The Cup was out of the reach of the big clubs – the 1977-78 final was unique. Today the old final is largely confusing. The disintegration of Yugoslavia is the reason. Small clubs playing well in cup tournaments was nothing new, but still both finalists of the same ilk is rare. Especially those finalists… Trepca (Kosovska Mitrovica) and NK Rijeka. For Trepca this season was their best ever: for the first and only time in their history they played in first division. The finished last, yet, this is their highest achievement. And they reached the Cup final with a good chance of winning. Trepca was hardly known name back in the 1970s and today almost automatically one needs to get some additional information about the club. Which is a dead end, for the club is located in the troubled Kosovo. And because of that there are two clubs – or may be even three – of the same name. Ethnic divide makes the scarce information unreliable and contestable: one club, KF Trepca, seemingly is Albanian, plays in the internationally unrecognized Kosovar championship, and claims the birthdate and the history of the old Yugoslavian Trepca. The other one is named FK Trepca, the colours are different, its birth date is 2000, not 1932, which the other Trepca claims, and seemingly plays in the lower leagues of Serbia. That is, formally, in another country… but since Kosovo is not fully recognized as separate country the problem of legality is a nightmare. Occasinally there is mentioning of another club, called Partizan, but supposed to be Trepca. Go figure… easier in 1977-78: Trepca was Trepca, at their finest.
No famous names here, understandably. The only thing about this squad is that it is a mix – Serbians, Kosovars, others… as it was in the days of Yugoslavia, tensions simmering under the lid of harmony. Tensions are tensions, football is football – the relatively small city enjoyed its team and supported it. Its was heroic season and at the end the opponent was not all that scary – another small club never winning anything. Beatable…
Trepca fought bravely, but was unable to score. Rijeka did – only one. Enough for triumph. The effort of Trepca deserves recognition nevertheless: they really outdid themselves. Too bad they lost. And great Rijeka won!
Happy winners! First trophy ever! Unlike Trepca, the Croatian club was on the rise, starting may be two years before and now was among the leading Yugoslavian clubs – they were the ‘logical’ winners.
Older club than Trepca – founded in 1926, when the city had different name and not only that: general history makes the history of the club similar, if not more complex and confusing, to Trepca’s. Before the First World War Rijeka was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then it was Italy. Not Rijeka, but Fiume – and the club was founded as US Fiumana. Until 1945 this club played in the Italian lower leagues with no success at all. In 1945 the city was passed to Yugoslavia, named Rijeka, as it was called by the Croatian population anyway and the club was ‘re-founded’ in 1946 under the name NK Kvarner. Looked like entirely different club… until 1954 when the name was changed to NK Rujeka, seemingly establishing continuation of the original US Fiumana. The club includes the history of US Fiumana and claims the foundation date ever since 1954, if not earlier, despite the date of founding NK Kvarner. Of course, this was not the last change – when Yugoslavia collapsed, NK Rijeka naturally changed the flag – and it is in Croatia today, but not in the limbo Trepca is. Anyhow, NK Rijeka faired better in Yugoslavia than US Fiumana in Italy: the club was not big, not strong, but played often in first division. With their last promotion in mid-1970s things changed dramatically: suddenly the club was rising, moving up and up. Strong 1976-77, followed by even better one. May be the return of Josip Scoblar at last to his hometown was the catalyst. The mighty scorer was no longer playing, but along him few other talented players blossomed and the team was quite descent as a whole. Good results came, with them – confidence and ambition. And with all that, NK Rijeka won their first ever trophy.
Perhaps not a great squad, but certainly much stronger than the one Trepca had. Radin, Jurisic, and Cukrov already were more than just recognizable names in Yugoslavia – the trio was eyed by the national team coaches. Ivica Car, Milos Hrstic, and Milan Ruzic were also very promising. A good team, which problem was mainly the terrible predicament of every small club: keeping its best players at home. Especially after success… But it was great so far, the team was still going up, they won a trophy – the future was not all that gloomy. And it was really not – the club was still to add something more. It was the best period in the history of NK Rijeka, not to mention the sweet rubbing the noses of the big Croatian clubs… Hajduk and Dinamo empty-handed; Rijeka with the Cup. As for the future – Radin and Jurisic never played for Yugoslavia, but Cukrov, Ruzic, and Hrstic did.