NK Čakovec

Early history

The club was founded in 1920 as Čakovečki športski klub (ČŠK; English: Čakovec Sports Club) and competed in regional championships in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Their first and so far only title came in 1938, when they won the Drava Banovina Championship. During World War II, Čakovec was occupied by Hungary so the club played in Hungarian competitions until the city was liberated in 1945. After the war, the name of the club was changed to NK Jedinstvo Čakovec (English: Unity Čakovec Football Club) and this name was used over the following two decades. In the mid-1960s, the club was bought by MTČ, a local clothing company, and renamed MTČ Čakovec. In 1983, the club merged with NK Sloga Čakovec (English: Concord Čakovec Football Club), at the time the only other football club within the city, and was renamed MTČ-Sloga Čakovec. The cooperation between the two clubs ended in 1987, with the club being renamed NK Čakovec. NK Sloga Čakovec also continued to exist as a separate club. During the Yugoslav era, the club's greatest success came when they reached the Round of 16 in the Yugoslav Cup in 1949 and 1952. In 1949, they were knocked out by Budućnost Titograd, suffering a 2–1 home defeat, and three years later they were crushed 7–0 by FK Sarajevo.

History after Croatian independence

NK Čakovec were first promoted to the Croatian Second League in 1992, but were relegated back to the Croatian Third League after finishing in 15th place. However, the…