NK Celje NK Celje has become an increasingly important name in Slovenian football, particularly during the modern era, though its roots stretch back over a century. The club was founded on 28 December 1919 as SK Celje, and over the decades it changed identity several times — becoming Kladivar after the Second World War, then Publikum for sponsorship reasons after Slovenian independence in 1991, before settling on its current name in 2007.
The team's nickname, Grofje ("The Counts"), pays tribute to the medieval Counts of Celje, one of the most powerful noble families in the region during the 14th and 15th centuries — a rare link between Slovenian football and the country's dynastic history. On the pitch, the yellow-and-blues have grown from perennial mid-table side into genuine contenders: Celje have won the Slovenian PrvaLiga three times, in 2019–20, 2023–24 and 2025–26, and lifted the Slovenian Cup twice, in 2004–05 and 2024–25. Together with Maribor, Celje are the only club to have played every single season of the PrvaLiga since its creation in 1991.
League success has repeatedly opened the door to European competition, with Celje regularly testing themselves in Champions League and Europa/Conference League qualifying rounds against clubs from across the continent — a run that included a memorable 2025 meeting with Fiorentina, which drew a record crowd to their stadium. That stadium, originally opened in 2003 as the sponsor-named Arena Petrol and expanded in stages until 2008, was renamed Stadion Z'dežele in 2017 and now holds just over 13,000 spectators, making it one of the country's principal football venues.
