GNK Dinamo Zagreb
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb (Croatian pronunciation: [dinamɔ ˈzâːɡrɛb]), or by their nickname The Blues (Croatian: Modri) are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won thirteen Croatian championship titles, ten Croatian Cups and four Croatian Supercups. The club has spent its entire existence in top flight, having been members of the Yugoslav First League from 1946 to 1991, and then the Prva HNL since its foundation in 1992.
Dinamo Zagreb were founded on 9 June 1945 in order to replace the three very popular Zagreb football clubs (HAŠK, Građanski and Concordia) which had been disbanded by the Yugoslav Communist Party following the end of World War II. Dinamo then entered the Yugoslav First League in its inaugural 1946–47 season, finishing as runners-up. In their second season in Yugoslav top flight in 1947–48 they finished as Yugoslav champions which was their first major trophy. The club won three more league titles and seven Yugoslav Cups before they left the Yugoslav league in 1991 amid the breakup of Yugoslavia and formation of the Croatian football league system. Dinamo are the only Croatian football club who have ever won European silverware, having won the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by defeating Leeds United in the final. They have also finished runners-up in the same competition in 1963 when they lost to Valencia.
Amid political turmoil in the early 1990s the began club claiming direct lineage to pre-WWII clubs Građanski Zagreb and HAŠK. In order to reflect this in June 1991 it was renamed HAŠK Građanski and in February 1993 it was renamed again and became Croatia Zagreb. In February 2000 it reverted back to Dinamo. In 2011 club management increasingly began claiming that Dinamo is the direct descendant of Građanski (which had been founded in 1911) and in April that year decided to append the adjective "Građanski" to the club's official name, turning it into the present-day GNK Dinamo Zagreb (Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb or Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club) and announced a grand celebration of the club's centennial.
The team's traditional colour is royal blue, which has been replaced for European matches in recent times with the darker navy blue. The club's biggest rivals are Hajduk Split, and matches between the two teams are referred to as "Eternal derby". Dinamo are currently the reigning Croatian champions having won their sixth consecutive Prva HNL title in the 2010–2011 season. The club is currently managed by Krunoslav Jurčić.
Source : Wikipedia.com
