June the 16th, 2025 – The pride of Varaždin comes in the form of the Varteks football club (NK Varteks), which has gone from strength to strength, earning admiration across the board.
As NK Varteks/Jutarnji/Sportske novosti writes, throughout the 2024/2025 season, the Varteks football club convincingly won the 3rd football league in the north with 69 points (2.30 per game) and was promoted to the 2nd football league.
All that’s left is official confirmation that the Varteks football club is a new member of the unique third league. That’s news that all of Varaždin’s residents will be more than enthusiastic about. The same will be the case for the club’s numerous fans across Croatia, something that Varteks wholeheartedly deserves.
blood, sweat and tears – the basis of a club with integrity
The Varteks football club was founded fourteen years ago, more specifically at the end of May 2011, in the Kahli Beer pub, run by long-time fan leader Rikardo Kahlina. It was founded by the White Stones, united with all the more engaged fans of the club at the time. Everything was done behind a veil of secrecy, because the fans were used to sabotages. The name had been available since one year earlier, after the hasty decision of the club’s management to change the name it had borne for over half a century. Jurica Belcar then became the first president of the Varteks football club, and the same core team of people has remained with it to this very day.
Four years earlier at that very same place, members of the then-founded association Friends of NK Varteks met with the old Stones team and decided to launch a joint initiative. It was a movement of sorts, intended to prevent the old Varteks football club from collapsing. The first step was the return of the White Stones to the stands, and then a whole series of actions and proposals for cooperation with the club, but next to nothing came to fruition.
People from the football club regularly pushed the fans to the ‘lower shelves’ of their list of priorities. Bad club decisions led to a name change, and later to bankruptcy and the eventual closure of the club.
The fans, those who care about a different kind of football, decided to follow the example of Manchester United, and founded their own club, their own Varteks. The bumbari thus belong to a unique group of so-called AMF (Against Modern Football) clubs founded by the fans themselves. More recently, Croatian sociologists Benjamin Perasović and Marko Mustapić published a book on the phenomenon of football clubs founded by fans, in which the Varteks football club occupies a central place.
By founding the club, the fans embarked on a unique path of rebellion and building something new. Several interesting years followed. An unprecedented proverbial roller coaster was set in motion, on which everything was anything but easy and simple. The path of the Varteks football club was written in blood, sweat and tears, to use Winston Churchill’s (and Besek’s) phrase, which is why its successes are even sweeter.
The likes of Veldin Karić, Leon Benko, Ivan Režić, Neven Vukman, Saša Dreven, Ivan Novoselec and Josip Golubar all played for the Varteks football club. Two of the first league players, Dejan Glavica and Matija Katanec, remain their to this day. The club has been led by numerous coaches, the longest serving of whom was Želimir Orehovec.
After fourteen long years, the Varteks football club has advanced to the third tier of the competition, a unique third league. That means that after endless hard work, it has managed to enter the top 40 Croatian clubs.
This success is the result of numerous factors, and above all, it’s the fruit of a stable club organisation’s labour, a clear vision and a football club lead in the way that president Siniša Fučkar arranged it. Fučkar has been the club’s president since 2019, and in the summer of 2023, he kicked off his second term.
Fučkar: A brand new new chapter begins today, and the sky’s the limit
The surgeon from Varaždin has been in fan circles since he was a child, and he has been present within the new club almost from the very beginning. The only reason he couldn’t join earlier was because he was finishing his medical studies in Osijek. With his wisdom, patience and honesty, guided by the policy of building bridges and creating a positive club atmosphere and involving an increasing number of people, the pieces slowly fell into place across all segments before this historic season.
“We’re proudly concluding the most successful season so far. Behind us is a period filled with effort, dedication, challenges, and plenty of great successes. The results we achieved didn’t come by chance – they’re the fruit of togetherness, hard work and faith in what we do. Every individual in the Varteks football club has made their contribution. The people have built this club, and it is a club for the people,” stated Siniša Fučkar.
It’s worth noting that the Varteks football club was “homeless” at one point. That’s still partly the case today, because the new stadium in the Varaždin suburb of Hrašćica is still under construction. That means that the seniors play their games at Sloboda.
“I’d sincerely like to thank everyone who has been with the Varteks football club. That’s our members, fans, players, coaches and friends. I mustn’t forget to mention our Football School, the coaches, players and parents who believe in our story and are writing history together with us! None of this would have ever been possible without all these good-willed people, club donors and the sponsors who follow us! A new chapter in our story has already begun being written. This season has shown us that we can do it, and that there’s still a lot ahead of us. With even greater motivation and strength, we’re embarking on new challenges. The sky is the limit!” emphasised Siniša Fučkar.
It should be mentioned that both Varteks’ cadets and juniors will play in the newly formed “second Croatian National League for Cadets and Juniors”. This is also extremely important for the club’s work, as it will be an additional motivation for young players to come to the Varteks football club.
besek: i came to build this story with you
With the arrival of Dražen Besek, everything came together in terms of results. The Varteks football club then began attracting very significant attention. It was additional attention from the media, fans, sponsors, and the players who understood that this meant the best possible opportunity. That’s especially true as Besek is known as a coach who doesn’t hesitate to give young players a fighting chance. Besek himself always said that it was not a question of if he wanted to, but when he could, and it turned out that the time was now. Before arriving, Besek had been closely following the situation with the Varteks football club for several months.
“I’ve got to admit that I wasn’t particularly surprised that the guys called me. They actually called me non-stop! They wore me down, and in the end… they broke me. I could clearly see that these guys had a genuine, huge desire and a lot of emotion. I came here to build this story with them,” Besek stated.
He always emphasised that living in Varaždin is a privilege for him and that getting the chance to work from home is the greatest gift of all. For those who don’t know, Dražen Besek has been supporting the Varteks football club since its very first days.
“If you ask me, the most important thing is that if you don’t get started and make an actual decision, you can’t do it. My decision to join was solely due to my involvement abroad. Winning two trophies is an incredible feat, I’ve won trophies and had success abroad, but never right here at home. It’s not the same when you don’t have anyone to celebrate it with. In this situation, I’m glad to be involved in this story and I believe that people in Varaždin recognise that. I’d just like those young people who have their own businesses to recognise the project that could make Varaždin a much more recognisable place, because sport and football have that effect,” Besek pointed out.
players with the “varteks gene” are welcome
As for the players, talks and negotiations have already begun. The coach is also involved in the player selection process, of course. He claimed that he will do all he can to keep the current players together.
“We certainly still have a lot of internal reserves. We’ve got young players who can use this chance, they just need to be persistent and decide whether they truly want it or not. In my opinion, this is the greatest potential — to give our young players the opportunity to show what they can do. This league will not be easy. The league is at the Croatian level, it’s at the federal level. Without experienced players, there can be no real education for the young players. We’re working on creating the skeleton of our team,” revealed Besek.
“No player who comes to the Varteks football club can arrive carrying prejudices and thinking that this is his second, third or fifth option. We don’t need someone like that. We need a player who is aware that he’s coming to do something big, and that big thing is to actually build a club. I could leave tomorrow if I wanted to, but I’m staying here. This is the construction that infected me. I can no longer separate myself from this. What we have to do is create something that the masses will identify with, the masses of Varaždin locals who will have their own club. People from all over Croatia are contacting me, supporting me and I’m very happy about that. The Varteks football club is a club that is recognisable precisely for that. First and foremost, I want to give our region of Croatia an opportunity to identify with this story. We have our own policies, but we mustn’t be closed off to other, different ones. Opinions may differ, but we must be recognisable for the fact that this is a club that builds positive relationships”, emphasised Dražen Besek.
The Varteks football club club, founded fourteen years ago, has trodden a unique path. It’s been a path otherwise unprecedented in Croatian football. It’s a path from which there is no turning back, and that’s also one of this club’s slogans. Varaždin and its surrounding region will finally get a second-division team, and Croatia will have a truly unique club to boast of. It seems that the best is yet to come for the Varteks football club, because every end represents a new beginning, and vice versa.
