Vujadin Boškov
Serbian footballer and manager (1931–2014)

Vujadin Boškov
Boškov coaching Feyenoord in July 1976
Personal information
Full nameVujadin Boškov
Date of birth(1931-05-16)16 May 1931
Place of birthBegeč, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Date of death27 April 2014(2014-04-27) (aged 82)
Place of deathNovi Sad, Serbia
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)Right half
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1948–1960Vojvodina185(15)
1961–1962Sampdoria13(0)
1962–1964Young Fellows Zürich14(4)
Total212(19)
International career
1951–1958Yugoslavia57(0)
Managerial career
1962–1964Young Fellows Zürich (player-manager)
1966Yugoslavia (co-manager)
1971–1973Yugoslavia
1974–1976ADO Den Haag
1976–1978Feyenoord
1978–1979Zaragoza
1979–1982Real Madrid
1982–1984Sporting Gijón
1984–1986Ascoli
1986–1992Sampdoria
1992–1993Roma
1994–1996Napoli
1996–1997Servette
1997–1998Sampdoria
1999Perugia
1999–2000FR Yugoslavia
2001FR Yugoslavia (co-manager)
Medal record
Representing  Yugoslavia
Men's football
Silver medal – second place 1952 Helsinki Team Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vujadin Boškov (Serbian Cyrillic: Вујадин Бошков, pronounced [ʋujǎdin bǒʃkoʋ]; 16 May 1931 – 27 April 2014) was a Serbian footballer and manager.

A midfielder, he played 57 matches for the Yugoslavia national team. He experienced his greatest success as a coach in 1990, when he won the European Cup Winners' Cup with Sampdoria. He also reached the European Cup final in 1981 with Real Madrid and 1992 with Sampdoria. He also won the Yugoslav First League as technical director and the La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Serie A and the Coppa Italia 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.[1][2]

FC Vujadin Boškov, Vojvodina's training facility in Veternik, was named after him in 1996[3] and in February 2022, he was posthumously admitted to the Italian Football Hall of Fame.[4]

Early life and club career

Boškov was born in the Serbian village of Begeč, 10 km (6 miles) from Novi Sad 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 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 Vojvodina for most of his career (1946–1960), as well as continuously supporting it. In 1961 he moved to Italy to play for Serie A club Sampdoria for one season (1961–62), before accepting a stint as a player-coach at Swiss side Young Fellows Zürich (1962–1964).[5] 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 against Switzerland. He earned a total of 57 caps (no goals)[6] and was part of the team that won the silver medal at the 1952 Olympic football tournament.[7] Also he played at the 1954 and 1958 FIFA World Cups.[8] His final international was at the latter tournament against West Germany.[9]

Managerial career

Boškov soon developed a successful international coaching career with stints in the Dutch Eredivisie with ADO Den Haag (1974–1976) and Feyenoord (1976–1978); the Spanish La Liga with Real Zaragoza (1978–79), Real Madrid (1979–1982) and Sporting de Gijon (1983–84); the Italian Serie A with Ascoli (1984–1986), Sampdoria (1986–1992, 1997–98), Roma (1992–93), Napoli (1994–1996) and Perugia (1999); and the Swiss league with Servette (1996–97).

Arguably his greatest achievement as a coach came in 1991, when he steered Sampdoria to the Serie A scudetto.[10]The following season, he led the club to the European Cup final, where they lost 1–0 to Barcelona at Wembley.[1] His Sampdoria side often used a man-marking defensive system.[11]

He also coached Yugoslavia at Euro 2000, where they famously lost 4–3 to Spain in Brugge and later went out to hosts the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, after losing 6–1 to the Dutch.[1]

He finished out his career as a scout for Sampdoria in 2006.[2]

Boškov, known for his humorous and ironic quips in interviews, famously once said, "a penalty is when the referee whistles."[2]

Death and legacy

Boškov died after a long illness in Novi Sad, on 27 April 2014, aged 82.[12][1] He was interred on 30 April in the Begeč Cemetery.[13]

Footballer Vujadin Savić is named after Boškov.[14] In 1996, the FK Vojvodina training facility in Veternik was named after Boškov.[3] 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 Italian Football Hall of Fame, by decision of leading figures in the Italian media.[4]

Managerial statistics

Boškov after winning the 1974–75 Dutch Cup with ADO Den Haag.
TeamFromToRecord
PWDLWin %
YugoslaviaApril 1971October 19732710125037.04
ADO Den HaagJune 1974July 197681312525038.27
FeyenoordJuly 1976June 197880322622040.00
ZaragozaJuly 1978May 19794619918041.30
Real MadridAugust 1979March 1982139803128057.55
Sporting de GijonJuly 1982June 198479272428034.18
AscoliNovember 1984June 198663232713036.51
SampdoriaJuly 1986June 19922891399060048.10
RomaJuly 1992June 199351191814037.25
NapoliOctober 1994June 199666222123033.33
ServetteJuly 1996December 199622598022.73
SampdoriaNovember 1997June 1998261079038.46
PerugiaFebruary 1999June 199914527035.71
YugoslaviaJuly 1999July 200015654040.00
YugoslaviaMay 2001October 20018422050.00
Total1,006432308266042.94

Honours

Manager

Vojvodina

ADO Den Haag

Real Madrid

Ascoli

Sampdoria

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Europe mourns Serbia great Boškov". UEFA. 27 April 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Football Italia (30 April 2014). "Remembering the great Boskov". Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b Sport Klub (26 April 2020). "Arhitekta Voše, Sampdorija je on, Toti mu je zahvalan" (in Serbian). Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Hall of Fame: Nesta, Rummenigge, Conte, Rocchi, Cabrini and Bonansea among those inducted". Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  5. ^ Ex-Yugoslavia, Real coach Boskov dies - FIFA
  6. ^ "Yugoslavia (Serbia (and Montenegro)) - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Vujadin Boškov". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  8. ^ Vujadin Boškov – FIFA competition record (archived)
  9. ^ "Vujadin Boškov, international football player". EU-football.info. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Meravigliosa Samp". La Stampa (in Italian). Turin. 20 May 1991. p. 25. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  11. ^ Gianni Massinissa (30 August 1992). "Buso e Jugović, la Samp si sveglia" [Buso e Jugović: Samp wake up]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  12. ^ Preminuo Vujadin Boškov; Mondo, 27 April 2014
  13. ^ RTS (30 April 2014). "Oproštaj od legende: Sahranjen Vujadin Boškov" (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  14. ^ Blic (1 July 2017). "Čast i odgovornost: Vujadin Savić otkrio po kome je dobio ime" (in Serbian). Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  • Vujadin Boškov at National-Football-Teams.com
  • Vujadin Boškov at Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian)
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