CIES (University of Neuchâtel International Centre for Sports Studies) Football Observatory report of November 2015 ranks Partizan at the top place of training clubs out of the 31 European leagues surveyed.

[16] The club was formed and initially managed by the group of young high officers of the Yugoslav People's Army and veterans of the Spanish Civil War.

Among them were Koča Popović, Peko Dapčević, Svetozar Vukmanović, Bogdan Vujošević, Mijalko Todorović, Otmar Kreačić, Božo Švarc and Ratko "Čoče" Vujović – elected the first president of the club.

Silvester Šereš entered the record books as the first goal scorer in the history of Partizan,[18] while goalkeeper Franjo Glaser was simultaneously the first club manager.

At the time, just months after the World War II in Yugoslavia ended, no organized football competition was yet restored, so Partizan played only friendly games and tournaments both home and abroad.

The rise of the generation began with Milutin Šoškić, Fahrudin Jusufi, Jovan Miladinović, Velibor Vasović, Milan Galić, Ilija Mitić, Zvezdan Čebinac and Vladica Kovačević.

Very soon, they were joined by Lazar Radović, Velimir Sombolac, Ljubomir Mihajlović and Mustafa Hasanagić, and finally Ivan Ćurković, Josip Pirmajer, Branko Rašović and Radoslav Bečejac.

Partizan won the first leg at JNA Stadium 2–0,[26] and resisted the heavy pressure on Old Trafford, conceding only once; with a 2–1 aggregate scoreline, they eliminated the English giants.

[29] On 11 July 1976, in Ljubljana, Partizan played the last game of the season against Olimpija and needed a win to clinch the title ahead of rivals Hajduk Split.

The seventh championship trophy was finally won,[30] after full decade of waiting, by the new generation of players, such as Momčilo Vukotić, Bjeković, Rešad Kunovac, Ilija Zavišić, Refik Kozić, Ivan Golac, Radmilo Ivančević, Boško Đorđević, Nenad Stojković.

Partizan then won its eighth title in 1977–78,[31] enforced with Nikica Klinčarski, Petar Borota, Slobodan Santrač, Aleksandar Trifunović, Xhevat Prekazi and Pavle Grubješić.

Unexpectedly, the following 1978–79 season turned out to be the worst in Partizan history: they finished 15th in the league, barely avoiding relegation with a 4–2 victory against Budućnost in the last fixture.

When Momčilo Vukotić, Nenad Stojković and Nikica Klinčarski were joined by Ljubomir Radanović, Zvonko Živković, Zoran Dimitrijević and Dragan Mance, another great generation was formed.

However, after a sequence of appeals and lawsuits which eventually led to Yugoslav Constitutional Court, the original final table of 1985–86, with Partizan as champions, was officially recognized in mid-1987.

These controversial events prevented the generation of Milko Đurovski, Fahrudin Omerović, Zvonko Varga, Vladimir Vermezović, Admir Smajić, Goran Stevanović, Nebojša Vučićević, Miloš Đelmaš, Srečko Katanec, Fadil Vokrri and Bajro Župić from showing their full potential in Europe.

[38] After the death of President Josip Broz Tito in 1980, ethnic tension grew in Yugoslavia, with the follow, that in the early 1990s the Yugoslav state began to fall apart, and the civil war broke out.

This decade has been marked by numerous team changes and the circle of selling the best players to richer European clubs after just a couple of seasons of first-team football and replacing them with fresh young talents.

Many players are credited with the successes of the nineties, such as Predrag Mijatović, Slaviša Jokanović, Savo Milošević, Albert Nađ, Dragan Ćirić, Zoran Mirković, Saša Ćurčić, Branko Brnović, Goran Pandurović, Dražen Bolić, Niša Saveljić, Damir Čakar, Budimir Vujačić, Ivan Tomić, Georgi Hristov, Đorđe Tomić, Ivica Kralj, Mateja Kežman and many others.

In Belgrade, Partizan lost by 0–1, but in rematch at St James' Park, they won by Ivica Iliev's goal in regular time and reached the group stages after a penalty shoot-out.

[44] The Partizan Stadium was a tough ground for the opposition and the team did not lose a home game, playing out a 0–0 draw with Real Madrid's famous Galácticos, which included players such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl and David Beckham; a 1–1 draw with Porto, led by coach José Mourinho; and Marseille, with its superstars Fabien Barthez and Didier Drogba, while playing some inspired football in the away match in Madrid (0–1), Marseille (0–3) and Porto (1–2).

Next season, the club enforced its squad with Brazilian striker Cléo;[53] Partizan demolished Welsh champions Rhyl with a score of 8–0 (12–0 on aggregate) on 21 July 2009.

In the following season, the elimination during the 2012 Europa League qualifying stage, didn't affect the club in national championship, but after the half-season, Stanojević was released.

In the round of 32, Partizan played against Viktoria Plzeň;[79] in Belgrade, they took the lead, but then conceded a late goal, which came from an offside position, thus ending the match with a 1–1 draw.

[90][91] The last opponent in the qualifying Play-off round was Portuguese Santa Clara, Partizan lost 2–1 in the first game in Ponta Delgada but won 2–0 at home and thus advanced to Group stage.

In October 1945, Partizan adopted as their first crest a blue disc with a yellow bordered red five-pointed star in the middle, which symbolized communism,[98] and contained the abbreviation JA (Jugoslovenska Armija, The Yugoslav Army) inside it.

At the bottom of the emblem was a shield with red and white lines, and on the top were five torches, each representing one of the five nations of Yugoslavia (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians and Montenegrins).

Notable players from the recent past include Saša Ilić, Savo Milošević, Danko Lazović, Stefan Babović, Miralem Sulejmani, Stevan Jovetić, Adem Ljajić, Matija Nastasić, Lazar Marković, Miloš Jojić, Andrija Živković, Nikola Milenković, Aleksandar Mitrović, Strahinja Pavlović and Dušan Vlahović.

[116] Recently, players born after year 2000 like Filip Stevanović, Marko Milovanović and Samed Baždar (who made it into the Guardian's 'Next Generation 2021' shortlist')[117] are showing class for their age and having great potential.

They also have many supporters in all other former-Yugoslav republics like North Macedonia,[8] Slovenia,[121] and among the Serbian diaspora, especially in Germany,[122] Austria,[122] Switzerland,[121] Sweden,[122] Canada, Malta, the United States and Australia.

The nickname itself was given by their sporting rivals Delije of Red Star, referring to the club's mostly black colours which were similar to the official uniforms of cemetery undertakers.