HSK Zrinjski Mostar
Also written as Zrinjski.
The club
Hrvatski športski klub Zrinjski Mostar were founded in 1905 in Mostar, then part of Austria-Hungary, making them the oldest football club in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club's early names traced a winding path: it began as Đački športski klub (Student Sports Club) in 1905, became Gimnazijski nogometni klub Zrinjski (Gymnasium Football Club Zrinjski) in 1912, merged temporarily into a club called Hercegovac between 1917 and 1922, and then revived the Zrinjski name. The club was among those banned in 1945, after the Second World War, for having taken part in the wartime Croatian football league; the ban lasted 47 years, until Zrinjski was refounded in 1992 following Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence. The club operates today as Hrvatski športski klub Zrinjski Mostar and is widely associated with the city's Croat community.
Zrinjski is a separate and distinct club from FK Velez Mostar, the city's other major football club, founded in 1922. The two clubs share the city of Mostar and have a long and complicated rivalry that is covered in more detail below, in the Head-to-head notes section.
The home ground is the Stadion pod Bijelim Brijegom (the stadium below the White Hill), Zrinjski's base since the club's 1992 refounding. Sources read here differ on the current capacity, giving figures of 7,255 and 9,000; the stadium was built in 1958 and historically held more than 35,000 standing spectators before being reduced to all-seated capacity. Zrinjski play in white and red at home, with matching shorts; the away kit is blue and the third kit combines red and white.
The head coach as of August 2026 is the Slovenian Simon Rozman, appointed on 19 June 2026. The captain is the forward Nemanja Bilbija, wearing number 99, with the defender Slobodan Jakovljevic as vice-captain. The club chairman was given as Denis Lasic.
Recent seasons
Zrinjski have been the dominant force in Bosnian football since the mid-2010s. They won the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18, then again in 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2024-25. In the all-time Premier League table counting from the 2002-03 season, Zrinjski rank first with 1,418 points from 24 seasons, 429 wins, 132 draws and 187 losses, more than any other club in the division's history.
In 2025-26 Zrinjski were defending champions but finished second, on 71 points from 36 matches with 21 wins, 8 draws and 7 losses, 48 goals scored and 25 conceded. Borac Banja Luka took the title that season, sources describing them as champions "with four games to spare." Zrinjski's biggest home win of the campaign was a 3-0 defeat of Velez Mostar in the Mostar derby, and they also drew 1-1 away to Velez and beat Borac 2-1 at home. Zrinjski's second-place finish still carried European qualification, into the Conference League second qualifying round.
Honours and landmarks
Zrinjski have won the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina nine times: 2004-05, 2008-09, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2024-25. They have won the Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup four times, in 2007-08, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2025-26, and completed the domestic double in 2022-23. They have also won the Bosnian Supercup twice, in 2024 and 2025.
In August 2023 Zrinjski became the first club from Bosnia and Herzegovina to reach the group stage of a UEFA club competition, qualifying for the group stage of the 2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League, a milestone described in the sources read here as historic for Bosnian football.
Notable scorelines
In that 2023-24 Conference League group stage, Zrinjski produced one of the campaign's most talked-about results, coming back from 3-0 down at half-time away to AZ Alkmaar to win 4-3. They also drew 1-1 at home with Aston Villa in their final group match, in a group that also included Legia Warsaw. On the heavier side of the ledger, Zrinjski's early continental history includes a 1-11 aggregate defeat to Partizan in the first qualifying round of the 2007-08 UEFA Cup, their heaviest European reverse read in these sources, and a 1-4 aggregate loss to F91 Dudelange in Champions League qualifying in 2005-06. Domestically, the 3-0 win over Velez Mostar in the Mostar derby was recorded as the club's biggest home win of the 2025-26 league season. The club's all-time record domestic win and defeat were not established from the sources read here.
European record
Zrinjski's European history stretches back to the 2000 Intertoto Cup, where they drew 2-2 on aggregate with Vastra Frolunda of Sweden and went out on away goals. They returned to the Intertoto Cup in 2006, beating Marsaxlokk of Malta 4-1 before losing 2-4 to Maccabi Petah Tikva of Israel. Champions League qualifying appearances came in 2005-06, losing 1-4 on aggregate to F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg, and in 2009-10, losing 1-4 to Slovan Bratislava.
In UEFA Cup qualifying for 2007-08, Zrinjski were beaten 1-11 on aggregate by Partizan in the first round, then lost 1-2 to Rabotnicki of North Macedonia in the second round of a separate run. In 2008-09 they beat Vaduz of Liechtenstein 5-1 before losing 0-3 to Braga of Portugal. In 2010-11 Europa League qualifying they were eliminated by Odense of Denmark in the third qualifying round.
The high point came in 2023-24, when Zrinjski reached the group (league) stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League, the first time any Bosnian club had done so. They were drawn into a group with Aston Villa, AZ Alkmaar and Legia Warsaw, beating AZ Alkmaar 4-3 after trailing 3-0 at half-time and drawing 1-1 at home with Aston Villa in their final group match. Zrinjski were eliminated by LASK of Austria in the play-off round on their way into that campaign. For 2026-27, Zrinjski entered the Europa Conference League qualifying rounds as winners of the 2025-26 Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup, listed among the competition's cup-winner entrants into the first qualifying round; the specific opponents, dates, scores and outcome of that qualifying campaign were not established from the sources read here.
Head-to-head notes
Zrinjski's principal rivalry is the Mostar derby, against FK Velez Mostar, the city's other major club. The fixture is one of the oldest in Bosnian football, with a first meeting dating to the 1920s; it was interrupted for decades once Zrinjski were banned in 1945 and did not resume until after Zrinjski's 1992 refounding. Both clubs are based in Mostar but the rivalry is described in the sources read here as both local and ethnic in character: Zrinjski and their Ultras Mostar supporters are associated with the city's Croat community and the western side of Mostar, while Velez and their Red Army Mostar supporters are associated with the Bosniak community and the eastern side of the city.
The clubs met again for the first time in over 55 years on 1 March 2000, a friendly in Sarajevo that finished 2-2, and their first official league meeting followed on 13 August 2000, won 2-0 by Zrinjski. A significant and continuing grievance for Velez concerns the ground both clubs have used: Bijeli Brijeg Stadium had been Velez's home during their Yugoslav-era history, but during the Bosnian War, with the stadium inside what the sources describe as Croat-held territory in western Mostar, it passed into Zrinjski's use and has been Zrinjski's home ground since the club's 1992 refounding. Velez were forced to relocate and have played since 1995 at the stadium in the Vrapcici area of the city, later renamed Rodeni Stadium, with a capacity given as 7,000 in the sources read here.
As of 26 May 2026, the all-time derby record across all competitions stood at 76 meetings, with Zrinjski winning 44, Velez winning 21 and 11 drawn; Zrinjski have scored 109 goals in the fixture to Velez's 67. Recent meetings have run heavily in Zrinjski's favour, including a 3-0 Cup win on 18 October 2023 and a 3-0 league win on 26 May 2026, in addition to Zrinjski's regular league victories over Velez through the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. The rivalry has also been listed among the world's notable derbies in outside football media, cited in these sources as having appeared in FourFourTwo's list of the world's biggest derbies. No other rivalry for Zrinjski was established from the sources read here.
Right now (2026/27)
Simon Rozman remains head coach, appointed on 19 June 2026. As of 23 August 2026, Zrinjski lead the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina after three rounds, unbeaten with three wins from three, nine points and nine goals scored. Their results so far are a 5-1 win over Radnik Bijeljina on 16 August 2026, a 2-1 win away to Zeljeznicar, and a 2-1 win over Velez Mostar in this season's first Mostar derby.
In Europe, Zrinjski entered the 2026-27 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds as winners of the 2025-26 Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup. The detailed results of that qualifying campaign, including opponents, dates and scores, were not established from the sources read here. The club's summer 2026 transfer business beyond the appointment of Rozman as head coach was also not established from the sources read here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSK_Zrinjski_Mostar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostar_derby https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FK_Velez_Mostar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Premier_League_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Premier_League_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026-27_UEFA_Europa_Conference_League
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.