Borac Banja LukaThe name of FK Borac Banja Luka, meaning "Fighter" in Serbian, was chosen by the club's founders themselves. When a group of local workers' movement activists established a football club in Banja Luka on 4 July 1926, writer and activist Veselin Masleša reportedly asked them directly why, if they intended to fight for workers' rights, they should not simply call the club Borac. The name, and the working-class identity behind it, has defined the club ever since.
Originally founded as Radnički sportski klub Borac, the club spent decades chasing a place in Yugoslavia's top flight, losing promotion play-offs in 1970, 1971 and 1973 before finally reaching the Yugoslav First League only in the 1990s. Its greatest triumph, however, came while still playing in the second tier. In 1988, coached by Husnija Fazlić, Borac won the Yugoslav Cup, beating the giants of Red Star Belgrade 1-0 in the final in Belgrade thanks to a goal from club legend Senad Lupić, remaining to this day the only second-division side ever to win the competition. Tens of thousands of supporters greeted the team on its return to Banja Luka's Krajina Square.
Four years later, in 1992, as Yugoslavia was breaking apart, Borac added its first international trophy, winning the Mitropa Cup in the Italian city of Foggia, beating the hosts on penalties before defeating BVSC Budapest in the final, also on penalties, after a 1-1 draw.
The club has since become one of the pillars of football in Republika Srpska, playing its home matches at the Banja Luka City Stadium and lifting the Republika Srpska Cup on eight occasions, more than any other club in the competition's history. In the 2025-26 season, under coach Vinko Marinović and with former Bosnia international Zvjezdan Misimović, a Bundesliga and Russian Premier League veteran, serving as club president, Borac won the Bosnian Premier League title, finishing well clear of rivals Zrinjski Mostar and FK Sarajevo and underlining the club's position among the country's leading sides once again.
Known to their supporters as Crveno-plavi ("The Red-Blues"), Borac remain, nearly a century after their foundation, one of the clubs that best embodies both the sporting pride and the working-class origins of football in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
