Nogometni klub Varaždin, commonly referred to as NK Varaždin, is a Croatian professional football club based in Varaždin, that competes in the Croatian Football League, the top tier of Croatian football.
History
The club was founded as FC Varaždin Football School () as a phoenix club of NK Varaždin (1931–2015) in 2012 after the latter's suspension; the club was dissolved during the second part of the 2011–12 season due to high financial debt. Legally, the two clubs' track records and honours are kept separate by the Croatian Football Federation, but the 2012 club is a continuation of the older club, which did return to competition in 2013, overlapping with the life of Varaždin ŠN. However, the older club finally declared bankruptcy and dissolved in 2015, leaving the name NK Varaždin available once again.
After steadily progressing through the levels of the Croatian football league system, NK Varaždin competed in the top division for the first time in the 2019–20 season, where they finished in eighth place. However, they were relegated the following season after finishing bottom of the table.
Players
Current squad
Dual registration
Youth academy
The following players have previously made appearances or have appeared on the substitutes bench for the first team.
Out on loan
Season-by-season record
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align: center;"
|-
!rowspan=2|Season
!colspan=9|League
! rowspan="2" style="width:40px;"|Cup
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="width:200px;"|European competitions
! colspan="2" style="width:180px;"|Top scorer
|-
!Division
!width="20"|
!width="20"|
!width="20"|
!width="20"|
!width="20"|
!width="20"|
!width="20"|
!width="50"|
!Player
!Goals
|-
|2012–13
|2. ŽNL Varaždin County East
|22
|14
|3
|5
|71
|24
|45
|3rd
|DNQ
|
|
|
|
|-
|2013–14
|2. ŽNL Varaždin County East
|22
|14
|4
|4
|62
|24
|46
|3rd ↑
|DNQ
|
|
|
|
|-
|2014–15
|1. ŽNL Varaždin County
|30
|21
|5
|4
|81
|38
|68
|bgcolor=gold|1st ↑
|DNQ
|
|
|
|
|-
|2015–16
|3. HNL East
|30
|10
|4
|16
|40
|47
|34
|11th
|DNQ<!--- do not confuse with NK Varaždin (1931–2015), who qualified for R1 but had already folded --->
|
|
|
|
|-
|2016–17
|3. HNL East
|30
|18
|6
|6
|53
|27
|60
|bgcolor=silver|2nd ↑
|R32
|
|
|
|
|-
|2017–18
|2. HNL
|33
|18
|7
|8
|50
|32
|61
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|R32
|
|
|
|
|-
|2018–19
|2. HNL
|26
|16
|3
|7
|40
|30
|51
|bgcolor=gold|1st ↑
|R16
|
|
|Leon Benko
|22
|-
|2019–20
|1. HNL
|36
|9
|9
|18
|29
|50
|36
|8th
|R16
|
|
|Domagoj Drožđek<br />Dejan Glavica
|6
|-
|2020–21
|1. HNL
|36
|6
|10
|20
|30
|61
|28
|bgcolor="#FFCCCC"|10th ↓
|R16
|
|
|Jorge Obregón
|7
|-
|2021–22
|2. HNL
|30
|19
|6
|5
|56
|29
|63
|bgcolor=gold|1st ↑
|R16
|
|
|Igor Postonjski<br />Michele Šego
|7
|-
|2022–23
|HNL
|36
|12
|10
|14
|41
|51
|46
|6th
|R16
|
|
|Fran Brodić
|12
|-
|2023–24
|HNL
|36
|10
|12
|14
|39
|47
|42
|6th
|QF
|
|
|Fran Brodić<br />Domagoj Drožđek<br />Igor Postonjski
|7
|-
|2024–25
|HNL
|36
|11
|16
|9
|28
|24
|49
|4th
|R16
|
|
|Dimitar Mitrovski
|8
|}
Key
- DNQ = Did not qualify
- R32 = Round of 32
- R16 = Round of 16
Notes
:1. : Although NK Međimurje finished top of the 2016–17 3. HNL East, they did not apply for promotion, so runners-up NK Varaždin gained promotion to 2. HNL.
European record
Summary
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! width="180"|Competition
! width="30"|Pld
! width="30"|W
! width="30"|D
! width="30"|L
! width="30"|GF
! width="30"|GA
! width="150"|Last season played
|-
| UEFA Conference League
| 2
| 1
| 0
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 2025–26
|-
|Total
|2
|1
|0
|1
|2
|3
|}
<small>Last updated on 11 August 2025.<br>Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against</small>
By season
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align: center;"
! width="60"|Season
! width="150"|Competition
! width="30"|Round
! width="150"|Opponent
! width="55"|Home
! width="55"|Away
! width="70"|Agg.
|-
| 2025–26
| Conference League
| QR2
| align="left" | Santa Clara
| bgcolor="ddffdd"| 2–1
| bgcolor="ffdddd"| 0–2
| 2–3
|-
| 2026–27
| Conference League
| QR2
| align="left" |
|
|
|
|}