Dragan Mance

Dragan Mance

Personal information
Full name	Dragan Mance
Date of birth	26 September 1962
Place of birth	Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia
Date of death	3 September 1985 (aged 22)
Place of death	Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1977–1980	Galenika Zemun
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1980	Galenika Zemun	2	(0)
1980–1985	Partizan	117	(42)
Total		119	(42)
National team
1983	Yugoslavia	4	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Dragan Mance (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Манце; 26 September 1962 – 3 September 1985) was a Yugoslav professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent the majority of his career at Partizan, earning a legendary status among the club's fans. Mance died in a car accident while traveling to a training session, 23 days before his 23rd birthday.^[1]

Club career

Mance started playing football with his local club Galenika Zemun, joining them at the relatively late age of 15. He quickly showed his talent, making his first team debut in the Yugoslav Second League at the age of 17. In September 1980, Mance was transferred to Partizan in exchange for experienced striker Slobodan Santrač who moved in the opposite direction.

Mance made his league debut for Partizan on 22 November 1980 in a 1–1 home draw with Sarajevo, coming on as a second half substitute. He made five more league appearances until the end of the 1980–81 season. On 12 August 1981, Mance scored his first league goal for the club in a 1–0 home win over Radnički Niš. He finished the 1981–82 campaign with five goals in 21 league appearances. Mance was the club's top scorer in the 1982–83 season, helping them win the Yugoslav First League after five years. He made 28 league appearances and scored eight goals in the following 1983–84 season.

In 1984–85, Mance again finished the season as the club's top scorer. He is arguably best remembered for scoring a spectacular long-range goal away at Queens Park Rangers in the first leg of the UEFA Cup second round. Despite a 2–6 loss at Highbury, Partizan progressed to the next round after defeating them 4–0 in the return leg at home.^[2] Mance scored the opening goal of the match that was placed 70th on the list of the "Top 100 Greatest Matches" by Eurosport in 2009.^[3]

In the summer of 1985, after much speculation, Mance signed a new four-year contract with Partizan which would keep him at the club until 1989. On 1 September 1985, Mance eventually played his last match for Partizan in a 2–1 home league win over Budućnost Titograd, scoring the team's second goal from the penalty spot. He died only two days later, on 3 September 1985, in a car accident on the road while driving to the team's training camp.^[4]

International career

Mance was capped four times for Yugoslavia. He made his national team debut on 23 April 1983 in a friendly against France, a 0–4 away loss. His last cap came in November of the same year in another friendly versus France, a 0–0 home draw.

Statistics

Club

Club	Season	League		Continental		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Galenika Zemun	1979–80	1	0	0	0	1	0
	1980–81	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total	2	0	0	0	2	0
Partizan	1980–81	6	0	0	0	6	0
	1981–82	21	5	0	0	21	5
	1982–83	30	15	0	0	30	15
	1983–84	28	8	4	0	32	8
	1984–85	27	12	6	3	33	15
	1985–86	5	2	0	0	5	2
	Total	117	42	10	3	127	45
Career total		119	42	10	3	129	45

International

Yugoslavia national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1983	4	0
Total	4	0

Honours

Partizan

• Yugoslav First League: 1982–83

References

1. "Dragan Mance, 27 godina posle" (in Serbian). sportal.rs. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
2. "Europe's biggest second-leg comebacks". uefa.com. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
3. "Meč Partizan-KPR među 100 najboljih" (in Serbian). b92.net. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
4. "Dragan Mance" (in Serbian). blic.rs. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

External links

• Dragan Mance profile at worldfootball.net
• Dragan Mance profile at reprezentacija.rs