Jovica "Joe" Raduka ( sr-Cyrl, Јовица "Џо" Paдукa; born January 18, 1954) is a former Serbian-American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who began his career with

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

before spending time with indoor and outdoor teams in the U.S., Canada and Belgium. He currently runs a youth soccer club in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

Player

Professional

Raduka began his professional career with

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

club

. On February 9, 1978, Raduka signed a two-year contract with the

Oakland Stompers The Oakland Stompers were a soccer team based out of Oakland, California that played the 1978 season in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL). The Stompers played in the Western Division of the Amer ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

(NASL). At the end of the 1978 season, the Stompers relocated to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, Canada where they were renamed the Edmonton Drillers. Raduka played four seasons in Edmonton. Additionally, he spent the 1979-1980 NASL off-season with Belgian club

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

. The loan came about as a result of fellow Serb

Milan Mandarić Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. H ...

who owned the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

as well as part ownership of Namur. While the Drillers performed poorly outdoors, they did gain an NASL indoor title in 1981. However, the team folded at the end of the 1982 outdoor season and Raduka moved to the

Golden Bay Earthquakes Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

. The Earthquakes, an NASL team, was spending the 1982-1983 indoor season with the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). In 1983, he spent the outdoor season with the Edmonton Eagles of the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL). That league lasted only one season before collapsing and Raduka returned to the U.S. to rejoin the MISL. However, the Earthquakes had returned to the NASL so Raduka joined the Cleveland Force. He would spend the next four seasons with the Force until the team folded in 1987.

National team

In 1971, Raduka was the captain of the Yugoslav junior national team.

Coach

When the Force folded, Raduka retired from playing professionally and began his coaching career. He first coached a local German club (Danubschauben) team in Olmsted Falls. Many of the players that played for him found their way onto Cleveland All-Star teams. He founded a Cleveland soccer club, Cleveland United, where he has remained as director and coach. In addition to coaching youth teams, Raduka was an assistant coach with the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues unde ...

of MISL in 1989–1990.

References

External links

Cleveland United profile

Red Star stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raduka, Joe 1954 births Living people Sportspeople from Velika Gorica Serbs of Croatia Yugoslav emigrants to the United States American people of Serbian descent Men's association football defenders Yugoslav men's footballers American men's soccer players Red Star Belgrade footballers Oakland Stompers players Edmonton Drillers (1979–1982) players Golden Bay Earthquakes (MISL) players Edmonton Eagles players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Yugoslav First League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Canadian Professional Soccer League (original) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium American soccer coaches 20th-century American sportsmen