Football was introduced to Croatia in 1873 by a group of Englishmen who came to work on building a new factory in Rijeka.
Sailors of the Royal Navy played a game in Croatia in 1887, but interest among the locals was not great.
In 1903 Prvi nogometni i športski klub Zagreb, (First Football And Sport Club Zagreb- known by the acronym PNIŠK) was founded.
In 1904 the football section of Hrvatski akademski športski klub (Croatian Academic Sport Club-HAŠK) came into being.
In 1905 PNIŠK played Ferencvárosi Torna Club in Budapest, losing 11-1.
PNIŠK and HAŠK played each other for the first time on 26th October 1906 at Zagreb. 800 spectators watched a 1-1 draw. This is considered the first official game between two Croatian sides and gave rise to the foundation of many new clubs.
PNIŠK / HAŠK (light tops) Slavia Prague (halved tops)
On 23rd and 26th June 1907 a combined PNIŠK / HAŠK team played two matches in Prague against Slavia Prague.
Slavia won both games;15-0 and 20-0.
