Tomislav Crnković (17 June 1929 – 17 January 2009) was a Croatian footballer. He was born in

Kotor Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative c ...

in what was still 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 ...

Playing career

Club

As a defender, he played for

HAŠK HAŠK ''(full name Hrvatski akademski športski klub, en, Croatian Academic Sports Club)'' was a Croatian football club established in Zagreb in 1903 which ceased operating in 1945. The club was one of the most successful sides in Zagreb and th ...

, Metalac and

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

. Abroad, he later played at Linzer ASK in Austria and

Servette Geneva Servette FC is a Swiss football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on 17 January 1900. They play in the S ...

in Switzerland. With his 439 caps at Dinamo, Crnković was part of their Yugoslav First League-winning club in 1954 and 1958 as well as their Yugoslav Cup - winning team in 1951 and 1960. Crnković is regarded to be one of Dinamo's greatest defenders of all time. In 2006, he was also the founder of the Croatian Football Federation.

International

He made his debut for

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

in a June 1952

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and earned a total of 51 caps, scoring no goals. He was part of the team that won silver at the 1952 Olympics, and was also a member of Yugoslavia's

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

and

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

squads. His final international was a May

1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying This article describes the qualifying procedure for the 1960 European Nations' Cup, the inaugural edition of the European Nations' Cup tournament, now known as the UEFA European Championship. Qualified teams Format The qualification was a k ...

match away against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Managerial career

He also coached Austrian side

Simmering Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than ) and above poaching temperature (higher than ). To create a steady simmer, a liquid is brought to a boil, ...

Personal life

Crnković was a well-known womanizer, and was married at least five times in his life. After his football career ended, Crnković spent a brief time as a journalist and later the owner of a popular restaurant in Zagreb. He also found himself in financial trouble after being involved in a car accident where he was injured. He insisted to pay money to the other victims of the accident as well which left him nearly bankrupt. Near the end of his life, he was provided for by the

Croatian Football Federation The Croatian Football Federation ( hr, Hrvatski nogometni savez, HNS) is the governing body of association football in Croatia. It was originally formed in 1912 and is based in the capital city of Zagreb. The organisation is a member of both FIF ...

References

External links

*
Profile at Serbian football federation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crnkovic, Tomislav 1929 births 2009 deaths People from Kotor Croats of Montenegro Association football defenders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1960 European Nations' Cup players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players LASK players Servette FC players Yugoslav First League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Swiss Super League players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Austria Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Yugoslav football managers 1. Simmeringer SC managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Austria Franjo Bučar Award winners