Stjepan Bobek facts for kids
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Bobek in 1949
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 3 December 1923 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
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| Date of death | 22 August 2010 (aged 86) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Belgrade, Serbia | ||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1936–1938 | HŠK Derbi | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1938–1942 | ŠK Zagreb | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1942–1944 | HŠK Ličanin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||||||||
| 1942 | Admira Wacker | 8 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1944–1945 | Građanski Zagreb | 15 | (13) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1945 | Yugoslav Army | 3 | (8) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1946–1959 | Partizan | 198 | (121) | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | 224 | (149) | |||||||||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1946–1956 | Yugoslavia | 63 | (38) | ||||||||||||||||
| Teams managed | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1959 | Legia Warsaw | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1960–1963 | Partizan | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1963 | Legia Warsaw | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1963–1967 | Panathinaikos | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1967–1969 | Partizan | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1969–1970 | Olympiacos | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | Altay | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1970–1972 | Galenika Zemun | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1974 | Galenika Zemun | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1975 | Panathinaikos | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1976 | Panetolikos | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1976–1978 | Espérance | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1981 | Vardar | ||||||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Stjepan Bobek (born December 3, 1923 – died August 22, 2010) was a famous football player and coach from Croatia and Yugoslavia. He was known for being a great striker.
Bobek was amazing at football. He had great skills, could see the whole field, and scored many goals. Many people think he was one of the best players Yugoslavia ever had. He is most famous for playing with the Serbian team Partizan after World War II.
He played for Partizan from 1945 to 1959. During this time, he helped them win two Yugoslav League titles and four Yugoslav Cups. In 1995, he was even named the greatest player in the club's history! For the Yugoslavia national team, he scored 38 goals in 63 games between 1946 and 1956. This made him the second highest scorer for his country. He also won two silver medals at the Olympic Games (in 1948 and 1952) and played in two FIFA World Cups (in 1950 and 1954).
After he stopped playing in 1959, Bobek became a very successful coach. He won national titles in Yugoslavia with Partizan and in Greece with Panathinaikos.
Contents
Stjepan Bobek's Club Career
Bobek was born in Zagreb, a city in Croatia. He started playing football when he was just 13 years old. He played for a smaller club called Viktorija. When he was 20, he became the main striker for Građanski Zagreb.
He was the top scorer in the Yugoslav First League two times. He scored 25 goals in 1945 and 21 goals in the 1953–54 season.
Playing for Partizan
Stjepan Bobek joined FK Partizan in 1946 and played there until 1959. During his time with Partizan, he played 468 games and scored an amazing 403 goals. This is still a club record! Bobek helped Partizan win two Yugoslav League titles and the Yugoslav Cup four times.
He scored his first official goals for Partizan on September 1, 1946. He scored twice in a 6–1 win against Budućnost. On January 5, 1947, Bobek scored his first goal in the "Eternal Derby" against Red Star Belgrade. This was also the first goal scored by a Partizan player in this famous derby.
On June 8, 1947, Bobek scored eight goals in one league match against 14. Oktobar. Partizan won 10–1. This is a record that has never been broken in the Yugoslav First League. In his first season, he scored 25 goals in 22 matches, helping Partizan win their first title.
In May 1951, Partizan played friendly matches in England. Bobek scored two goals in a 3–2 win against Hull City. A few days later, he scored another goal in a 3–2 win against Middlesbrough. One month later, he scored twice in a huge 6–1 win over Red Star in the Eternal Derby.
In November 1951, Bobek scored six goals against Sloboda Titovo Užice in the Yugoslav Cup. Partizan won 11–1. A week later, he set another record in the Yugoslav Cup. He scored eight goals in a 15–0 win over Sloga Petrovac.
On November 29, 1952, Bobek scored a goal in a 6–0 win against Red Star Belgrade in the Yugoslav Cup final. Three weeks before that, he scored three goals (a hat-trick) in a 4–0 win against 1. FC Köln, a top German team.
Bobek kept playing great in the following seasons. On December 6, 1953, he scored the first goal in Partizan's biggest ever win in the Eternal Derby. Partizan beat Red Star 7–1. On April 11, 1954, he scored four goals in an 8–0 league win against Rabotnički.
Two years after winning his second Yugoslav Cup, he won his third. Partizan beat Red Star 4–1, and Bobek scored another goal.
On September 4, 1955, Bobek scored a goal in the very first match of the European Cup. Partizan drew 3–3 with Sporting CP in Lisbon. He played in all four matches for Partizan in the 1955–56 European Cup. This included a famous 3–0 win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
Stjepan Bobek's International Career
Bobek played for the Croatia U21 team from 1943 to 1945. He first played for the Yugoslavia national team on May 9, 1946. This was Yugoslavia's first game as SFR Yugoslavia. They won 2–0 against Czechoslovakia. He scored his first international goal against Czechoslovakia on September 29, 1946, in a 4–2 win.
Bobek won two silver medals at the Olympics for Yugoslavia. He scored four goals at the 1948 London Olympics and three goals at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He also played in the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cups. He scored one goal in the 1950 World Cup, in a 4–1 win against Mexico.
On October 17, 1954, Bobek scored three goals (a hat-trick) in a 5–1 win against Turkey. These were his last goals for the national team. He reached 38 goals for Yugoslavia that day, becoming the country's top scorer. His record stood for over 66 years until Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrović broke it in 2021.
Stjepan Bobek as a Manager
After he stopped playing football, Bobek became a football manager. In 1959, he coached CWKS Warszawa in Poland. The next season, he returned to Yugoslavia to manage FK Partizan. His team won three Yugoslav League championships in a row!
In 1964, he coached in Warsaw again, then moved to Greece. There, he led Panathinaikos in the 1960s. During his time with Panathinaikos, the team won the Greek championship in the 1963-64 season without losing a single game. He returned to manage Partizan again from 1967 to 1969. In 1969, he moved to Olympiacos. He also coached Dinamo Zagreb in 1972 and Panathinaikos again from 1974–75. He also coached Vardar and helped them get promoted to the First League in 1978–79.
In 1995, FK Partizan named him the greatest player in their history. In 2009, a book about Bobek's life was published by sports journalist Fredi Kramer.
Death of Stjepan Bobek
Stjepan Bobek passed away on August 22, 2010, in Belgrade. He is buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens at the Belgrade New Cemetery.
Stjepan Bobek's Achievements
As a Player
Partizan
- Yugoslav First League: 1946–47, 1948–49
- Yugoslav Cup: 1947, 1952, 1954, 1956–57
Yugoslavia National Team
- Olympic Silver Medal: 1948, 1952
- Balkan Cup runner-up: 1946 and 1947
Individual Awards
- 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 (record held for over 66 years)
As a Manager
- Partizan
- Yugoslav First League (3): 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63
- Panathinaikos
- Greek Championship (2): 1963–64, 1964–65
- Greek Cup (1): 1967
- Vardar
- Yugoslav Second League (1): 1978–79
See also
In Spanish: Stjepan Bobek para niños
