NK Opatija

The beginnings of organized football in Opatija date back to 1911, when the Opatija branch of the Croatian Sokol movement's football section was founded, under the name of "Football Section of the Croatian Sokol - Opatija-Volosko". The initiative came from a group of students from a trade academy in Vienna, similarly to how Hajduk was founded in Split's by students who had returned from Prague that same year.

Opatija played its first official match on May 14, 1911, in Sušak, competing against the football section of that town's Sokol. In 1912, the German residents of Opatija founded their own team called the German FC Opatija Vorwärts. The rivalry which immediately developed between the two clubs resulted in disagreements within the Croatian Sokol. At the suggestion of Ivan Matetić Ronjgov, a separate sports club was founded, bearing the name Slavenski Športski klub Opatija (Slavic Sport Club "Opatija").

The club changed its name once again in 1919 (to Hajduk) and back to Športski klub Opatija in 1921. At that time, the city was administered by the Kingdom of Italy and its authorities were pushing all local entities to dropping the "Slavic" prefix in their names. In, 1923 the club changed its name once more (to Olymp) but soon, most players moved to Concordia, a club playing in Rijeka. The mostly abandoned club Olymp was then put under more pressure by the Italian authorities and was finally renamed Virtus. In 1936, the Italian regime forced another name change to Abbazia.

In 1946, after World War II, the city fell under the administration of Yugoslavia. The new regime forced the club to become an all-round sports club (as most clubs in the country at the time), a model copied from Soviet Union. The club did not have a playground which made official performances impossible until October 31, 1948 when the first official match of the new club, NK Opatija, was played. For the next 43 years, Opatija mostly played in regional leagues.

In 1992, after Croatia became an independent nation, the club started competing in the Third Tier of the national league system. After 28 years in lower tiers, Opatija finally succeeded in moving up to the Second Tier in 2020. The club was relegated back to Third Tier in 2022, but bounced back to Second Tier in 2024 where it is playing in the current season 2025/26.