The club was founded on 27 June 1947 by the merger of three local rivals.[1] Their first notable result was reaching the quarter-finals of the 1951 Yugoslav Cup, where they were heavily defeated by Dinamo Zagreb (8–0).[1]
In 1958, the club joined the reformed Yugoslav Second League, competing in Group East for two seasons.[2] They promptly returned to the league in 1961,[2] spending the next six seasons in the second tier.[3] In 1966–67, the club finished as champions and earned promotion to the Yugoslav First League for the first time ever.[3] They placed eight in their debut appearance in the top flight.[3] The club subsequently ended bottom of the table in 1968–69 and dropped to the Second League.[4]
In 1973, the club returned to the Yugoslav First League.[5] They spent two seasons in the top flight, but suffered relegation in 1974–75.[5] The club went on to compete in the Second League until 1990.[6] They ended their comeback season in fourth place, their highest ever league finish.[6]