On 13 February 1911 a club with a name taken from Balkan legend was officially registered in Split: Hajduk. On 13 February 2027 Hajduk Split turns 116. It is a team that kept playing football even during the war, as the team of the resistance.

An idea in a Prague beer hall

The founders were students from Split studying in Prague. According to tradition, the idea was born in the legendary U Fleků beer hall, and their model was Slavia Prague. Among them were Fabjan Kaliterna, Lucijan Stella, Ivan Šakić and Vjekoslav Ivanišević.

For a name they asked professor Josip Barač, who suggested "Hajduk". The hajduks were folk rebels who fought the Ottomans, a kind of Balkan Robin Hood, and the name stood for courage and protecting the weak.

White sails on a blue sea

The first shirt was not white: it had red and white stripes, and later red and blue ones. In 1914 the team switched to a white shirt with blue shorts and socks, which to locals recalls white sails on the blue Adriatic.

The crest, designed by Ivanišević, is the Croatian chequerboard with a blue border. Under Austria-Hungary it was a clear statement of identity. After the Second World War a red star briefly appeared on the crest, and the chequerboard returned in 1990.

Kit suppliers have changed many times, from Diadora and Umbro to Macron, which dressed the team from 2013 to 2024. Today the white shirt is made by Adidas, without touching the basic rule: white on top, blue below.

The resistance team

In 1941 Split was annexed by Italy and Hajduk was asked to play in the Italian league as "AC Spalato". It refused and stopped playing. In 1944 it was reborn on the island of Vis as the official team of the Partisans.

Even Tito came to watch its matches. In 1945 it played a British Army selection in liberated Bari in front of more than 40,000 spectators. The same year, on a tour of Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle named it an honorary team of Free France.

Unbeaten, Torcida and Poljud

In 1950 Hajduk won the Yugoslav championship without a single defeat, with 10 wins and 8 draws. It remains the only unbeaten title in former Yugoslavia and Croatia. The title was settled on 29 October with a 2-1 win over Red Star.

One day earlier, students from Split had founded Torcida, modelled on Brazilian fans. It is considered the oldest organised supporters' group in Europe.

Since 1979 the team has played at Poljud, the shell-shaped stadium Boris Magaš built for the Mediterranean Games. Before that it played at Stari plac. In the Poljud years Hajduk became the first champions of independent Croatia, in 1992, and in 1995 it reached the Champions League quarter-finals, where it was stopped by Ajax.

The white shirt has been worn by Frane Matošić, the club's all-time top scorer with 211 competitive goals, goalkeeper Vladimir Beara, Bernard Vukas, Robert Jarni, Alen Bokšić, Igor Štimac, Darijo Srna and, in recent years, Marko Livaja.

Celebrate with us

From a Prague beer hall to the stands of Poljud, Hajduk is far more than a football club for Dalmatia. Its white shirt carries the sea, the history and the pride of an entire city.

Happy 116th birthday, Hajduk! May Torcida always sing loud.

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Poljud stadium in Split – Quintin Soloviev, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0.