The 1998–99 season saw the club missing promotion to the top flight after finishing fourth in the unified Croatian Second League. However, they finally clinched promotion to the Croatian First League the following season after finishing runners-up of the Second League. After the promotion, the club signed former Dinamo Zagreb manager Ilija Lončarević, who went on to manage the team in the first half of the 2000–01 season. The club also signed several players with top-flight experience in order to enforce the squad.