Artur Dubravčić (15 September 1894 – 13 March 1969) was a Croatian-Yugoslavian footballer.

Club career

When Dubravčić was still in high school in

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 census, its population was 55,705. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located on the Zagreb- Rijeka highway and railway line, south-west of Zagre ...

, he was one of the founders and first players of the ŠK Olimpija Karlovac football club, which was established in 1908. During

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 ...

he moved to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

and joined local side Concordia, where he spent most of his professional career.

International career

Dubravčić made history by being the first captain of

Yugoslavia national football team The Yugoslavia national football team; hr, Jugoslavenska nogometna reprezentacija; sl, Jugoslovanska nogometna reprezentanca; mk, Фудбалска репрезентација на Југославија, Fudbalska reprezentacija na Jugosl ...

in the team's inaugural match, a 7–0 defeat versus

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

on 28 August 1920, at 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 ...

, and he also scored their first ever goal (against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, five days later). He went on to appear and captain the team nine times in Yugoslavia's first 10 matches in the period between 1920 and 1924.

Post-playing career

After retiring from football he worked as a football referee,

sports journalist Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

for ''

Sportske novosti ''Sportske novosti'' () is a Croatian daily sports newspaper based in Zagreb. It was established on 9 August 1945 as ''Ilustrirane fiskulturne novine'' weekly newspaper. Several months later, on 10 December 1945, its name got changed to ''Narodn ...

'' and correspondent for ''

Politika ''Politika'' ( sr-Cyrl, Политика; ''Politics'') is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and owners ...

'', and a football official. He had died suddenly in 1969, just days before he was supposed to be given a life achievement award as part of Football Association of Yugoslavia's 50th anniversary celebration.

References

External links

*
Artur Dubravčić
at the

Serbia national football team The Serbia national football team ( sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Србије, Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in men's international football competition. It is controlled by the Football Association of ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubravcic, Artur 1894 births 1969 deaths People from Vrbovsko People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia HŠK Concordia players Yugoslav First League players