Danilo Stojanović ( sr-cyr, Данило Стојановић, ; 14 September 1878 – 23 April 1967), commonly known as Čika Dača, was one of the

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 ...

pioneers in the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

Life

On 14 September 1903, he formed the first football club in the Kingdom of Serbia (which then excluded Vojvodina), the FK Šumadija becoming its president until 1906, when he moved to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. In 1911 he was a founding member of

BSK BSK is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Sports * OFK Beograd, Serbian football club * FK BSK Borča, Serbian football club * FK BSK Batajnica, Serbian football club * FK BSK Banja Luka, Bosnian-Herzegovinian football club * FK BSK ...

where he became vice-president. However, a year later, after disagreements with the direction, he left BSK and became president of another Belgrade club, SK Dušanovac. With the start of the

Balkan War The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the ...

he joined the

Serbian Army The Serbian Army () is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. Its organization, composition, weapons and equipment are adapted to the assigned missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces, primarily for operatio ...

and was relocated to

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

. At the end of the war he returned to Belgrade and he formed, along with a group of dissidents from BSK, the SK Velika Srbija on 1 August 1913. The

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

begin in 1914 and after the end, in 1918, the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in 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" () has been its colloq ...

was formed, which was colloquially known as

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 ...

, so the club changed its name to

SK Jugoslavija Sportski klub Jugoslavija ( sr-Cyrl, Cпортски клуб Југославија), commonly known as Jugoslavija, was a Serbian football club based in Belgrade. It was originally formed as SK Velika Srbija in 1913 and changed its name to SK Ju ...

as ''Velika Srbija'' meant ''Great Serbia'', a name now obsolete as all the focus was going towards the new country. He was also the coach of Jugoslavija between 1923 and 1924. In 1926 he left Jugoslavija, however during the period he was at the club, Jugoslavija won two national championships and became one of the biggest clubs in the country.Srbislav Todorović: "Football in Serbia 1896 - 1918"
, pag. 69 After leaving the direction board of Jugoslavija, he did not abandon football, but instead he was a directing member of many sports organizations staying attached to his passion, football, throughout the rest of his life. In 1951 he published a book ''Čika Dačine uspomene'' (Čika Dača's Memories). Despite mostly known as the founder of some of the major Serbian clubs in that period, he also had an active playing career as well. Initially teams in Serbia had one weak spot, the

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 ...

, because initially most players avoided playing in that harsh position. Stojanović started a career as goalkeeper at the club he was president, Šumadija, where he played from 1903 until 1906. Then he moved to the capital where he actually played as left-winger while with SK Soko where he stayed until 1910. After spending over a year at the direction of BSK, he moved to SK Dušanovac where his presidential position did not prevent him from taking the goalkeeping role occasionally and he was also the coach in the club during 1912. Then, between 1913 and 1914 he played for SK Velika Srbija. He was known for always wearing white and his elegance was always appreciated by the spectators.Srbislav Todorović: "Football in Serbia 1896 - 1918"
, pag. 17 He died in

in 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stojanovic, Danilo 1878 births 1967 deaths People from Lapovo Serbian men's footballers Yugoslav men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Royal Serbian Army soldiers Serbian military personnel of the Balkan Wars FK BASK players SK Jugoslavija players Serbian football managers Yugoslav football managers SK Jugoslavija managers FK Voždovac managers People from the Kingdom of Serbia Serbian sportspeople