Boško Simonović (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Бoшкo Cимoнoвић; 12 February 1898 – 5 August 1965) was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach, player, referee, and administrator. His most notable feat was coaching the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

at the first World Cup in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. Though an architect by

vocation A vocation () is an Work (human activity), occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity. ...

, Simonović never worked in the profession he was trained for, instead devoting his whole life to sports – particularly football. He played football as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

in SK Srpski mač and later in BSK. Following a playing career he became a football referee and was the first Serb to referee an international match, in 1923 in Bucharest. He retired from refereeing following a broken leg in a sledding accident.Golman, sudija, funkcioner...
''Blic'', 13 April 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonovic, Bosko 1898 births 1965 deaths People from Šid Footballers from Srem District Serbian men's footballers Yugoslav men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers OFK Beograd players Serbian football managers Yugoslav football managers Yugoslavia national football team managers 1930 FIFA World Cup managers FK Vojvodina managers Yugoslav football referees