Emanuel "Emil" Perška (20 June 1896 – 8 May 1945) was a Croatian footballer. He was born in

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 spent the majority of his career with Građanski Zagreb, with whom he won three Yugoslav championships in the 1920s. He was also a member of the Yugoslav squad at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympic tournaments.

Club career

Born in

in present-day

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, Perška was a member of the Slovak ethnic minority. Following

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 ...

Perška was wanted by the authorities as he was accused of

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ar ...

. Perška then escaped to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to avoid arrest and it was there that he signed a professional contract with Građanski in 1919 before returning to the country.

International career

He was called up for

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

's first international tournament, at the

1920 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 ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, and he appeared in the country's first ever international match on 28 August 1920, a 7–0 defeat to

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

. After the tournament Perška had signed for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

ian side CA Sports Généraux and had a brief spell with them before returning to Građanski in the early 1920s. During the 1920s Perška helped Građanski win three Yugoslav championship titles (1923, 1926 and 1928) and was called up to the national squad for the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

and 1928 Olympics, although he was unused at the 1928 tournament. He was capped 14 times and scored 2 international goals before retiring in 1929. His final international was a July 1927 friendly against

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

. After retirement Perška worked as a journalist and sports historian. He was allegedly a fervent supporter of the

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

movement during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was shot by the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

in May 1945 in Zagreb (like several other notable footballers such as Građanski's

Dragutin Babić Dragutin Babić (5 November 1897 – 17 May 1945) was a Croatian footballer who represented the national team of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics. Club career He won three club titles, two with ...

and Concordia's

Slavko Pavletić Slavko Pavletić (; 15 April 1914– 27 May 1945) was a Croatian footballer who played as a midfielder for Meteor Zagreb and Concordia Zagreb. International career He made his debut for Croatia under the flag of the Independent State of Croati ...

Honours

* Kingdom of Yugoslavia Championship (3): 1923,

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perska, Emil 1896 births 1945 deaths Footballers from Zagreb Slovak Austro-Hungarians Croatian people of Slovak descent Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia HŠK Građanski Zagreb players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France People executed by Yugoslavia by firing squad Executed Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany People killed by Yugoslav Partisans