Ilija Lukić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Илија Лукић; 21 January 1942 – 13 June 2018) was a Serbian

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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Playing career

Lukić started playing in the youth teams of Belgrade's

FK Železnik FK Železnik () is a football club based in Železnik, Belgrade, Serbia. They competed in the First League of Serbia and Montenegro from 1996 to 2005. The club made its solo European appearance in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup and went on to win the Ser ...

. In 1961, at age 19, he joined Second League

FK Priština Football Club Prishtina ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Prishtina, ; sr, Фудбалски клуб Приштина, Fudbalski klub Priština), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Prishtina, Kosovo. The club play i ...

and he was soon regarded as one of the finest strikers in the country. That made attention turn to him and he signed with the

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

that was having that season their historic achievement of reaching the

1966 European Cup Final The 1966 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, on 11 May 1966 that saw Real Madrid of Spain defeat FK Partizan of Yugoslavia 2–1 to win the 1965–66 European Cup title. Route to the final Match Summ ...

that they lost to Real Madrid. After not getting many opportunities to play, he was moving next season to the California based

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers, also named the California Clippers, were an American soccer team based out of Oakland, California. They played in the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer Lea ...

where he would help the club win the 1967 National Professional Soccer League. Next year, he was back to Europe first in Dutch club

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

and, after a disappointing season there, to Franch Ligue 1 club

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pl ...

. He stayed four seasons there becoming very popular among the fans. During this time the club had their most enjoyable period, winning the

French Cup The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and professiona ...

in 1971. Following season he moved to another Ligue 1 club

FC Rouen Football Club de Rouen 1899 (; commonly referred to as simply FC Rouen) is a French association football club based in Rouen, Normandy. The club was formed in 1899 and currently plays in Championnat National 2, the fourth level of French foot ...

before moving to Austria where he was appointed player-manager of Second League

FC Linz FC Linz was an Austrian football club, based in Linz, Upper Austria. History SK VÖEST Linz It was founded on 30 June 1946 as ''SV Eisen und Stahl 1946 Linz'', a factory squad of the public ''VÖEST'' steel company (present-day Voestalpine). In ...

. Eventually achieving their goal to play in the newly inaugurated

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, he finished his playing career as a player-manager of Belgian FC Berlaar.

Coaching career

During his successful, 30-year coaching career, he worked in 13 different clubs, at eight countries on three continents. He won four national championships, a treble with

Al-Ittihad (Jeddah) Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabian Club ( ar, نادي الإتحاد العربي السعودي), referred to as Al-Ittihad, is a professional football club based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, founded in 1927. The club has spent its entire history in the to ...

in Saudi Arabia and one in UAE with Al Wasl. As the first coach of Al-Ittihad he also lifted four national cups in Saudi Arabia, and two in UAE, one with Al-Wasl and another with

Sharjah FC Sharjah Football Club ( ar, نادي الشارقة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is Sharjah Stadium. Founded in 1966, it has been the most s ...

. Together with

Dimitri Davidovic Dimitrije "Dimitri" Davidović (), born 21 May 1944 is a Serbian–Belgian football manager and former player. Playing career Davidović was a professional soccer player during 16 years in the first divisions of Europe. FK Partizan Born in Al ...

he won in 1999 with Al-Ittihad the

Asian Cup Winners Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The competition was started in 1991 as a tournament for all the domestic cup winners from countries affiliated to the AFC. The winne ...

. As the manager of Al Ahli Jeddah he won in 2002 three big trophies: the Prince Faysal bin Fahad Tournament for Arab Clubs ( latter becoming the

Arab Champions League The Arab Club Champions Cup ( ar, كأس العرب للأندية الأبطال, french: Ligue des Champions Arabe) is an annual regional club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by eli ...

, the Golf Club Champions Cup and Saudi Federation Cup. He earned his degree in football from a Higher Coaching School of the

Belgrade University The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-ba ...

's Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, as well as a Diploma from a University of California, San Francisco.

Personal life

Lukić was married to Mirjana and has two children, a son Ivan and a daughter Maria.Career story at his personal website Ilijalukic.com

References

External links

*
Partizan
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Lukic, Ilija 1942 births 2018 deaths Footballers from Belgrade Serbian footballers Yugoslav footballers FC Prishtina players FK Partizan players Oakland Clippers players Heracles Almelo players Stade Rennais F.C. players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Ligue 1 players Expatriate footballers in France Association football forwards Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate soccer players in the United States University of Belgrade Faculty of Sport and Physical Education alumni