Nogometni klub Maribor (English: Maribor Football Club) is an Slovenian professional club of football located within Maribor, Slovenia. It is a member of the Slovenian PrvaLiga which is the highest level in the Slovenian football league system. The club is known as "The Purples" (Vijolicasti) The club was established on December 12, 1960. They are seen as an icon that represents Slovenian football, especially in their home area of Styria in the northeastern region of Slovenia.
Maribor have achieved a record-breaking 16 Slovenian PrvaLiga titles, 9 Slovenian Cups and 4 Slovenian Supercups. Maribor have has won seven consecutive championships between the years 1997-2003 as well as five titles in a row between the years 2011 between 2011 and 2015. Before Slovenia's independence in 1991 Maribor was part of the Yugoslav football system. They were promoted to an award in the Yugoslav second division of 1967 , and were thus promoted to the highest-level Yugoslav First League, where they remained until 1972. They were one of three Slovenian teams who played in the Yugoslavia's most prestigious division from the time of World War II in 1945 and the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991.
Maribor is the sole Slovenian club that made it through the group stage of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. Furthermore Maribor is among two original members of the Slovenian PrvaLiga (along with Celje) that have not been disqualified to the club since the first 1991-92 season.
The club has a long-running relationship with Olimpija from the capital city of Ljubljana which they compete in their Eternal derby. Other rivalries include Celje known by some as"the" Styrian derby, as well as the Prekmurje-Styria Derby, which is played by Maribor Mura and Mura. Maribor's stadium of home is the Ljudski Vrt stadium with a capacity of 11,671 seats. The colors of the traditional club are yellow, purple and white.
