1996–97 FK Vardar season

The 1996–97 season was the 49th season in Vardar’s history and their fifth in the Macedonian First League. Their 3rd-place finish in the 1995–96 season meant it was their 5th successive season playing in the First League.

Vardar

1996–97 season
Chairman	Borche Damev[1]
Manager	Slobodan Gorachinov Dragi Kanatlarovski
Stadium	Gradski stadion Skopje Stadion Nikola Mantov, Kochani
First League	4th
Macedonian Cup	Group stage
UEFA Cup	Qualifying round

Competitions

Overall

Competition	Started round	Final result	First match	Last match
1996–97 Macedonian First League	–	4th	16 August 1996	1 June 1997
1996–97 Macedonian Cup	First round	Group stage	11 August 1996	19 March 1997
1996–97 UEFA Cup	Preliminary round	Qualifying round	17 July 1996	20 August 1996

First League

Main article: 1996–97 Macedonian First Football League

Classification

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	Pobeda	26	17	3	6	55	26	+29	54	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Sloga Jugomagnat	26	13	7	6	42	25	+17	46	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
4	Vardar[lower-alpha 2]	26	11	10	5	32	15	+17	40
5	Sasa	26	10	7	9	36	31	+5	37
6	Bregalnica Shtip	26	10	5	11	30	33	−3	35

Source: MacedonianFootball.com, RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Draw; 9) Play-off. (Note: Criteria 2, 3 and 8 is only used if not deciding Champion, teams for UEFA competitions or relegation).
Notes:

1. Since Sileks, winners of 1996–97 Macedonian Football Cup, was qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists Sloga Jugomagnat earned a spot in the qualifying round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
2. Vardar were deducted 3 points and fined 48,000 German marks for fielding a suspended player in the match against Sloga Jugomagnat in the 1st round.

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A
Result	L	W	L	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	D	W	W	W	L	L	W	D	D	D	D	D	L	D	D

Source: Competitive Matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Round	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Vardar Scorers
1	16 Aug	A	Sloga Jugomagnat	0 – 3 (1 – 0)^1
2	25 Aug	H	Tikvesh	4 – 0
3	1 Sep	A	Sileks	0 – 1
4	8 Sep	H	Pelister	0 – 0
5	15 Sep	A	Rudar Probishtip	5 – 0
6	22 Sep	H	Makedonija	3 – 0
7	29 Sep	A	Cementarnica 55	1 – 0
8	13 Oct	H	Balkan	1 – 0
9	20 Oct	A	Pobeda	2 – 1
10	27 Oct	A	Sasa	0 – 0
11	3 Nov	H	Belasica	3 – 0
12	17 Nov	A	Bregalnica Shtip	1 – 1
13	24 Nov	H	Shkëndija	3 – 1
14	2 Mar	H	Sloga Jugomagnat	1 – 0
15	9 Mar	A	Tikvesh	2 – 0	Shainovski, Todorovski[2]
16	16 Mar	H	Sileks	0 – 3^2
17	23 Mar	A	Pelister	0 – 1
18	6 Apr	HR	Rudar Probishtip	7 – 0
19	13 Apr	A	Makedonija	0 – 0
20	20 Apr	HR	Cementarnica 55	1 – 1
21	27 Apr	A	Balkan	0 – 0
22	4 May	HR	Pobeda	0 – 0
23	11 May	HR	Sasa	0 – 0
24	18 May	AR	Belasica	1 – 3
25	25 May	HR	Bregalnica Shtip	0 – 0
26	1 Jun	AR	Shkëndija	1 – 1

¹ Match awarded to Sloga Jugomagnat because Vardar was fielded the suspended player.

² Match abandoned after 86 minutes due to the crowd trouble. Sileks were awarded a 0–3 win, and Vardar was punished with the playing host games at the neutral venue in the rest of season.

Sources: RSSSF.no,

Macedonian Football Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Macedonian Football Cup

Group stage table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Makedonija GP	6	4	2	0	7	2	+5	14
2	Vardar	6	1	4	1	6	6	0	7
3	Bregalnica Shtip	6	1	2	3	7	9	−2	5
4	Tikvesh	6	1	2	3	7	10	−3	5

Source: rsssf.com

Matches

Round	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Vardar Scorers
R1	11 Aug	A	Vardar Prdejci	2 – 0
GS	4 Sep	H	Bregalnica Shtip	1 – 1
GS	16 Oct	A	Tikvesh	2 – 2
GS	6 Nov	A	Makedonija	0 – 0
GS	1 Dec	A	Bregalnica Shtip	1 – 3
GS	23 Feb	H	Tikvesh	2 – 0
GS	19 Mar	HR	Makedonija	0 – 0

Source:

UEFA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 UEFA Cup

Round	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Vardar Scorers
PR	17 Jul	A	Gorica	1 – 0[3]	Trajchev
PR	24 Jul	H	Gorica	2 – 1[4]	Trajchev, Jakimovski
QR	6 Aug	A	Halmstad	0 – 0[5]
QR	20 Aug	H	Halmstad	0 – 1[6]

References

1. "Клуб-Председатели". fkvardar.mk. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
3. "ND HIT Gorica - Vardar 0:1 (Europa League Qual. 1996/1997, 1. Round)". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
4. "Vardar - ND HIT Gorica 2:1 (Europa League Qual. 1996/1997, 1. Round)". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
5. "Halmstads BK - Vardar 0:0 (Europa League Qual. 1996/1997, 2. Round)". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
6. "Vardar - Halmstads BK 0:1 (Europa League Qual. 1996/1997, 2. Round)". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 20 August 2018.