RK Maribor Branik
Rokometni klub Maribor Branik (), commonly referred to as RK Maribor Branik or simply Branik, is a handball club from Maribor, Slovenia. Currently, it competes in the Slovenian First League. The team plays its home matches at the Tabor Hall, a 3,261 capacity multi-purpose sports venue in Maribor. Between 2004 and 2010, the team was known as RK Klima Petek Maribor due to sponsorship reasons. Their biggest success is reaching the final of the Slovenian Handball Cup twice and reaching the quarter-finals of the EHF Cup in the 2012–13 season.

History

Handball in Maribor

The first handball team in Maribor was formed in 1925, when the women's selection of the 1. SSK MB played their first Czech handball match at the Ljudski vrt area. In 1928, the 1. SSK Maribor have won the national league. The first men's handball team was formed in 1949, named Polet. They were renamed to Branik in 1951, when they participated in the Yugoslav First League qualifiers. In 1954, Branik have won their first Slovenian Republic League title, and were promoted to the Yugoslav First League. The women's team won the league one year later, in 1955. Between
1955 and 1968, Branik did not achieve any major success and were even relegated to the local Styrian League in 1966, but returned to the top Slovenian division two years later. They were relegated again in 1972, but once again returned in 1979 after spending a few years in the local regional leagues. In 1977, the team was merged with Kovinar Tezno to form Maribor. The team was struggling in the next decade and did not achieve any major results. After the independence of Slovenia, the team was reformed with a help from some former handball players, including Marko Šibila. They reached the 3. DRL (Third National Handball League).

Maribor Branik
In 2003, a new club called Maribor Branik was founded. In their first season, the team was promoted to the 2. DRL East. In 2005–06, they were promoted to the 1. B DRL, where they stayed until the 2008–09 season. They were the runners-up and were promoted to the elite Slovenian First League of Handball. In the same year, they finished in the third place in the Slovenian Handball Cup. In their first season in the top division, they finished eight and were the runners-up in the Slovenian Handball Cup, where they lost to Celje in the final, which was held at the Tabor Hall. As the runners-up, they gained a place in the 2010–11 EHF Cup Winner's Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to the Spanish side San Antonio. In the same season, the team finished in the fifth place in the Slovenian League. They again finished in the fifth position in the 2011–12 season, and were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2011–12 EHF Challenge Cup by Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel. The club's most successful season is the 2012–13, when they reached the group stages of the EHF Cup, defeating Dudelange, Kópavogs and Siscia in the qualifications. They were drawn in the group with Danish team Tvis Holstebro, Norwegian Elverum and Polish Wisła Płock. With seven points out of six games, they qualified to the quarter-finals of the competition. They were eliminated by Göppingen with 57–56 on aggregate. In 2013–14 and 2014–15 Maribor finished in the third place in the Slovenian League, which is their best result since the club establishment. The club was about to enter the regional SEHA League alongside Celje and Gorenje in the 2014–15 season, but all three Slovene clubs rejected entrance due to an unacceptable financial demands. In the 2016–17 season, Maribor Branik reached the final of the Slovenian Cup for the second time in their history, where they lost to Celje 36–28.

Arena
Maribor Branik play their home matches at a 3,261 capacity Tabor Hall in the Tabor District of Maribor. The reserve venue of the club is Ljudski vrt Sports Hall, a 2,100 capacity all-seater indoor hall also located in Maribor.

Supporters and rivalry
The club had a supporters group called Maribor Supporters. They started to attend a games in the 2008–09 season, when the club was playing in the Slovenian Second League. However, the supporters group was official established in 2011. In February 2012 there was an incident, when the small number of Maribor Supporters chanted a song about the Srebrenica massacre against the Bosnian team Gradačac in the first leg of the 2011–12 EHF Challenge Cup. The group was banned from attending the Branik's home games. Maribor Branik do not have any major rivals, however, matches between Maribor Branik and RK Celje are considered as the "Styrian derby", named after the Styria region in Slovenia, with Maribor and Celje being the two biggest cities in the region. The games against RK Jeruzalem Ormož and RK Trimo Trebnje are also considered as derbies.

Colours, kits and crest
Originally, the club's colours were white and black, which is the main colour of the Branik Sports Association. However, at the start of the 2011–12 season, RK Maribor Branik changed their main colour to purple for better recognition due to popularity of NK Maribor, the most successful association football club in the country, which main colour is purple. Maribor Branik's home kit is all-purple, while the away kit is white with purple shorts. The club's first crest was a shield-shape with a black and white abstract silhouette of a handball player. In 2012, they changed the colours of the crest to purple and white.

Team

Current squad
Squad for the 2019–20 season

Goalkeepers
 12  Martin Kocjančič
 16  Erik Štamic
 41  Mark Ferjan

Right wingers
 13  Tadej Sok

Left wingers
 23  Nikola Ranevski
 77  Jan Sivka

Line players
 18  Adrian Miličević
 31  Julian Ernest Jerebie

Left backs
 8  Nikola Špelić
 17  Filip Jerenec
 30  Izidor Budja

Central backs
 5  Luka Kljun
 22  Andraž Velkavrh
 32  Matija Golik
   Marko Kobetić

Right backs
 7  Nejc Planinšek
 10  Dani Zugan
 14  Jan Hočevar

Staff
 Head Coach: Marko Šibila
 Assistant Coach: Tomi Matjašič
 Director: Branko Bedekovič
 General Manager: Mihael Pisanec
 Secretary: Matjaž Hladnik
 Physio: Jan Žnider

Season-by-season records

Maribor Branik in European handball
The table includes matches from the official European Handball Federation competitions only. All results (home and away) list Branik's goal tally first.

Competitions
QR2 = Qualification round 2
QR3 = Qualification round 3
R1 = First round
R2 = Second round
R3 = Third round
L16 = Last 16
QF = Quarter-final
G = Group stage

Matches
Pld  = Number of matches played
W = Matches won
D = Matches drawn
L = Matches lost

By competition
As of 22 November 2019

Honours
League
Slovenian Championships
Third place (2): 2013–14, 2014–15

Slovenian Second Division
Runners-up (1): 2008–09

Slovenian Third Division
Runners-up (1): 2005–06

Cup
Slovenian Cup
Runners-up (2): 2009–10, 2016–17
Semi-finals (2): 2008–09, 2011–12

Slovenian Supercup
Runners-up (2): 2010, 2017

International players
The following Maribor Branik players have made at least one appearance for the senior national team.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Duško Čelica
Dejan Malinović
Marko Tarabochia

Croatia
Goran Bogunović
Zvonimir Kapular
Marino Marić
Ivan Pešić
Nikola Špelić

Estonia
Andris Celminš

Macedonia
Renato Vugrinec

Montenegro
Mile Mijušković

Serbia
Milan Mirković

Slovenia

Darko Cingesar
Dragan Gajić
Urh Kastelic
Tilen Kodrin
Borut Mačkovšek
Niko Medved
Matjaž Mlakar
Žiga Mlakar
Marko Oštir
Simon Razgor
Mario Šoštarič
Aljoša Štefanič
Matic Verdinek
Jure Vran
Renato Vugrinec
Miha Zarabec
Dani Zugan
Igor Žabič
Luka Žvižej