Stjepan Bobek (; 3 December 1923 – 22 August 2010) was a Croatian and Yugoslav professional football striker and later

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

. Usually a forward or attacking midfielder, Bobek was renowned for his technique, vision and goalscoring ability and is commonly regarded as one of Yugoslavia's greatest players. He is remembered for his time at the Serbian side

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

, where he moved to following the end of

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 opposing ...

. He played for Partizan between 1945 and 1959 helping them win two

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, ...

titles and four

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

s, and was named the club's greatest player in history in 1995. Internationally, he is the second all-time top scorer for the Yugoslavia national team, scoring 38 goals in 63 appearances between 1946 and 1956, and was member of Yugoslav squads which won two Olympic silver medals (in 1948 and 1952) and played in two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s (in 1950 and 1954). After retiring from active football in 1959, he was a successful manager, winning Yugoslav and Greek national titles with Partizan and Panathinaikos.

Club career

Bobek was born in Zagreb and started playing at the age of 13 for Viktorija, a lower league club, using his brother's registration papers. When he was 20 he became the center-forward of Građanski Zagreb. He also played for Croatia U21 between 1943 and 1945. He was the top scorer of the

twice, in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

(25 goals) and 1954 (21 goals).

Partizan

He came to

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 ...

in 1945 and played for them until 1958. During his time in Partizan, he played 468 games and scored 403 goals, still holding the club record. Bobek won two Yugoslav League titles and the

four times. He scored his first goals in official matches, on 1 September 1946, in 2nd leg of

. He scored a twice in a 6–1 home victory over Budućnost. On 5 January 1947, Bobek scored his first goal, in first Eternal derby against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, in 3–4 home defeat. That was also first goal in Derby, scored by Partizan player, because previous two was a own goals. On 8 June 1947 in a league match played in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

between 14. Oktobar and Partizan (1–10), Bobek scored eight goals – an absolute record that has never been broken until the end of Yugoslav First League or its successor leagues. He scored 25 goals in 22 matches in first season of First League of SFR Yugoslavia and also won first title and gave a great contribution. In May 1951, Partizan played three friendly matches in England. The first match was played on 9 May, against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

and Partizan beat them 3–2. Bobek played brilliant and scored two goals in great victory. Three days later he again played brilliant match and scored a one goal in second Partizan's victory, over English teams. The result was the same like three days before, but this time against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. One month later, he scored a twice in one of the biggest victories in Eternal Derby, in a 6–1 home victory over Red Star. In November of that year, Bobek scored a six goals against Sloboda Titovo Užice, in a ''qualifying round'' of Yugoslav Cup, in a 11–1 away victory. A week later, he also set a record in Yugoslav Cup. He scored eight goals in 15–0 home victory over Sloga Petrovac. On 29 November 1952, Bobek scored a goal in a 6–0 victory over a arch rival Red Star Belgrade in the final of Yugoslav Cup. A three weeks before, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 home victory over one of the best

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

teams at that time – 1. FC Köln. Bobek continued with great performances in next seasons. He scored a goal in biggest victory ever in Eternal Derby. After four minutes, he scored first goal on the match, in a 7–1 home victory over Red Star, on 6 December 1953. On 11 April 1954, he scored a four goals in 8–0 home league victory over Rabotnički. Two years later after winning second Yugoslav Cup, he won a third. Again Partizan beat Red Star, but this time 4–1 and Bobek again scored one goal. On 4 September 1955, Bobek scored a goal in first ever match of European Cup. Partizan draw (3–3) with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, in Lisbon. He played all four matches in

1955–56 European Cup The 1955–56 European Cup was the first season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The tournament was won by Real Madrid, who defeated Stade de Reims 4–3 in the final at Parc des Princes, Paris, on 13 June 1956. The ...

. Should be noted a legendary victory 3–0 over Real Madrid in quarter-finals.

International career

Bobek made his debut for the Yugoslavia national team on 9 May 1946, in a 2–0 win over

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

at the Letná Stadium, which was the nation's inaugural match as SFR Yugoslavia. He scored his first international goal against the same opponents on 29 September 1946, in a 4–2 win at the

JNA Stadium The Partizan Stadium (Serbian language, Serbian: Стадион Партизанa / ''Stadion Partizana'') is a association football, football and track-and-field Multi-purpose stadium, stadium in Autokomanda, Belgrade, Serbia. The home ground of ...

. Bobek won two Olympic silver medals for Yugoslavia, scoring four goals in London 1948 and three in Helsinki 1952. He also appeared at the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

and 1954

s, scoring once in a 1950 4–1 win over

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. On 17 October 1954, Bobek scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 5–1 win over

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, which were also his last goals on international duty. He reached 38 goals for Yugoslavia on that day and became the national side's top scorer, surpassing

Blagoje Marjanović Blagoje "Moša" Marjanović ( sr-Cyrl, Благоје "Моша" Марјановић, ; 9 September 1907 – 1 October 1984) was a Serbian football player and manager. Early life Born to merchant father Dimitrije and housewife mother Sofija, yo ...

's 37-goal tally. Bobek's record stood for over 66 years, until it was beaten by

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

Aleksandar Mitrović Aleksandar Mitrović ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Митровић, (); born 16 September 1994) is a Serbian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Fulham F.C., Fulham a ...

on 27 March 2021.

Managerial career

After retiring from the play, he became a football manager. In 1959 he became the coach of CWKS Warszawa in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, moving back to Yugoslavia the next season to manage FK Partizan. The team won three successive Yugoslav League championships under him, after which he was replaced by Kiril Simonovski in 1963. In 1964 he had another spell in Warsaw, and then he moved to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

where he led Panathinaikos in the 1960s. During his time in Panathinaikos, the team won the first unbeaten championship in Greece, for the 1963-64 season. In the 1967–68 and 1968–69 seasons, he again returned to manage Partizan. In 1970, he moved to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. In 1972, he was the manager of

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 ...

and during 1974–75 season of Panathinaikos for a second time, but without former success. He also coached

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

and led them to 1978–79 Yugoslav Second League's East Division title and subsequent promotion to the First League. In 1995, he was named the all-time greatest player of Partizan Belgrade. In 2009, Bobek's biography written by sports journalist Fredi Kramer was published.

Death

Bobek died shortly after midnight on 22 August 2010 in Belgrade. He is interred in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens in the

Belgrade New Cemetery The New Cemetery ( sr, Ново гробље, ''Novo groblje'') is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christia ...

Career statistics

Club

International

This is the list of International Goals scored by Yugoslav forward Stjepan Bobek:

Honours

Player

Partizan *

: 1946–47, 1948–49 *

: 1947, 1952, 1954, 1956–57 Yugoslavia * Olympic Silver Medal: 1948,

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

* Balkan Cup runner-up: 1946 and 1947 Individual * Yugoslav First League top scorer:

, 1953–54 * FK Partizan ''Magnificent Eleven'' (1995) * FK Partizan Best player in club history (1995) Records * Yugoslavia all-time top scorer: 38 goals

Manager

;Partizan *

(3): 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63 ;Panathinaikos * Greek Championship (2): 1963–64, 1964–65 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

(1):

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

;Vardar *

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

(1): 1978–79

References

External links

* *
Stjepan Bobek international stats
at Reprezentacija.rs {{DEFAULTSORT:Bobek, Stjepan 1923 births 2010 deaths Footballers from Zagreb Croats of Serbia Association football forwards Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Croatian footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Olympic medalists in football Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics 1950 FIFA World Cup players 1954 FIFA World Cup players FC Admira Wacker Mödling players HŠK Građanski Zagreb players FK Partizan players Yugoslav First League players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Yugoslav football managers Legia Warsaw managers FK Partizan managers Panathinaikos F.C. managers Olympiacos F.C. managers Altay S.K. managers GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers Panetolikos F.C. managers Espérance Sportive de Tunis managers FK Vardar managers FK Zemun managers Yugoslav First League managers Super League Greece managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Poland Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Tunisia Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Greece Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery