Sileks KratovoFK Sileks is a football club from the small town of Kratovo in North Macedonia, founded in 1965 during the Yugoslav era. The club's name comes from the nearby Sileks lead and zinc mine, which for decades formed the backbone of the local economy and provided financial support for the team — this mining heritage remains one of the club's most distinctive defining features.
A turning point in the club's history came in the early 1990s, following Macedonia's declaration of independence. When the Macedonian First Football League was established in 1992, Sileks was among its founding members. Under Ljubislav Ivanov "Singo," a key figure in the club's history, the Kratovo side quickly rose to the top of the domestic game. The 1995–96, 1996–97, and 1997–98 seasons brought the club a historic hat-trick of league titles — three championships in a row that remain the greatest sporting achievement in the club's history to this day. During this period the squad featured players including Zoran Boškovski, who became the league's top scorer in the 1995–96 season, alongside the core group that formed the championship-winning side.
These domestic successes opened the door to European competition. In the 1995–96 season, Sileks competed in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, eliminating Hungary's Vác Samsung in the first qualifying round before losing to Germany's Borussia Mönchengladbach — one of the few but significant European achievements in the club's history. Also worth noting among figures connected to the club is Nedžmedin Memedi, Sileks's all-time leading goalscorer.
In more recent history, a notable milestone came with winning the Macedonian Cup in the 2020–21 season — the club's first trophy in nearly two decades. The team plays its home matches at the Kratovo City Stadium, with a capacity of around 1,800. In recent league seasons the club has maintained a stable, if modest, sporting profile, regularly finishing in the middle of the Macedonian First League table and avoiding relegation trouble.
