At the end of the 60’s, on the place of coach of Zeljeznicar came Milan Ribar, one of the most successful coaches in the rich history of Zeljeznicar. Under his baton played Zeljo’s children and very young players, and he introduced the so-called “total football”. Under his helm, Zeljo finished on the 4th place in 1970, a year later on second place, and in 1972 Zeljo conquered Yugoslavia and won the championship title with a record number of points.
Zeljo usually played in the following composition: Janjuš, Kojović, Bećirspahić, Bratić, Katalinski, Hadžiabdić, Jelušić, Janković, Bukal, Sprečo and Deraković.
“Driven by unseen cheering of Zeljo’s fans, on that day, the 11th of June 1972, they dismantled the machinery of Partizan and celebrated with the score 4: 0! Take a look at the winning moment in the VIDEO.
During the whole match Zeljo was superior and it was clear that Zeljo is the new champion of Yugoslavia, and that the Blue cannot lose this match. And then there was chaos…
Milan Ribar, famous coach of this team, found himself in the hands of his players at the center of the Partizan stadium. The jerseys were thrown to Zeljo’s fans as souvenirs. Fans sung: “Zeljo, Zeljo, champion, champion!” From Sarajevo was reported that Crvena Zvezda won Sarajevo on Kosevo stadium, but it meant nothing. The new champion for the first time in the history was Zeljo. And that was all that mattered, it was written in history and remembered forever.
After the match and the general chaos at the stadium, celebrations and songs, with applause of both Zeljo’s and Partizan fans, it went on the streets of Belgrade. Zeljo’s fans stopped the traffic. They waved with flags, sung, and shouted: “Champions, champions,” while citizens of Belgrade were watching them with sympathy and congratulated them, according to the book Plava krv (Blue Blood) by author Djevdet Sarac.
Take a look at the solemn performance of the song for winning of the champions title in 1972 in the VIDEO.
(Source: fkzeljeznicar.ba)
