantelić
*flagicon|Serbia Dragan Žilić
*flagicon|Serbia Nenad Mirosavljević

Coaching history

*flagicon|Serbia Dragan Đorđević (July 2008 - )
*flagicon|Serbia Radmilo Ivančević (November 8, 2007 - June 28, 2008)
*flagicon|Serbia Goran Milojević (March 21, 2007 - November 8, 2007)
*flagicon|Serbia Mihailo Ivanović (June 17, 2006 - March 19, 2007)
*flagicon|ESP Jaime Bauza (November 28, 2005 - June 17, 2006)
* Aleksandar Pantić (caretaker)
*flagicon|SCG Tomislav Sivić (January 9, 2005 - November 1, 2005)
*flagicon|SCG Milenko Kiković (January 2004 - December 25, 2004)
*flagicon|SCG Ratko Dostanić (June 24, 2003 - December 22, 2003)
*flagicon|SCG Milenko Kiković (April 22, 2003 - June 24, 2003)
*flagicon|SCG Jovica Škoro ( - April 19, 2003)
*flagicon|SCG Vladimir Dogandzic (summer 2000 - )
*flagicon|SCG Milenko Kiković (January 2000 - June 2000)
*flagicon|SCG Slobodan Đuricić ( - )
*flagicon|SCG Ivan Golac ( - )
*flagicon|SCG Boško Antić ( - )
*flagicon|SCG Branko Radović ( - )

Achievements

*Serbia and Montenegro Cup: 1:: 2003

External links

* [http://www.fksmederevo.com/ "FK Smederevo" official web site]
* [http://www.ultra-semendria.com/ Web site of Ultra-Semendria (The Despots) - fans of FK Smederevo]
* [http://www.mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/story.php?vest=50927 Ivanović dobio otkaz u Smederevu]
* [http://www.b92.net/sport/fudbal/vesti.php?yyyy=2007&mm=03&dd=21&nav_id=237592 Milojević novi trener Smedereva]
* [http://www.b92.net/sport/fudbal/vesti.php?yyyy=2007&mm=11&dd=08&nav_id=271386 Ivančević novi trener Smedereva]
* [http://www.mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/text.php?vest=101580 Ivančević iz Smedereva u Kuvajt] , MTS Mondo, June 28, 2008