Božidar Janković (

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 ...

: Божидар Јанковић; 22 May 1951 – 1 October 1993), also known as Božo Janković and Boško Janković, was a professional

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 lea ...

from

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Club career

Željezničar

Born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, Janković grew up in the Grbavica area, passing through every youth level at the local club Željezničar. He signed his first professional contract at the age of 17, before making his

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

debut during the 1968–69 season. He and would go on to score 96 goal in 256 league matches, across eleven seasons. In the 1970–71 season, Željezničar were runners-up in the league as Janković was joint top scorer with

Petar Nadoveza Petar Nadoveza (9 April 1942 – 19 March 2023) was a Croatian professional football player and manager. During his playing spell at Hajduk he was nicknamed "Pere, splitski Pele" which meant "Pete, the Pelé from Split". Playing career Šibeni ...

. Particularly notable during this season was Janković's performance in an away league match against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

at the

Marakana The Rajko Mitić Stadium (, ), previously known as Stadion Crvene zvezde (), also known as Marakana ( sr-Cyrl, Маракана), is a multi-use stadium in Belgrade, Serbia which has been the home ground of Crvena zvezda since 1963. The stadi ...

when he scored 4 goals - the game ended 4–1 for Željezničar. Red Star Belgrade manager

Miljan Miljanić Miljan Miljanić ( sr-Cyrl, Миљан Миљанић; 4 May 1930 – 13 January 2012) was a Yugoslav and Serbian football administrator, coach and player who played as a defender. He was the all-powerful President of the Football Association ...

was ready to pay 150 million

Yugoslav dinar The dinar ( sh-Cyrl, динар) was the currency of Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1920 in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was replaced by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Th ...

s at any time when asked about signing him for the club. In the 1971–72 season, Janković was Željezničar's second top scorer with 13 goals, behind

Josip Bukal Josip "Mane" Bukal (15 November 1945 – 30 August 2016) was a Bosnian professional football player and later on football manager. During his playing days, he played as a striker. Early life Bukal was born in the village of Okešinec near Ivani ...

, as the club secured their first and only

title. The league went down to the final game of the season as the club still needed a point to secure the title over Red Star Belgrade, however a Janković hat-trick against Partizan secured victory. In that same season, Željezničar enjoyed one of their most successful seasons in Europe with a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

run, getting passed

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

before losing in the quarter-finals to

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

. Željezničar faced

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

in the

1972–73 European Cup The 1972–73 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for the third consecutive time by Ajax in the final against Juventus at Red Star Stadium in Belgrade. The win by Ajax resulted in the fourth consecutive championship by a ...

first round, however lost 4–1 on aggregate, with Janković receiving a red card in the final minutes of the second leg. After relegation from the Yugoslav First Division in the 1976–77 season, Željezničar were promoted at the first opportunity, winning the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna liga,'' Croatian: ''Druga savezna liga'', Serbian: ''Друга савезна лига'', Slovenian: ''Druga zvezna liga'', Macedonian: ''Втора сојузна лига'', ''Vtora sojuzna l ...

the following season.

Middlesbrough

At the age of 28, Janković received permission to leave Yugoslavia to play football abroad in line with the rules of the state, having completed compulsory military service.

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

manager

John Neal John Neal (August 25, 1793 – June 20, 1876) was an American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist. Considered both eccentric and influential, he delivered speeches and published essays, novels, poems, and short stories between the 1 ...

had sent assistant-boss

Harold Shepherdson Harold Shepherdson MBE (28 October 1918 – 13 September 1995) was an English football player, coach and manager. Born in Middlesbrough, Shepherdson signed for his hometown club in 1936, but saw his playing career interrupted by the Second ...

to access him before he came for a trial. In February 1979, Janković signed for Middlesbrough in the English First Division for a reported sum of £110,000, becoming their first ever foreign player following a change in English transfer regulations. He made his first appearance off the bench away to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

in March, scoring his first goal in his third start away to

in a 3–0 victory. The fans would sing his first name to the tune of

Ottawan Ottawan is a French pop music duo, who had the hit singles "D.I.S.C.O." and "Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart)" in the early 1980s. Fronted by Patrick Jean-Baptiste and formerly Annette Eltice, the band were masterminded through a cooperation betwee ...

’s chart single

D.I.S.C.O. "D.I.S.C.O." is a song by the French band Ottawan, written by Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger and produced by Daniel Vangarde. Ottawan originally recorded it in French. It was first released in 1979 and reached number two in the UK Singles Cha ...

released that year. Janković's second season, 1979–80, was his best finish with Middlesbrough as the club finished 9th. In the summer of 1980, he was part of the side that won the

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...

beating

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

along the way. The 1980–81 season that followed saw him finish as Middlesbrough's top scorer with 12 goals. Janković is regarded as a cult hero amongst

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

fans having scored two against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

at the end of the season, aiding them to win the title. As a result of this, they also qualified for the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

which they would go on to win the following season. At the end of that season, he turned down a new contract in order to pursue a career in law, having qualified as a lawyer prior to arriving at the club.

Metz

Janković later reversed this decision but instead signed with

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, despite attempts by Chelsea to sign him. He scored 3 goals in 21 matches in all competitions that season, which came against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

and

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

International career

Janković made a youth appearance for the under 23 side in 1971, versus

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

where he scored the games only goal. He made his debut for

on 29 April 1972 in a 0–0 European Championship qualification match against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

having been selected by manager

Vujadin Boškov Vujadin Boškov ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Бошков, ; 16 May 1931 – 27 April 2014) was a Serbian association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. A midfielder, he played 57 matches for the Yugoslavia nation ...

. His second international appearance came the next month, again against the Soviet Union, however this time his side lost 3–0.

Personal life

Janković wrote a thesis on the literature of

Ivo Andrić Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1961. His writ ...

. In 1983 after retiring, he was eventually able to practice law in

and

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

, whilst he also became a board member of Željezničar. In 1992, Janković left Sarajevo with his wife Zdenka and son Boriša after the outbreak of the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

. In 1993, it is believed he died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Kotor Kotor (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian language, Italian: ), is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has ...

, at the age of 42.story at Serbian Federation site
/ref>

Honours

Željezničar *

: 1971–72 *

: 1977-78 Middlesbrough *

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Individual *

top scorer: 1970–71

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jankovic, Bozidar 1951 births 1993 deaths Footballers from Sarajevo Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers FK Željezničar Sarajevo players Middlesbrough F.C. players FC Metz players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav Second League players English Football League players Ligue 1 players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France