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RK Eurofarm Pelister

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RK Eurofarm Pelister
Full nameRakometen klub
Eurofarm Pelister
Short namePelister
Founded1955; 69 years ago (1955) in Bitola
ArenaSports Hall Boro Čurlevski
Capacity3,500
PresidentZoran Sterjev
Head coachRaúl Alonso
CaptainFilip Kuzmanovski
LeagueMacedonian Super League
2023-24Macedonian Super League,
Champions
Club colours   
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away
Website
Official site
Active departments of Pelister
FK Pelister RK Eurofarm Pelister 2 KK Pelister

RK Eurofarm Pelister (HC Eurofarm Pelister) (Macedonian: РК Еурофарм Пелистер) is a handball club from Bitola, Macedonia. They currently compete in the Macedonian Super League and EHF Champions League.[1]

History

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The original team was the first handball club in Macedonia, formed in 1946 under the name Pelagonija. It later changed its name to Pelister in 1955. The 60s were very successful, winning 4 championships starting in 1960 till the last one in 1969. The club ended up winning three more titles in the 70s. In the 80s, the 1981 season was the last winning season, capturing their 8th Macedonian league title. From the 1983-84 season, Pelister began to participate regularly in the Yugoslav Handball Championship. They finished in third place in 1985 and were runners-up in back-to-back seasons (1986–87 and 1987–88) behind the dominant club Metaloplastika Šabac. Around that time the slogan "He who hasn't played in Bitola doesn't know what real support looks like" gained popularity, being uttered by the likes of Vlado Šola, Lino Červar and Zlatan Saračević. Pelister became the first Macedonian club to play in Europe. In 1986 they defeated AS Filippos Veriasand in the 1st round, but they ended up losing in 1/8 finals from Atlético Madrid winning 24:19 at home and 10:19 away (34:38) aggregate. In the 1988/1989 season they reached the EHF Cup quarterfinal, eliminating SPE Strovolos Nicosia, HC Banik and finally losing out to German club ASK Vorwärts. The first leg in Bitola was won by six goals, but the second leg in Berlin resulted in a loss by seven points 22:16 and 13:22 (35:38). When the Macedonian Handball Super League was formed in 1992, Pelister became the most successful club in the country, winning five league titles and five Cups that decade. In 1996, they made it to the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup where they lost on aggregate by one goal to the eventual champion TBV Lemgo. A record, 7,000 spectators were in attendance for the rematch in Bitola. Another proof of Pelisters' dominance at the time, seven players on Macedonia's squad at the 1999 World Men's Handball Championship in Egypt played for the club.

The club's most successful European run was made during the 2001/02 season when they played in the EHF Challenge Cup. First, they started by beating Zilant Kazan in the 3rd round and advanced to round 4, where they went on to defeat Paris Saint-Germain. In the quarterfinal they got past GAS Kilkis 52-51, setting up a semifinal match-up with Frederiksberg IF. Pelister would go on to win that tie in dramatic fashion in Bitola, when Naumče Mojsovski scored a goal in the final seconds of the game to even the score on aggregate, going through on a penalty shootout by the final score of 61-60. In the final, Pelister lost to Skjern Håndbold, but even in that match-up they still ended up winning the home game by 7 goals. Proving yet again that it was no easy task for any road team to win in Bitola.

In 2005, Trifun Kostovski with Kometal became sponsor of the club bringing back the glory days, winning another double crown and capturing its sixth domestic league title, which was a record at the time. However, the success was short lived as Kometal left following that season. Afterwards, Pelister was marred by financial problems and struggled to achieve the same level of success.

On 29 November 2019, a joint ownership was signed by the owners of RK Eurofarm Rabotnik (which was formed in 2011 and owned by Eurofarm) and RK Pelister (owned by Bitola Municipality). According to the platform, RK Eurofarm Rabotnik would change the name to Eurofarm Pelister, and the original RK Pelister would change its name to Eurofarm Pelister 2. Eurofarm Pelister will be the leading club with high European ambitions, while Eurofarm Pelister 2 will be a developmental club filled with young handball players from Bitola and all of Macedonia.[2] The combination of a strong sponsor and a sports brand known throughout the former Yugoslavia took final shape through an agreement with the city administration in 2020. Eurofarm Pelister has already surpassed the domestic framework, played in the EHF Champions League and set the contours of a team that could return trophies back to "Boro Čurlevski" arena.[3] This was officially accomplished in May 2023, when they were crowned Macedonian Super League champions for the first time in 18 years.[4]

Accomplishments

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Domestic competitions North Macedonia

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Macedonian League

Winner: 1961, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979 and 1981
Winner: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2023 and 2024

Macedonian Cup

Winner: 1990
Winner: 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2005
Winner: 2021 and 2022

Individual club awards

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Winner: 1995–96, 1997–98 and 2004–05

International

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Winner: 1996 and 1997

Regional

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3rd: 2021–22

European competitions European Union

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3rd: 1995-96
Runner-up: 2001–02
1988-89 - 1/4 Final
2018-19 - Group stage
2021-22 - Knockout stage
2022-23 - Group stage
1993-94 - Preliminary round
1994-95 - Preliminary round
2005-06 - Group stage
2019–20 – Group stage
2023–24 – Group stage

EHF ranking

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As of 20/5/2023[5]
Rank Team Points
28 Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen 215
29 Sweden Alingsås HK 206
30 Croatia RK PPD Zagreb 200
31 North Macedonia RK Eurofarm Pelister 182
32 Norway Nærbø Håndball 177
33 France USAM Nîmes Gard 175
34 France Fenix Toulouse 172

Arena

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Sports Hall Boro Čurlevski

Eurofarm Pelister play all their home matches in the EHF Champions League, the regional SEHA League and all domestic competitions at Sports Hall Boro Čurlevski. The arena has a current seating capacity of 3,500 and has undergone numerous renovations to meet EHF standards.

Sports hall "Mladost" (Macedonian: Спортска сала „Младост“) is a multi-purpose sports arena located in Bitola, North Macedonia. It was built in 1975 by the citizens of Bitola and is mainly used for handball by RK Pelister and RK Bitola, and for basketball by KK Pelister. There is also room for bowling and table tennis plus it has been used for concerts. The Arena hosted the 2007 Macedonian Basketball Cup. This sports hall was the largest on the territory of North Macedonia before the construction of the Boris Trajkovski Sports Center in Skopje.

On 21 July 2009, the arena is undergoing renovation. A new parquet floor will be installed along with new seats. The locker rooms will also be updated to meet EHF standards. Total cost of the project is about €30,000.

In January 2017, renovation of interior of the hall started. The renovation covered the floor, the stands, a new score board and a new heating system. The first match in the renovated arena was played on April 6, 2017, with the match between RK Pelister and RK Metalurg in the second round of the handball Super League play-off.

At the end of July 2018, the name of the hall was changed to "Boro Churlevski", in honor of the late Boro Churlevski, a former handball player from Bitola.

Team

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Current squad

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Squad for the 2024–25 season

Transfers

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Transfers for the 2025–26 season

Staff

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Former club members

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Notable former players

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Notable former coaches

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Supporters

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Main article: Čkembari
Čkembari

Čkembari (Macedonian: Чкембари) are an Ultras group, established in 1985, who support the Macedonian sports clubs from Bitola that compete under the Pelister banner, mainly FK Pelister in football and RK Pelister in handball. The group was founded in 1985 when a caravan of 15 buses traveled to support RK Pelister who was playing against Partizan Bjelovar in a handball relegation play-off match. At that time they used the name BMČM - Bitolčani, Motorcyclists, Čkembari, Macedonians (македонски: БМЧМ - Битолчани, Мотокари, Чкембари, Македонци) later shortened to just Čkembari. Soon after, the first green and white banners were created that read: "Hell Boys" (македонски: Пеколни момци) and "Green Conquerors" (македонски: Зелени освојувачи) which started organized support for Pelister at every match.

References

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  1. ^ EHF profile
  2. ^ "ПОТПИШАНА "ПЛАТФОРМАТА ЗА РАКОМЕТНА БИТОЛА"". rkeurofarmpelister.com. 29 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Predsednik RK Eurofarm Pelister Dr Zoran Sterjev: Pet godina da se vratimo na staze „stare slave"". balkan-handball.com. 14 August 2020.
  4. ^ "RK Eurofarm Pelister champions after 18 years!". handball-planet.com. 2 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Eurotopteam, classement européen des clubs de Handball".
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