FK Arsenal is a Montenegrin professional football club based in the coastal town of Tivat, founded in 1914. Currently, the club is competing in the Montenegrin First League.

FK Arsenal Tivat
Full nameFudbalski klub Arsenal Tivat
Nickname(s)Arsenal
Founded1914; 110 years ago (1914)
GroundStadion u parku, Tivat, Montenegro
Capacity2,000
ChairmanDejan Kandić
ManagerBožidar Tujković
LeagueMontenegrin First League
2023–24Montenegrin First League, 7th of 10
Websitefk-arsenal.me
Current season

History

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1914–1940

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Founded in 1914, Arsenal is the second oldest football club in Montenegro, after FK Lovćen which was founded a year before. The club was first established as NK Orjen. During 1930, the team was merged with another club from Tivat - NK Zrinjski. After the fusion, the team started to play under the new name NK Arsenal. The name was derived from the nearby naval repair facility "MRTZ Sava Kovačević", known colloquially as Arsenal.
NK Arsenal made biggest successes in history in the period between 1925 and 1940. Team from Tivat at that time played in the Montenegrin Football Championship, with remarkable success at season 1937 – with winning the title of Montenegrin champion. Arsenal became the only club outside Podgorica and Cetinje who won the title on Montenegrin championship in the period between 1925 and 1940.

1945–2006

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After World War II, NK Arsenal played in the first season of the Montenegrin Republic League (1946), together with Budućnost, Lovćen and Sutjeska. NK Arsenal gained promotion to the Yugoslav Second League (Zone B) with debut in the 1955–56 season. They played three years in the Second League, and got relegated to the Republic League after the 1957–58 season.

Most seasons in the period between 1958 and 2006 Arsenal spent in the Montenegrin Republic League, with second place in the 1958–59 season as a major success. During the 1980s and 1990s, Arsenal produced many talented players. Its youth team which included the generation of players born in 1971–72 is regarded within the club as the most talented one. It was coached by Radovan Vukotić and Zlatko Vuksanović and produced players such as Ivica Kralj (played with Partizan, Porto and PSV), Željko Buzić (Hajduk Kula), Slaven Borović (Čukarički) or Zoran Vuksanović (Radnički Niš and Hajduk Kula).[1]

2006–present

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After Montenegrin independence, FK Arsenal became a member of the Montenegrin Second League in its inaugural season (2006–07). With often relegations to the Montenegrin Third League, Arsenal spent ten seasons in the Second League until now.

During this period, Arsenal won the Southern Region Cup three times (2009, 2010, 2011).[2] In the 2021–22 season, Arsenal were placed in second place of the Montenegrin Second League, after which they defeated FK Podgorica in the playoffs and were promoted to the Montenegrin First League for the first time in its history.[3]

First League Record

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For the first time, Arsenal played in the Montenegrin First League in the 2022–23 season. Below is a list of FK Arsenal scores in the First League by every single season.

Season Pos G W D L GF GA
2022–23 3 36 13 11 12 39 39
2023–24 7 36 9 15 12 43 58

European record

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As of match played 20 July 2023

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Agg.
2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League 1QR   Alashkert 1–6 1–1 2–7
Notes
  • QR: Qualifying round

Honours and achievements

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Players

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Current squad

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As of 15 August 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   MNE Bojan Zogović
2 DF   MNE Periša Pešukić
3 DF   MNE Mihailo Živaljević
4 MF   MNE Matija Delić
5 DF   MNE Gojko Petović
6 MF   MNE Vladimir Kašćelan
7 MF   SOM Abdulsamed Abdullahi
8 MF   MNE Irfan Šahman
10 MF   MNE Petar Ražnatović
11 MF   ARG Julián Montenegro
12 GK   MNE Dragan Ćetković
14 FW   MNE Damjan Mugoša
15 FW   MNE Luka Maraš
16 DF   MNE Ćetko Manojlović (captain)
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF   MNE Viktor Lesjak
19 FW   MNE Marko Bojović
20 MF   MNE Aleksandar Macanović
21 DF   MNE Damjan Dakić (on loan from Budućnost Podgorica)
22 FW   MNE Nikola Milić
23 DF   BIH Armin Imamović
25 FW   MNE Šaleta Kordić
26 FW   GHA Bismarck Appiah
27 DF   MNE Anes Muratović
28 MF   MNE Aleksa Ćetković
29 DF   MNE Toni Pataki
31 GK   MNE Nikola Pejović
99 DF   MNE Marko Merdović

Notable players

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Below is the list of players who, during their career, played for Arsenal Tivat and represented their countries at the full international level.

Stadium

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The club plays at Stadion u parku (Park Stadium) in Tivat, near the Porto Montenegro Marina, which was formerly the naval repair facility MTRZ Sava Kovačević, popularly known as Arsenal, after which the club was named. Stadium capacity is 2,000 seats on one stand, and it doesn't meet UEFA standards for European competitions.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Devedeset godina FK Arsenal iz Tivta (Ninety years of Arsenal from Tivat)[permanent dead link] at Pobjeda, 24-2-2013, copy of text here Archived 2016-06-11 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "fkarsenal – My WordPress Blog". 5 February 2024. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020.
  3. ^ Popadić, Dragan (3 June 2022). "Arsenal prvoligaš". radiotivat.com (in Montenegrin). Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
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