Momčilo "Gabbo" Gavrić (August 4, 1938 – March 13, 2010) was a Yugoslavian-born

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 ...

player.

Club career

Born in

Sinj Sinj () is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. As of the 2021 Croatian census, 2021 census, the population was 23,500 people, of which 10,800 inhabited its urban core. Sinj is k ...

, Croatia, Gavric aspired to play professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and played in his hometown club

NK Junak Sinj Nogometni Klub Junak Sinj (''Football Club Junak Sinj''), commonly referred to as Junak Sinj or just Junak, is a professional Croatian football club based in the town of Sinj, in the southern Croatian region of Dalmatia. They currently compete ...

. In 1959, 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 ...

, then Yugoslav capital, and began playing with

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) ...

side

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...

. He had call-ups to the national team, but only ended up playing for the B national team. He left

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 ...

in 1967 and moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1967, he signed with the

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers (active 1967–1968, also named the California Clippers) were an American association football, soccer team based in Oakland, California. They played in the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (1967), N ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

. Gavrić spent two seasons with the Clippers and won the 1967 championship with them. He was also an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

placekicker for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

in 1969. In 1971, he moved to the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

, then on to the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

from 1974 to 1978. In 1975, Gabbo Gavrić was the co-MVP of the NASL indoor tournament and named to the All-tournament team. He was a player and coach at San Jose until 1976, and he continued to coach through 1978.

Death

Gavric died on March 13, 2010, of complications from Parkinson's disease.

Clubs

1957–59 *

OFK Belgrade OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK Beograd Mozzart ...

1959–67 *Oakland Clippers 1967–69 *San Francisco 49ers 1969 *Portland Loggers 1969 *Dallas Tornado 1971 *San Jose Earthquakes 1974–78

References

External links

NFL career statistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavric, Momcilo 1938 births 2010 deaths Footballers from Sinj Men's association football defenders American people of Serbian descent Yugoslav men's footballers NK Junak Sinj players OFK Beograd players Oakland Clippers players Dallas Tornado players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Yugoslav First League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Croatian players of American football American football placekickers San Francisco 49ers players Portland Loggers players Yugoslav football managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) head coaches Footballers who switched code Deaths from Parkinson's disease in California