Active departments of Pelister FK Pelister RK Eurofarm Pelister 2 KK Pelister RK Eurofarm Pelister () is a Macedonian handball club from Bitola. They currently compete in the Macedonian Super League, the Regional League, and the EHF European League.
History The original team was the first handball club in Macedonia, formed in 1946 under the name Pelagonija. It later changed its name to Pelister in 1955. The 60s were very successful, winning 4 championships starting in 1960 till the last one in 1969. The club ended up winning three more titles in the 70s. In the 80s, the 1981 season was the last winning season, capturing their 8th Macedonian league title. From the 1983-84 season, Pelister began participating regularly in the Yugoslav Handball Championship. They finished in third place in 1985 and were runners-up in back-to-back seasons (1986–87 and 1987–88) behind the dominant club Metaloplastika Šabac. Around that time the slogan "He who hasn't played in Bitola doesn't know what real support looks like" gained popularity, being uttered by the likes of Vlado Šola, Lino Červar and Zlatan Saračević.
Pelister became the first Macedonian club to play in Europe. In 1986 they defeated Filippos Verias in the 1st round, but they ended up losing in 1/8 finals against Atlético Madrid winning 24:19 at home and 10:19 away (34:38) on aggregate. In the 1988/1989 season they reached the EHF Cup quarterfinal, eliminating SPE Strovolos Nicosia, HC Banik and finally losing out to German club ASK Vorwärts. The first leg in Bitola was won by six goals, but the second leg in Berlin resulted in a loss by seven points 22:16 and 13:22 (35:38). When the Macedonian Handball Super League was formed in 1992, Pelister became the most successful club in the country, winning five league titles and five Cups that decade. In 1996, they made it to the semi-finals of the EHF Cup Winners' Cup where they lost on aggregate by one goal to the eventual champion TBV Lemgo. A record, 3,200 spectators were in attendance for the rematch in Bitola. Another proof of Pelisters' dominance at the time, seven players on Macedonia's squad at the 1999 World Men's Handball Championship in Egypt played for the club.
The club's most successful European run was made during the 2001/02 season when they played in the EHF Challenge Cup. First, they started by beating Zilant Kazan in the 3rd round and advanced to round 4, where they went on to defeat Paris Saint-Germain. In the quarterfinal they got past GAS Kilkis 52-51, setting up a semifinal match-up with Frederiksberg IF. Pelister would go on to win that tie in dramatic fashion in Bitola, when Naumče Mojsovski scored a goal in the final seconds of the game to even the score on aggregate, going through on a penalty shootout by the final score of 61-60. In the final, Pelister lost to Skjern Håndbold, but even in that match-up they still ended up winning the home game by 7 goals. Proving yet again that it was no easy task for any road team to win in Bitola.
In 2005, Trifun Kostovski with Kometal became sponsor of the club bringing back the glory days, winning another double crown and capturing its sixth domestic league title, which was a record at the time. However, the success was short lived as Kometal left following that season. Afterwards, Pelister was marred by financial problems and struggled to achieve the same level of success.
On 29 November 2019, a joint ownership was signed by the owners of RK Eurofarm Rabotnik (which was formed in 2011 and owned by Eurofarm) and RK Pelister (owned by Bitola Municipality). According to the platform, RK Eurofarm Rabotnik would change the name to Eurofarm Pelister, and the original RK Pelister would change its name to Eurofarm Pelister 2. Eurofarm Pelister will be the leading club with high European ambitions, while Eurofarm Pelister 2 will be a developmental club filled with young handball players from Bitola and all of Macedonia. The combination of a strong sponsor and a sports brand known throughout the former Yugoslavia took final shape through an agreement with the city administration in 2020. Eurofarm Pelister has already surpassed the domestic framework, played in the EHF Champions League and set the contours of a team that could return trophies back to "Boro Čurlevski" arena. This was officially accomplished in May 2023, when they were crowned Macedonian Super League champions for the first time in 18 years.
Accomplishments Domestic competitions Macedonian League Macedonian Republic League Winner: 1961, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979 and 1981 Macedonian Handball Super League Winner: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2023, 2024 and 2025 Macedonian Cup Macedonian Republic Cup Winner: 1990 Macedonian Handball Cup Winner: 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2005 Macedonian Super Cup Winner: 2021, 2022 and 2025
Individual club awards
Double Crown Winner: 1995–96, 1997–98 and 2004–05
International
Doboj International Handball Tournament Winner: 1996 and 1997
Regional SEHA League
3rd: 2021–22
European competitions
EHF Cup Winners' Cup 3rd: 1995-96
EHF Challenge Cup 2nd: 2001–02
European record
EHF Challenge Cup 2001–02 – Final 2006–07 – 1/8 Final 2009–10 – 3rd Round 2014–15 – 3rd Round 2016–17 – Last 16 2017–18 – 3rd Round EHF Cup Winners' Cup 1995–96 – 1/2 Final 1999–00 – 3rd Round 2003–04 – 3rd Round 2004–05 – 2nd Round 2007–08 – 2nd Round 2011–12 – 3rd Round EHF European League 1986-87 – 1/8 Final 1987-88 – 1/8 Final 1988-89 – 1/4 Final 1997–98 – 1/8 Final 2010–11 – 3rd Round 2018–19 – Group stage 2020-21 – Last 16 2021-22 – Last 16 2022-23 – Group stage
EHF Champions League 1993-94 – Preliminary round 1994-95 – Preliminary round 1996-97 – Round of 32 1998-99 – Round of 32 2005–06 – Group stage 2019–20 – Group stage 2023–24 – Group stage 2024–25 – Group stage 2025–26 – Group stage
EHF ranking
Rank Team Points26 RK Izviđač9627 Rhein-Neckar Löwen9428 RK Eurofarm Pelister9229 S.L. Benfica9130 Bidasoa Irun91
Arena
Eurofarm Pelister play all their home matches in the EHF Champions League and domestic competitions at Sports Hall Boro Čurlevski. The arena has a current seating capacity of 3,500 and has undergone numerous renovations to meet EHF standards.
Team Current squad Squad for the 2026–27 season
Goalkeepers 1 Nikola Mitrevski 24 David Brestovac 32 Saeid Heidarirad Left Wingers 8 Cvetan Kuzmanoski 33 Petar Atanasijevikj Right Wingers 3 Nenad Belistojanoski 11 Edvin Dželilović 77 Rudolph Hackbarth Line players 6 Samoil Ristevski 14 Nikola Grahovac 44 Zharko Peshevski
Left Backs 15 Nik Henigman 18 Filip Kuzmanovski (c) 88 Pavle Atanasijevikj 99 Malik Tatar Central Backs 17 Miha Kotar 23 Mirche Kalajdjieski 81 Aleksa Kolaković 91 Sadou Ntanzi Right Backs 4 Andrzej Widomski 5 Diego Bassanese 7 Martin Serafimov
Transfers Transfers for the 2026–27 season
Joining Aleksa Kolaković (CB) from Pau Billère Handballhttps://www.balkan-handball.com/transferi/aleksa-kolakovic-u-eurofarm-pelisteru/ Miha Kotar (CB) from RK Partizan Malik Tatar (LB) (from RD LL Grosist Slovan) Sadou Ntanzi (CB) (from Al Arabi SC) Martin Serafimov (RB) (free agent) Diego Bassanese (RB) (from RK Umag) Nenad Belistojanoski (RW) (from RK Eurofarm Pelister 2) Edvin Dželilović (RW) (from RK Izviđač)
Leaving Oussama Hosni (RB) to C' Chartres MHBhttps://pro.ccmhb.fr/actualites/officiel-oussama-hosni-est-chartrain-jusquen-2028-605.html Omer Mehmedović (CB) to HC Linz AGhttps://www.handball-world.news/artikel/linz-verpflichtet-bosnischen-nationalspieler-1247555 Alem Hadžić (CB) to HSV Hamburg Dejan Manaskov (LW) (to ?) Ilija Abutović (LB) (to RK Partizan AdmiralBet) Domen Tajnik (CB) (to RD LL Grosist Slovan) Bogdan Radivojević (RW) (to Beşiktaş)
Transfer history Transfers for the 2025–26 seasonJoining Saeid Heidarirad (GK) from RK Partizan Nik Henigman (LB) from C' Chartres MHB Mirche Kalajdjieski (CB) from RK Eurofarm Pelister 2 Andrzej Widomski (RB) from Gwardia Opole Rudolph Hackbarth (RW) from BM Rebi Cuenca Khaled Walid (P) from Beşiktaş JK Nikola Grahovac (LP) from HSG Wetzlar Omer Mehmedović (CB) from RD Ribnicahttps://rukometnizurnal.com/omer-mehmedovic-potpisao-za-eurofarm-pelister/
Leaving Filip Ivic (GK) to HC Meshkov Brest Uroš Borzaš (LB) to RK Alkaloid Emilijan Gjorgovski (LB) to RK Alkaloid Pavle Petrović (RB) to HC Linz AG Nejc Cehte (RB) to Füchse Berlin Nenad Kosteski (RW) to RK Alkaloid Mohamed Mamdouh Shebib (P) to P.A.O.K. H.C. Khaled Walid (P) to Al Ahly Transfers for the 2024–25 seasonJoining Nikola Mitrevski (GK) from FC Porto Filip Ivic (GK) from Chambéry SMBH Ilija Abutović (LB) from C' Chartres MHB Oussama Hosni (RB) from Al Arabi SC Kajo Cikatić (P) from HRK Gorica Mohamed Mamdouh Shebib (LP) from Kuwait SC
Leaving Urban Lesjak (GK) to RK Trimo Trebnje Khalifa Ghedbane (GK) to HC Erlangen Marko Kizikj (GK) to RK Alkaloid Rudy Seri (LB) to Caen Handball Mario Tankoski (CB) to RK Vardar Andreas Johan Nielsen (P) to GOG Håndbold Kajo Cikatić (P) to ŽRK Zrinski Mateusz Piechowski (P) to AHC Potaissa Turda Denis Vasilev (P) to Balatonfüredi KSE
Staff
Professional staff Position Name Head coach Lino Červar Assistant coach Alekso Lembanov Goalkeeping coach Ice Sokoleski Conditioning coach Aleksandar Markovski Physiotherapists Filip Milevski Physiotherapists Nebojša Vasilevski
Management Position Name President Zoran Sterjev Vice President Bojan Sterjev Sporting Director Zvonko Šundovski Team assistant Damjan Nikolovski
Former club members Notable former players
Dejan Pecakovski Stefan Drogrishki Goran Krstevski Tomislav Jagurinovski Lazo Majnov Zlatko Mojsoski Mihail Petrovski Goran Kuzmanoski Filip Čurlevski Gradimir Čanevski Blagojče Trajkovski Nikola Markoski Goce Ojleski Milorad Kukoski Martin Velkovski Marko Kizikj Mario Tankoski Nenad Kosteski Emilijan Gjorgovski Dejan Manaskov Bogdan Radivojević Ilija Abutović Igor Arsić Davor Čutura Miloje Dolić Milan Filić Nikola Ivanović Milan Đukić Darko Stevanović Nemanja Obradović Uroš Borzaš Mirko Radović Marin Vegar Neven Stjepanović Josip Perić Elmir Građan Pavle Petrović Alem Hadžić Lovro Jotić Tomislav Kušan Mateo Maraš Josip Božić Pavletić Stipe Mandalinić Kajo Cikatić Filip Ivić Anže Ratajec Domen Tajnik Urban Lesjak Nejc Cehte Márton Székely Rudy Seri Sebastian Henneberg Andreas Johann Nielsen Kasper Kisum Sérgio Barros Wilson Davyes Mateusz Piechowski Santiago Mosquera Reinier Taboada Denis Vasiliev Yevgen Umovist Vladyslav Ostroushko Olexandr Shevelev Andrey Khapal Rati Mskhvildze Oussama Hosni Mohamed Soussi Karim Handawy Mohamed Mamdouh Shebib Khaled Walid Achraf Adli Khalifa Ghedbane
Notable former coaches Cane Krstevski Zoran Zecevic Dragan Nishević Bogdan Makovei Ivan Markovski & Aleksandar Zarkov Andon Boshkovski Ilija Temelkovski Stevče Aluševski Đorđe Čirković Željko Babić Lars Walther Aleksandar Jovikj Zvonko Šundovski Branislav Angelovski Raúl Alonso Rubén Garabaya
Supporters
Čkembari () are an Ultras group, established in 1985, who support the Macedonian sports clubs from Bitola that compete under the Pelister banner, mainly FK Pelister in football and RK Pelister in handball. The group was founded in 1985 when a caravan of 15 buses traveled to support RK Pelister who was playing against Partizan Bjelovar in a handball relegation play-off match. At that time they used the name BMČM – Bitolčani, Motorcyclists, Čkembari, Macedonians (македонски: БМЧМ - Битолчани, Мотокари, Чкембари, Македонци) later shortened to just Čkembari. Soon after, the first green and white banners were created that read: "Hell Boys" (македонски: Пеколни момци) and "Green Conquerors" (македонски: Зелени освојувачи) which started organized support for Pelister at every match.
References
External links
EHF Profile