board of the newly established club then organized the presidential elections. Srečko Koren was appointed as the first club president, Andrija Pflander as the first head coach, and Oto Blaznik as the first team captain. It was initially proposed that the club should be named NK Maribor 1960 and that the colours of the club should be red and white, inspired by the colours of the coat of arms of the city of Maribor. However, at the first general assembly on 26 December 1960, it was decided that the club would be called NK Maribor, with purple and white as its main colours. Blaznik was the one who proposed the combination of purple and white jerseys to the club board after seeing photos of Italian side Fiorentina in La Gazzetta dello Sport. Maribor played its first match on 5 February 1961, a friendly against Kovinar, defeating them 2–1 with two goals by Stefan Tolič. Maribor started competing during the second part of the 1960–61 Slovenian Republic League, and took over the points and position of the city rivals ŽŠD Maribor. The first official league match was played on 12 March 1961, when Maribor played against Nova Gorica and won 2–0. The team won the Republic League (third tier in Yugoslavia) in its first season, and thus qualified for the play-offs to advance to the Yugoslav second division. Pflander was the head coach of the team that won the Republic title, however, he had to step down from the position due to illness. His successor became Vladimir Šimunić, who eventually led the team to the Yugoslav First League six years later. Maribor went through as a winner in the first two rounds of the qualifications and eventually defeated Uljanik from Pula in the final phase with 2–1 on aggregate, therefore earning promotion to the second Yugoslav division. On 2 September 1962, football fans across Slovenia witnessed the birth of a new rivalry between Maribor and Olimpija. The first match between the two sides was played in Ljubljana and ended in a draw (1–1). After five seasons in the second tier, the club, managed by Šimunić, won the second division and qualified for the Yugoslav First League, making it one of only three Slovenian clubs in history to play in the Yugoslav top flight. Yugoslav First League (1967–1972) The club's first match in the Yugoslav top division was played on 20 August