Franjo Lovrić (1 April 1923 – 5 February 1982) was a Bosnian and Yugoslav professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and manager who captained

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...

as a player, and then went on to manage it a decade later.

Playing career

Club

He began his career in 1938 with local Sarajevo club SAŠK, whom he represented until the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

invasion of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in 1941. After the end of the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

the new

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

authorities placed a ban on numerous football clubs throughout the country including SAŠK. He quickly joined Željezničar, but wore the blue jersey for only two seasons, eventually moving to newly-formed

in 1947. He would go on to play and captain the club for another 12 years.

International

He was capped once for Yugoslavia B.

Managerial career

After retiring from professional football he became part of the club's youth coaching staff, a position he held until 1965 when he was named assistant to manager and former team colleague Miroslav Brozović. The duo would go on to win the club's first Yugoslav League title in 1967. After Brozović's departure he took over the helm and led Sarajevo for one more season.

Personal life

His younger brother

Đuka Lovrić Đuka Lovrić (born 23 August 1927 in Sarajevo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia - died 20 February 1957 in Sarajevo, FPR Yugoslavia) was a Yugoslav professional footballer. He fell in love with the game by watching his older brother, Bosnian footballer Fr ...

was also a

player but died prematurely in 1957 as the result of a serious heart condition.

Death

Lovrić died on 5 February 1982 in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, at the age of 58.

References

1923 births 1982 deaths Footballers from Sarajevo Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers FK Željezničar Sarajevo players FK Sarajevo players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav football managers FK Sarajevo managers {{Yugoslavia-footy-bio-stub