Hajduk Split Celebrates 105th Birthday Today

Hajduk turns 105 (photo: hajduk.hr)

Croatian football club Hadjuk Split, which has a cult following in the Dalmatia, celebrates its 105th birthday on Saturday 13 February 2016…

Hajduk Split fans will celebrate the big day today by congregating on Poljud stadium for Hajduk’s league match against Slaven Belupo.

“The match won’t be easy, we highly respect Slaven Belupo, they are a good team but we want to make our supporters happy on the occasion of club’s birthday,” said coach Damir Buric ahead of the big day.

Hajduk Split was founded by a group of students from Split in a pub in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They went to the pub following a match between AC Sparta and SK Slavia and decided it was time their own town of Split founded a professional club.

The club was officially registered with the authorities on February 13, 1911. While trying to come up with a name for the club, the students went to an old teacher Josip Barač for advice, and according to accounts he told them to take the name “Hajduk” which symbolized “that which is best in our people: bravery, humanity, friendship, love of freedom, defiance to powers, and protection of the weak. Be worthy of that great name.”

Some celebration clips from tonight in Croatia below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nfqOnXcX9Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YngVRgLUGvY