HŠK Građanski Zagreb


HŠK Građanski, also known as 1. HŠK Građanski or fully Prvi hrvatski građanski športski klub, was a Croatian football club established in Zagreb in 1911 and dissolved in 1945. The club had a huge influence on the development of football in Croatia and Kingdom of Yugoslavia and achieved its greatest success in the period between the two World Wars.

History

The golden era

In 1911, when Croatia was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Građanski was founded in Zagreb by Andrija Mutafelija and a few of his friends in response to rumors that a football club that was meant to play in the Hungarian football league was about to be established. Građanski was therefore founded as a multi-sports club with a distinctly Croatian identity intended to cater to citizens of Zagreb, with sections dedicated to football, handball and cycling. At first they used grounds in Zagreb's neighbourhoods of Tuškanac, Martinovka and Kanal, until they built their own stadium at Koturaška street, which was officially opened in 1924 by Stjepan Radić, a prominent Croatian politician.
The club lost their first game to city rivals HAŠK but it soon became very popular and widely supported by the Zagreb's working class. In following years, a healthy rivalry developed between the two city clubs, and after the Kingdom of Yugoslavia First League was launched on a national level in 1923, Građanski's greatest rivals outside Zagreb soon became BSK Belgrade and Hajduk Split. During the 1920s and 1930s Građanski became the most popular club in Zagreb as they won five Yugoslav championship titles.

International games

Internationally, the club went on several successful tours – on one of these, in 1923 in Spain, Građanski beat Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. The club often toured to Austria and Hungary and played friendly matches with top local sides. In 1936 they went on tour to England where they adopted the WM formation which helped them win the 1936–1937 Yugoslav championship. Márton Bukovi, who started using the formation as Građanski manager in 1936, introduced it to Hungary in the late 1940s and later modified it into the now famous WW system which brought the Hungary national football team to the final game of the 1954 World Cup and which was later exported on to Brazil as the 4–2–4 formation.
Građanski were also hosts to friendlies with prominent European teams. In June 1934, Građanski hosted a 0–0 draw with the Brazil national football team , and in May 1936 Liverpool FC suffered their first continental defeat in Zagreb, a 5–1 thrashing in front of an audience of 10,000 with August Lešnik scoring a hat-trick and Berry Nieuwenhuys claiming a consolation goal for the Reds. Also in 1936, the club visited Scotland where at Tynecastle they drew 4–4 with Heart of Midlothian.

Građanski in Europe

The club competed in the Mitropa Cup, the first European international club competition, on three occasions – in 1928, 1937 and 1940. In 1928 Građanski were knocked out in the two-legged quarterfinal by Viktoria Žižkov of Czechoslovakia with 4:8 on aggregate. Nine years later, Građanski exited early again after suffering a 1:6 aggregate loss to Genova 1893 FBC. In 1940 they beat the Hungarian side Újpest FC in the quarterfinal, only to be defeated by Rapid Bucharest in the semifinal. Both legs ended without goals, so a playoff game in Subotica was held, which ended 1:1. Rapid progressed to the final on a coin toss, but the final game was never played because of the outbreak of World War II.

World War II

Having been invaded by the Axis Powers in 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was dissolved and sports competitions in the nation were suspended. One exception was the Independent State of Croatia, which enjoyed peace as an Axis member, so the NDH continued to hold national competitions featuring prominent Croatian clubs. Four of these seasons were started but only the second and third editions were finished, with Građanski winning the 1942–43 season.
When war ended in 1945 the club was disbanded by the new communist government and its archives were destroyed in retribution for competing in the wartime fascist-sponsored football league. The club's last official game was a 2–2 draw against HAŠK on 10 April 1945, just before both clubs were disbanded.
In June 1945 Dinamo Zagreb was established to take its place as Zagreb's football powerhouse. The newly established Dinamo took over Građanski's colours and nickname, and inherited its pre-war fan base, and in 1969 even adopted a badge strongly resembling Građanski's. Initially, Dinamo also used Građanski's Stadion Koturaška, before moving to an expanded version of HAŠK's former ground at Stadion Maksimir in 1948, where it stayed to this day.
Many Građanski players continued their career at Dinamo after the war as well as their coach Márton Bukovi, while others moved to FK Partizan in Belgrade, which was established after the war as the official Yugoslav Army club.

Notable players

Since Zagreb was home to the Croatian-named Nogometni Savez Jugoslavije since its establishment in 1919 and both Građanski as a club and Zagreb as a city were regarded as local football powerhouses, Građanski players often earned caps for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia national football team, mostly for games at Olympic tournaments, the Balkan Cup and World Cup qualifiers.
In late 1929 the association dissolved after disagreements between the Zagreb and Belgrade regional branches and this resulted in the association being moved to Belgrade in May 1930 where it adopted the Serbian name Fudbalski Savez Jugoslavije. Because of this, Croatian players boycotted the national team which was scheduled to compete at the 1930 World Cup in July in Uruguay, so Yugoslavia sent a squad consisting entirely of Serbian players called up from Belgrade clubs. The team managed to beat Brazil 2–1 and Bolivia 4–0 but were then crushed by Uruguay 1–6 in the semi-final. Since Yugoslavia failed to qualify for the next two World Cups in 1934 and 1938, this meant that no Croat appeared at World Cup tournaments until Yugoslavia's next appearance at the 1950 World Cup. By that time Građanski had ceased to exist, although Stjepan Bobek, who initially played for Građanski 1943–1945 before switching to newly formed Partizan after the war, was a key player of the national team at both 1950 and 1954 World Cups and at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic tournaments.
The following is a list of Građanski players who earned at least one cap for Kingdom of Yugoslavia national team while playing at the club in the period from 1920 to 1941. Appearances and goals are taken from Football Association of Serbia database, and represent players' career totals. During WW2 the fascist Independent State of Croatia fielded its own FIFA-registered national team which played a total of 15 friendlies between 1941 and 1944. The team was largely composed of Građanski players, and initially managed by Jozo Jakopić, director of Građanski. Players who appeared for Croatia in that period are marked with †. After the war and dissolution of Građanski some of its players were called up to play for the newly established communist SFR Yugoslavia team. Only four players appeared for all three national teams during this politically turbulent period – Miroslav Brozović, Zvonimir Cimermančić, Branko Pleše and Franjo Wölfl).
PlayerPositionYugoslavia careerAppsaGoalsaOlympic squadsb
Milan Antolković †Forward1937–193981
Dragutin BabićDefender1921–19311021924 OT, 1928 OT
Ivan Belošević †Defender1933–1939110
August BivecDefender193310
Dragutin BratulićGoalkeeper1934–193530
Miroslav Brozović †Defender1940–1948c1701948 OT
Zvonimir Cimermančić †Defender1940–1948c931948 OT
Slavin CindrićForward1920–1928531920 OT, 1924 OT, 1928 OT
Eugen DasovićDefender1923–19271001924 OT
Ernest Dubac †Defender1938–1941140
Svetozar Đanić †Midfielder1940–194130
Fritz FederberDefender192210
Franjo GillerMidfielder1926–19321331928 OT
Franjo Glaser †Goalkeeper1933–1940350
Ivan GranecMidfielder1920101920 OT
Bernard HüglDefender1934–1939240
Rudolf HitrecMidfielder192610
Ivan Jazbinšek †Defender1938–1941701948 OT
Hugo KinertMidfielder1921–192220
Mirko Kokotović †Midfielder1931–1939234
Gustav Lechner †Midfielder1931–1940440
August Lešnik †Forward1937–1940104
Florijan Matekalo †Midfielder194010
Maksimilijan MihalčićGoalkeeper1925–19311801928 OT
Emil PerškaForward1920–19271421920 OT, 1924 OT, 1928 OT
Branko Pleše †Midfielder1937–1946c63
Antun Pogačnik †Defender193720
Danijel PremerlDefender1925–19322911928 OT
Marko RajkovićDefender1931–193320
Rudolf RupecDefender1920–1924901920 OT, 1924 OT
Jaroslav ŠiferDefender1920–1922611920 OT
Vilmos SiposForward1934–1939131
Josip UrbankeMidfielder192610
Dragutin VragovićMidfielder1920–1923701920 OT, 1924 OT
Dragutin VrđukaGoalkeeper1920–1924701920 OT, 1924 OT
Franjo Wölfl †Forward1938–1951c1261948 OT
Aleksandar ŽivkovićForward1931–19351515


Managers

List of managers:

Domestic competitions