[3] The club regard themselves as the spiritual continuation of the former Prva HNL members NK Radnik, who went bankrupt and were dissolved in 2009.

However, legally HNK Gorica is a distinct and separate club, and is not entitled to claim the history of the old NK Radnik.

HNL champion, Gorica earned a place in Croatia's first division, which was later denied after getting their top level license revoked.

[6] Gorica won the 2017-18 Croatian Second Football League after which they were finally granted licence to play in the top tier after many years of being denied.

Many foreign players out of contract were bought for free before the season, which turned out to be remarkable signings, most notably Łukasz Zwoliński, Kristijan Lovrić and Iyayi Atiemwen, who was ranked third in the 2018 Prva HNL Player of the year rankings and sold to Dinamo Zagreb over the 2019 transfer window for a record fee.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.