Vujadin Boškov ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Бошков, ; 16 May 1931 – 27 April 2014) was a Serbian

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 and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. A midfielder, he played 57 matches for the Yugoslavia national team. He experienced his greatest success as a coach in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, when he won the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

with Sampdoria. He also reached the European Cup final in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

with Sampdoria. He also won the

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) ...

as technical director and the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

and the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

twice as a coach. Throughout his career as a football manager, he stood out both for his many successes, as well as due to his unique sense of humour and memorable ironic comments, which were used to dissolve tension during post-match interviews; these led him to become a popular figure with football fans during his time in Italy. FC Vujadin Boškov,

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

's training facility in

Veternik Veternik ( sr-cyr, Ветерник) is a suburban settlement of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. Over the years, especially in the 1990s, it grew with size and inhabitants thus merging with Futog to the west and Novi Sad to the east. Name The set ...

, was named after him in 1996 and in February 2022, he was posthumously admitted to the

Italian Football Hall of Fame The Italian Football Hall of Fame () is the hall of fame for association football players that have had a significant impact on Italian football. It is housed at the '' Museo del Calcio'' in Coverciano, Italy. History and regulations The Hall o ...

Early life and club career

Boškov was born in the Serbian village of Begeč, from

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

in Bunarska Street to father Boja, a village carpenter, and mother Marija. His family lived in Novi Sad before moving to Begeč during the

Second World War 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 ...

where his grandfather lived. Vujadin had an older brother named Aca (also a footballer), who was six years older than Vujadin, who died very young. Vujadin also has two younger sisters, sister Verica (Vera) and sister Danica (Dada), the latter still living. Boškov graduated from the ''Trgovačka akademija'' (trade school). A fan of his local team, Boškov played with

for most of his career (1946–1960), as well as continuously supporting it. In 1961 he moved to Italy to play for

club Sampdoria for one season (1961–62), before accepting a stint as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

at Swiss side Young Fellows Zürich (1962–1964). Boškov then returned to the club that made him as a player – FK Vojvodina – and spent seven seasons (1964–1971) as a technical director, leading the club to winning one Yugoslav league championship in 1965–66.

International career

He also became a playing member of the Yugoslavia national team and made his debut for them in a June 1951

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He earned a total of 57 caps (no goals) and was part of the team that won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the 1952 Olympic football tournament. Also he played at the

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

and

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

s. His final international was at the latter tournament against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Managerial career

Boškov soon developed a successful international coaching career with stints in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

with

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

(1974–1976) and

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

(1976–1978); the Spanish

with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

(1978–79),

(1979–1982) and Sporting de Gijon (1983–84); the Italian

with Ascoli (1984–1986), Sampdoria (1986–1992, 1997–98), Roma (1992–93),

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

(1994–1996) and

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

(1999); and the Swiss league with Servette (1996–97). Arguably his greatest achievement as a coach came in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, when he steered Sampdoria to the

scudetto The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...

. The following season, he led the club to 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 ...

final, where they lost 1–0 to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. His Sampdoria side often used a man-marking defensive system. He also coached

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 ...

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, where they famously lost 4–3 to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in Brugge and later went out to hosts

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the quarter-finals, after losing 6–1 to the Dutch. He finished out his career as a scout for Sampdoria in 2006. Boškov, known for his humorous and ironic quips in interviews, famously once said, "a penalty is when the referee whistles."

Death and legacy

Boškov died after a long illness in

, on 27 April 2014, aged 82.Preminuo Vujadin Boškov
''Mondo'', 27 April 2014 He was interred on 30 April in the Begeč Cemetery. Footballer

Vujadin Savić Vujadin Savić ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Савић; born 1 July 1990) is a Serbian football coach and former player. He played as a centre-back. Club career Early career Savić was eight years old when he began training for the Red Star Belgrade ...

is named after Boškov. In 1996, the FK Vojvodina training facility in

was named after Boškov. '' Corriere dello sport'' published a book of his quotations e.g. "Quando l'arbitro fischia... it is a penalty". In February 2022, he was posthumously admitted to the

, by decision of leading figures in the Italian media.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Vojvodina *

: 1965–66 (as technical director) ADO Den Haag *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 1974–75 Real Madrid *

: 1979–80 *

runner up: 1980–81 Ascoli *

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

: 1985–86 Sampdoria *

: 1989–90 *

: 1990–91 *

: 1987–88, 1988–89 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

runner up: 1991–92

Individual

: 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boskov, Vujadin 1931 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Novi Sad Men's association football wingers Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players FK Vojvodina players UC Sampdoria players SC Young Fellows Juventus players Yugoslav First League players Serie A players Swiss Super League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Yugoslav football managers SC Young Fellows Juventus managers Yugoslavia national football team managers ADO Den Haag managers Feyenoord managers Real Zaragoza managers Real Madrid CF managers Sporting de Gijón managers Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC managers UC Sampdoria managers Serbia and Montenegro football managers AS Roma managers SSC Napoli managers Servette FC managers AC Perugia Calcio managers Serbia and Montenegro national football team managers UEFA Euro 2000 managers Eredivisie managers La Liga managers Serie A managers Serie B managers Swiss Super League managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in Spain Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate football managers in Italy Serbia and Montenegro expatriate football managers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Association football technical directors