Puma vintage Player-Issue football shirt NK Osijek 1996/97

NK Osijek quickly became one of the top 4 Croatian football teams. One of Osijek's best ever seasons came in the 1994–95. The Bijelo plavi finished in third place, only six points behind first-placed Hajduk. Špehar scored 23 goals to become the league's top goalscorer. The greats of NK Osijek during that time were–a part from Špehar–Žitnjak, Lulić, Beljan, Ergović, Rupnik, Beširević, Bičanić and Labak.

As a result of the third-placed finish, NK Osijek qualified for the 1995–96 UEFA Cup. Osijek faced Slovan Bratislava in the preliminary round, going down 6–0.

Osijek finished third in the 1997–98 Croatian First League, qualifying for the 1998–99 UEFA Cup. Osijek came up against Anderlecht. After a famous 3–1 victory at home in front of 15,000 supporters, Osijek lost 2–0 in Belgium and were knocked-out on away goals. In 1998–99, Osijek attained its first trophy, the Croatian Cup, following a victory over Cibalia 2–0. A year later, West Ham United was playing away in Gradski vrt, headed by Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Trevor Sinclair, Paolo Di Canio, Paulo Wanchope and Igor Štimac.