FK Arsenal Tivat

FK Arsenal is a Montenegrin professional football club based in the coastal town of Tivat, founded in 1914. Currently, the club is competing in the Montenegrin First League.

1914–1940
Founded in 1914, Arsenal is the second oldest football club in Montenegro, after FK Lovćen which was founded a year before. The club was first established as NK Orjen. During 1930, the team was merged with another club from Tivat - NK Zrinjski. After the fusion, the team started to play under the new name NK Arsenal. The name was derived from the nearby naval repair facility "MRTZ Sava Kovačević", known colloquially as Arsenal.

NK Arsenal made biggest successes in history in the period between 1925 and 1940. Team from Tivat at that time played in the Montenegrin Football Championship, with remarkable success at season 1937 – with winning the title of Montenegrin champion. Arsenal became the only club outside Podgorica and Cetinje who won the title on Montenegrin championship in the period between 1925 and 1940.

1945–2006
After World War II, NK Arsenal played in the first season of the Montenegrin Republic League (1946), together with Budućnost, Lovćen and Sutjeska. NK Arsenal gained promotion to the Yugoslav Second League (Zone B) with debut in the 1955–56 season. They played three years in the Second League, and got relegated to the Republic League after the 1957–58 season.

Most seasons in the period between 1958 and 2006 Arsenal spent in the Montenegrin Republic League, with second place in the 1958–59 season as a major success. During the 1980s and 1990s, Arsenal produced many talented players. Its youth team which included the generation of players born in 1971–72 is regarded within the club as the most talented one. It was coached by Radovan Vukotić and Zlatko Vuksanović and produced players such as Ivica Kralj (played with Partizan, Porto and PSV), Željko Buzić (Hajduk Kula), Slaven Borović (Čukarički) or Zoran Vuksanović (Radnički Niš and Hajduk Kula).

2006–present
After Montenegrin independence, FK Arsenal became a member of the Montenegrin Second League in its inaugural season (2006–07). With often relegations to the Montenegrin Third League, Arsenal spent ten seasons in the Second League until now.

During this period, Arsenal won the Southern Region Cup three times (2009, 2010, 2011). In the 2021–22 season, Arsenal were placed in second place of the Montenegrin Second League, after which they defeated FK Podgorica in the playoffs and were promoted to the Montenegrin First League for the first time in its history.

First League Record
For the first time, Arsenal played in the Montenegrin First League in the 2022–23 season. Below is a list of FK Arsenal scores in the First League by every single season.

European record
As of match played 20 July 2023


 * Notes
 * QR: Qualifying round

Honours and achievements

 * Montenegrin Championship (1922–1940) – 1
 * winners (1): 1937
 * runners-up (3): 1929, Spring 1930, Autumn 1930
 *  Montenegrin Third League (South Region) – 3
 * winners (3): 2011–12, 2016–17, 2017–18
 *  Montenegrin Fourth League – 3
 * winners (3): 1979–80, 1983–84, 1987–88
 * Montenegrin Cup – 0
 * runners-up (2): 1971, 2023
 * Southern Region Cup – 7
 * winners (7): 1974, 1984, 1989, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018

Notable players
Below is the list of players who, during their career, played for Arsenal Tivat and represented their countries at the full international level.


 * Ivica Kralj
 * 🇲🇪 Branislav Janković
 * 🇲🇪 Miloš Milović
 * 🇲🇪 Darko Nikač
 * 🇲🇪 Damir Kojašević
 * 🇲🇪 Šaleta Kordić
 * 🇸🇴 Abdulsamed Abdullahi

Stadium
The club plays at Stadion u parku (Park Stadium) in Tivat, near the Porto Montenegro Marina, which was formerly the naval repair facility MTRZ Sava Kovačević, popularly known as Arsenal, after which the club was named. Stadium capacity is 2,000 seats on one stand, and it doesn't meet UEFA standards for European competitions.