RK Lokomotiva Zagreb

RK Lokomotiva Zagreb
RK Lokomotiva Zagreb
Full name	Lokomotiva Zagreb
Short name	Rukometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb (Lokomotiva Zagreb Handball Club)
Founded	1949
Arena	Dom Sportova
Capacity	3,000
Head coach	Vedran Krkač
League	Croatian League
2022–23	1st
Club colours
Home	Away
	Website ; Official site

Rukometni Klub Lokomotiva Zagreb (English: Lokomotiva Zagreb Handball Club) is a Croatian professional women's handball club from Zagreb.^[1]

Lokomotiva was the most successful team in the Yugoslav Championship's early stages, winning eight championships between 1956 and 1970. In 1975, the team reached the final of the European Cup after winning its ninth championship.^[2] However, the following fifteen years were unsuccessful, with Radnički Belgrade dominating the championship.^[3] The team resurfaced in 1991, winning both the final edition of the Yugoslav Championship and the EHF Cup, its first international trophy, beating Bayer Leverkusen in the final.^[4]

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Lokomotiva, renamed Kraš Zagreb, won the first edition of the new Croatian League, but the team soon fell second to Podravka Koprivnica. The team's major successes in the 1990s were reaching the Cup Winner's Cup's final in 1996 and 1998.^[5] The club reversed to its original name in 2003, and the following seasons marked a timid revival, with Lokomotiva winning the three championship titles and four national cups.

Most recently, Lokomotiva was second in the national championship and won the EHF Challenge Cup in 2017.

Lokomotiva gave eight players of the national team which are surprisingly won the bronze medal at the 2020 European Women's Handball Championship (Lucija Bešen, Dora Kalaus, Larissa Kalaus, Paula Posavec, Stela Posavec, Tena Japundža, Kristina Prkačin and Andrea Šimara). Also the Lokomotiva's coach Nenad Šoštarić was the head coach of the that generation.

Honours[edit]

EHF Cup
- 1991
EHF Challenge Cup
- 2017
Croatian League
- 1992, 2004, 2014, 2022, 2023
Croatian Cup
- 1992, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2018, 2021
Yugoslav Championship (defunct)
- 1956, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1991
Yugoslav Cup (defunct)
- 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1971, 1988

European record[edit]

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate

2016–17	Challenge Cup	R3	CS Madeira	29–24	40–21	69–45
		1/8	Ardeşen GSK	33–25	24–20	57–45
		1/4	Rocasa Gran Canaria ACE	29–24	23–26	52–50
		1/2	Virto/Quintus	24–23	27–16	51–39
		F	H 65 Höör	23–19	24–21	47–40

2017–18	Challenge Cup	R3	UHC Müllner Bau Stockerau	24–19	37–19	61–38
		1/8	AC PAOK	37–17	33–20	70–37
		1/4	Virto/Quintus	26–17	27–24	53–41
		1/2	Rocasa Gran Canaria ACE	26–26	25–25	51–51

2018–19	EHF Cup	R1	H 65 Höör	18–22	19–23	37–45

2019–20	Challenge Cup	1/8	SIR 1º de Maio/ADA CJ Barros	33–21	27–16	60–37
		1/4	ŽRK Bjelovar	30–23	28–21	58–44
		1/2	HC Naisa Niš	Cancelled

2020–21	European Cup	R3	Alì-Best Espresso Mestrino	30–14	35–18	65–32
		1/8	Jomi Salerno	33–22	34–18	67–40
		1/4	DHC Slavia Prague	30–25	31–27	61–52
		1/2	Yalikavaksports Club	10–0	10–0	20–0
		F	CBF Málaga Costa del Sol	28–32	31–28	59–60

2021–22	European League	R3	MKS Perla Lublin	25–21	29–27	54–48
		Group stage (Group A)	Mosonmagyaróvári KC SE	19–22	24–28	4th place
			ESBF Besançon	27–28	26–31
			Sola HK	18–25	25–40

2022–23	EHF Champions League	Group stage Group B	Győri Audi ETO KC
			Metz Handball
			CS Rapid București
			ŽRK Budućnost Podgorica
			Storhamar HE
			Kastamonu Bld. GSK
			Team Esbjerg