ŽAK Subotica (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: ЖАК Суботица) was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Subotica Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. The club was formed in 1921 and the name comes from the initials of ''Železničarski atletski klub'' derived from the fact that the club was backed by the

Yugoslav Railways Yugoslav Railways (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенске железнице, Jugoslovenske železnice, separator=" / "; ; ), with standard acronym ( in Cyrillic), was the state railway company of Yugoslavia, operational from the 1920s to t ...

company. It played in the

1935–36 Yugoslav Football Championship The 1936 Yugoslav Football Championship ( Serbo-Croato-Slovenian: Državno prvenstvo 1935/36 / Државно првенство 1935/36) was the 13th season of Kingdom of Yugoslavia's premier football competition. It was played in a cup format ...

where it was eliminated in the round of sixteen by Slavija Osijek. Afterwards, it played in the

1940–41 Serbian League The 1940–41 Serbian League (Serbian: 1940–41 Српска лига / 1940–41 Srpska liga) was first held after the formation of the Banovina of Croatia and the consequent withdrawal of Croatian and Slovenian based clubs from the Yugoslav Fir ...

where it finished 5th out of 10. With the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Axis invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put forward in "Fü ...

, the city came under Hungarian occupation and the club competed in the Hungarian Second League under its Hungarian translated name, Szabadkai Vasutas AC. During this period the coach was Geza Takács and among its best known players was

István Nyers István Nyers (; 25 May 1924 – 9 March 2005), also known as Stefano Nyers, was a Hungarian footballer who played as a forward or as a winger. Although he played in only two international matches for Hungary, he is considered one of the grea ...

who begin his senior career at the club. After the end of the Second World War, the club made a tour throughout Serbia in order to prepare for competition, however the new socialist authorities demanded that most of the pre-1945 clubs to be disbanded and new clubs to be formed. ŽAK was dissolved in 1945 and its players made a meeting where they decided to join the newly founded

FK Spartak Subotica Fudbalski klub Spartak Ždrepčeva Krv () is a professional football club from Subotica, Serbia, that plays in the Serbian SuperLiga. The club was founded in 1945 and was named after Jovan Mikić Spartak, the leader of the Partisans in Subotic ...

which beside the players, the stadium, the colors and the fans, it also inherited the tradition of being backed by the railways.gradsubotica.co.rs

Notable players

Players with national team appearances: ; Yugoslavia *

Jovan Beleslin Jovan Beleslin (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Белеслин; born 1 October 1919) was a Hungarian footballer. Club career A strong full-back with excellent header, he started playing with ŽAK Subotica when he got registered for the senior t ...

Miloš Beleslin Miloš Beleslin (; 8 September 1901 – 7 March 1984) was a Yugoslavian footballer. Club career Born in Sereg, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire, he started playing in Szeged in Szegedi AK. His played his first official match on Ma ...

Mihalj Kečkeš Mihalj Kečkeš (; 24 September 1913 – 31 December 1985) was a Yugoslav footballer. Playing career Club Born in Subotica in 1913, then still within Austro-Hungary, he was a midfielder and he begin his career playing in FK Bačka 1901. He also ...

Tihomir Ognjanov Tihomir Ognjanov (Serbian Cyrillic: Тихомир Огњанов; 2 March 1927 – 2 July 2006) was a Serbian footballer who was part of Yugoslavia national football team at the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cups. He later became a manager. Club car ...

; Hungary *

''For a list of former players with Wikipedia article, please see: :ŽAK Subotica players.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zak Subotica Defunct football clubs in Serbia Football clubs in Yugoslavia Association football clubs established in 1921 Association football clubs disestablished in 1945 Sport in Subotica 1921 establishments in Serbia 1945 disestablishments in Serbia