NK Bravo 1 Olimpia Ljubljana 1

16th March 2024 – SNL PrvaLiga – Športni Park Šiška, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Last week was the Eternal Derby, the meeting of the two giants in the Serbian capital as Red Star hosted Partizan Belgrade.  Back in the day when Yugoslavia was one of the biggest countries in Europe, at least by size, there were massive games on a weekly basis, with sides from what is now Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Slovenia taking part until the domino effect of independence started in 1990.

Olimpia Ljubljana were the most successful Slovenian side at the time, and carried on their dominance in the new domestic league once Slovenia gained independence, winning the new championship in successive years until 1995.  And then the wheels fell off the wagon.  Gone were the ferocious inter-regional games against the likes of Dinamo, Hadjuk Split and Red Star Belgrade, with average attendances dropping from around 7,000 to 1,000 in a single season.  By 2005, with Maribor dominating the domestic scene, it was game over for them, filing for bankruptcy and leaving the Slovenian capital bereft of a top flight club.

In 2005, a successor club was established under the name NK Bežigrad, and currently competes in the Slovenian top flight under the name Olimpija Ljubljana.  However, in spite of inheriting Olimpija’s supporters and colours, they are not legally considered to be successors to the original Olimpija and the two clubs’ track records and honours are kept separate by the Football Association of Slovenia.

But now there is a true Ljubljana derby, with Nogometni Klub Bravo, or NK Bravo for us Brits, in the top flight alongside Olimpia.  Step 5 winners in 2014, the Ljubljana Regional league winners a year later.  A pause for breath then they captured the Slovenian Third Division title in 2017 and finally, the Second Division in 2019.  Last season they avoided relegation by one spot but this season could be another record breaker.

Coming into the derby against Olimpia in fourth place, just two points outside a spot in the Europa Conference League for what would be their first ever European campaign.  Whilst it was a derby, domestic football isn’t a show stopper in Slovenia.  More people would be in the pubs along the Ljubljanica watching Wolves v Coventry City in the FA Cup than would make the 1.5 mile trek to the city suburbs for the game.

Whilst Olimpia can call the impressively modern 16,000 all seater Stožice Stadion home, the majority of the top flight sides play in more modest grounds, such as NK Bravo who call the Športni Park, in the Ljubljana suburb of Šiška (meaning “small place”) home.  

With VIP tickets secured (no expense spared for CMF) we broke away from our sightseeing and followed the railway line out of the city until we stumbled on the single stand ground.  It appeared that we were VVIPs, so elite that our names weren’t on the list of the steward at the VIP entrance (complete with an off-red carpet) and he had to call someone.  It’s not often someone buys one of these tickets, the top of the range, for €25.  For that, we got first pickings from the refreshments table, which consisted of cartons of water or peach tea and a range of two different flavours of crisps, in a ginormous size.

The VIP section wasn’t in the centre of the stand, but next to the away fans.  To be fair, about half of the crowd were Olimpia fans, including most of those sitting around us.  We were sandwiched between two different Olimpia WAGS, with their designer gear.  Neither seemed to be particularly pleased to see the other.

Opposite the main stand was a very thin open stand with a few rows of seats but empty for NK Bravo’s biggest game of the season.  Trains trundled past on regular occurrences, with at one end a massive, Soviet-style scoreboard provided no updates, but did at least provide shelter from the torrential rain for the stewards, watching the away fans from afar.  A flare was lit sparking an old fireman into life.  He stood in his full uniform, including  his helmet, holding an umbrella.  Someone, hidden from view set off a green flare on the far side of the ground where it appeared there were no fans.  The Olimpia fans jumped around a bit, the home fans and stewards looked on confused.

I should add that by this stage nearly forty minutes had passed in the game.  It was a terrible standard, with neither side able to create anything  close to pushing pressure on either goal keeper.  CMF went to grab some more VIP goodies before they would be taken by the non-VVIPs and in the process missed not one, but two goals, scored less than a minute apart.

Ivan Durdov put Olimpija in the lead, turning the ball home from a few yards out after a David Sualehe cross was headed back by Timi Max Elšnik. The true number of Olimpia fans was soon revealed, whilst WAG to the right punched the air and gave WAG to our left a withering look.

From the kick off Olimpia won the ball and pushed forward but 

Bravo won the ball and launched a counterattack, Matija Kavčič passed from the left into the penalty area, and Stanković’s shot from 10 yards found the back of the net.  Ten seconds later, CMF returned empty handed and asked what she’d missed.

The rain intensified during the half time interval, so much so that opening exchanges in the second half were hampered by the soggy pitch.  It wasn’t a classic that’s for sure and with five minutes to go, with a lull in the rain, we headed out.  We had a date with the Union Brewery 

football, with an augmented reality tour of the facilitate , and thankfully, an actual beer tasting session.  

A new ground, a new city and a new country ticked off.  People don’t come to Ljubljana just for the football, but it’s a perfect distraction from the beauty of the region for 90 minutes.