Nogometni klub Maribor is a Slovenian professional association football club based in Maribor. It was founded in December 1960 by officials and players of NK Branik Maribor. With 16 Slovenian PrvaLiga titles and 9 Slovenian Cups, they are the most successful Slovenian team. Maribor is also the only Slovenian club that reached the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
In its early years, the club played in the Yugoslav Second League, before being promoted to the Yugoslav First League in 1967. They remained in the top division for five seasons, then dropped out and never returned to the Yugoslav top flight. In the early 1980s, the club was relegated to the third level due to a bribery scandal.
Following Slovenia's independence in 1991, Maribor were one of the founding members of the Slovenian PrvaLiga, and also won the inaugural edition of the Slovenian Cup in 1992. The first golden era of the club was between 1997 and 2003, when Maribor won seven consecutive league titles and reached the group stages of the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League. In the mid-2000s, the club declined for several years and was plagued by major financial difficulties.
The second golden era of the club began in 2007, when Zlatko Zahovič was appointed sports director of the club. In the period between 2009 and 2019, Maribor won eight league titles, four cup titles, and qualified for the Champions League group stages twice.