November 4, 2020 - The Hajduk transformation continues as Hari Vukas is sacked as the first-team coach. The Split club announced today that Boro Primorac would takeover. 

Vukas is leaving the bench of the Split club after three consecutive defeats, and after Mario Stanic and Ivan Kepcija left Poljud this week.

Vukas took over the Hajduk coaching role after Igor Tudor's departure on August 21, 2020. In that period, he led 10 official matches, achieving four victories, five defeats, and one draw. In the last five rounds, he won only three points, and Hajduk is in sixth place.

"I wish all the best to my Hajduk and a lot of success to the new coach. Unfortunately, the results were not what we all expected together; I hope and believe that Hajduk will rise in the next period and get where it belongs," said Vukas. His assistant Jurica Vucko also left the club.

In his coaching career, Vukas was Tudor's assistant at Hajduk, Karabukspor, Galatasaray, and Udinese, and last year he took over Zrinjski and was fired after five months.

Hajduk then named the new coach of Hajduk - Boro Primorac. 

The head of the HNK Hajduk Academy, Luka Kaliterna, Primorac accepted this role after talks with the President of the Management Board, Luksa Jakobusic.

Boro Primorac's professional staff consists of his first assistant Toni Golem, the goalkeeper coach remains Hrvoje Sunara, and fitness coaches are still Toni Modric and Sime Versic. Coach Primorac will have his first game leading Hajduk on Saturday at 5:05 pm.

Boro Primorac is a legendary Hajduk player and coach who spent most of his career in England at Arsenal, where he was Arsène Wenger's first assistant (21 years in total). As head coach, he led Cannes and Valenciennes, the Guinea-Bissau national team, and as an assistant coach to Wenger, he also worked for Naoya Grampus in Japan.

In his playing career, he played for Velež, Hajduk, Lille, and Cannes. He scored the first official goal for Hajduk at Poljud stadium. He played a total of 283 games for Hajduk and scored 53 goals.

Source: Hajduk.hr

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October 30, 2020 - Big news from Poljud this morning as Hajduk names Luksa Jakobusic its new president!

This was decided by Hajduk's Supervisory Board, which in the end, did not select a leader from among the candidates who applied for the competition.

From May 16 to November 4, 2019, Jakobusic held the position of Hajduk's Vice President and resigned for personal reasons.

As for the current situation, Marin Brbic resigned on July 13 but had the support of the Supervisory Board. On July 22, he announced a definitive departure, saying 'It is humiliating that the association Naš Hajduk voted no confidence in me.'

The competition for the new president was announced on August 17, though it seems that no one applied for the role that the Supervisory Board thought deemed worthy.

Many wanted Jakobusic to return to Hajduk even sooner because he holds strong leadership skills, and the supervisors knew his qualities well. However, only after talking to the candidates from the competition did they decide that there is no one better for Hajduk than Luksa.

The news was announced on the official Hajduk website this morning:

"Luksa Jakobusic is the new President of the Management Board of HNK Hajduk. Born in Dubrovnik in 1976, he is an entrepreneur with many years of experience in the private sector and a successful sports worker. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Sports Management at Aspira and has completed an EMBA at Cotrugli Business School.

Jakobusic was the president of VK Jug from 2013 to 2017. In that period, the club won five trophies in one season, which until then was not succeeded by any sports club in the country, making him the most successful president in Jug's great history. Luksa Jakobusic served as vice president of HNK Hajduk from May to November 2019.

He is a Croatian veteran and is decorated for his participation in the military-police operation Storm."

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October 28, 2020 - Torcida celebrates 70 years on October 28, 2020. A look at the birthday bash around Split, the beloved home of Hajduk. 

Torcida did not let the people of Split down when they promised a spectacle bigger than Hajduk's 100th birthday. Anyone that made it to midnight last night, and trust me, there were thousands, now have memories that will last with them for a lifetime thanks to the flare-filled spectacle. 

And what a sight it was. 

At midnight, the sky lit pink when Torcida launched flares and fireworks high above to celebrate 70 years of their firm, which is the oldest organized fan group in Europe. Torcida alone was said to have some 8,000 flares for the event.

But the celebration didn't stop there. 

At exactly at noon today, the bells rang on the bell tower of Saint Domnius Cathedral in Split, where Torcida hoisted a 30-meter flag.

And then to the Riva, which was draped in a rainbow of colors this afternoon. 

But Split and Dalmatia were not the only places celebrating. The chants of the famous fan group could be heard far east - in Slavonia!

Namely, DPH Vukovar published a video of Torcida Slavonia, which marked its jubilee birthday in the same spectacular way. The torchlight procession in Osijek's Tvrđa lit up the entire city in red, confirming there are Hajduk fans all over Croatia.

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August 21, 2020 - Igor Tudor has left Hajduk to become the assistant coach at Juventus, the Split club announced on Friday.

"As of today, Igor Tudor is no longer the coach of Hajduk after he decided to accept the offer of the new Juventus coach, Andrea Pirlo, to join him in Italy as an assistant in the professional staff.

Now the former coach of the 'Whites' spent eight months in his second term on the bench of Hajduk, and led them in 18 official matches.

We wish coach Tudor a lot of luck and success in his future career," Hajduk wrote on its official website. 

Tudor received an offer last weekend to return to Juventus, the club he played for from 1998 to 2007, after Andrea Pirlo took over the Turin club.

After training at Poljud on Monday, Tudor told Hajduk leaders that he would like to take the opportunity to go to Italy, where he led Udinese on two occasions. It was just a matter of waiting for the compensation amount to be agreed upon. The Italian champion will pay Hajduk 450 thousand euros.

Hajduk decided that Tudor's assistant Hari Vukas will lead the team in the match against Osijek, which is scheduled for Sunday at 5:55 pm at City Garden Stadium.

Vukas' first assistant will be Jurica Vucko, and Toni Golem joins the professional staff of the first team, who recently took over juniors II. In his career so far, he has already had experience working in the professional staff of Hajduk's first team.

Goalkeeping coach Hrvoje Sunara remains, and Toni Modric and Sime Versic are still in charge of preparing the players.

Pirlo ended his playing career three years ago, during which he won the 2006 World Cup with Italy and reached the Euro final in 2012. While playing for Milan (2001-2011) and Juventus (2011-2015), he won two Champions League titles (2003, 2007) and once again played in the final (2015) with six Italian league titles (two with Milan, four with Juventus).

The former Croatia national team player made 174 appearances for Juventus and another 39 for Siena. As a coach in Italy, he led Udinese and saved them from relegation in two seasons. He also led PAOK, Galatasaray, and Karabukspor. Tudor took over Hajduk in December last year, and under his leadership, the Split club finished the season in fifth place.

Source: Index.hr

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July 18, 2020 - At Friday's City Council session, Trogir City Councilors unanimously adopted a decision that marks a historic moment for HNK Hajduk and paves the way for the construction of the long-awaited football camp at the barracks of Trogir's Divulje.

HNK Hajduk reported on its website:

"We have repeated many times so far and I believe that you are all aware that the construction of the football camp is Hajduk's capital project, our most important infrastructure project in the 21st century and a solid foundation without which the Club cannot develop and progress. Therefore, we can proudly confirm that today, we are at the starting point of a great story that has been worked on for a long time and in silence, and which will ensure the continuity of education and production of elite players, talented footballers and quality people, which throughout history has adorned the Croatian football club Hajduk and our Academy "Luka Kaliterna"," said the President of the HNK Hajduk Management Board Marin Brbic after the City Council session.

"We are especially pleased that the future football camp will be in Trogir, a city that has always lived with its heart and soul for Hajduk. We are also extremely grateful to the City of Trogir for recognizing this moment and the importance of building a football camp, and I am sure that the entire local community will reap many benefits from our future cooperation. In the end, I will emphasize that this is not a project of Marin Brbic, or any individual who has been or will be in the Club. This is a project of all of us, all of Hajduk, this is a project of Hajduk's future. We are just at the beginning, we have a lot of work ahead of us, many stages that we have to go through, but together we will reach the goal," said Brbic.

The mayor of Trogir, Ante Bilic, did not hide his satisfaction with the city councilors' decision.

"On behalf of the citizens of the city of Trogir, I can say that I am happy that Hajduk will have its camp, its second home, in our city. We are realistic, we think sustainably and that is why the project is conceived realistically, phased and financially sustainable. This is not a project of Ante Bilic and Marin Brbic; this is a project of the City of Trogir and HNK Hajduk that will be developed and used to benefit the institutions we represent for much longer than the duration of our mandates. I had no doubt that the councilors would support our agreement, because who in Dalmatia would not want such an honor, but also a development opportunity from which both of us benefit exclusively?  This is an initiative of Hajduk, which we accepted, and together, we quickly completed all the steps so far, both between us and towards the state. Hajduk will have a partner in us, and the city services will be maximally efficient in terms of changing the spatial planning documentation required for part of the project, issuing permits and other steps so that the planned dynamics of the project is not endangered," said Bilic and added:

"Such content, at this location and with us as partners, is a prerequisite for creating sports content without competition in this part of Europe. After the agreement on business cooperation that was signed a little more than a week ago between NK Trogir and Hajduk, I would mark today as an important point for Trogir football and Trogir sport. After the renovated field on Batarija, our children and seniors will get a new field, additional sports facilities and the opportunity to develop with the best that Dalmatia has. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I consider this one of the most important steps in the recent history of Hajduk and a great opportunity for Trogir," concluded the mayor of Trogir.

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July 14, 2020 - Marin Brbic has resigned from the President of the Management Board of Hajduk, the club announced on its official website.

"I am resigning from the position of President of the Management Board of HNK Hajduk. It is my moral obligation because we failed to achieve the promised result this season, and that is the place that leads to the qualifications for the Champions League," said Brbic, adding:

"I will not leave the club immediately, but when the conditions for that are met, because out of responsibility towards Hajduk, I must not and do not want to allow them to run without their heads, keeping in mind the importance of maintaining business stability and the functioning of the Club."

The Supervisory Board may or may not accept Brbic's decision

Now, everything is decided by the members of the Hajduk Supervisory Board, who may or may not accept Brbic's resignation. 

Brbic's resignation does not come as a surprise, because at the beginning of the season, he announced that he would leave Hajduk if the club does not win at least second place in the current season, which leads to the qualifications for the Champions League next season.

If the Supervisory Board manages to persuade Brbic to stay, we won't know until next Sunday, when the Assembly of the club will be held, at which the City of Split and the association Nas Hajduk (which together control over 90% of ownership) will comment on the situation.

Since Hajduk was two points away from Osijek two rounds before the end of the championship, there will likely be no Champions League this time around.

Brbic began his second term as president of the Split club in early March 2019, when he succeeded Jasmin Huljaj.

Brbic's return at the time was a natural solution after the arrival of Benjamin Perasovic at the head of the Supervisory Board.

Brbic was first the President of the Hajduk Management Board in a challenging situation, when the club was saved from bankruptcy by selling young players and raising loans for which the city of Split was its guarantor.

After three years and nine months in office, his cooperation was terminated by a decision of the then Supervisory Board, which sought a step forward.

When Brbic first came to Hajduk, he was met with a debt of 105 million kuna. His closest associate at the time was Goran Vucevic, who put together a team of young players and later sold them in order for the club to survive.

He held the position of President from 2012 to 2016.

Source: Index.hr

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June 26, 2020 - Hajduk and Slaven Belupo met at Poljud Stadium for the 31st round of the Croatian First League. It was Hajduk's first game in front of home fans since the league came to a halt because of COVID-19. 

After Gorica topped Rijeka at Rujevica Stadium on Friday night, Hajduk met Slaven Belupo in front of their fans for the first time in 114 days. Recall, while other clubs were able to welcome back their fans already a few rounds ago, the Split club had to serve a punishment of a game behind closed doors. 

With the coronavirus on the rise again in Croatia, stricter measures were enforced at the stadium. Namely, temperature checks were reinstated for journalists at the entrance, while we were asked to disinfect our hands before entering. Furthermore, we had to sit one per table instead of the usual two. The jumbo screen at the stadium also reminded fans to keep a distance of 1.5 meters. 

Whether they feared the coronavirus would spread or were boycotting because of Hajduk's last two losses and drop to 5th place, the stadium wasn't nearly as full as expected, considering the Split club's beloved fans haven't seen them play in the flesh in almost four months. Namely, only 4,523 fans were in attendance. 

Hajduk played with a bit of a weaker squad on Friday night, missing a few starting players due to injuries and yellow cards. Slaven Belupo was also in a weaker form. A win for Hajduk was imperative.

The fans at Poljud showed enthusiasm at the beginning and Torcida's chants certainly helped Hajduk to their first goal. Caktaks scored a penalty for 1:0 in the 10th minute. 

Slaven Belupo equalized thanks to an easy goal by Medjimorec in the 25th minute. The game ended 1:1 at the half. 

The second half started with only one Hajduk substitution, as Dolcek came on for Colina. Hajduk was quick to score their second goal, which came in the 59th minute. A header by Eduok rattled the Belupo keeper for 2:1!

Belupo was awarded a VAR penalty in the 90th minute, which was hit wide to keep the game 2:1 for Hajduk. Nine minutes of injury time were added, though neither team was able to score. Hajduk won 2:1. 

Dinamo and Osijek close out the 31st round on Saturday at Maksimir Stadium. Stay tuned for our 31st round recap on Monday. 

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June 10, 2020 - HNK Hajduk attended a meeting held by HNS this week on the topic of a new TV rights agreement for Croatian football.

Hajduk announced on its website that at the meeting, the received offers were only presented in principle. The most financially generous one, which is for a period of 10 years, was selected (7 fixed + 3 extension options).

"The President of the Management Board Marin Brbić, as a representative of HNK Hajduk, requested full information about the bidder with the most generous offer to determine all the circumstances to make the best decision, which includes an assessment of the reliability and quality of the business of the partner with whom such a long-term contract is concluded, as is common in the business world.

Despite the request of President Brbić, HNS did not offer any information to confirm the creditworthiness or business references of the said bidder. Shortly after the meeting, the media reported that it was a company founded just three months ago with a share capital of £6,000, which applied for the tender without any bank guarantees for the submitted bid, which only confirms the justification of President Brbic's request.

HNK Hajduk believes that a serious partner must give a bank guarantee for the first year for such a long time immediately upon concluding the contract and buy the rights from the next season by paying the existing owner of TV rights, which would be logical - for both new bidders and clubs of the Croatian First League. Thus, we remain two years in anticipation and uncertainty whether the mentioned agreement will be realized at all, especially since at that time none of the signatories of the contract has to be in office, bearing in mind the HNS elections that await us next year.

The current amount that clubs receive is miserable and below any level, the offered increase is just a correction of an anomaly from the previous contract, and the key problem remains the contract term of 10 years. It is an indisputable fact that the value of TV rights has jumped by 65% globally in the last four years alone and this is the best indicator of how harmful it is for clubs to sign a contract for 7 or 10 years, and HNK Hajduk warns about that all the time.

We are aware that for some clubs, this growth represents a huge jump in their budget, but we also believe that the interest in our league is great and that it has a greater value than has been valorized so far. The fact that 430,000 people watched the second game of the Croatian Football Cup semifinals on HRT speaks volumes about the interest in our league.

Finally, HNK Hajduk expressed dissatisfaction with the availability of information about the selected bidder, the fact that the clubs were denied the right to negotiate TV rights as their own product and the duration of the new contract. Accordingly, President Brbić announced at the meeting that HNK Hajduk will submit a request to independently dispose of the TV rights of HNL matches in which it is the host, and that it will translate this into a formal request to HNS. If Hajduk's request is rejected according to the usual form, the Club will resort to all available legal means to protect its interests."

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June 4, 2020 - After several months away, the Croatian First League will return this week with the match between Hajduk and Inter Zapresic at Poljud on Friday at 8 pm.

This means that the pre-game press conferences have returned, but not in the standard form. Hajduk coach Igor Tudor addressed the press via Zoom on Wednesday. We are transmitting the meeting via Index.hr.

What are the expectations and what kind of Hajduk will we see?

"We are all looking forward to the game; that's why we work and live. It's a unique story to play without an audience, and it's never been pleasant for me. It's an aggravating circumstance for the home team. We have to justify the role of favorites on Friday. At the moment, we have 10 games, and we want to win each one. I think the players are in good shape; they are motivated, they are eager. "

Who stood out the most during the break?

"I never like to point out individuals, but there will be three or four new names on Friday. They have imposed themselves during this break, they are here, but in football, everything changes in a few moments. I want to get a winning mentality from the team. Every rehearsal and every addition better. I think this generation is missing that in general, we saw it in Jordan's documentary 'The Last Dance'. I want to see it and we're going in the direction of improving it."

Will there be a loudspeaker at the stadium during matches?

"We'll see. Normally it's not that, it has nothing to do with real cheering, it has pros and cons, it kills that sick silence, but on the other hand, you hear some weird noise. I really hope the audience comes back in a few rounds and we continue going in the right direction."

What is the impact of the break on the state of the team, plans for the transition period and the summer?

"As it is for us, so it is for everyone else. In time, everything will be better, in terms of the whole game. An important segment is the selection of players, and we overestimate the role of coaches in such things. You have to be a magician for that, considering the budgets that Croatian clubs have."

Any comment on the Croatian Cup semifinal?

"It didn't look bad; there was a good rhythm, a good Slaven in the first half, Lokomotiva solved the game thanks to individual class. The referees overshadowed the great game between Rijeka and Osijek; the boys in black were the best individuals there. Osijek solved that game already, but the boys in black disagreed."

What about Inter?

"We looked at them a bit in two friendly matches. We will be asked the most here. We have to run full throttle from the first minute and sort things out as soon as possible. We're going to win."

What about the match schedule?

"The schedule is not tight, and it's good that we have five substitutions. This way, while playing every five days, it's not bad."

Did you hear from Bjelica after his dismissal at Dinamo? In addition, will these referee problems ever change in the HNL?

"Neno is great, the enemy never sleeps, not even across the border, and he was surprised by a neighbor from Bosnia. As for the refereeing, Hajduk has always beared the brunt of the refs, and now that is Osijek. We give them support. In the last 30 years, what should not be happening is happening, the refs who should be invisible are always here. That can change immediately, but a few people decide it. I welcome the suspension of refs, whoever makes a mistake has to suffer the consequences. The HNL has a long, beautiful history around that, but I hope it goes in a better direction as a lot of things in this state are going in a better direction."

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April. 18, 2020 - HNK Hajduk has agreed with all first-team players to reduce wages as the competition is stalled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Split club reports that first-team players have accepted Hajduk's proposal to receive 40 percent of the contracted earnings over the next six months, the additional 40 percent will be deferred for six months and the remaining 20 percent will be permanently waived. Furthermore, the Club offered its players the chance to automatically reinstate the contracts from the time before the pandemic, in full, in the event they place in a European competition.

"HNK Hajduk thanks the players for their understanding and cooperation in reaching an agreement on reducing salaries in times of crisis in order to ensure the financial stability and sustainability of the Club in the long run. In such an atmosphere of mutual respect and unity within the Club, we are sure that the desired sports result will not be missed. We completed the contract process in record time. The management and part of the higher-income working community will also share the fate of the players," said Hajduk president Marin Brbić.

"We believe that we have negotiated with the players as responsibly and correctly as possible. We did not rush to make a decision and neither did it unilaterally, but through an agreement with the players, we wanted to achieve synergy. We decided not to communicate the draft agreement publicly, allowing players to peacefully consider all the circumstances affecting the Club and football in Croatia and to make their decision accordingly. We thank them once again for the demonstrated team spirit and solidarity they have shown in this situation where, in addition to donated funds in our humanitarian actions, they have once again shown great responsibility to our Club and the entire community," added the sports director Ivan Kepčija.

Led by captain Mijo Caktaš, Hajduk players showed exceptional understanding and solidarity in the agreement.

"This is a situation that happens once in history and in which we all have to bear our burden to keep the Club stable. I am especially pleased that the team showed their understanding of the new circumstances after the first meeting, and there was really no doubt that we players should stand in solidarity with the Club at the moment when football activities around the world stopped. The conversations were very fair, we all showed a great community together, and I would like to thank all the teammates for that once again. I believe that we as a team and Hajduk as a Club will come out stronger from all this," said Caktaš after the agreement with the players was officially signed.

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