Ljubljana derby

The Ljubljana derby (Slovene: Ljubljanski derbi), was a major football rivalry between NK Olimpija Ljubljana and NK Železničar Ljubljana.

History and rivalry culture

The rivalry traced its roots back in the 1940s and the time of SFR Yugoslavia when the first matches between the two clubs were played. Although the first match was played in 1946 it was not until the independence of Slovenia from 1991 onwards when the matches were more frequently played. The main reason being the fact that both clubs were part of the Yugoslav football system and, during the period from 1945 until 1991 (establishment of Slovenian league, 1.SNL), played only a total of eight seasons in the same league. The rivalry developed in late 1950s, when two clubs for three consecutive seasons from 1955 until 1958, played in the Yugoslav Second League together. In 1991, after the declared independence of Slovenia, both clubs were the founding members of the Slovenian first league, 1.SNL, and played there up until the end of 2004-05 season and the dissolvement of both clubs.

The two teams represented the two social classes in Ljubljana, and both had the largest fanbases in the city. Traditionally Olimpija and its fans were considered as the representatives of the upper class. Železničar's Šiška district, on the other hand, was one of the most industrialized parts of Ljubljana and the majority of its fans were the representatives of the working class, many of them from other yugoslav republics. Rivalry was therefore usually based mainly on political and social antagonism. However, this kind of division was much more apparent in the past, as the class differences between the fanbases have faded out and the social gap that once separated the two sides has closed over the years. Until the dissolvement in 2004, both clubs were the most successful teams in Ljubljana club football. From 1945 until 1991 Ljubljana and Olimpija had won a combined total of nine Slovenian champinoships (Ljubljana 5, Olimpija 4).

Statistically, Olimpija was the more successful club in the period from 1946 to 2005.

Official statistics

Official statistics of honours won by NK Železničar / NK Ljubljana and NK Odred / NK Olimpija, as treated by the Football Association of Slovenia (NZS) and the Association of Slovenian First League, 1.SNL (Združenje prvoligašev).

Major honours won
Competition	Ljubljana	Olimpija
Rep. League	5	4
1.SNL	0	4
Cup	0	4
Supercup	0	1
Total	5	13

Name changes

Years	Ljubljana	Olimpija
1945 - Dec 1946	Železničar	Svoboda
Dec 1946 - 1948	Triglav	Enotnost
1948 - 1953	Železničar	Odred
1953 - Dec 1960	Ljubljana
Dec 1960 - 1962		Triglav
1962 - 1994		Olimpija
1994 - 1996	Železničar
1996 - 2005	Ljubljana

Matches list

Yugoslav football leagues

The head-to-head matches shows the results of NK Železničar / NK Ljubljana and NK Odred / NK Olimpija, when they played in the same league.

	Ljubljana – Olimpija				Olimpija – Ljubljana
Season	R.	Date	Venue	Score	R.	Date	Venue	Score
1946	3	22–03–1946	ŽŠD Ljubljana	3–3	8	29–04–1946	Bežigrad	0–2
1946-47	8	03–11–1946	ŽŠD Ljubljana	1–0	16	13–04–1947	Bežigrad	2–0
1952	13	25–05–1952	ŽŠD Ljubljana	0–5	4	06–04–1952	Bežigrad	5–0
1952-53	12	26–04–1953	ŽŠD Ljubljana	1–2	4	23–10–1952	Bežigrad	4–0
1955-56	10	20–11–1955	ŽŠD Ljubljana	2–2	21	27–05–1956	Bežigrad	3–2
1956-57	11	18–11–1956	ŽŠD Ljubljana	2–0	22	02–06–1957	Bežigrad	6–0
1957-58	25	11–05–1958	ŽŠD Ljubljana	0–0	12	01–12–1957	Bežigrad	2–0
1961-62	19	20–05–1962	ŽŠD Ljubljana	1–4	8	29–10–1961	Bežigrad	4–0
1986-87	21	27–05–1987	ŽŠD Ljubljana	0–0	8	19–10–1986	Bežigrad	5–0

• Total: Olimpija 11 wins (61%), 4 draw (22%), Ljubljana 3 wins (17%).

Slovenian first league

The head-to-head matches shows the results of NK Ljubljana and NK Olimpija, when they played in the 1.SNL.

	Ljubljana – Olimpija					Olimpija – Ljubljana
Season	R.	Date	Venue	Atten.	Score	R.	Date	Venue	Atten.	Score
1991-92	33	03–05–1992	ŽŠD Ljubljana	2,500	0–1	12	13–10–1991	Bežigrad	500	3–0
1992-93	20	21–03–1993	ŽŠD Ljubljana	1,000	1–0	3	29–08–1992	Bežigrad	400	5–1
1993-94	24	01–05–1994	ŽŠD Ljubljana	700	1–1	9	17–10–1993	Bežigrad	400	5–0
1994-95	26	07–05–1995	ŽŠD Ljubljana	1,000	1–1	11	23–10–1994	Bežigrad	500	1–2
2002-03	4	11–08–2002	ŽŠD Ljubljana	2,000	0–1	15	08–11–2002	Bežigrad	2,500	2–2
						23	04–04–2003	Bežigrad	600	5–0
2003-04	21	28–03–2004	ŽŠD Ljubljana	2,700	0–1	10	28–09–2003	Bežigrad	500	0–0
2004-05	22	02–04–2005	ŽŠD Ljubljana	700	0–1	11	15–10–2004	Zagorje (N)	400	4–1

Note: In 2002-03, 1.SNL had a three round robin and the matches of the final third of the season were determined based on the league position after the first two thirds of the season.
• Total: Olimpija 9 wins (60%), 4 draw (27%), Ljubljana 2 wins (13%).

Slovenian cup

The head-to-head matches shows the results of NK Ljubljana and NK Olimpija, when they played in the Slovenian cup.

Season	Round	Date	Venue	Attendance	Match	Score	Winner
1992-93	Semifinal	05–05–1993	ŽŠD Ljubljana	1,200	LJ – OL	0–1	OL
2003-04	Round of 16	17–09–2003	ŽŠD Ljubljana	1,000	LJ – OL	3–1	LJ

• Series won: Olimpija 1 (50%), Ljubljana 1 (50%).

Head-to-head

Statistics

The head-to-head statistics shows the results of NK Ljubljana and NK Olimpija, when they played against each other in the Slovenian League or Cup.

	Ljubljana wins	Draws	Olimpija wins
Yugoslav leagues
At Ljubljana home	2	4	3
At Olimpija home	1	0	8
Total	3	4	11
1.SNL
At Ljubljana home	1	2	4
At Olimpija home	1	2	4
Neutral field	0	0	1
Total	2	4	9
Slovenian Cup
At Ljubljana home	1	0	1
At Olimpija home	0	0	0
Total	1	0	1
Total
	6	8	21

Ranking

The head-to-head ranking table shows the results of NK Železničar / NK Ljubljana and NK Odred / NK Olimpija, when they played in the same league.

P.	1946L	46-47	51-52	52-53	55-56	56-57	57-58	61-62	86-87	91-92	92-93	93-94	94-95	02-03	03-04	04-05
1	1	1	1					1	1	1	1	1	1
2	2	2		2											2
3					3									3
4			4					4	4		4
5					5					5
6																6
7							7								7
8						8										8
9				9
10						10	10						10	10
11												11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

• Total: Olimpija 14 times higher (87%), Ljubljana 2 times higher (13%).

Post 2005 era

In 2005 new clubs were established, NK Bežigrad and FC Ljubljana. Both were supported by most of the fans of the previous clubs, including their fan groups, the Green Dragons and Špediterji Šiška. Therefore many have seen the matches between the new clubs as the continuation of the rivalry and referred to it by the same name. The first match between new NK Bežigrad and FC Ljubljana took place on 26 August 2005 on a fifth level league match that was won by Bežigrad, 3-1. Later NK Bežigrad renamed to Olimpija Ljubljana, while FC Ljubljana finally dissolved in 2011.

The head-to-head matches shows the results of FC Ljubljana and NK Bežigrad since 2005.

League

	Ljubljana – Olimpija				Olimpija – Ljubljana
Season	R.	Date	Venue	Score	R.	Date	Venue	Score
2005-06	10	01–04–2006	ŽŠD Ljubljana	0–2	1	26–08–2005	Bežigrad	3–1

Cup

Season	Round	Date	Venue	Match	Score	Winner
2005-06	1st Round	07–09–2005	ŽŠD Ljubljana	LJ – OL	0–0 (aet); 2–1 (pen)	LJ