Momčilo "Gabbo" Gavrić (August 4, 1938 – March 13, 2010) was a Yugoslavian-born

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player.

Club career

Born in

Sinj Sinj (; it, Signo; german: Zein) is a town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town itself has a population of 11,478 and the population of the administrative municipality, which includes surrounding villages, is 24 ...

, Croatia, Gavric aspired to play professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and played in his hometown club

NK Junak Sinj Nogometni Klub Junak Sinj (''Football Club Junak Sinj''), commonly referred to as Junak Sinj or just Junak, is a prodessional Croatian football club based in the town of Sinj, in the southern Croatian region of Dalmatia. They currently compete i ...

. In 1959, he moved to

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 ...

, then Yugoslav capital, and began playing with

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

side

OFK Beograd 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, ...

. He had call-ups to the national team, but only ended up playing for the B national team. He left

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1967 and moved to 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 territorie ...

. In 1967, he signed with the

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 ...

of 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 ...

. Gavrić spent two seasons with the Clippers and won the 1967 championship with them. He was also an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

placekicker for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in 1969. In 1971, he moved to the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. ...

, then on to the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

from 1974 to 1978. In 1975, Gabbo Gavrić was the co-MVP of the NASL indoor tournament and named to the All-tournament team. He was a player and coach at San Jose until 1976, and he continued to coach through 1978.

Death

Gavric died on March 13, 2010 of complications from Parkinson's disease.

Clubs

1957–59 *

OFK 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, ...

1959–67 *Oakland Clippers 1967–69 *San Francisco 49ers 1969 *Portland Loggers 1969 *Dallas Tornado 1971 *San Jose Earthquakes 1974–78

References

External links

NFL career statistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavric, Momcilo 1938 births 2010 deaths People from Sinj Association football defenders American people of Serbian descent Yugoslav footballers NK Junak Sinj players OFK Beograd players Oakland Clippers players Dallas Tornado players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Yugoslav First League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Croatian players of American football American football placekickers San Francisco 49ers players Portland Loggers players Yugoslav football managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) coaches Footballers who switched code Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from Parkinson's disease