RK Vardar

This article is about the men's handball club. For other uses, see Vardar (disambiguation).

RK Vardar 1961 (Macedonian: РК Вардар 1961) is a professional handball club from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Vardar is the most successful handball team in the country, having won 15-fifteen national League titles and 17-seventeen League Cup titles. Vardar is also the most successful team in the regional SEHA League, having won five titles and two EHF Champions League titles.

РК Вардар 1961 RK Vardar 1961
Full name	Rakometen klub Vardar 1961
Short name	Vardar
Founded	1961; 64 years ago (1961) in Skopje
Arena	Jane Sandanski Arena
Capacity	5.800
President	Mihajlo Mihajlovski
Head coach	Ivan Čupić
League	Macedonian Super League
2023–24	Macedonian Super League, 2nd
Club colours
Home Away
Website Official site

Active departments of Sports Club Vardar
Football	Handball	Basketball

History

RK Vardar was founded in 1961 as a part of the Vardar Sports Club in Skopje, which was founded in 1947.

The RK Grafichar Skopje club was established in 1948, and second only to Rabotnički. In 1961, Grafičar was renamed Vardar, and almost all members of RK Partizan Skopje joined the team. The emergence of the ambitious Vardar team presented a challenge to Rabotnički, which was no longer the strong first-league team from the past. Early members of Vardar include goalkeeper Jovanovski, as well as Atanasovski, Zdravkovski, Savevski and Bozinovski. Vardar joined the Yugoslav Handball Championship in 1976 where played for 2 seasons. In the 1980s they spent most of the time in the second division.

Stojan Stoilov the Captain goal machine

The handball team rose to power again in the late 1990s, becoming one of two clubs, alongside RK Pelister, to dominate the Macedonian handball scene after the independence of the country. Vardar has participated in the EHF Champions League eleven times and made it to the semifinals of the Cup Winner's Cup three times. The club achieved either championship or runner-up status in the Macedonian Super League every since 1999, with the exception of 2005, where they finished 4th. In 2018 they became the most winning team in the Macedonian handball championship by winning their twelfth title. They are also the record cup winner with thirteen titles. On April 15, 2012, Vardar defeated Metalurg at the Zagreb Arena to become the first SEHA League champion.^[1][2] The team has won five titles in the SEHA League. The club started the new 2013–14 season with a new management structure, with Sergey Samsonenko as the new proprietor and sports director of the club, and Mihajlo Mihajlovski as the honorary club chairman.

The welcoming ceremony after winning 2016–17 EHF Champions League

The 2016–17 season was the most successful for the team, as they won the EHF Champions League and the regional SEHA League, the two main domestic championships, the national Handball Super League, and the national Handball Cup. Two days after winning the EHF Champions League, the team celebrated the victory with approximately 150,000 people in a ceremony in Macedonia Square in Skopje. Because of the huge success the currentPresident of the Republic of Macedonia, Gjorgje Ivanov awarded the members of the handball club Vardar a Medal of Merit for the Republic of North Macedonia for the results they achieved, especially for winning the Champions League title. The club was awarded the national charter of the country.

Legendary Winger Timur Dibirov

In the 2018–19 season, the team won the EHF Champions League, the regional SEHA League and the main domestic championship, the Handball Super League of North Macedonia. One day after winning the EHF Champions League, the team arrived in the country with a private jet and celebrated the victory with approximately 250,000 people in a central ceremony at Macedonia Square in Skopje.

In 2023 they won the Macedonian cup. The final match was a between the heavyweights Vardar and Eurofarm, held at Ohrids SRC Biljanini Izvori. In this great festive atmosphere, both teams gave an outstanding performance. The first half went to the Red Army,^{[clarification needed]} leaving the score at 15 to 10. In the second half, Eurofarm fought hard for a comeback, and the game went into overtime. In the end, due in large part to a brilliant performance by long-time goalkeeper Borko Ristovski, Vardar won 26 to 25, adding a 16th Cup Trophy to their rich collection. At the beginning of the 2023–24 season, the Red Black Army won the Super Cup 2023 against then-champions Eurofarm in Strumitsa Sports Center, a neutral ground chosen for the occasion. The first half finished in a 13–13 tie, but in the second half, Vardar made a resurgence and won the match 26 to 30. The Super Cup Trophy returned after 3 years to the home of the Red Black Jane Sandansky's trophy collection.

Kits

HOME
2014–16	2017–19

AWAY
2015-17	2017-19	2019-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023–24

Accomplishments

Domestic competitions

Macedonian League

• Macedonian Republic League

Winner:(3) 1959, 1960, 1975

• Macedonian Handball Super League

Winner (15): 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021-22

• Macedonian Handball Cup

Winner (17): 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025

• Macedonian Handball Super Cup

Winner (4): 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023

European competitions

• EHF Champions League

Winner (2): 2016–17, 2018–19

• EHF Cup Winners' Cup

Third placed: 1998–99, 2004–05, 2010–11

Other competitions

• SEHA League

Winner (5): 2011–12, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19

Runner-up: 2012–13, 2015–16, 2019–20

• IHF Super Globe

Third placed: 2017, 2019

Individual club awards

• Double

Winners (9): 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21

• Triple Crown

Winners (1): 2016–17

Arena

Sandanski Arena Hotel and Spa

RK Vardar is the owner of the Jane Sandanski Arena where they play all their home matches in the EHF Champions League, the regional SEHA League and in domestic competitions. It's a modern complex with a sports hall of 5,850 seats. It has its own hotel, spa center, hospital and swimming pool. The arena is named after the Macedonian revolutionary Jane Sandanski.

Team

2025-2026 squad

Goalkeepers 01 Marko Bogdanovski 12 Miguel Espinha Ferreira 99 Vasil Gogov 00 Miłosz Wałach Left Wingers 02 Mario Stojanovski 00 Mahamadou Keïta Right Wingers 09 Goce Georgievski (c) 70 Miguel Pinto 77 Alen Kjosevski Line players 18 Milan Lazarevski 00 Wiktor Jankowski 00 Kristijan Anastasovski

Left Backs 08 Tomče Stojanovski 24 Dmytro Horiha 87 Vuko Borozan 00 Filip Taleski Central Backs 14 Mario Tankoski 00 Jaka Malus 00 Nicolás Bono 00 Haruki Kawada Right Backs 17 Kristijan Stamenkovikj 00 Marek Marciniak 00 Uroš Mitrović

Transfers

Transfers for the 2025–26 season

Joining Miłosz Wałach (GK) (from Industria Kielce) Mahamadou Keïta (LW) (from Ángel Ximénez Puente Genil) Filip Taleski (LB) (from S.L. Benfica) Jaka Malus (CB) (from RD Slovan) Nicolás Bono (CB) (from Istres Provence Handball) Haruki Kawada (CB) (from University of Tsukuba) Marek Marciniak (RB) (from KS Azoty-Puławy) Uroš Mitrović (RB) (from Fenix Toulouse Handball) Wiktor Jankowski (P) (from MMTS Kwidzyn) Kristijan Anastasovski (P) (from GRK Tikveš)

Leaving Marko Srdanović (LW) (to RK Vojvodina) Hanser Rodríguez (LW) (to Caen Handball) Stefan Petrić (LB) (to GRK Ohrid) Nilton Melo (LB) (to Caen Handball) Mladen Krsmančić (CB) (to ?) Matija Nikolić (CB) (to ?) Tomislav Jagurinovski (RB) (to Dessau-Roßlauer HV) Achraf Margheli (RB) (to ?) Lars Kooij (P) (to Bergischer HC) Mihail Alarov (P) (to RK Alkaloid)

Staff

Professional staff Position Name Head coach Ivan Čupić Assistant coach Goalkeeper Coach Mario Kelentrić Conditioning coach Matej Jovanovski Physiotherapists Rubincho Srbinoski Nikolina Bojadjiska

Management Position Name Owner Mihajlo Mihajlovski President Mihajlo Mihajlovski Executive director Borko Ristovski Chairperson of the NEDs Emil Ugrinovski

Former club members

Notable former players

• Stojanče Stoilov
• Pepi Manaskov
• Stevče Aluševski
• Petar Misovski
• Branislav Angelovski
• Vančo Dimovski
• Lazo Majnov
• Naumče Mojsovski
• Zlatko Mojsovski
• Goran Kuzmanoski
• Radoslav Stojanović
• Marjan Kolev
• Mitko Stoilov
• Vlado Nedanovski
• Martin Popovski
• Marko Kizikj
• Dimitar Dimitrioski
• Zlatko Daskalovski
• Nemanja Pribak
• Filip Lazarov
• Milorad Kukoski
• Petar Angelov
• Goce Ojleski
• Nikola Markoski
• Milan Levov
• Nikola Mitrevski
• Daniel Gjorgjeski
• Nikola Stojčevski
• Dejan Manaskov
• Borko Ristovski
• Filip Taleski
• Martin Tomovski
• Tomislav Jagurinovski
• Alexey Rastvortsev
• Mikhail Chipurin
• Alexander Dereven
• Dmitrii Kiselev
• Pavel Atman
• Daniil Shishkarev
• Sergei Gorbok
• Gleb Kalarash
• Timur Dibirov
• Strahinja Milić
• Ilija Abutović
• Mijajlo Marsenić
• Dejan Milosavljev
• Marko Vujin
• Vladimir Petrić
• Alem Toskić
• Iñaki Malumbres Aldave
• Alex Dujshebaev
• Arpad Šterbik
• Joan Cañellas
• Jorge Maqueda
• Blaženko Lacković
• Luka Cindrić
• Igor Karačić
• Ivan Čupić
• Lovro Jotić
• Mladen Rakčević
• Stevan Vujović
• Vuk Lazović
• Vasko Ševaljević
• Miladin Kozlina
• Matjaž Brumen
• Gregor Ocvirk
• Staš Skube
• Revaz Chanturia
• Jan Sobol
• Rogerio Moraes Ferreira
• José Toledo
• Leonardo Dutra
• Dainis Krištopāns
• Robin Cantegrel
• Christian Dissinger
• Patryk Walczak
• Jan Czuwara
• Olivier Nyokas
• Kévynn Nyokas

Notable former coaches

• Ljubomir Savevski
• Andon Boškovski
• Zoran Kastratović
• Stevče Aluševski
• Vlado Nedanovski
• Raúl González Gutiérrez
• David Davis
• Roberto García Parrondo
• David Pisonero
• Dragan Đukić
• Dejan Perić
• Veselin Vujović

Notable former presidents

• Sergey Samsonenko
• Mihajlo Mihajlovski

European competitions record

EHF Champions League

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate:
1999–00	1/16	TV Suhr Handball	33–37	26–30	59–67
2001–02	R 2	ASKI Ankara	37–31	27–28	64–59
	GM (Group D)	Fotex KC Veszprém	24–27	22–27	3rd
		Sportclub Magdeburg	27–27	19–33
		S. O. Chambery	32–30	28–31
2002–03	QR 1	HC Eynatten G.o.E.	32–24	31–28	63–52
	QR 2	Sandefjord TIF	29–23	26–26	55–49
	GM (Group D)	RK Zagreb	25–28	25–30	4th
		THW Kiel	27–26	23–34
		"Fibrexnylon" Savinesti	26–25	26–38
2003–04
	GM (Group B)	Sportclub Magdeburg	28–30	24–38	4th
		FC Barcelona	27–35	19–41
		Haukar Hafnarfjördur	26–32	33–34
2004–05
	GM (Group A)	FC Barcelona	12–26	22–31	3rd
		SC Pick Szeged	24–24	18–25
		HCM Constanta	22–22	26–25
2007–08	QR 1	Pölva Serviti	37–22	30–30	67–52
	GM (Group C)	Kadetten Schaffhausen GCZ	27–26	30–36	4th
		HC Croatia Osiguranje-Zagreb	26–34	28–28
		C.BM. Ademar Leon	29–28	21–28
2009–10	Q (Group 1)	Besiktas JK	33–30		1st
		HC Buducnost Podgorica	35–28
		HC Dinamo-Minsk	34–24
	GP (Group D)	KIF Kolding	25–32	21–28	5th
		Reale Ademar	24–31	28–37
		THW Kiel	23–33	23–39
		GC Amicitia Zürich	22–22	31–24
		F.C. Barcelona Borges	28–35	28–35
2013–14	GP (Group C)	FC Barcelona	29–29	23–30	4th
		HC Dinamo Minsk	30–22	24–26
		PSG Handball	24–24	25–35
		Wacker Thun	32–25	37–24
		HC Metalurg	18–26	27–22
	L16	HSV Hamburg	28–28	30–29	58–57
	QF	SG Flensburg-Handewitt	27–25	22–24	49–49
2014–15	GP (Group C)	RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko	34–32	27–26	2nd
		Chekhovskie Medvedi	39–28	39–34
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	28–25	35–28
		Montpellier Agglomération Handball	30–26	34–34
		MKB-MVM Veszprém	23–24	24–32
	L16	Orlen Wisla Plock	31–20	26–32	57–52
	QF	KS Vive Tauron Kielce	20–22	31–33	51–55
2015–16	GP (Group B)	Montpellier HB	34–26	30–25	3rd
		MOL-Pick Szeged	27–23	31–29
		IFK Kristianstad	38–36	30–25
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	25–19	27–28
		KIF Kolding Kobenhavn	34–24	31–33
		KS Vive Tauron Kielce	34–24	20–23
		FC Barcelona Lassa	25–27	30–31
	L16	Orlen Wisla Plock	25–24	30–30	55–54
	QF	MVM Veszprém	26–29	30–30	56–59
2016–17	GP (Group B)	IFK Kristianstad	32–29	28–23	1st
		HC Meshkov Brest	31–27	26–30
		RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko	35–30	32–26
		MOL-Pick Szeged	30–27	23–21
		PPD Zagreb	25–20	27–28
		KS Vive Tauron Kielce	40–34	24–27
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	26–29	33–27
	QF	SG Flensburg-Handewitt	35–27	26–24	61–51
	SF (F4)	FC Barcelona Handbol	26–25
	F (F4)	PSG Handball	24–23
2017–18	GP (Group A)	Orlen Wisla Plock	31–31	26–22	1st
		HBC Nantes	27–23	26–27
		PPD Zagreb	28–21	29–23
		MOL-Pick Szeged	34–30	26–26
		FC Barcelona Handbol	27–24	28–29
		IFK Kristianstad	31–15	26–23
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	30–26	21–21
	QF	THW Kiel	27–28	29–28	56–56
	SF (F4)	Montpellier HB	27–28
	3rd (F4)	PSG Handball	28–29
2018–19	GP (Group A)	Montpellier HB	33–27	27–24	3rd
		IFK Kristianstad	33–25	32–30
		Telekom Veszprém	27–29	27–25
		Rhein-Neckar Löwen	29–27	30–27
		PGE Vive Kielce	28–27	27–31
		HC Meshkov Brest	30–23	31–31
		Barça Lassa	26–30	26–34
	L16	PPD Zagreb	32–30	27–18	59–48
	QF	MOL-Pick Szeged	31–23	25–29	56–52
	SF (F4)	Barça Lassa	29–27
	F (F4)	Telekom Veszprém	27–24
2019–20	GP (Group B)	Montpellier HB	27–31	33–31	6th
		FC Porto Sofarma	32–27	22–30
		HC Motor Zaporizhzhia	38–28	31–30
		THW Kiel	20–31	23–34
		Telekom Veszprém	29–38	30–39
		HC Meshkov Brest	36–31	22–31
		PGE Vive Kielce	28–28	25–35
2020–21	GP (Group A)	HC Meshkov Brest	32–36	22–24	7th
		Elverum Håndball	34–34	35–32
		MOL-Pick Szeged	26–28	33–34
		SG Flensburg-Handewitt	31–26	10-0
		FC Porto	25–25	24–27
		PSG Handball	0-10	5-5
		Łomża Vive Kielce	29–33	29–36
	Playoffs	Veszprém KC	27–41	30–39	57–80

EHF Cup

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1994–95	1/16	BM Granollers	35–31	23–34	58–65
1995–96	ER	HC Shoumen	29–24	30–26	59–50
	1/16	Zadar Gortan	31–31	24–33	55–64
2011–12	R2	HC Izvidac	27–25	26–29	53–54
2012–13	R2	Lovosice	36–19	24–25	60–44
	R3	SC Magdeburg	28–26	27–30	55–56

EHF Cup Winners' Cup

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1997–98	1/16	IF Guif Eskilstuna	29–28	25–28	54–56
1998–99	1/16	IFK Skövde HK	10–0	22–23	32–23
	1/8	Gorenje Velenje	29–23	24–28	53–51
	1/4	Sporting Toulouse 31	26–19	24–27	50–46
	1/2	Prosesa Ademar León	27–29	20–35	47–64
2004–05	1/8	FCK Handbold Kopenhagen	27–23	29–28	56–51
	1/4	Medvescak Infosistem Zagreb	36–20	31–26	67–46
	1/2	RK Zagreb	23–21	26–34	49–55

Statistics

All–time Top 10 Scorers in the EHF Champions League As of 2021–22 season Rank Name Seasons Goals 1 Timur Dibirov 9 660 2 Igor Karačić 6 351 3 Ivan Čupić 5 295 4 Alex Dujshebaev 4 261 5 Stojanče Stoilov 9 206 6 Daniil Shishkarev 6 194 7 Dainis Krištopāns 3 190 8 Luka Cindrić 3 176 9 Vuko Borozan 3 156 10 Stevče Aluševski 5 121

Most appearances in the EHF Champions League As of 2021–22 season Rank Name Seasons Appearances 1 Timur Dibirov 9 143 2 Stojanče Stoilov 9 128 3 Daniil Shishkarev 6 101 4 Igor Karačić 6 95 5 Ivan Čupić 5 80 6 Ilija Abutović 5 79 7 Arpad Šterbik 4 65 8 Alex Dujshebaev 4 60 9 Strahinja Milić 5 59 10 Luka Cindrić 3 53 Jorge Maqueda 3 53 Mijajlo Marsenić 3 53

Individual awards in the EHF Champions League

Season	Player	Award
2013–14	Timur Dibirov	All–Star Team (Best Left Wing)
2014–15	Alex Dujshebaev	Best Young Player
2016–17	Alex Dujshebaev	All–Star Team (Best Right Back)
	Raúl González	Best Coach
	Arpad Šterbik	Final Four MVP
2017–18	Arpad Šterbik	All–Star Team (Best Goalkeeper)
2018–19	Dejan Milosavljev	All–Star Team (Best Goalkeeper)
	Ivan Čupić	All–Star Team (Best Right Wing)
	Dainis Krištopāns	All–Star Team (Best Right Back)
	Timur Dibirov	All–Star Team (Best Left Wing)
	Roberto García Parrondo	Best Coach
	Igor Karačić	Final Four MVP