The period between 1973 and 1990 is one of the darkest in the clubs's history. In the following 1972–73 season, the club failed to stay near the top of the second division and finished the season in 13th place. In the 1974–75 season, the club got relegated to the Slovenian Republic League for the first time after 14 years in the top 2 tiers, but the club convincingly returned to the second division next season by being 15 points clear at the top of the Slovenian Republic League table at the end of the season. The club was near promotion back to the top tier in the 1978–79, when they finished the season in the second tier as runners-up, six points behind Bosnian side Čelik, but failed to win the promotion play-offs. The next season (1979–80), Maribor finished in fifth place.