ŽAK Subotica ( Serbian Cyrillic: ЖAK Cубoтицa) was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...

, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. 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 ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslavenske željeznice/Jugoslovenske železnice, Југославенске жељезнице/Југословенске железнице; mk, Југословенски железници; sl, Jugoslovans ...

company. It played in the

1935–36 Yugoslav Football Championship The 1935–36 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 forma ...

where it was eliminated in the round of sixteen by

Slavija Osijek Slavija () may refer to: * the Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian and '' Slovene'' ''(?)'' name for ''Slavia'', a general term for an area inhabited by Slavs * Slavija Osijek, a former football club from Osijek, Croatia * Slavija Square, a public square ...

. 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 Fi ...

where it finished 5th out of 10. With the start of the Second World War and the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, 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 great ...

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 * Miloš Beleslin * Mihalj Kečkeš * Tihomir Ognjanov ; 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