Capital of Slavonia receives big Hungarian investment
Croatia
Teams, tales and tips – a guide to the local game
In Croatia’s far north-east by its borders with Serbia and Hungary, Osijek is the largest city of Slavonia, a great swathe of Pannonian plain largely given over to agriculture. Less than an hour’s drive from Vukovar, a town completely destroyed by Serbian forces in 1991, Osijek also suffered months of bombardment, emerging to become the fourth largest city of a newly independent Croatia.
Flagship football club NK Osijek have never been relegated from the Croatian top flight – nor have they been close to winning it, despite nurturing two prolific locally born strikers, Robert Špehar and Davor Šuker. When Špehar was at his peak, Osijek were playing home games elsewhere in Slavonia because of the war, while Šuker had moved on to Zagreb and Sevilla by the time his home-town team were members of the fledging Croatia-only league.
While the Bijelo-plavi (‘White and Blues’) played out 25 seasons of relative mediocrity, as a city Osijek developed a status beyond its achievements on the football field. Proximity to Hungary made it a prime candidate for inclusion as a host venue for Croatia’s joint bid with their northern neighbours to stage Euro 2012. Though unsuccessful, it did lead to improvements of the Gradski vrt stadium, the city-owned ground located south of the bus and train stations. To date, Croatia have played 11 internationals here, two involving Wales.
As Šuker carves out a career in top-level football administration, so his influence helps to keep Osijek on the radar, even when his former club finishes below the likes of Zadar and local Slavonian rivals Cibalia Vinkovci in the league.
In 2015, matters came to a head. Facing bankruptcy, Osijek were saved by entrepreneurs from Hungary and Croatia, Lőrinc Mészáros and Ivan Meštrović. In February 2016, at a ceremony on the banks of the Drava river that forms much of the border, Meštrović declared a new era in the history of the club, of investment and development, even proposing that his business partner Mészáros be made an honorary citizen of Osijek.
With Hungary seeking to gain influence in communities it lost after World War I, and governed by a football-mad prime minister, so clubs such as DAC in Dunajska Stredá (Dunaújváros to Hungarians) and Sepsi in Sfântu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy to Hungarians) in Slovakia and Romania have benefitted from stadium overhauls partly funded from across the border.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Mészáros is also mayor of Felcsút, where Hungarian Prime Minister grew up, and where a top-flight stadium has been built in a hamlet of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.
In April 2018, Osijek chairman Meštrović announced plans for a new stadium and club headquarters, to be ready at some point in the 2019-20 season. Its location is the so-called Pampas, near the riding school, west of the city centre by the Drava.
Yet, unlike, say, Bratislava or Cluj, Osijek has little historic evidence of Hungarian involvement during the early days of football here. The most successful club before World War II were Slavija Osijek, founded in 1916 along the same lines as Slavia Prague (and Hajduk Split), in defiance of their Habsburg overlords.
Regular competitors in the all-Yugoslavia league from as far back as 1924, Slavija included international goalkeeper Franjo Glaser, later a title-winner with BSK Belgrade title-winner, along with fellow cap, Osijek-born inside-forward Gustav Lechner. Slavija’s great local rivals were Građanski Osijek, formed in 1917.
Mysteriously, Slavija’s stadium burned down in 1938 and neither club survived the war.
There was also a Hajduk Osijek, where Franjo Rupnik, later league winner with Partizan Belgrade, started out. Rupnik, another savvy inside-forward, finished his playing career at Proleter Osijek, formed in 1947. This precursor to NK Osijek moved into the Gradski vrt soon after it opened in 1958 but spent most of the post-war period in the second flight.
While NK Osijek claim a heritage from 1947, it wasn’t until 20 years later that the this main club in town took its current name, and 30 years claimed a top-flight spot.
The influx of cash post-2016 has allowed Osijek to enjoy their best European run to date, beating PSV Eindhoven in the 2017-18 Europa League and missing out on the group stage on away goals.
[mapsmarker map="34"]Getting Around
Arriving in town, local transport and timings
Once used by Ryanair but now mainly by domestic Croatia Airlines, Osijek Airport is 20km (12.5 miles) south-east of the city, on the same side of town as the stadium. With so little passenger traffic, there’s no regular public transport into town, only taxis at about 200kn. Based in town, Osječki taxis can be contacted on +385 31 200 200.
The city’s bus and train stations are close to each other south of the city centre. Rail connections are poor, with only four trains a day from Zagreb, 5hr journey time. There are far more buses, journey time 4hrs, single tickets around 125kn/€26. The stadium is a 15min walk away, as is the city centre, in the opposite direction.
Trams also serve the stadium, station and city centre, though schedules and numbers aren’t posted up on any stop. Pay the driver 10kn/€1.30 when you board. Beneath the main square, Trg Ante Starčevića, is the office for transport company GPP, who can provide timetables and day passes at 35kn/€4.60.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
Local beer Osječko is Croatia’s oldest, with craft varieties available around town. Osijek is lively at weekends, with bars concentrated near and along the river, and in the historic fortified complex of Tvrđa. There you’ll find the Pivnica Merlon, a sport-focused terrace bar in bare-brick, industrial style, with rooms available alongside.
Round the corner, overlooking a focal square, the Fort Pub saw a lot of action during the 2018 World Cup, as did its neighbour, St Patrick’s. At the far eastern end of the fortress complex, the Old Bridge Pub is in similar vein. At the city end of ulica Franje Kuhaća, Dubioza attracts a younger crowd with DJs and live acts.
Along the river, by the Hotel Osijek, Brooklyn shows matches on its expansive terrace, while the Bounty is more loungey.
Overlooking the harbour, Zimska Luka, at the junction of the embankment and Ribarska, fills with friendly older regulars, while the string of terrace bar/cafés along Ribarska itself – Pressing, Berlin and Caffe 054 – all caught World Cup fever in the summer of 2018.
Nearby, tucked down a passageway, don’t overlook the Swan Pub, off Kapucinska behind the Hotel Royal, with a terrace, TV football and several beer varieties.
By the Cathedral, Caffe No.22 provides a handy terrace, with a TV in a cosy, pub-like interior while at Kapucinska 23, the contemporary Club Lounge Bar screens plenty of sport to a prominent terrace.
On Županijska near the Hotel Waldinger, the London is a handy little spot to watch the match, while the modern Pivnica Runda at Stjepana Radića 44 offers the best beer choice in town.
Sport House has transformed a once abandoned section of the train station into a pizzeria and urban bar, with a long terrace and two-storey modern interior dotted with TV screens. Upstairs is lined with World Cup posters all the way back to 1930 and framed photographs include, inevitably, Davor Šuker. Turn right as you exit the station.
Beside the main station building, City provides a handy pitstop with a TV on the terrace. By the bus station, Diesel performs a similar function.
Where to stay
The best hotels for the stadium and city centre
The Osijek Tourist Office has no online hotel information.
The nearest lodging to the stadium is the Villa Gradski vrt (+385 31 575 406), a little house five minutes away at Delnička 17, simple and pleasant.
Near the bus and train stations, the Hotel Vila Ariston offers convenient, comfortable, mid-range accommodation. Also walking distance, overlooking the pretty park of Zrinjevac, are the basic Prenoćište Perla (Zrinjevac 9A, +385 98 186 6349), offering absurdly cheap rooms above a beauty parlour, and the old-school Hotel Drava, with three-star singles and doubles.
You’ll find a gym, sauna and quality restaurant at historic Hotel Waldinger, plus four-star rooms, all near near the main square, where the Central is crying out for modernisation. For the price, though, rooms are reasonable and the tram to the stadium is a short walk across the square.
The most notable hotel in town, surprisingly affordable despite a riverside location, panoramic spa and terrace restaurant, is the Hotel Osijek, hired out for major functions.
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The historic Roman city of Pula, at the southern tip of Italianate Istria, has always lacked a football club to match its cultural and touristic importance. Home of Croatia’s most venerable film festival, held in the signature local attraction, a 2,000-year-old amphitheatre, Pula lags behind Croatia’s coastal giants of Split and nearest main rivals Rijeka where football is concerned. While Hajduk Split attract a significant holiday crowd to their home games in high season, Pula’s main club, Istra 1961, fail to register with the many visitors who flock here for seaside fun and summer music festivals. Few, in fact, even know that Pula has a top-flight team or where they play. It’s a situation that recent Russian, and now American, ownership of Istra 1961 has failed to redress. Pula’s convoluted history, both geopolitical and sporting, hardly helps.
Getting Around
Arriving in town, local transport and timings
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
Where to stay
The best hotels for the stadium and city centre
Teams, tales and tips – a guide to the local game
Could any stadium in Europe have a better setting? Backdropped by the clear blue of the Adriatic a stone’s throw away – you could see the stone drop through the water, in fact – the Poljud occupies a natural bowl in the area of the same name just north of the centre of this sport-mad city.
The de facto capital of Dalmatia, Split (and the Poljud) are home to one of the most passionate and colourful fan cultures in Europe. The recently sorry fortunes of local club Hajduk (pronounced ‘Hay-dook’) are followed across southern Croatia, islands included. Every other bar, boat and taxi driver’s window features the white, red and blue of the oldest club in former Yugoslavia.
A venue worthy of such a legacy was built under Tito for the Mediterranean Games of 1979. Eight months later, just before half-time of a clash between Hajduk and Red Star Belgrade, the news came over that Tito had died. Players, officials and crowd stopped as one, and many began to weep. The game was abandoned.
At the time, Hajduk were one quarter of the Yugoslav Big Four – Dinamo Zagreb being Croatia’s other representatives, plus Partizan and Red Star from Belgrade. Following the break-up of Yugoslavia, the fractured sporting scene was patched up for basketball – but not for football. A weak Croatian League, is now dominated by Dinamo – Hajduk last won the title in 2005.
In between then and now, Split’s other club, RNK, showed excellent form, drawing with Fulham and Torino in the Europa League in 2011 and 2014 respectively. Both games were played in Dugopolje outside Split – RNK's regular Park Mladeži stadium lies close to the Poljud. Crveni, the Reds, are currently struggling to claim the only promotional place in the Southern Division of the third league, though causing occasionally surprises in the Croatian Cup.
Hajduk moved up to the Poljud from their home of 70 years, the nearby Stari Plac, where fans, the Torcida, still gather in the club house bar today. They brought with them a fan culture of almost equal longevity. Fiery celebrations – torch flames, banners and co-ordinated chants – had been copied from grainy cinema newsreel footage of the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. With Rio as their role model, the Torcida had been practising South American football customs on the terraces of Europe for three decades.
The Dalmatian diaspora following the Hajduk flag fly in from Australia, North America or whichever shore-leave port their ship happened to have docked at. Match day at its best is a tribal gathering of Dalmatians. The city’s waterfront Riva reverberates all afternoon with fireworks and parades, another tradition. But the patriotic, populist Torcida, have had to suffer perennial mismanagement of their beloved club.
Just as Hajduk have declined, mired in financial gloom, so the Poljud is in urgent need of renovation. Plans for a revamped stadium were put on ice when Croatia failed to win the hosting rights for Euro 2012.
In the more recent past, Hajduk have picked up, winning the Croatian Cup final at the Poljud in May 2022. To mark the occasion, a fan zone was set up on the seafront Riva, with games for kids and a huge LED screen beaming the action to those who weren't among the 30,000 crowd for the Adriatic derby with Rijeka.
A runners-up spot in the league was also a best performance for several seasons, followed by victory over Vitória Guimarães in the Conference League. While Villarreal proved a bar too far, Hajduk are at last back among the major European names, exactly where they belong.
Crowds for both home ties were in the 30,000 range, first-time Iberian visitors discovering a rich football culture by the shores of the Adriatic.
Getting Around
Arriving in town, local transport and timings
Split Airport is at Kaštela, 20km (14 miles) north-west of town, towards Trogir. Pleso Prijevoz buses run to Split bus station (45kn/€6, journey time 30mins). CroTAXI PANDA +385 95 535 8095 should charge around 300kn/€40 depending on destination. Many hotels arrange transfers.
Split bus and train stations adjoin each other between the main market and the harbour for boats to the islands. Walking is the only practical way to get around the town centre, centrepieced by a gutted Roman palace and fringed by the Adriatic waterfront. The stadium is a steepish climb from town but one that many fans are happy to do.
To reach the Poljud or more distant city beaches by city bus, pay 13kn/€1.75 on board at Zagrebačka by the market or the top of pedestrianised Marmontova near the National Theatre.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
Split has two bar hubs: the Roman-era Diocletian's Palace and the Bačvice leisure complex at the city beach, a short walk over the railway bridge.
In the palace, the arty Academia Ghetto Club (Dosud 10), close to the Hotel Slavija, has dedicated a whole wall to RNK Split. Turning left out of the hotel, then left again past the AGC, follow the yellow arrows marked ‘bar grill’ for the no-frills terrace bar with a sea view, the legendary Dioklecijan, known by all as ‘Tre Volte’.
Younger foreigners converge on Aussie-run Charlie's, attached to the hostel of the same name on Petra Kružića, where big games are screened and celebrated. Sport is also shown at nearby Sanctuary, although the main focus is on serious drinking and top Mexican snacks. Just behind Narodni trg, Gaga brings groups of cocktail-drinking partyseekers together in a small square and shows European games.
At Bačvice, Bili AS is a football spot, decked out in Hajduk murals, now gone a little upscale and serving food, as well. Alongside, La Playa offers more of a clubby vibe while the Beach Bar History at the end of the row pleases the crowd with pizzas and cocktails.
On the city side of the beach, savvy Žbirac attracts an urban crowd. There’s TV football inside once the sun sinks over the horizon.
Further along from Bačvice, near the tennis courts of Firule where Goran Ivanišević started out, Egoist was a sport-centric lounge bar near a stretch of beaches now in the process of changing hands but unlikely to change focus.
Where to stay
The best hotels for the stadium and city centre
Visit Split has a database of hotels.
Convenient for the Poljud, the Hotel Globo is an eminently affordable four-star. Cheaper yet is the Split Guesthouse & Hostel, a friendly lodging with two-, four- and six-bed rooms on the corner of the main road leading up to the stadium. You’ll find it on most hostel booking sites.
In the city centre, the Hotel President is a decent city-centre four-star, as is the Marmont, with its roof-terrace bar.
At this end of town, the mid-range Bellevue has long been a fixture in an Italianate building dating back to the late 1800s, overlooking a pretty, prominent square.
In the Roman palace, the Hotel Slavija is a converted Yugo-era hostel, comfortable but often full in high season. The nearby Kastel 1700 has also gone upscale.
The Dioklecijan (Obrov 10, +385 98 969 7129) is a superior example of a converted hostel, now a quality hotel with that rarity in these parts, a rooftop pool.
On the edge of the palace to the north, you find the boutique luxury Sleep Split and Cornaro, while on the waterfront is a handful of affordable, three-star rooms above the Adriana pizzeria.
Over at Bačvice, the Hotel Park is perfectly situated for a weekend of beachside relaxation.
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Scene of wild celebrations after Croatia’s heroic run to the World Cup final in 2018, national capital Zagreb has always been a football-centric metropolis. Home to flagship club Dinamo, the city’s main stadium of the Maksimir shares international duties with the Poljud in Split, co-hosted the Euro finals in 1976 and lost out on the vote to perform a similar but more substantial role in 2012.
It was in 1912 that Zagreb, then under Austro-Hungarian rule, was chosen as base of the football branch of the newly formed Croatian Athletics Federation. Nine years before, the first club, HAŠK, had been founded by students and academics. Other clubs soon followed as the Sokol movement blossomed. Linked to similar movements in Prague, Scout-like Sokol encouraged sporting activity and, though not openly, Slav nationalism.
Three main clubs HAŠK, Građanski and Concordia played each other in friendlies at the Maksimir Park, the city’s main green space where the stadium of the same name stands today east of town.
When the South Slavs – Yugoslavs – broke from the Habsburgs after World War I, a league was set up, originally based in Zagreb. The three Zagreb clubs took eight of the 17 titles up to 1940, but already, ten years earlier, internal disputes had the league HQ moved to Belgrade.
As a Nazi state in World War II, Croatia had its own national team and league, again dominated by the big three.
Under Tito, in the post-war Republic of Yugoslavia, Građanski, HAŠK and Concordia were disbanded as one on June 9, 1945 – and Dinamo Zagreb were founded in their place. The best players joined them, including Franjo Wölff, who would become top league scorer for two seasons running. Dinamo later took over the Maksimir ground from HAŠK, while Concordia ceded their ground to the club that would become NK Zagreb.
Građanski carried the nickname of ‘Purgeri’, one still granted to all citizens of Zagreb today. Dinamo also inherited their colours, fan base and, for three years, their stadium, the Koturaska. Abandoned in 1948, it was later demolished.
Dinamo became one of the Yugoslav big four, Zagreb’s Maksimir a regular host of Yugoslav internationals.
After 1991, in the considerably weaker independent Croatian league, Dinamo dominated and even NK Zagreb, previously only occasional participants in the all-Yugoslav one, shone.
Since then, top-flight Lokomotiva, a feeder club for Dinamo, have recently enjoyed a rare dip into Europe. As Viktoria, then Željezničar, Lokomotiva were the city’s fourth club before World War II, surviving the post-Tito era in their current guise. With the demise of NK, Lokomotiva are the capital’s de facto second club.
As if to prove it, Lokomotiva, after groundsharing the Maksimir with Dinamo, moved into the city's other other main stadium, the Stadion Kranjčevićeva, close to the main train station. Until 2018, this was NK's home ground, the former Croatian champions now having to play at their training ground on Veslačka on the north bank of the Sava.
Of the other Zagreb clubs, NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac, the ‘Black Warriors’, were reformed and renamed in honour of those who volunteered to fight in the Croatian War of Independence. In 2021, they gained promotion to the top division. Frequent competitors in the top tier in the late 1990s, the Croatian Volunteers are based at the Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić in the Siget district of Novi Zagreb, a short walk from the Velesajam tram stop on avenija Dubrovnik.
Challenging for a place to join them in the 1.HNL, Rudeš have their own stadium on Rudeška cesta, between main Zagrebačka cesta and Zagrebačka avenija. Regular competitors in the second tier until 2021, NK Sesvete are based in the eastern district of the same name, near Sesvete station, 15-20mins from Zagreb. HAŠK still exist, though in a much more modest form than pre-1945.
Just outside town, near the airport, Gorica represent the suburban community of Velika Gorica. Present in the top flight since 2018, the Goričani play at the Gradski stadion, built for the 1987 Summer Universiade for which a lot of the city's leisure facilities were created. To reach it, take regular bus 268 from Zagreb station to the terminus, then walk 10=15mins up ulica Bratske Hrvatske Zajednice to the main road, avenija Pape Ivana Pavla II. The stadium is just opposite.
[mapsmarker map="34"]Getting Around
Arriving in town, local transport and timings
Zagreb’s Franjo Tuđman Airport is 17km (10.5 miles) south-east of the city centre. Half-hourly buses (45kn/€6, pay on board, 30min journey time) run to Zagreb bus station. A taxi to town should have a flat rate of 250kn/€33.
The transport network comprises trams, night trams and buses for outlying areas. Trams 2 and 6 run three stops from the bus station to the main train station, Glavni kolodvor, the 6 going on to the main square, Trg bana Josipa Jelačića.
A ticket costs 4kn/€0.55 if bought from a newsstand, 6kn/€0.80 from the driver. A day ticket is 40kn/€5.30.
Taxis are parked outside either station or call +385 1717.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
On the main bar street of Tkalčićeva, winding the other side of the market from the main square, you’ll find the Oliver Twist (No.60) and the Pivnica Mali Medo (No.36), with its in-house beer, alongside several spots with football on large outdoor TV screens. Ožujsko (No.16) is an old favourite while History Village (Nos.57-68) has a wider culinary remit.
Also close, on parallel Radićeva, Pinta appeals to local football fans with its homely atmosphere, TV and lack of tourists. A few buildings up, the MK Bar, known as ‘Krolo’ after the writer Miroslav Krleža who lived here, is equally lived-in.
By the market, Harat’s is the extremely popular local branch of the successful Russia-wide chain of sports pubs.
The other side of the main square, Boban is an upstairs café with an affordable Italian restaurant below, set up by the Croatian football star of the same name. This is another little bar hub, comprising Charlie’s (Gajeva 4), pub/club/restaurant Bulldog and the Golf.
Alcatraz is a lively spot, always full of locals. American-style Brewbites at Gajeva 10 is lined with TV screens showing sport, decked out in memorabilia and takes no prisoners where burgers are concerned.
Towards the station, the Čeh (‘Czech’) Pub serves Bohemian beers amid old music posters – though doesn’t open Sundays or Saturday lunchtimes – while across this junction of Hebrangova and Preradovića, the Old Pharmacy Pub makes a decent attempt at authenticity.
Right by the station, the Garden Bar shows sport on a big screen beneath the awning looking out over trg Kralja Tomislava. Irish-run Sheridan’s on Savska towards Stadion Kranjčevićeva also focuses on sport but favours GAA over soccer.
By the Zagreb Arena just over the river, Dribbling would clean up in the city centre – here on Lanište, it’s a superior sports bar filled with Croatian football iconography, used by locals who call this burgeoning part of town home.
Where to stay
The best hotels for the stadiums and city centre
The Zagreb Tourist Office on the main square has a directory of hotels.
Near the Maksimir, the best option is the three-star of the same name ten minutes’ walk from the stadium, tucked inside a courtyard off the main street two tram stops closer to town. Doubles are charged at an across-the-board 500kn, rooms for four 800kn.
On the other side of the road, on the sidestreet of Dragolja Kušlana, the Zagreb Soul Hostel offers doubles and dorm beds in comfortable, modern surroundings. Also nearby, the Funk Lounge Hostel on Rendićeva can also provide cheap doubles walking distance from the stadium.
Close to the Stadion Kranjčevićeva, and within easy reach of the station and main square, the Laguna is a pleasant three-star with bar and restaurant. Halfway between stadium and the main station, the Garden Hotel on Valentina Vodnika comprises 36 sleek rooms, a bar and restaurant.
In town, the recommended TABAN marries Japanese interior design with an urban youth hostel concept, at B&B prices – and right on the main bar drag of Tkalčićeva. The nearby four-Academia impresses with its four-star rooms and bistro.
On the other side of the main square, the landmark Hotel Dubrovnik offers doubles for around 900kn. Also close, on the main street of Ilica, and affordable, is the Jägerhorn, upgraded from pension to hotel.
For upscale gatherings, the football fraternity prefers the equally central Sheraton at Kneza Borne 2, while the Palace is an Art-Deco classic dating back to 1907. It’s also conveniently located by the Zrinjevac tram stop, halfway between the main square and the train station. On the other side of the Art Pavilion, the Astoria is a handy mid-range option.
The most famous lodging in town is the Esplanade, built by the station to serve the Orient Express, and host to royalty and film stars. Orson Welles was a famous regular here. Nearby on main, tram-lined Branimirova, the functional Hotel Central stands almost as close to the station.
More contemporary in style, with free cycle provision and a 24-hour gym, Canopy by Hilton Zagreb City Centre stands diagonally opposite the train station.
To stay close to the bus station, almost opposite, the No.9 has boutique pretensions with three floors of different colours. Just behind on Supilova, the Hotel National can provide a comfortable, affordable stay while behind that, on Ivana Bunića Vučića, the Sliško does the job with 49 ‘budget’ and ‘comfort’ rooms.
Also close, on the main street of Vukovara, the DoubleTree by Hilton is a different category altogether, with a panoramic gym, pool and sauna.
Down on Rudeška, the Admiral offers upscale luxury around a large casino, sports bar, spa centre and restaurant. It’s run by a major betting company so gambling opportunities abound, but you won’t need to go far to watch the match – any match.
What to see
The best football sights in town
Right by the main square on the corner with Petrinjska, Budi ponosan (‘Be Proud’) (Tue-Sat 10am-6pm) tells the story of Croatian football, from its beginnings to the World Cup final of 2018.
The emphasis is on these recent triumphs but you can still pick out newspaper reports from the early 1990s when the newly independent country was forming its first national side, with details of famous players through the ages.
Although in a prominent location – with a Dinamo Zagreb store next door – the space isn’t big enough to cover much more. Admission is free, and it’s well worth a look around.
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In Croatia’s far north-east by its borders with Serbia and Hungary, Osijek is the largest city of Slavonia, a great swathe of Pannonian plain largely given over to agriculture. Less than an hour’s drive from Vukovar, a town completely destroyed by Serbian forces in 1991, Osijek also suffered months of bombardment, emerging to become the fourth largest city of a newly independent Croatia.
Flagship football club NK Osijek have never been relegated from the Croatian top flight – nor have they been close to winning it, despite nurturing two prolific locally born strikers, Robert Špehar and Davor Šuker. When Špehar was at his peak, Osijek were playing home games elsewhere in Slavonia because of the war, while Šuker had moved on to Zagreb and Sevilla by the time his home-town team were members of the fledging Croatia-only league.
While the Bijelo-plavi (‘White and Blues’) played out 25 seasons of relative mediocrity, as a city Osijek developed a status beyond its achievements on the football field. Proximity to Hungary made it a prime candidate for inclusion as a host venue for Croatia’s joint bid with their northern neighbours to stage Euro 2012. Though unsuccessful, it did lead to improvements of the Gradski vrt stadium, the city-owned ground located south of the bus and train stations. To date, Croatia have played 11 internationals here, two involving Wales.
As Šuker carves out a career in top-level football administration, so his influence helps to keep Osijek on the radar, even when his former club finishes below the likes of Zadar and local Slavonian rivals Cibalia Vinkovci in the league.
In 2015, matters came to a head. Facing bankruptcy, Osijek were saved by entrepreneurs from Hungary and Croatia, Lőrinc Mészáros and Ivan Meštrović. In February 2016, at a ceremony on the banks of the Drava river that forms much of the border, Meštrović declared a new era in the history of the club, of investment and development, even proposing that his business partner Mészáros be made an honorary citizen of Osijek.
With Hungary seeking to gain influence in communities it lost after World War I, and governed by a football-mad prime minister, so clubs such as DAC in Dunajska Stredá (Dunaújváros to Hungarians) and Sepsi in Sfântu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy to Hungarians) in Slovakia and Romania have benefitted from stadium overhauls partly funded from across the border.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Mészáros is also mayor of Felcsút, where Hungarian Prime Minister grew up, and where a top-flight stadium has been built in a hamlet of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.
In April 2018, Osijek chairman Meštrović announced plans for a new stadium and club headquarters, to be ready at some point in the 2019-20 season. Its location is the so-called Pampas, near the riding school, west of the city centre by the Drava.
Yet, unlike, say, Bratislava or Cluj, Osijek has little historic evidence of Hungarian involvement during the early days of football here. The most successful club before World War II were Slavija Osijek, founded in 1916 along the same lines as Slavia Prague (and Hajduk Split), in defiance of their Habsburg overlords.
Regular competitors in the all-Yugoslavia league from as far back as 1924, Slavija included international goalkeeper Franjo Glaser, later a title-winner with BSK Belgrade title-winner, along with fellow cap, Osijek-born inside-forward Gustav Lechner. Slavija’s great local rivals were Građanski Osijek, formed in 1917.
Mysteriously, Slavija’s stadium burned down in 1938 and neither club survived the war.
There was also a Hajduk Osijek, where Franjo Rupnik, later league winner with Partizan Belgrade, started out. Rupnik, another savvy inside-forward, finished his playing career at Proleter Osijek, formed in 1947. This precursor to NK Osijek moved into the Gradski vrt soon after it opened in 1958 but spent most of the post-war period in the second flight.
While NK Osijek claim a heritage from 1947, it wasn’t until 20 years later that the this main club in town took its current name, and 30 years claimed a top-flight spot.
The influx of cash post-2016 has allowed Osijek to enjoy their best European run to date, beating PSV Eindhoven in the 2017-18 Europa League and missing out on the group stage on away goals.
[mapsmarker map="34"]Getting Around
Arriving in town, local transport and timings
Once used by Ryanair but now mainly by domestic Croatia Airlines, Osijek Airport is 20km (12.5 miles) south-east of the city, on the same side of town as the stadium. With so little passenger traffic, there’s no regular public transport into town, only taxis at about 200kn. Based in town, Osječki taxis can be contacted on +385 31 200 200.
The city’s bus and train stations are close to each other south of the city centre. Rail connections are poor, with only four trains a day from Zagreb, 5hr journey time. There are far more buses, journey time 4hrs, single tickets around 125kn/€26. The stadium is a 15min walk away, as is the city centre, in the opposite direction.
Trams also serve the stadium, station and city centre, though schedules and numbers aren’t posted up on any stop. Pay the driver 10kn/€1.30 when you board. Beneath the main square, Trg Ante Starčevića, is the office for transport company GPP, who can provide timetables and day passes at 35kn/€4.60.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
Local beer Osječko is Croatia’s oldest, with craft varieties available around town. Osijek is lively at weekends, with bars concentrated near and along the river, and in the historic fortified complex of Tvrđa. There you’ll find the Pivnica Merlon, a sport-focused terrace bar in bare-brick, industrial style, with rooms available alongside.
Round the corner, overlooking a focal square, the Fort Pub saw a lot of action during the 2018 World Cup, as did its neighbour, St Patrick’s. At the far eastern end of the fortress complex, the Old Bridge Pub is in similar vein. At the city end of ulica Franje Kuhaća, Dubioza attracts a younger crowd with DJs and live acts.
Along the river, by the Hotel Osijek, Brooklyn shows matches on its expansive terrace, while the Bounty is more loungey.
Overlooking the harbour, Zimska Luka, at the junction of the embankment and Ribarska, fills with friendly older regulars, while the string of terrace bar/cafés along Ribarska itself – Pressing, Berlin and Caffe 054 – all caught World Cup fever in the summer of 2018.
Nearby, tucked down a passageway, don’t overlook the Swan Pub, off Kapucinska behind the Hotel Royal, with a terrace, TV football and several beer varieties.
By the Cathedral, Caffe No.22 provides a handy terrace, with a TV in a cosy, pub-like interior while at Kapucinska 23, the contemporary Club Lounge Bar screens plenty of sport to a prominent terrace.
On Županijska near the Hotel Waldinger, the London is a handy little spot to watch the match, while the modern Pivnica Runda at Stjepana Radića 44 offers the best beer choice in town.
Sport House has transformed a once abandoned section of the train station into a pizzeria and urban bar, with a long terrace and two-storey modern interior dotted with TV screens. Upstairs is lined with World Cup posters all the way back to 1930 and framed photographs include, inevitably, Davor Šuker. Turn right as you exit the station.
Beside the main station building, City provides a handy pitstop with a TV on the terrace. By the bus station, Diesel performs a similar function.
Where to stay
The best hotels for the stadium and city centre
The Osijek Tourist Office has no online hotel information.
The nearest lodging to the stadium is the Villa Gradski vrt (+385 31 575 406), a little house five minutes away at Delnička 17, simple and pleasant.
Near the bus and train stations, the Hotel Vila Ariston offers convenient, comfortable, mid-range accommodation. Also walking distance, overlooking the pretty park of Zrinjevac, are the basic Prenoćište Perla (Zrinjevac 9A, +385 98 186 6349), offering absurdly cheap rooms above a beauty parlour, and the old-school Hotel Drava, with three-star singles and doubles.
You’ll find a gym, sauna and quality restaurant at historic Hotel Waldinger, plus four-star rooms, all near near the main square, where the Central is crying out for modernisation. For the price, though, rooms are reasonable and the tram to the stadium is a short walk across the square.
The most notable hotel in town, surprisingly affordable despite a riverside location, panoramic spa and terrace restaurant, is the Hotel Osijek, hired out for major functions.
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