Blagoje Bratić

Blagoje Bratić
Personal information
Full name Blagoje Bratić
Date of birth (1946-03-01)March 1, 1946
Place of birth Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
Date of death July 31, 2008(2008-07-31) (aged 62)
Place of death Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Playing position Defender
Youth career
Pretis Vogošća
Željezničar Sarajevo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1964–1976 Željezničar Sarajevo 301 (29)
National team
1972 Yugoslavia 3 (0)
Teams managed
Lokomotiva Brčko
Elektrobosna Jajce
GOŠK Dubrovnik
Famos Hrasnica
Iskra Bugojno
1987–1988 Željezničar Sarajevo

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Blagoje “Blažo” Bratić (March 1, 1946 – July 31, 2008) was a Bosnian footballer and manager.

Playing career

Born in Sarajevo, he started playing football in Pretis Vogošća (later known as UNIS, and today as FK Vogošća) at the age of 14. As a talented youngster, he moved to FK Željezničar where he would become one of the more notable Yugoslav defenders at the time. He made his debut for Željo's first team in 1964, and was a standout member of the club's greatest generation that won its only Yugoslav First League title in 1972. He played 343 official competitive games for FK Željezničar, more than anyone in the club's 86-year-old history. He scored a total of 32 goals for the club in all competitions.

Bratić collected three caps for the Yugoslav national team.

He decided to end his playing career in 1976, at the age of 30.

Coaching career

He stayed in football, however, as the head coach of lower division sides such as Lokomotiva Brčko, Famos Hrasnica, GOŠK Dubrovnik, and Iskra Bugojno, before finally getting a chance to lead a top-division team with FK Željezničar in the first part of 1987/88 season. In the early 1990s he coached in Malaysia.

In 1994, Bratić and his family fled to Toronto to escape the Bosnian War. For some time, he worked as sports director and coach of the Toronto Metro Lions.

Personal life

Bratić was married to his wife Miza with whom he had two sons named Denis and Saša.

Death

Bratić died on July 31, 2008 at the age of 62. He is interred in Toronto's York Cemetery.[1]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.