Division: Serbian SuperLeague  Tier: 1Status: ProfessionalBalance: OkayBudget: £957,000Training Facil.: Youth Facil.: Youth Academy: Stadium Capacity: 54,000Avg. Occupation: 28.7%Max. Occupation: 74.1%Introduction
A giant of Eastern European football, Red Star Belgrade or Crvena Zvezda as they’re known have a rich and successful history. It being twenty years since their greatest triumph in 1991. Domestic dominance translated into a European triumph and despite a slump in the quality of Serbian football, remain one of the biggest names in Eastern European football.

History
Founded in the dying months of World War II, by young members of the Serbian United Antifascist Youth League and after playing to qualify for the Yugoslavian footballing structure would only have to wait 6 years before winning the tournament after some cup success.

Their first period of dominance would come in the 1950’s when under a consistent and stable chairman the club would assemble a fine team that would win the Yugoslavian League title 5 times during the decade. They would play a small part in the Munich Air disaster as it was from Serbia in 1958 that the famous ‘Busby Babes’ of Manchester United were returning from following a 5-4 quarter final aggregate defeat of Red Star that would see the infamous disaster unfold.

A barren spell in the 1960’s would see the club finish miles off the pace of their rivals and win only a single league trophy during the decade, the foundations for the future were laid when they moved into the then 100,000 capacity Marakana stadium. The envy of world football as the hostile and electric atmosphere would be enough to intimidate any visiting team. A few more Yugoslavian league titles were won the in 1970’s, including an appearance in the 1979 UEFA Cup final. Unfortunately the club would lose 2-1 over two legs against German side Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The 1980’s would see the club continue to trade blows with Partizan, picking up four more Yugoslav First League titles and the foundations for their finest hour would be laid with a 5 year plan to win the European Cup being formulated. This would be achieved in glorious fashion in 1991 as the star studded Red Star team containing some of the finest Yugoslavian footballers in their history. Defeating Rangers, Dynamo Dresden and giants Bayern Munich en-route to the final against Marseille in the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, Italy. A tense, tight defensive performance by Red Star stifled the much fancied Marseille and after 120 minutes of goalless football was played out; they would lift the European Cup winning 5-4 on penalties. A feat that was made all the more impressive given the political situation in the country at the time.

With the breakup of Yugoslavia, the club would never again reach the heights of this moment. The political upheaval and difficulty of the Serbian League to provide competitive teams and good players, the club would find it difficult to adapt. Until the turn of the millennium, the club would win only one league title and with the turn of the century, this lack of success would be broken as they went on to win six league titles in the next decade. Tough times in Eastern European football have the fans harking back their moment in the sun 20 years ago.

Honours
The club has a long list of trophies that they’ve won but right at the top is the European Cup in 1991, a fantastic achievement by a club from Eastern Europe and a watershed moment for football and life in the region. Winning the European Cup is the pinnacle of any club achievement and while the squad would be dismantled after this feat, the politic problems in Yugoslavia were coming to a head and would prove to be the tipping point for football and the region. While the nature of their penalties win and 120 minutes of defending against a highly fancied Marseille side, they got the job done. This was followed up with an Intercontinental Cup win the following season.

Domestically, the club were a dominant force in the Yugoslav First League winning 18 titles in total, including the final one in 1991. This is supplemented with 12 Yugoslavian Cups. Since the formation of the Serbian league system, the club have won 7 of the 19 titles competed under this system with their rivals Partizan winning 11. The domestic cup would provide more attainable as they have won it 11 times, with their latest success coming in 2010.

What have they been up to lately?
Since the demise of the Yugoslavian and former Serbia & Montenegro league structures in 2003, the club has seen the Serbian game dominated by rivals FK Partizan. Since the league was played under the banner of Serbia, Red Star have only a single league title to their name coming in the 2006/07 season which was part of a domestic double along with the Serbian Cup. Further cup success came in the 2009/10 season.

No longer a fixture in European football like they were in their illustrious past, Red Star have struggled in the qualifying rounds of European competition. They have been eliminated from the qualifying stage of the Europa League at the first time of asking for the past two seasons and haven’t been in the Champions League since they lost to Rangers in the qualifiers in the 2007/08 season. The poor quality of the league and lack of funds at their disposal has seen Serbian football slip to 27th in the UEFA League rankings.

A drought of 3 years without a league title is quite a long time to go without domestic success in a league dominated by two teams. The appointment of former player Robert Prosinecki as manager may end the drought soon.

Has anyone famous played for/managed the club?
Some of the finest footballers of the 1980’s and 1990’s called the Marakana home during the clubs glory days. Their European Cup winning team of 1991 is full of players who would go on to play for some of the biggest clubs in European football later in their careers. Sinisa Mihajlovic, Robert Prosinecki and Dejan Savicevic would go on to have fine careers and all played in a star studded midfield, with two of them going on to management. Prosinecki is currently at the club while Mihajlovic is doing good work with Fiorentina in Italy.

More recently, players such as Birmingham’s Nikola Zigic, Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic and Inter Milan stalwart Dejan Stankovic have played for the club before moving into higher quality leagues. Hard working, technically gifted players that hark back to the glory days of Yugoslavian football.

With a high turnover of coaches in the recent past, the club have never been able to get a huge name to try and return the club to greatness. Walter Zenga being the most high profile of appointments, his career has never quite taken off like his playing one and was in charge for only one season.

So how does this tie into Football Manager?
In relative terms, the club has a fantastic setup off the field with the 54,000 all-seater Marakana stadium providing room for their fanatical fans. With good training, good youth facilities and their famous youth academy, Red Star have the potential to continue producing high quality youngsters that will inevitably want to move to pastures new in the bigger European leagues. Ensuring that any youngsters that do come through the club are sold for good fees will ensure that the club continues to remain competitive domestically. The Ł13.75m loan will have to be allayed with regular continental participation or the sale of prized assets from the youth academy.

While the facilities at the club are of a high standard, the current first team is a world away from the famous 1991 European Cup winning side that boasted some of the biggest names in European football. The stand out performer is Ghanaian centre back Lee Addy who joined the club at the beginning of the season, a talented performer with a good spread of mental and physical attributes. At 19 he can only get better but be prepared for clubs in other leagues to be keeping an eye on his progress. Pavle Ninkov is the finest Serbian player at the club and the enthusiastic right back will provide a strong, consistent performer that is a physical beast relative to the Serbian league.

A club with a proud history that has seen its impact domestically and on the continent diminish due to the breakup of Yugoslavia, they have all the components for a return to glory. With the addition of dynamic league reputation to the Football Manager series, Red Star could well pioneer the return of glorious football and success to Eastern Europe.