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Stjepan Bobek

{{Short description|Croatian footballer (1923–2010)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Stjepan Bobek

| image = S. Kragujević, Sjepan Bobek, fudbaler, 21. 8. 1949 (cropped).jpg

| upright = 0.9

| caption = Bobek in 1949

| birth_date = {{birth date|1923|12|3|df=y}}

| birth_place = Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|8|22|1923|12|3|df=y}}

| death_place = Belgrade, Serbia

| height =

| position = Forward

| youthyears1 = 1936–1938 | youthclubs1 = HŠK Derbi

| youthyears2 = 1938–1942 | youthclubs2 = ŠK Zagreb

| youthyears3 = 1942–1944 | youthclubs3 = HŠK Ličanin

| years1 = 1942 | clubs1 = Admira Wacker | caps1 = 8 | goals1 = 7

| years2 = 1944–1945 | clubs2 = Građanski Zagreb | caps2 = 15 | goals2 = 13

| years3 = 1945 | clubs3 = Yugoslav Army | caps3 = 3 | goals3 = 8

| years4 = 1946–1959 | clubs4 = Partizan | caps4 = 198 | goals4 = 121

| totalcaps = 224

| totalgoals = 149

| nationalyears1 = 1943–1945

| nationalteam1 = Croatia U21

| nationalcaps1 =

| nationalgoals1 =

| nationalyears2 = 1946–1956

| nationalteam2 = Yugoslavia

| nationalcaps2 = 63

| nationalgoals2 = 38

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport|Men's Football}}

{{MedalCountry|{{YUG}}}}

{{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}}

{{MedalSilver|1948 London|Team}}

{{MedalSilver|1952 Helsinki|Team}}

| manageryears1 = 1959 | managerclubs1 = Legia Warsaw

| manageryears2 = 1960–1963 | managerclubs2 = Partizan

| manageryears4 = 1963–1967 | managerclubs4 = Panathinaikos

| manageryears5 = 1967–1969 | managerclubs5 = Partizan

| manageryears6 = 1969–1970 | managerclubs6 = Olympiacos

| manageryears7 = 1970 | managerclubs7 = Altay

| manageryears8 = 1970–1972 | managerclubs8 = Galenika Zemun

| manageryears9 = 1972 | managerclubs9 = Dinamo Zagreb

| manageryears10 = 1973–1974 | managerclubs10 = Galenika Zemun

| manageryears11 = 1974–1975 | managerclubs11 = Panathinaikos

| manageryears12 = 1975–1976 | managerclubs12 = Panetolikos

| manageryears13 = 1976–1978 | managerclubs13 = Espérance

| manageryears14 = 1978–1982 | managerclubs14 = Vardar

}}

Stjepan Bobek ({{IPA|sh|stjêpaːn bǒbek|pron}}; 3 December 1923 – 22 August 2010) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional football striker and later football manager.{{cite web|url=http://arhiva.kurir-info.rs/Arhiva/2006/oktobar/29/SP-01-29102006.shtml|title=INTERVJU: Stjepan Bobek. Srbi su sjajni|language=sr|publisher=kurir-info.rs|date=29 October 2006|access-date=1 May 2013|quote=Ja sam Hrvat, normalno, ali istina je da sam zavoleo Srbiju.|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184110/http://arhiva.kurir-info.rs/Arhiva/2006/oktobar/29/SP-01-29102006.shtml|url-status=dead}}

Usually a forward or attacking midfielder, Bobek was renowned for his technique, vision and goalscoring ability and is commonly regarded as one of Yugoslavia's greatest players. He is remembered for his time at Belgrade's Partizan, where he moved to following the end of World War II. He played for Partizan between 1945 and 1959 helping them win two Yugoslav First League titles and four Yugoslav Cups, and was named the club's greatest player in history in 1995. Internationally, he is the second all-time top scorer for the Yugoslavia national team, scoring 38 goals in 63 appearances between 1946 and 1956, and was member of Yugoslav squads which won two Olympic silver medals (in 1948 and 1952) and played in two FIFA World Cups (in 1950 and 1954).

After retiring from active football in 1959, he was a successful manager, winning Yugoslav and Greek national titles with Partizan and Panathinaikos.

Club career

Bobek was born in Zagreb and started playing at the age of 13 for Viktorija, a lower league club, using his brother's registration papers. When he was 20 he became the center-forward of Građanski Zagreb.

He was the top scorer of the Yugoslav First League twice, in 1945 (25 goals) and 1954 (21 goals).

=Partizan=

He came to FK Partizan in 1946 and played for them until 1959. During his time in Partizan, he played 468 games and scored 403 goals, still holding the club record. Bobek won two Yugoslav League titles and the Yugoslav Cup four times.

He scored his first goals in official matches, on 1 September 1946, in the 2nd leg of the Yugoslav First League. He scored twice in a 6–1 home victory over Budućnost. On 5 January 1947, Bobek scored his first goal, in his first Eternal derby against Red Star Belgrade, in a 3–4 home defeat. That was also the first goal in the Derby scored by Partizan player, because the previous two were own goals. On 8 June 1947 in a league match played in Niš between 14. Oktobar and Partizan (1–10), Bobek scored eight goals – an absolute record that has never been broken until the end of Yugoslav First League or its successor leagues. He scored 25 goals in 22 matches in his first season of First League of SFR Yugoslavia and also won his first title.

In May 1951, Partizan played three friendly matches in England. The first match was played on 9 May, against Hull City and Partizan beat them 3–2. Bobek scored two goals in that victory. Three days later he again played brilliantly and scored a goal in Partizan's second victory over English teams. The result was the same three days later against Middlesbrough. One month later, he scored twice in one of the biggest victories in Eternal Derby, in a 6–1 home victory over Red Star. In November of that year, Bobek scored a six goals against Sloboda Titovo Užice, in a qualifying round of Yugoslav Cup, in a 11–1 away victory. A week later, he also set a record in the Yugoslav Cup. He scored eight goals in 15–0 home victory over Sloga Petrovac.

On 29 November 1952, Bobek scored a goal in a 6–0 victory over a arch rival Red Star Belgrade in the final of the Yugoslav Cup. A three weeks before, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 home victory over one of the best German teams at that time – 1. FC Köln.

Bobek continued with great performances in following seasons. He scored a goal in biggest victory ever in Eternal Derby. After four minutes, he scored first goal on the match, in a 7–1 home victory over Red Star, on 6 December 1953. On 11 April 1954, he scored four goals in 8–0 home league victory over Rabotnički.

Two years later after winning second Yugoslav Cup, he won a third. Again Partizan beat Red Star, but this time 4–1 and Bobek again scored one goal.

On 4 September 1955, Bobek scored a goal in first ever match of European Cup. Partizan draw (3–3) with Sporting CP, in Lisbon. He played all four matches in the 1955–56 European Cup including a legendary victory 3–0 over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

International career

Bobek played for Croatia U21 between 1943 and 1945.[https://www.tportal.hr/sport/clanak/vosini-navijaci-izvrijedali-nedavno-preminulog-bobeka-20101002/print Vošini navijači izvrijeđali nedavno preminulog Bobeka] He made his debut for the Yugoslavia national team on 9 May 1946, in a 2–0 win over Czechoslovakia at the Letná Stadium, which was the nation's inaugural match as SFR Yugoslavia. He scored his first international goal against the same opponents on 29 September 1946, in a 4–2 win at the JNA Stadium.{{Cite web|date=14 January 2016|title=Stjepan Bobek - Goals in International Matches|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/bobek-intlg.html|access-date=27 March 2021|website=RSSSF}}

Bobek won two Olympic silver medals for Yugoslavia, scoring four goals in London 1948 and three in Helsinki 1952.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/27877 |title=Stjepan Bobek |work=Olympedia |access-date=13 October 2021}} He also appeared at the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cups, scoring once in a 1950 4–1 win over Mexico.

On 17 October 1954, Bobek scored a hat-trick in a 5–1 win over Turkey, which were also his last goals on international duty. He reached 38 goals for Yugoslavia on that day and became the national side's top scorer, surpassing Blagoje Marjanović's 37-goal tally. Bobek's record stood for over 66 years, until it was beaten by Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrović on 27 March 2021.{{Cite web|date=27 March 2021|title=Mitrovic becomes Serbia's all-time top scorer with goal against Portugal|url=https://www.goal.com/en/news/mitrovic-becomes-serbias-all-time-top-scorer-with-goal/v7hj7prwp8wn161wif3xc5f68|access-date=27 March 2021|website=Goal.com}}

Managerial career

After retiring from active playing Bobek went into management. In 1959 he became the coach of Legia Warsaw in Poland, moving back to Yugoslavia the next season to manage Partizan. He won three successive Yugoslav league championships with Partizan (1961, 1962, 1963) before being replaced by Kiril Simonovski in 1963.

In 1963 Bobek moved to Greece where he spent four years at the helm of Panathinaikos. He led the club to two Greek championship titles, including the first undefeated season for any Greek club, in the 1963–64 season.

Bobek returned to Yugoslavia and again took over Partizan, finishing second in the Yugoslav league in the 1967–68 season and third in 1968–69. After that, he returned to Greece to manage Olympiacos, spending ten months at the club. He briefly worked in Turkey, and then took over the recently promoted Galenika Zemun in the Yugoslav second level.

He was then hired by Dinamo Zagreb for the 1972–73 season, but was sacked in November 1972 after only four months, with the club sitting at the bottom of the table, winning only two out of their first 13 games. During the 1974–75 season he returned to Panathinaikos for a second time, but without much success. He also coached Espérance ST in Tunisia, and his last managing job was at Vardar, with whom he won the 1978–79 Yugoslav Second League East Division title and promotion to the First League.

In 1995, he was named the all-time greatest player of Partizan.{{cite news|url=http://www.seebiz.eu/hr/karijere/stjepan-bobek,-jedan-od-najvecih-hrvatskih-nogometasa,-umro-u-87.-godini,89306.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827004101/http://www.seebiz.eu/hr/karijere/stjepan-bobek,-jedan-od-najvecih-hrvatskih-nogometasa,-umro-u-87.-godini,89306.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 August 2010|title=IN MEMORIAM: Stjepan Bobek, jedan od najvećih hrvatskih nogometaša, umro u 87. godini|date=22 August 2010|work=SEEbiz.eu|language=hr|access-date=22 August 2010}} In 2009, Bobek's biography written by sports journalist Fredi Kramer was published.{{cite news|url=http://web2.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Nogomet/tabid/84/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/42227/Default.aspx|title=U Beogradu predstavljena monografija o Stjepanu Bobeku|date=15 February 2009|work=Slobodna Dalmacija|language=hr|access-date=22 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721102813/http://web2.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Nogomet/tabid/84/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/42227/Default.aspx|archive-date=21 July 2011}}

Death

Bobek died shortly after midnight on 22 August 2010 in Belgrade. He is interred in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens in the Belgrade New Cemetery.[http://graves.mf.uni-lj.si/graves/885/stjepan-bobek International graves]

Career statistics

=Club=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

rowspan="2"|Club

!rowspan="2"|Season

!colspan="3"|League

!colspan="2"|Continental

!colspan="2"|Total

DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
rowspan="13"|Partizan

|1946–47

|rowspan="13"|Yugoslav First League

|23

24colspan="2"|—2324
1947–48

|12

4colspan="2"|—124
1948–49

|17

13colspan="2"|—1713
1950

|17

6colspan="2"|—176
1951

|21

9colspan="2"|—219
1952

|9

9colspan="2"|—99
1952–53

|12

7colspan="2"|—127
1953–54

|23

21colspan="2"|—2321
1954–55

|18

16colspan="2"|—1816
1955–56

|17

9412110
1956–57

|15

3colspan="2"|—153
1957–58

|9

0colspan="2"|—90
1958–59

|5

0colspan="2"|—50
colspan="3"|Career total

!198

12141202122

=International=

:Scores and results list Yugoslavia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bobek goal.

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ List of international goals scored by Stjepan Bobek

scope="col"|No.

!scope="col" data-sort-type="date"|Date

!scope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Opponent

!scope="col"|Score

!scope="col"|Result

!scope="col"|Competition

style="text-align:center"|1

| 29 September 1946

Belgrade, Yugoslavia{{fb|TCH}}style="text-align:center"|4–1style="text-align:center"|4–2Friendly
style="text-align:center"|2

| 7 October 1946

Tirana, Albania{{fb|Albania|1946}}style="text-align:center"|2–2style="text-align:center"|3–21946 Balkan Cup
style="text-align:center"|3

| 11 May 1947

Prague, Czechoslovakia{{fb|TCH}}style="text-align:center"|1–2style="text-align:center"|1–3Friendly
style="text-align:center"|4

| rowspan="2"|22 June 1947

rowspan="2"|Bucharest, Romaniarowspan="2"|{{fb|ROM}}style="text-align:center"|1–0rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|3–1rowspan="2"|1947 Balkan Cup
style="text-align:center"|5

| style="text-align:center"|3–1

style="text-align:center"|6

| 14 September 1947

Tirana, Albania{{fb|Albania|1946}}style="text-align:center"|1–1style="text-align:center"|4–21947 Balkan Cup
style="text-align:center"|7

| rowspan="2"|19 October 1947

rowspan="2"|Belgrade, Yugoslaviarowspan="2"|{{fb|Poland|1928}}style="text-align:center"|2–0rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|7–1rowspan="2"|Friendly
style="text-align:center"|8

| style="text-align:center"|7–0

style="text-align:center"|9

| 31 July 1948

London, England{{fb|LUX}}style="text-align:center"|6–1style="text-align:center"|6–11948 Summer Olympics
style="text-align:center"|10

| 5 August 1948

London, England{{fb|TUR}}style="text-align:center"|2–1style="text-align:center"|3–11948 Summer Olympics
style="text-align:center"|11

| 11 August 1948

London, England{{fb|UK}}style="text-align:center"|1–0style="text-align:center"|3–11948 Summer Olympics
style="text-align:center"|12

| 13 August 1948

London, England{{fb|SWE}}style="text-align:center"|1–1style="text-align:center"|1–31948 Summer Olympics
style="text-align:center"|13

| 19 June 1949

Oslo, Norway{{fb|NOR}}style="text-align:center"|2–1style="text-align:center"|3–1Friendly
style="text-align:center"|14

| 21 August 1949

Belgrade, Yugoslavia{{fb|ISR}}style="text-align:center"|6–0style="text-align:center"|6–01950 FIFA World Cup qualification
style="text-align:center"|15

| 18 September 1949

Tel Aviv, Israel{{fb|ISR}}style="text-align:center"|2–0style="text-align:center"|5–21950 FIFA World Cup qualification
style="text-align:center"|16

| 30 October 1949

Paris, France{{fb|FRA|1830}}style="text-align:center"|1–1style="text-align:center"|1–11950 FIFA World Cup qualification
style="text-align:center"|17

| 13 November 1949

Belgrade, Yugoslavia{{fb|AUT}}style="text-align:center"|2–3style="text-align:center"|2–5Friendly
style="text-align:center"|18

| 11 June 1950

Bern, Switzerland{{fb|SUI}}style="text-align:center"|3–0style="text-align:center"|4–0Friendly
style="text-align:center"|19

| 29 June 1950

Porto Alegre, Brazil{{fb|MEX}}style="text-align:center"|1–0style="text-align:center"|4–11950 FIFA World Cup
style="text-align:center"|20

| 7 September 1950

Helsinki, Finland{{fb|FIN}}style="text-align:center"|1–0style="text-align:center"|2–3Friendly
style="text-align:center"|21

| 10 September 1950

Copenhagen, Denmark{{fb|DEN}}style="text-align:center"|2–0style="text-align:center"|4–1Friendly
style="text-align:center"|22

| rowspan="2"|24 June 1951

rowspan="2"|Belgrade, Yugoslaviarowspan="2"|{{fb|SUI}}style="text-align:center"|1–0rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|7–3rowspan="2"|Friendly
style="text-align:center"|23

| style="text-align:center"|6–0

style="text-align:center"|24

| rowspan="2"|23 August 1951

rowspan="2"|Oslo, Norwayrowspan="2"|{{fb|NOR}}style="text-align:center"|2–0rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|4–2rowspan="2"|Friendly
style="text-align:center"|25

| style="text-align:center"|4–0

style="text-align:center"|26

| 2 September 1951

Belgrade, Yugoslavia{{fb|SWE}}style="text-align:center"|1–1style="text-align:center"|2–1Friendly
style="text-align:center"|27

| 20 July 1952

Tampere, Finland{{fb|Soviet Union}}style="text-align:center"|4–0style="text-align:center"|5–51952 Summer Olympics
style="text-align:center"|28

| 22 July 1952

Tampere, Finland{{fb|Soviet Union}}style="text-align:center"|2–1style="text-align:center"|3–11952 Summer Olympics
style="text-align:center"|29

| 25 July 1952

Helsinki, Finland{{fb|DEN}}style="text-align:center"|4–1style="text-align:center"|5–31952 Summer Olympics
style="text-align:center"|30

| rowspan="3"|21 September 1952

rowspan="3"| Belgrade, Yugoslaviarowspan="3"|{{fb|AUT}}style="text-align:center"|1–0rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"|4–2rowspan="3"|Friendly
style="text-align:center"|31

| style="text-align:center"|2–0

style="text-align:center"|32

| style="text-align:center"|4–2

style="text-align:center"|33

| 21 December 1952

Ludwigshafen, West Germany{{fb|FRG}}style="text-align:center"|2–1style="text-align:center"|2–3 Friendly
style="text-align:center"|34

| 26 September 1954

Saarbrücken, Saarland{{fb|SAA}}style="text-align:center"|2–1style="text-align:center"|5–1 Friendly
style="text-align:center"|35

| 3 October 1954

Vienna, Austria{{fb|AUT}}style="text-align:center"|2–1style="text-align:center"|2–2 Friendly
style="text-align:center"|36

| rowspan="3"|17 October 1954

rowspan="3"|Sarajevo, Yugoslaviarowspan="3"|{{fb|TUR}}style="text-align:center"|1–0rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"|5–1rowspan="3"|Friendly
style="text-align:center"|37

| style="text-align:center"|2–0

style="text-align:center"|38

| style="text-align:center"|4–0

Honours

=Player=

Partizan

Yugoslavia

Individual

  • Yugoslav First League top scorer: 1945, 1953–54
  • FK Partizan Magnificent Eleven (1995)
  • FK Partizan Best player in club history (1995)

Records

  • Yugoslavia all-time top scorer: 38 goals{{cite news|url=http://www.reprezentacija.rs/index.php/statistika/najbolji-strelci|title=Stjepan Bobek najbolji strelac|date=25 September 2013|work=www.reprezentacija.rs|language=sr}}

=Manager=

;Partizan

;Panathinaikos

;Vardar

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{FIFA player|174410}}
  • {{NFT player|19912}}
  • {{Reprezentacija|bobek-stjepan}}

{{Yugoslav First League top scorers}}

{{Navboxes

|title= Stjepan Bobek international tournaments

|list1=

{{Yugoslavia football squad 1948 Summer Olympics}}

{{Yugoslavia squad 1950 FIFA World Cup}}

{{Yugoslavia football squad 1952 Summer Olympics}}

{{Yugoslavia squad 1954 FIFA World Cup}}

}}

{{Navboxes

|title=Stjepan Bobek managerial positions

|list1=

{{Legia Warszawa managers}}

{{FK Partizan managers}}

{{Panathinaikos FC managers}}

{{Olympiacos managers}}

{{Altay S.K. managers}}

{{Dinamo Zagreb managers}}

{{Panetolikos F.C. managers}}

{{Espérance Sportive de Tunis managers}}

{{FK Vardar managers}}

}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobek, Stjepan}}

Category:1923 births

Category:2010 deaths

Category:Footballers from Zagreb

Category:Croats of Serbia

Category:Men's association football forwards

Category:Yugoslav men's footballers

Category:Yugoslavia men's international footballers

Category:Croatian men's footballers

Category:Croatia men's under-21 international footballers

Category:Olympic medalists in football

Category:Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia

Category:Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia

Category:Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Category:Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Category:Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Category:Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Category:1950 FIFA World Cup players

Category:1954 FIFA World Cup players

Category:Admira Wacker players

Category:HŠK Građanski Zagreb players

Category:FK Partizan players

Category:Yugoslav First League players

Category:Croatian expatriate men's footballers

Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Austria

Category:Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria

Category:Yugoslav football managers

Category:Legia Warsaw managers

Category:FK Partizan managers

Category:Panathinaikos F.C. managers

Category:Olympiacos F.C. managers

Category:Altay S.K. managers

Category:GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers

Category:Panetolikos F.C. managers

Category:Espérance Sportive de Tunis managers

Category:FK Vardar managers

Category:FK Zemun managers

Category:Yugoslav First League managers

Category:Super League Greece managers

Category:Yugoslav expatriate football managers

Category:Expatriate football managers in Poland

Category:Expatriate football managers in Greece

Category:Expatriate football managers in Turkey

Category:Expatriate football managers in Tunisia

Category:Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Greece

Category:Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Turkey

Category:Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia

Category:Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery