Andreja "Andrica" Kojić (; 28 August 1896 – 7 July 1952) was a

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He was part of the first generation of Serbian footballers and was a forward known for his technical skills, strong shot with both legs and extreme elegance in his playing style.

Biography

Born in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, he started playing football in the youth team of SK Srpski mač which was one of the first football clubs in Belgrade. In 1911 he moved to the newly formed

BSK Belgrade OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, ...

and became part of the first generation of players to represent the "Blues" which would dominate Serbian and Yugoslav football during the following decades. At the end of 1915, with

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

fully under way, he leaves Serbia and moves to France where he will play with

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

, Aix-en-Provence and Girondins de Bordeux in the following years. In 1918 he moves to SK Soko Pro Roma which was a club formed by exiled footballers from Serbia in Rome, Italy. At the end of the war, he returned to Belgrade, now capital of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(kingdom later renamed to Yugoslavia in 1929) and plays with BSK until 1923. Later that year, as an employee of the National Bank, he was transferred to Novi Sad, and he continued his career by playing there with

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the second la ...

. Afterwards he also played with

FK Sinđelić Niš FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place: ...

and

FK Mačva Šabac Fudbalski klub Mačva Šabac () is a Serbian professional football club based in Šabac. One of the oldest football clubs in Serbia, their nickname is (). The nickname was used for the first time in 1927, when the Uruguay national football team ...

, and already with health problems, with Lešnica and FK Krupanj. He played seven matches for the

Belgrade Football Subassociation The Belgrade Football Subassociation, commonly known by its initials, BLP ( Serbo-Croato-Slovenian: ''Beogradski loptački podsavez'' / Београдски лоптачки подсавез - БЛП) was one of the regional football governing bodie ...

team, and he was part of the first Yugoslav national team squad which was gathered to play in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

. He retired at the age of 41 playing with FK Krupanj. Domestic football analysts say that he played over 700 official matches throughout his career. He died in Belgrade on July 7, 1952, and is buried in the

Novo groblje cemetery ''Novo'' is a 2002 French romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Limosin and starring Eduardo Noriega. The film tells the story of a man who suffers from amnesia. It screened at the Locarno Film Festival. Plot Graham suffers from severe am ...

in the capital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kojic, Andreja 1896 births 1952 deaths Footballers from Belgrade Serbian footballers Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics OFK Beograd players FK Vojvodina players FK Sinđelić Niš players FK Mačva Šabac players Olympique de Marseille players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Italy Association football forwards Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery