Branko Stanković

Branko Stanković

Personal information
Full name	Branislav Stanković
Date of birth	October 31, 1921
Place of birth	Sarajevo, Kingdom of SCS
Date of death
Place of death	Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Position(s)	Right back
Youth career
1936–1939	Slavija Sarajevo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1939–1941	Slavija Sarajevo
1941–1945	BSK Beograd
1945	PR Serbia team	1	(0)
1946–1958	Red Star Belgrade	195	(14)
Total		196	(14)
International career
1946–1956	Yugoslavia	61	(3)
Managerial career
1960	Željezničar Sarajevo
1963–1964	Olimpija Ljubljana
1964–1967	Vojvodina
1966	Yugoslavia (co-coach)
1968–1973	AEK Athens
1973–1974	Aris Thessaloniki
1975–1976	FC Porto
1976–1977	PAOK Thessaloniki
1977–1978	Vojvodina
1978–1982	Red Star Belgrade
1982–1984	Fenerbahçe
1984–1986	Beşiktaş
1986–1987	Fenerbahçe
1988	Red Star Belgrade
1989	Karşıyaka
Medal record Men's Football Representing Yugoslavia Olympic Games 1948 London Team 1952 Helsinki Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Branislav "Branko" Stanković (Serbian Cyrillic: Бpaниcлaв "Бpaнкo" Cтaнкoвић; October 31, 1921 – February 20, 2002) was a Bosnian Serb footballer and manager, from Sarajevo.

Playing career

He mainly played for Red Star Belgrade and was capped 61 times for Yugoslavia. He participated at two World Cups and twice at Olympic Games. Stanković is one of the most elegant defense players of his time. Because of his playing style, he earned his nickname Ambassador. Players such as Bruno Belin, Milovan Đorić, Fahrudin Jusufi, Petar Krivokuća used to copy his playing style. He was strong, fast and very brave player, also a good header.

He started his career in SK Slavija Sarajevo, as a youth player in 1936. In 1941 he escaped from Sarajevo and joined Yugoslav pre-war most successful club, BSK Belgrade and played in the Serbian League during the war. In 1946 he came to Red Star Belgrade, where he established himself as one of the best defenders in the Yugoslav First League. Stanković played 195 games, with 14 scored goals.

He retired in 1958 before his 37th birthday.

Coaching career

He started his coaching career in Sarajevo in 1960, as a head coach of Željezničar. Later, he coached Red Star Belgrade and reached the 1979 UEFA Cup Final with them. Beside Red Star, he also coached number of teams in different countries, such as Fenerbahçe S.K. and Beşiktaş J.K. in Turkey, FC Porto in Portugal, AEK Athens, Aris Thessaloniki and PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece. He also coached Željezničar Sarajevo, Olimpija Ljubljana and FK Vojvodina in the spells. During 1966, he was also co-coach in Yugoslavia along with Aleksandar Tirnanić, Miljan Miljanić, Rajko Mitić and Vujadin Boškov.

He is also famous because of his incident with one of the most popular Yugoslav players during that time, Dragan Stojković Piksi. Stanković retired from coaching in 1989.

Personal life

He had a degree in Physical education. He was married and had two sons, Dragan and Ratko.

Honours

As a player

BSK Beograd

• Serbian Football League (2)
  • 1942–43, 1943–44

Red Star Belgrade

• Yugoslav First League
  • Winner (4): 1951, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1955–57
  • Runner-up (3): 1948–49, 1950, 1952
• Yugoslav Cup
  • Winner (3): 1948, 1949, 1950
  • Runner-up (2): 1952, 1954

As a coach

FK Vojvodina

• Yugoslav First League (1)
  • 1965–66

AEK Athens

• Greek League (1)
  • 1970–71

Red Star Belgrade

• Yugoslav First League (2)
  • 1979–80, 1980–81

Fenerbahçe

• Turkish First Football League (1)
  • 1982–83
• Turkish Cup (1)
  • 1982–83

Beşiktaş

• Turkish First Football League (1)
  • 1985–86

External links

• Branko Stanković at National-Football-Teams.com
• Profile on Serbian federation official website