The association was founded in 1948 under the name NK Uljanik Pula as a works association of the shipyard of the same name in Pula. After the merger in 1961 with city rivals NK Pula to form NK Istra Pula, the company was re-established in 1964 under the old name Uljanik. Under this name, the club reached the Croatian Cup final in 2003 as the first non-first division team since the HNL was founded and in 2004 the first promotion to the 1st HNL. Ironically, city rival NK Istra was relegated from the 2nd HNL that same year. After several renaming, u. a. in NK Pula 1856, the club got its current name after relegation from the first division in 2007. In 2009, as champions of the 2nd HNL, they returned to the first division.
Stadion
Since the beginning of the 2011/2012 season, the club has played its home games at the Aldo Drosina stadium . The stadium seats 8,923 spectators. Previously, the home games were played in the ŠRC Uljanik-Veruda stadium , which had a capacity of 3,500. But because it did not meet the licensing requirements of the Croatian Football Association for the first division, the club moved to the Aldo Drosina stadium.