ŽRK Vardar

This article is about the women's handball club. For other uses, see RK Vardar.

ŽRK Vardar (Macedonian: ЖРК Вардар) is a Macedonian women's handball club from Skopje, North Macedonia. The team currently competes in the Macedonian women's First League of Handball, Women's Regional Handball League and used to be a top competitor in the Women's EHF Champions League.

ЖРК Вардар WHC Vardar
Full name	Женски ракометен клуб Вардар Скопје (Ženski rakometen klub Vardar Skopje)
Founded	1961
Arena	Jane Sandanski Arena
Capacity	6,000
President	Gordana Naceva
Head coach	Indira Kastratović
League	Skopsko Super League
2021-22	4th
Club colours
Home Away
Website Official site

History

Legendary Goal Keeper Inna Suslina Champion league match 2014

• The Beginning

WHC Vardar was founded in 1961, as part of the Vardar Sports Club in Skopje, which had been founded in 1947.

WHC Grafichar Skopje club was established in 1948, and it was the top quality team at the time. They won many titles including the last one in 1960 before the fusion. In 1961 Grafichar renamed itself to Vardar and almost the entire team of the club Grafichar joined the team. WHC Vardar started with winning the championship in 1961. The next few seasons they played in a higher rank including playoffs for the Federal First Division. In 1963 after the earthquake, the Vardar team was dismissed and they didn't compete for many seasons until 1970. Most of the players joined HC Rabotnicki and Metalurg Skopje.

• New Come Back

In the year 1970 after the financial situation got better they started to compete in Macedonian league again. They won 4 championships in a row from 1971 until 1974 and played qualification for the higher rank Federal Division. They didn't manage to get to higher rank losing tight barrage games with 1 or 2 goals difference in aggregate. In 1976 and 1977 they won the Macedonian championship again and next year they qualified for the second Division Federal League. They won the Second Division in 1978 and reached the play-offs for top flight federal division, but lost in aggregate 1 goal difference. In the next years they got back in the Macedonian league again. They won the title in 1983 .They played in the Macedonian league until 1992. After 1992 Macedonian league became the top flight league where they had tough competition in newly rising club Kometal GP Skopje.

Tatyana Khmyrova Champions league match 2014

• First league days

Until Kometal Gjorče Petrov officially stopped working, Vardar was the only other club to win any title in any of the competitions in Macedonia by winning the 1994 Macedonian Cup. In the 2012/2013 season with the arrival of the new sponsor and sporting director Sergey Samsonenko along with some new players, the team started to achieve more positive results and won its first league title.

Jane Sandanski Arena

Maja Zebich Champions league match 2013

• Stardom Days

Vardar got back on the champions track in the beginning of 2011 when their financial situation became great again. They brought many new top class players and started making champions team. With all those new super star players coming each year, Vardar started winning many championships and cups plus Regional League. They played with great success in the Women's Champions league beating the best clubs in the world and bringing Glory to Skopje fans. In the year 2012 the new Sports center Jane Sandanski was built which became handball temple of Glory . Since 2013, the team had three 3rd-place finishes in the EHF Champions League and two 2nd-place finishes in the seasons 2016–17 and 2017–18 being the only team that competed in the all EHF Final Four Tournaments.

• Recent rank

Earlier in 2018 the president of the club, Gordana Naceva, announced the breakup of the team made up from world class players and added that they will focus on young players. In the season 2019 and 2020 Vardar finished 3 rd in the Macedonian league. They didn't play in the Champions league any more after they've decided that their team is not strong enough for the competition.

Arena information

Unlike the usual situation in handball of clubs renting halls from municipalities or private owners, HC Vardar itself is the owner of the Jane Sandanski Arena where they play all their home matches in the Women's EHF Champions League, the Women's Regional Handball League and in the domestic competitions.

Accomplishments

Domestic competitions

• Macedonian First League:

Winners (6): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

• Macedonian Cup

Winners (6): 1994, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

European competitions

• EHF Champions League:

Runner-up: 2016–17, 2017–18

Third placed: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16

Other competitions

• Women's Regional Handball League:

Winners: 2016–17, 2017–18

Runner-up: 2013–14

• Bucharest Trophy:

Third placed: 2015

• Vardar Trophy:

Winners: 2015

Runner-up: 2017

Kits

HOME
2017–18

AWAY
2017–18

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2021–22 season

WHC Vardar 1961

Goalkeepers 01 Jovana Trajkoska 12 Simona Grujovska 16 Andrea Ilić Right Wingers 28 Sara Minovska 40 Iva Jakovchevska 74 Mirjana Petkovska Left Wingers 08 Stefanija Gjeorgievska 21 Ivona Trpevska 26 Bojana Dinevska Line players 93 Katerina Damjanoska Left Backs 03 Marija Gocevska 31 Andrea Sedloska 97 Milica Nikolić Central Backs 10 Ana Marija Božinovska 14 Keti Angelovska 23 Angela Grozdanovska 33 Ana Marija Kolarovska 51 Marija Galevska Right Backs 24 Angela Kostović

Staff

Professional staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Dragana Pecevska Ristova
Assistant coach	Biljana Crvenkoska
Goalkeeping coach	Aleksandar Carchev
Conditioning coach	Marija Lojanica
Physiotherapists	Bojana Božinovska

Management

Position	Name
Owner	Mihajlo Mihajlovski
President	Gordana Naceva
Executive director	Davor Stojanovski
Operative manager	Ana Stojkov
Sporting director	Eduard Koksharov

Former club members

Notable former players

• Julija Nikolić
• Marija Shteriova
• Dragana Pecevska
• Biljana Crvenkoska
• Andrea Beleska
• Ivana Sazdovski
• Robertina Mečevska
• Dragana Petkovska
• Sara Ristovska
• Mirjeta Bajramoska
• Teodora Keramičieva
• Ivana Gakidova
• Simona Stojanovska
• Sara Mitova
• Jovana Micevska
• Leonida Gičevska
• Jovana Sazdovska
• Inna Suslina
• Polina Kuznetsova
• Tatiana Khmyrova
• Olga Chernoivanenko
• Nigina Saidova
• Ekaterina Kostyukova
• Alena Ikhneva
• Olesya Kiriy
• Ekaterina Lubyanaya
• Oksana Orekhova
• Anastasia Svetlova
• Anna Vinogradova
• Olga Vinogradova
• Evgenia Zhulkina
• Andrea Lekić
• Dragana Cvijić
• Marija Petrović
• Sanja Damnjanović
• Marija Lojpur
• Marina Dmitrović
• Tatjana Trbovic
• Andrea Klikovac
• Jovanka Radičević
• Ana Đokić
• Itana Grbić
• Allison Pineau
• Siraba Dembélé
• Amandine Leynaud
• Alexandra Lacrabère
• Andrea Penezić
• Andrea Čanađija
• Maja Sokač
• Barbara Lazović
• Tamara Mavsar
• Dayane Pires da Rocha
• Mayssa Pessoa
• Begoña Fernández
• Dziyana Ilyina
• Anja Althaus
• Camilla Herrem

Notable former coaches

• Indira Kastratović (2012–2015)
• Ace Stankovski
• Sime Simovski
• Jan Pytlick (2015–2016)
• Kim Rasmussen (2015)
• David Davis (2016–2017)
• Roberto García Parrondo (2018–2019)
• Eduard Koksharov (2016)
• Irina Dibirova

Kit manufacturers

• Hummel International

European competitions record

EHF Champions League

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2013–14	Q2-SF	Jomi Salerno	35–16
	Q2-F	Fleury Loiret Handball	33–25
	GM (Group D)	Larvik	27–27	31–29	1st
		Balonmano Bera Bera	30–20	23–19
		RK Podravka Koprivnica	39–26	35–17
	MR (Group 1)	FC Midtjylland	24–23	24–25	1st
		Thüringer HC	31–25	24–24
		IK Sävehof	24–18	27–27
	SF (F4)	Budućnost	20–22
	3rd (F4)	FC Midtjylland	34–31
2014–15	GM (Group C)	Budućnost	24–24	17–23	2nd
		Podravka Koprivnica	35–25	27–26
		Thüringer HC	26–21	20–21
	MR (Group 1)	Dinamo-Sinara	28–27	25–33	2nd
		HC Leipzig	26–20	23–26
		RK Krim	41–30	47–29
	QF	Győri ETO KC	24–18	27–27	51–45
	SF (F4)	Budućnost	17–27
	3rd (F4)	Dinamo-Sinara	28–26
2015–16	GM (Group C)	FC Midtjylland	33–24	25−15	2nd
		Hypo Niederösterreich	37−25	38–25
		Győri ETO KC	22–27	27−28
	MR (Group 2)	CSM Bucharest	22−21	30−25	3rd
		Budućnost	26−24	19−31
		IK Sävehof	37−25	29−26
	QF	Larvik	34–20	26–28	60–48
	SF (F4)	CSM Bucharest	21–27
	3rd (F4)	Budućnost	30–28
2016–17	GM (Group B)	Ferencvárosi TC	27–27	37–24	1st
		HC Astrakhanochka	39–25	31–26
		HC Leipzig	41–24	45–22
	MR (Group 1)	Metz	23−21	28−42	1st
		Budućnost	28−31	31−28
		Thüringer HC	36−26	31−29
	QF	FC Midtjylland	26–24	28–26	54–50
	SF (F4)	CSM Bucharest	38–33
	F (F4)	Győri ETO KC	30–31 (ET)
2017–18	GM (Group C)	Ferencvárosi TC	34–31	29–28	1st
		Larvik	30–27	31–19
		Thüringer HC	29–21	29–21
	MR (Group 2)	Metz	29−23	22−24	1st
		SG BBM Bietigheim	30−22	38−26
		Budućnost	31−24	30−25
	QF	FC Midtjylland	32–25	24–23	56–48
	SF (F4)	Rostov-Don	25–19
	F (F4)	Győri ETO KC	26–27 (ET)

EHF Cup

Season	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
2002–03	R2	Duvanska Industrija Nis	11–45	14–33	25–78
2003–04	R2	O.F.N. Ionias	21–28	12–30	33–58
2011–12	R32	Békéscsabai ENKSE	20–39	20–40	40–79
2012–13	2Q	Patras	28–19	27–16	55–35
	R16	Kuban Krasnodar	30–28	17–22	47–50

Challenge Cup

Season	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
1999–00	1/16	Eastcon AG Vilnius	15–35	13–35	28–70
1994–95	1/16	ATV Basel	24–16	23–23	47–39
	1/8	TV Mainzlar	20–31	24–24	44–54
1995–96	1/16	Austria Tabak	15–24	11–21	26–45
2001–02	R3	RK Skopje	18–20	16–14	34–34
	R4	CD Gil Eanes-Lagos	13–25	31–26	44–51
2008–09	R3	Cankaya Beld	30–33	32–32	52–55

Regional Handball League

Season	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Placement
2012–13	MR	ŽRK Zaječar	25–28	32–29	5th
		ŽORK Jagodina	36–26	24–22
		Budućnost	21–26	21–41
		ŽRK Biseri Pljevlja	31–24	37–20
		RK Lokomotiva Zagreb	21–23	25–28
		Podravka Koprivnica	23–25	22–25
		ŽRK Metalurg	16–25	14–23
2013–14	MR	ŽRK Danilovgrad	33–13	25–16	2nd
		Budućnost	20–24	28–32
		RK Krim	26–22	CAN
		RK Zagorje	35–27	33–22
		RK Lokomotiva Zagreb	16–14	21–25
		Podravka Koprivnica	28–28	29–24
		ŽRK Metalurg	35–26	29–22
2016–17	MR	Budućnost	29–30	28–27	1st
		Podravka Koprivnica	30–19	35–18
		RK Krim	38–29	27–26
	SF	Podravka Koprivnica	29–16
	F	Budućnost	27–25
2017–18	MR	Budućnost	24–22 31–24 27–26	21–20 25–25	1st
		RK Krim	30–27 25–24 29–34	32–29 32–31

European competitions record (WHC Vardar SCJS)

EHF Cup

Season	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
2014–15	R3	Dunaújvárosi KKA	20–28	15–30	35–58

Challenge Cup

Season	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
2015–16	R3	London Angels HC	27–14	35–17	62–31
	L16	Minaqua Vojvodina	26–24	31–27	57–51
	QF	HC Karpaty Uzhhorod	22–19	17–28	39–47
2016–17	R3	HC Svilengrad-PU	24–17	29–22	53–39
	1/8	H 65 Höör	13–26	20–26	33–52

Statistics

All–time Top 10 Scorers in the EHF Champions League

As of 2017–18 season

Rank	Name	Seasons	Goals
1	Andrea Penezić	4	371
2	Andrea Lekić	5	335
3	Jovanka Radičević	5	293
4	Barbara Lazović	4	144
5	Alexandra Lacrabère	2	114
6	Siraba Dembélé	3	113
7	Tatyana Khmyrova	5	105
8	Maja Sokač	3	95
9	Anja Althaus	3	90
10	Dragana Cvijić	1	55

Most appearances in the EHF Champions League

As of 2017–18 season

Rank	Name	Seasons	Appearances
1	Jovanka Radičević	5	77
2	Amandine Leynaud	5	75
3	Andrea Klikovac	5	74
4	Inna Suslina	5	73
5	Andrea Lekić	5	70
6	Tatyana Khmyrova	5	63
	Andrea Penezić	4	63
	Barbara Lazović	4	63
9	Siraba Dembélé	3	46
10	Maja Sokač	3	45
	Anja Althaus	3	45

Individual awards in the EHF Champions League

Season	Player	Award
2013–14	Ana Đokić	All–Star Team (Best Line Player)
	Jovanka Radičević	All–Star Team (Best Right Wing)
2014–15	Andrea Penezić (shared with Cristina Neagu)	Top Scorer (102 goals)
	Siraba Dembélé	All–Star Team (Best Left Wing)
2015–16	Jovanka Radičević	All–Star Team (Best Right Wing)
2016–17	Andrea Penezić	Top Scorer (98 goals)
	Camilla Herrem	All–Star Team (Best Left Wing)
2017–18	Dragana Cvijić	All–Star Team (Best Line Player)
	Amandine Leynaud	MVP of the Final 4

External links

• Official website
• ŽRK Vardar on Facebook