Nogometni Klub Maribor (English: Football Club Maribor), commonly referred to as NK Maribor or simply Maribor, is a professional association football club based in the city of Maribor, Slovenia. Founded on 12 December, 1960, Maribor is one of only three football clubs in the country who have never been relegated from Slovenian top flight 1. SNL since its establishment in 1991. They are regarded as a symbol of Slovenian football, particularly in their home region of Styria (Slovene: Štajerska) in northeastern Slovenia.

Maribor is the most successful club in the country, having won ten Slovenian League titles, seven Slovenian Cups and one Slovenian Supercup. The club's most successful period was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when they overwhelmingly dominated domestic football and won seven consecutive league titles and three national cups. Prior to Slovenia's independence in 1991 they played in the Yugoslav football system. Maribor is one of only three Slovenian clubs who had stints in the Yugoslav First League, the country's top level between 1946 and 1991. They are also the only Slovenian club to date to have participated in the UEFA Champions League, having appeared in group stages in the 1999–2000 season under the guidance of head coach Bojan Prašnikar. In addition, they are one of only four clubs from the former Yugoslavia who participated in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League since the breakup of the country in 1991.

Maribor ( pronunciation (help·info) German: Marburg an der Drau, Italian: Marburgo) is the second largest city in Slovenia with 95,200 inhabitants as of 2011^[update]. Maribor is also the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria and the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor.

Maribor is, jointly with Guimarães in Portugal, the 2012 European Capital of Culture. In November 2010, The European Youth Forum announced that Maribor will be the 2013 European Youth Capital.

In 1164, a castle known as the Marchburch (Middle High German for "March Castle") was documented in Styria. It was first built on Piramida Hill, which is located just above the city. Maribor was first mentioned as a market near the castle in 1204, and received town privileges in 1254. It began to grow rapidly after the victory of Rudolf I of Habsburg over Otakar II of Bohemia in 1278. Maribor withstood sieges by Matthias Corvinus in 1480 and 1481 and by the Ottoman Empire in 1532 and 1683, and the city remained under the control of the Habsburg Monarchy until 1918.