Željko Bilecki (April 28, 1950 – April 26, 2023) was a Canadian soccer player who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Bilecki played at the youth level with Toronto Croatia's junior team in 1969. In 1970, he played in the National Soccer League with Toronto Croatia's senior team. He was named the league's top goalkeeper twice in 1971, and 1972. In 1974, he assisted in securing the NSL Championship against Toronto Homer. For the 1975 season he played in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

with

Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He later played for three other NASL sides in the United States:

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tourn ...

and

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

. He won a Soccer Bowl with Toronto in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

and was a runner-up in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

for Tampa Bay. He was the back up goalie for Tulsa when they won

Soccer Bowl '83 Soccer Bowl '83 was the 17th edition of the Soccer Bowl, the championship match of North American Soccer League (NASL), which took place on October 1, 1983. It was the final match of the 1983 North American Soccer League playoffs and was contested ...

. Bilecki also won the NASL's indoor title in 1979–80 with Tampa Bay.

International career

Bilecki made his debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on December 22, 1976, in a 3–0 victory against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in a World Cup qualification match in Port-au-Prince. He won two more caps the next year, the last of these coming in a 2–1 win over Suriname on October 12, 1977, in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, where he came on at the start of the second half to replace

Tony Chursky Tony Chursky (born June 13, 1953 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada) is a former Canadian national soccer team and NASL goalkeeper. Playing career Chursky grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia and attended Simon Fraser University w ...

Death

Zeljko passed away on April 26, 2023, four days after the death of his mother.

References

External links

*
NASL career stats
1950 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Zagreb Yugoslav emigrants to Canada Croatian emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Men's association football goalkeepers Yugoslav men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Toronto Croatia players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Los Angeles Aztecs players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players Canadian National Soccer League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States {{Canada-footy-bio-stub