Todor Atanaskov () (born 7 January 1919) was a Bulgarian international

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 ...

er.

Career

Atanaskov, also known as ''Svetozar "Toza" Atanacković'', played for

Građanski Skoplje Gragjanski Skopje (, , ) was a football club from Skoplje, Yugoslavia (now Skopje, North Macedonia). The club's major achievements were the two participations in the Royal League during the period from 1923 to 1940, and playing in the Bulgarian ...

in the

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 ...

. Atanaskov participated twice in the Yugoslav Championship where the winners of all subassociations competed for the national title. Građanski Skoplje qualified twice, in the 1935–36 and 1938–39 Yugoslav Football Championships. Atanaskov played on both occasions, and was the player with the most appearances and goals for Građanski at the Yugoslav highest level. In the 1939–40, the system changed, and Građanski was placed in the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer o ...

. Finishing fifth, they failed to qualify for the final tournament. During 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 ...

, Atanaskov scored eight goals. In total, Atanaskov made 26 appearances and scored 11 goals in the Yugoslav Championship, plus an unknown number of appearances and 12 goals in the

. The 1940–41 season was interrupted by 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 Axis invasion of Yugoslavia.

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, the city Građanski in which was based, became incorporated into Axis-allied Bulgaria. The new Bulgarian authorities decided to merge several of the best clubs from Skopje, including Građanski, SSK Skoplje, ŽSK, Pobeda Skoplje and Jug, into one club named FC Makedonia. Most of the players of the new club were former Građanski players, including their coach, Hungarian Illés Spitz. FC Makedonia participated in the

1941 Bulgarian State Football Championship Statistics of Bulgarian State Football Championship in the 1941 season. Overview It was contested by 11 teams, and PFC Slavia Sofia won the championship. The 1941 season was the first A PFG season to include teams from Vardar Macedonia, Western T ...

but were eliminated the away game in fault of travel restrictions. In the 1942 Bulgarian State Football Championship, they performed better, eliminating ZhsK Sofia and reaching the finals after defeating

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...

. In the final, they lost both games to Levski.

International

Following their performance in the 1942 Championship, several FC Makedonia players were called up to the

Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( BFS) is the governing body of association football in Bulgaria, and a member of UEFA since 1954. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and fields its Bulgaria national football team in UEFA and F ...

, including Atanaskov. He made two appearances for the Bulgarian national team, the first one on 11 April 1942, against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in Zagreb, and the second one on 19 July 1942, against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in Sofia. After the end of World War II and the re-establishment of Yugoslavia, Atanaskov returned to the newly formed

Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

within Yugoslavia. The communist authorities disbanded pre-war monarchist clubs and formed new ones aligned with the communist ideology. Astanaskov was brought to Belgrade and played for the newly formed

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 ...

under the Serbianised name he used before the war, ''Svetozar Atanacković.'' He played with Red Star in the 1946–47 and

1947–48 Yugoslav First League Teams Changes from last season ;Teams promoted from 1946–47 Yugoslav Second League: * Sarajevo ;Teams relegated from 1946–47 Yugoslav First League: *9th place: Kvarner (Rijeka) * 10th place: Budućnost (Titograd) * 12th place: Željezniča ...

.Svetozar Atanackvić
at redstarbelgrade.info

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atanaskov, Todor 1919 births Possibly living people Men's association football forwards Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Yugoslav men's footballers Gragjanski Skopje players Red Star Belgrade footballers Yugoslav First League players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen