FK Belasica (Macedonian: ФК Беласица) is a professional football club based in the city of Strumica, North Macedonia. They are currently competing in the Macedonian Second League.

ФК Беласица
FK Belasica
Full nameFudbalski klub Belasica Strumica / Фудбалски клуб Беласица Струмица
Nickname(s)Кенгури (Kangaroos)
Short nameBelasica, BEL
Founded22 April 1922; 102 years ago (1922-04-22)
GroundBlagoj Istatov Stadium
Capacity9,200
ChairmanSlavcho Vaskov-Pinda
ManagerShefki Arifovski
LeagueMacedonian Second League
2023–24Second League, 7th
WebsiteClub website

History

edit

The club was founded in then Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 22 April 1922 at the cafe of Tašo Todorov, where fifty initiators gathered at the founding meeting for the football club Belasica Strumica. According to documents, the first meeting was held on 13 August 1922 with Gjorgi Moskov elected president, Tomi Kujundziev as secretary and Rosto Perov as treasurer. The first match played in club history was against Pobeda from Skopje, where Belasica lost by the score of 1–0.

Their popular nickname is Kangaroos and their best period was the golden 80s when they won the Macedonian Republic championship twice. At the time, the club mostly played in the Federal Second league with teams from the six federal republics. Everybody in Macedonia remembers old legends from the club such as Blagoj Istatov and Vasil Ringov. Belasica was also known as Belasica GC, as Geras Cunev was the main sponsor. In the Macedonian top league, they had their biggest success under the leadership of Vančo Takovski in the early 2000s when they were runners-up of the Macedonian First League twice. Over the years, Belasica has played an important role by providing countless source of football talent. The North Macedonia national football team had many players that came from the Belasica youth system. Among them are: Goran Pandev, Aco Stojkov, Dragan Stojkov, Igor Gjuzelov, Robert Popov, Goran Popov, Zoran Baldovaliev, Dancho Masev and Goran Maznov.

In 2015, the club was bought by the Macedonian kickboxer Slavcho Vaskov-Pinda.[1]

The most notable player to come out of Belasica is Goran Pandev a retired Macedonian international and all-time leading goal scorer for the national team.[2]

 
Belasica's old logo

Honours

edit

Stadium

edit
 

Mladost Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Strumica, Republic of North Macedonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and the stadium's capacity is 6,500 spectators. With the last reconstruction in 2017 the stadium has a capacity of 9,200 seats, and it is a third-class field in accordance with UEFA standards. It meets the conditions for a high-ranking competition and is the second such stadium in the country.

Recent seasons

edit
Season League Cup European competitions
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos
1992–93 1. MFL 34 12 10 12 41 44 34 9th
1993–94 1. MFL 30 7 12 11 35 48 26 12th R1
1994–95 1. MFL 30 11 4 15 48 62 37 10th
1995–96 1. MFL 28 9 6 13 34 38 33 9th
1996–97 1. MFL 26 9 6 11 32 41 33 10th GS
1997–98 1. MFL 25 8 4 13 25 35 41 13th ↓ QF
1998–99 2. MFL East 29 19 2 8 58 30 59 2nd
1999–00 2. MFL East 30 27 0 3 116 19 72 1st ↑ R1
2000–01 1. MFL 26 17 4 5 56 22 55 4th QF
2001–02 1. MFL 20 11 3 6 29 22 36 2nd R2
2002–03 1. MFL 33 20 9 4 50 32 69 2nd SF UEFA Cup QR
2003–04 1. MFL 33 10 6 17 37 55 36 10th R2 UEFA Cup QR
2004–05 1. MFL 33 14 6 13 53 47 48 8th R1
2005–06 1. MFL 33 2 2 29 22 84 8 12th ↓ R2
2006–07 2. MFL 33 11 7 15 36 59 40 9th R1
2007–08 2. MFL 32 16 7 9 49 37 55 4th
2008–09 2. MFL 29 10 8 11 34 33 38 8th R2
2009–10 2. MFL 26 10 3 13 28 39 33 8th R2
2010–11 2. MFL 26 13 4 9 39 26 43 5th R1
2011–12 2. MFL 30 4 6 20 27 56 18 16th ↓
2012–13 3. MFL East 33 23 3 7 102 23 72 4th R1
2013–14 3. MFL East 26 23 1 2 82 16 70 1st R1
2014–15 3. MFL East 22 18 3 1 66 11 57 1st R1
2015–16 3. MFL East 22 12 2 8 49 27 38 3rd R1
2016–17 3. MFL East 27 24 1 2 126 14 73 1st ↑ R1
2017–18 2. MFL East 25 18 5 2 81 11 59 1st ↑ R1
2018–19 1. MFL 36 9 11 16 37 49 38 9th ↓ SF
2019–201 2. MFL East 16 13 1 2 36 9 40 1st ↑ N/A
2020–21 1. MFL 33 4 5 24 23 68 17 12th ↓ QF
2021–22 2. MFL East 27 18 5 4 56 14 59 2nd R2
2022–23 2. MFL 30 10 5 15 36 47 35 10th R1
2023–24 2. MFL 30 11 9 10 39 32 42 7th R1

1The 2019–20 season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.[3]

Belasica in Europe

edit
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2002–03 UEFA Cup Qualifying round   Leixões 2–2 1–2 3–4  
2003–04 UEFA Cup Qualifying round   NK Celje 2–7 0–5 2–12  

Players

edit

Current squad

edit

As of 20 August 2024. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   MKD Gjorgi Trajkov
3 DF   MKD Aleksandar Milushev
4 DF   MKD Borjan Poposki
5 DF   AUS Zak Kochankovski
6 MF   MKD Ljupcho Hristovski
7 MF   MKD Mladen Ljumovikj
8 MF   MKD Stefan Sulev
9 FW   MKD Aleks Mitrov
10 FW   MKD Kostadin Kapsarov
11 DF   MKD Luka Vojneski
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 GK   MKD Filip Mukanov
15 MF   MKD Mario Debreshlioski
16 MF   MKD Ersan Mustafa
17 DF   MKD Mirche Stoilov
19 FW   MKD Kire Stojanov
24 DF   MKD Dimche Jovov
30 GK   MKD Spasko Ahtarov
GK   MKD Ivan Nikoloski
FW   MKD Talha Idrizi
  MKD Stefan Mladenovski

Youth players

edit

Youth players that have been summoned in the first team during the current 2024-25 season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   MKD Nikolcho Mehandjiski
  MKD Stefan Dimov
No. Pos. Nation Player
  MKD Ilija Madevski
  MKD Stefan Sekirski

Other players

edit

Players still registered with the club but currently not active.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   MKD Hristijan Chukarski
DF   MKD Zoran Mitevski
DF   MKD Jordan Serafimovski
MF   MKD Anid Abazi
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   MKD Vladimir Dujovski
MF   MKD Vasko Gligorov
MF   MKD Aleksandar Kocev
FW   MKD Daniel Radojchikj

Historical list of coaches

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Кикбоксер го купи струмичкиот ФК "Беласица" (in Macedonian). Jugoinfo.mk. 17 February 2015. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Goran Pandev profile: 10 things you need to know about the Tottenham target – News". MirrorFootball.co.uk. 2009-05-19. Archived from the original on 2010-03-28. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
  3. ^ "Вонредна седница на Управен одбор на Фудбалска федерација на Македонија: Прекин на натпреварувачката сезона 2019/2020". Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија. 4 June 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  4. ^ Belasica turn to Blazevski - UEFA
  5. ^ Belasica hires Serbian manager Archived 2020-07-23 at the Wayback Machine - Macedonian Football
edit