Emanuel "Emil" Perška (20 June 1896 – 8 May 1945) was a Croatian footballer. He was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and spent the majority of his career with Građanski Zagreb, with whom he won three Yugoslav championships in the 1920s. He was also a member of the Yugoslav squad at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympic tournaments.

Club career

Born in

in present-day

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, Perška was a member of the Slovak ethnic minority. Following

World War I 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 ...

Perška was wanted by the authorities as he was accused of

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

. Perška then escaped to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to avoid arrest and it was there that he signed a professional contract with Građanski in 1919 before returning to the country.

International career

He was called up for

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 ...

's first international tournament, at the

1920 Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, and he appeared in the country's first ever international match on 28 August 1920, a 7–0 defeat to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. After the tournament Perška had signed for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ian side CA Sports Généraux and had a brief spell with them before returning to Građanski in the early 1920s. During the 1920s Perška helped Građanski win three Yugoslav championship titles (1923, 1926 and 1928) and was called up to the national squad for the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, although he was unused at the 1928 tournament. He was capped 14 times and scored 2 international goals before retiring in 1929. His final international was a July 1927 friendly against

. After retirement Perška worked as a journalist and sports historian. He was allegedly a fervent supporter of the

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

movement during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and was shot by the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

in May 1945 in Zagreb (like several other notable footballers such as Građanski's

Dragutin Babić Dragutin Babić (5 November 1897 – 17 May 1945) was a Croatian footballer who represented the national team of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics. Club career He won three club titles, two wit ...

and Concordia's

Slavko Pavletić Slavko Pavletić (; 15 April 1914– 27 May 1945) was a Croatian footballer who played as a midfielder for Meteor Zagreb and Concordia Zagreb. International career He made his debut for Croatia under the flag of the Independent State of Croati ...

Honours

* Kingdom of Yugoslavia Championship (3):

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perska, Emil 1896 births 1945 deaths Footballers from Zagreb Slovak Austro-Hungarians Croatian people of Slovak descent Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia HŠK Građanski Zagreb players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France People executed by Yugoslavia by firing squad Executed Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany People killed by Yugoslav Partisans