OFK BEOGRAD

'OFK Beograd' (Serbian Cyrillic: ОФК Београд) is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia, more precisely from the Karaburma urban neighborhood. The name means "Youth Football Club Belgrade" (OFK is an acronym for 'Omladinski Fudbalski Klub').

Contents

History

The beginning

The Golden Era

The Silent Fall

Modern Times

Youth Club

The Fans

Notable Players

Current Squad

Squad changes just before and during 2007/08 season

Gallery

External links

History

The beginning

'OFK Beograd' was founded in 1911 under the name 'BSK' in Kingdom of Serbia. The club won five national league titles in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In its rich history, the club has also been named of 'Metalac' between 1945 and 1950.
How it all started is just as how the club is living today: never on top but always between the best. Usually it is in the shadow of bigger Belgrade clubs such as Red Star and Partizan, but always in the search of its own identity and place on the big stage. On the field it always went well, but the stadium remained empty. The problem was the name, it didn't attract the attention of fans. This is why in 1950, the club brings back its old name of BSK.

The Golden Era

A two decade long 'Golden Era' had begun. Already in 1953, the club had won the Yugoslav Cup. Three other celebrations followed, in 1955, 1962 and 1966. The club was the national vice-champion twice, in 1955 and in 1964, and the club was very rarely standing under 6th position in the league table. In the meantime, the club had changed its name once again. In 1957, the club is baptised into today's OFK Beograd, once again in an attempt to attract spectators to the stadium especially for the younger ones who often opted for either Red Star or Partizan. In that time, the players played attractive and lovely football and therefore got the nickname of "Romantičari".
The 1960s and the first half of the 1970s were years of European glory. OFK Beograd had participated seven times in European competitions. Their biggest success came in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1962-63 season, losing in the semifinals against Tottenham Hotspur, eventual champions. It was at the same time the first good performance from a Yugoslav club in intercontinental competitions. In the following ten years, football giants such as Napoli, Feyenoord, Panathinaikos and Juventus also fell to the "blue and white".

The Silent Fall

The Romantičari were not able to take advantage of their success on the domestic and European scene. After several successful season, a sudden fall occurred. OFK Beograd was slowly losing its brilliance. During the 1980s, the club has often been changing leagues, from the First Division to the Second. In Karaburma, nothing could remind us of the old glorious days except a few bleaky old pictures. 'The Silent Fall' lasted as long as the Golden Era. Still, the tradition could not be forgotten and the club comes back to its old habits in the 1990s. Fourth position in 1992 and 1994 announced a bright future for OFK in the 21st century.

Modern Times

Everything changes, OFK Beograd included. The club holds a new image in the new century. The construction of a new club center, better coaching staff, intelligent tactics, and an aggressive marketing are just some of the details the club brings in the new century.
In the summer of 2003, they were back in European competitions. They played in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. OFK humiliated Estonian side FC Narva Trans at home by the score of 6-1, but UEFA canceled the result because of a smoke bomb being thrown on the field during the game. We later discovered it was the act of an angry hooligan from a city rival, furious about his club being relegated to the Second Division. Consequently, only the second leg result would count. OFK Beograd did not let its fans down and won in Tallinn by the score of 5-3. In the second round they were eliminated by Czech representants 1. FC Slovácko by the aggregate score of 4-3.
This was the end of OFK's European story, or we could rather say that it was just shortly interrupted as the club was back on the European stage in 2004. The club started playing in the second round and easily eliminated Dinaburg FC. In the third round, OFK went on to play against Tampere United at the legendary Ratina Stadium, host of a historic match between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Yugoslavia were having a torrid time against the Soviets. 5-1 up with 15 minutes of their first round match to go, the Yugoslavs, understandably, put their feet up. Arthur Ellis, the match referee, recorded what happened next in his book 'The Final Whistle' (London, 1963): 'The USSR forced the most honourable draw ever recorded! Bobrov, their captain, scored a magnificent hat-trick. After the USSR had reduced the lead to 5-2, he, almost single-handed, took the score to 5-5, scoring his third in the last minute. For once, use of the word sensational was justified'. Although Bobrov's early goal in their replay presaged a miraculous recovery, Yugoslavia national football team recovered sufficiently to put out their opponents easily in the second half. The Soviet side had been expected by Moscow to win the 1952 Games, and their defeat by Yugoslavia was not mentioned in the Soviet press until after Stalin's death the following year. OFK Beograd defeated their Finnish opponents and deservedly went on to play in the semifinals. They were eliminated by a better and more experienced opponent, Atlético Madrid.
In 2005, the club reached the UEFA Cup second round of qualifying after more than 32 years, losing to Lokomotiv Plovdiv by the away goals rule. In 2006, the club was awaiting French side AJ Auxerre, once again in the UEFA Cup. In the first game, in Belgrade, OFK defeated their opponents by the score of 1-0. In the second game, it looked like the Serbian club was through with the score being 2-1 in favor of Auxerre with only ten minutes to play. Clearly, the "blue and white" couldn't cope under pressure and allowed three goals in only ten minutes, suffering a heavy 5-1 loss and ending their European dream.
Their goal still isn't achieved, but we can say that another step towards the top of domestic football has been overcomed.

Youth Club

OFK Beograd's 'Youth Club' has always been regarded as one of the best in Serbia. In its 95 years of existence, it produced hundreds of players who played for OFK Beograd's senior first team, the national team and who became players of international calibre.
Players such as Ilija Petković, Mitar Mrkela, Dragoslav Stepanović, Slobodan Santrač and Saša Ćurčić all played in different periods of time but they all share one thing together and that is their youth development at OFK Beograd.
Since OFK Beograd's existence, attention was always turned to the younger categories of players and the results of that work are directly responsible for the club's success. Modern football is a serious aspect of the club, this is why it does everything in its possibility to modernize the training facilities. Recently, the club has built a whole new private training center, compromising eight playing fields along with training equipment with the newest technology. OFK Beograd is constantly in search of better quality at their Youth Club.
A youth school was created compromising 150 players born in between 1996 and 1999. There are also seven competitive teams for which more than 170 players are playing. The youth system compromises around 20 highly qualified coaches who are all specialised in certain areas of the game. Most of the coaches are former players who spent years at the club and who also went through the same youth system. Several physios are also present and are equipped with the newest technology for their work.
Currently, the board is examinating the possibility of cutting a hundred players from the youth system as they believe the coaches would have an easier job and could concentrate on indiviuals.
OFK Beograd is always proud of their Youth Club and the atmosphere they create for youth development. They are getting better coaching every year and it is said that the players now progress more rapidly than they did in the past. The club is always a strong contender in the Serbian Superliga and usually qualifies for European competitions, which proves the quality and huge efforts put in the youth system.

The Fans

OFK Beograd's fans are commonly known as 'Blue Union' (Plava Unija) since 1994.
The whole story begins in 1911 when Beogradski Sportski Klub (BSK) is founded, a club who dominated the fields of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but it was also known for one other thing, its fans.
The club's fans followed the team wherever it went, they carried the spirit and of the city of Belgrade in their hearts, and were always present in the clubs' hardest moments. Many things could've broken the enthusiasm of the fans, such as the war or constant name changes, but nothing could separate the fans from their beloved club.
The fans' modern history is not as glorious as it used to be, but one thing is sure - the old spirit is also present in the new fans' hearts.
An organized group appears for the first time in 1984 under the name of "Blue Thunders". The group lives under that name until 1990, but influenced by the rise of nationalism in Yugoslavia, they change their name to "Sokolovi". The group officially collapses in 1993 as football is nothing more than pure non-sense during that period in Serbia. The fans' love towards the club was certainly not forgotten and in 1994 a new group is founded - Blue Union Belgrade. The name says it all, as all the club's lovers unite to create what is today OFK Beograd's official fan group.
Every new beginning is complicated, one of the first things to do for the young group was to create a name for themselves and show that they exist. In any possible manner. Originality and aggressiveness towards the others proved to be the key to success. A confrontation with the club's board was inevitable since watching your team collapse slowly is not what the fans needed, but the Blue Union was the only one to stand up. Obviously, confrontations with other fan organizations of the same level happened, in an attempt by the Blue Union to get respected across Serbia. The group's participation in all events in the city put them shoulder-to-shoulder with the other organizations in the country already from the beginning. During that period, the group's friendship with Voždovac's fans, "Invalidi", officially begun. That friendship, over the years, has became something more and it is still the same today.
OFK Beograd has played in the "B" Division from 1996 to 1998, which was very interesting since they were the only team from the capital city of Belgrade. During those years, the group gains in expansion and under the slogan of "'JEDAN TIM - JEDAN GRAD - JEDNO IME - BEOGRAD'" follows the club throughout Serbia. The slogan translates to "One team - One city - One name - Belgrade".
When the "A" and "B" divisions made only one, the Blue Union started printing out their own newspapers. It was the first time such an iniative was taken by a club from Serbia. During every home game, every fan received a copy. Inside were articles about the club's past, its legends, the historic games, etc. Unfortunanely, there were only ten editions before the newpapers ceased to exist.
The Blue Union continues to support their beloved club even if the attendance at Omladinski Stadium is very low in the recent years. Since 1994, a lot of events happened, the younger people who were founding members of the group are still very present and active, and one thing is sure: the Blue Union is still proudly supporting OFK Beograd and will always be.

Notable Players

Here are some of the many football legends who have played for OFK Beograd.

★ Ilija Petković

★ Slobodan Santrač

★ Dragoslav Stepanović

★ Miloš Milutinović

★ Josip Skoblar

★ Aleksandar Tirnanić

Current Squad

Squad changes just before and during 2007/08 season

'Out:'

★ Aleksandar Kolarov - Transferred 'To' ''S.S. Lazio''

★ Slobodan Rajkovic - Transferred 'To' ''PSV''

★ Vladimir Bozovic - Transferred 'To' ''Rapid Bucuresti''

Gallery

External links

★ OFK Beograd - Official Site

★ Blue Union Belgrade - Fan Site