FK Slavija - Notable Players

Notable Players

Although Slavija has always been a club that fostered strong Serbian sentiment, its rosters over the years have also featured some Croats, Bosniaks, Jews, Hungarians, Czechs, Austrians and Germans.

The club almost exclusively relied on its own youth system, which it mostly filled with young players from Sarajevo area, but after it established itself in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's top league during 1930s, Serbs from other parts of Bosnia started flocking to Slavija as well.

Slavija's most notable player ever was undoubtedly Slavko Zagorac, a classy fullback who spent decade and a half with the club, earning 7 caps for Kingdom of Yugoslavia national football team between 1932 and 1938.

Two other Slavija players had the honour of being capped for the national team. They are Milan Rajlić and Florijan Matekalo who both debuted in 1940 with a single cap each. Petar Manola spent five notable seasons at the club from 1931 until 1936 before transferring to BSK Belgrade.

Then there are Branko Stanković and Predrag Đajić who were promising juniors in Slavija when Nazi Germany invaded and dismembered the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Since the club was disbanded by the time World War II ended, both of them had to find another club. They both landed at newly established Red Star Belgrade where they achieved great careers that led to many appearances for FPR Yugoslavia national football team.

These players played in the club and have played in national teams:

Pre-1945 period:

  • Milan Rajlić
  • Branko Stanković
  • Slavko Zagorac

Post-1945 period:

  • Vlastimir Jovanović
  • Ilija Prodanović
  • Bojan Regoje
  • Dai Lin
  • Goran Trobok

For the list of current and former players with Wikipedia article, please see: Category:FK Slavija Sarajevo players.

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