Jurica Jerković

Jurica Jerković
Personal information
Date of birth	(1950-02-25) 25 February 1950
Place of birth	Split, FPR Yugoslavia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1965–1967	Hajduk Split
1967–1968	→ RNK Split (loan)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1968–1978	Hajduk Split	250	(74)
1978–1985	FC Zürich	215	(57)
1985–1986	Lugano	30	(9)
Total		495	(140)
National team
1970–1982	Yugoslavia	43	(6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Jurica "Jure" Jerković (born 25 February 1950 in Split, SR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a former Yugoslav footballer. During his time with Hajduk Split in the 1970s, he was known for his amazing playmaker skills and for his romantic approach to football. He captained the Hajduk golden generation of that time under coach Tomislav Ivić which is considered to be the best Hajduk squad of all time.

Career

HNK Hajduk Split

Jerković started his youth and senior career at Hajduk Split. In the youth academy he was trained by Tomislav Ivić who would later become his senior manager. He went on a one-year loan to RNK Split. After finishing the loan in 1968, he went back to Hajduk where he made his senior professional debut. Jerković was a part of a new Hajduk generation created by Tomislav Ivić that would dominate the Yugoslav First League during the 1970s.

Jerković won his first trophy in 1971 when Hajduk won the Yugoslav championship. It was Hajduk's first league trophy in 16 years. In 1972 Ivić took charge of Hajduk and Jerković won his first Yugoslav Cup. He won the cup again in the following season under Branko Zebec. In 1973 the "old guard" of Hajduk decided to leave which included players like Nadoveza, Hlevnjak and Vukčević. Tomislav Ivić returned to manage Hajduk and with the young forces he created a few years ago in the academy he was ready to dominate the league. In 1974 Hajduk played the last game of the season against OFK Beograd and they needed a win to secure the championship. Jurica Jerković scored the 2nd goal in the 89th minute and won the championship with his team. Hajduk won the "double" for the first time in their history when they won the 1974 Yugoslav Cup alongside the championship.

At that time Jurica Jerković became the captain of the team. Jerković-Šurjak-Žungul became the fantastic trio that created the most goals for the squad. In 1975 Jerković won another Yugoslav championship which was Hajduk's first time that they managed to defend their previous title. In that season he scored his most beautiful goal in his career against FK Velež. The next season Hajduk fought FK Partizan over the championship. 2 rounds before the end of the season Hajduk faced Partizan in Belgrade. Thanks to the brilliance of Jerković and his teammates they defeated Partizan 6–1 but in the last round Partizan won the championship with the help of referee Maksimović. Jerković still won the Yugoslav Cup that season. In 1977 Jerković won his 5th in a row Yugoslav Cup. Jerković won the Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award in 1971 and in 1976.

Jerković played in a lot of UEFA competitions with Hajduk. He played in the 1973 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final where they were kicked out by Leeds United. He played in the 1974 European Cup disaster against AS Saint-Étienne where Hajduk lost 1–5 in the second leg after defeating them 4–1 in the first leg. His biggest success was the 1975 European Cup quarter-final where they were defeated by PSV Eindhoven on a 2–3 aggregate. In his last season for Hajduk he lost against Rapid Vienna on penalties in the Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals. Jerković left Hajduk in 1978 and went to FC Zürich.

Jurica Jerković was described as one of the last romantic footballers around these parts. He was loved by the fans and many still believe today that he was one of the best footballers in Hajduk history. His number 10 is still today given to only the best players in Hajduk and those who decide to take it must prove that they are worth it. He made 529 appearances for Hajduk and scored 219 goals. He is the 6th most capped player in Hajduk history. In 2011 he was chosen in the Hajduk "Team of the century" which represents the best 11 players since 1911.

FC Zurich

In 1978 he moved to FC Zurich at the age of 28. During his time there he won the Swiss championship in 1981 and the Swiss League Cup the same year. He played in the 1981–82 European Cup where he scored a hattrick in the First round against Dynamo Berlin. He won the Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year award in 1979, 1982 and 1983. He probably went into history as one of the best foreign players in the club. In 1985 at the age of 35 he left Zurich for FC Lugano where he played until his retirement in 1987.

International

Jerković made his international debut for Yugoslavia on 12 April 1970 against Hungary in a friendly match. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 victory against the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. In July 1971 he played at Pelé's farewell match where he scored an amazing goal from a long distance. He played 3 matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup in which Yugoslavia didn't make it past the second round. He helped his team reach the UEFA Euro 1976 where he played in both matches but Yugoslavia lost them both. He played his last match for Yugoslavia on 29 November 1981 against Greece in the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He participated in the 1982 FIFA World Cup but without any appearance. After the 1982 World Cup he retired from the national squad. He made 43 appearances and scored 6 goals for Yugoslavia.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 April 1971	Stadion Stari plac, Split	Netherlands	1 – 0	2 – 0	World Cup 1974 Qualifying
2	18 July 1971	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	2 – 2	2 – 2	Exhibition game
3	29 June 1972	Estádio Independência, Belo Horizonte	Scotland	2 – 2	2 – 2	Exhibition game
4	29 May 1974	Sóstói Stadion, Székesfehérvár	Hungary	2 – 0	2 – 4	Exhibition game
5	23 March 1977	Stadion JNA, Belgrade	Soviet Union	2 – 3	2 – 4	Exhibition game
6	29 November 1981	Karaiskakis Stadium, Athens	Greece	2 – 1	2 – 1	World Cup 1982 Qualifying

Player honours

Hajduk Split

Yugoslav First League (3): 1971, 1974, 1975
Yugoslav Cup (5): 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977

FC Zürich

Swiss Super League (1): 1981
Swiss League Cup (1): 1981

Individual awards

Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award (2): 1971, 1976
Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year (3): 1979, 1982, 1983

External links

Jurica Jerković at National-Football-Teams.com
Jurica Jerković at the Serbian national football team website (Serbian)
Jurica Jerković – FIFA competition record

Swiss Footballer of the Year

Previous winners	1972–73: Karl Odermatt 1973–74: verilmedi 1974–75: Umberto Barberis 1975–76: Köbi Kuhn 1976–77: Hansjörg Pfister 1977–78: Rudolf Elsener 1978–79: Umberto Barberis 1979–80: Umberto Barberis 1980–81: Heinz Lüdi 1981–82: Claudio Sulser 1982–83: Lucien Favre 1983–84: Heinz Hermann 1984–85: Heinz Hermann / Rolf Osterwalder 1985–86: Heinz Hermann 1986–87: Heinz Hermann 1987–88: Heinz Hermann 1988–89: Peter Nadig 1989–90: André Egli 1990–91: Adrian Knup 1991–92: Jean-Paul Brigger 1992–93: Ciriaco Sforza 1993–94: Thomas Bickel 1994–95: Nestor Subiat 1995–96: Kubilay Türkyilmaz 1996–97: Kubilay Türkyilmaz 1997–98: Kubilay Türkyilmaz

Foreigner of the Year	1974–75: Ilija Katić 1975–76: Ilija Katić 1976–77: Eigil Nielsen 1977–78: Martin Chivers 1978–79: Jurica Jerković 1979–80: Piet Hamberg 1980–81: Robert Kok 1981–82: Jurica Jerković 1982–83: Jurica Jerković 1983–84: Raúl Nogués 1984–85: Charly Herberth 1985–86: Lars Lunde 1986–87: Robert Prytz 1987–88: John Eriksen 1988–89: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 1989–90: Iván Zamorano 1990–91: Edwin Gorter 1991–92: Igor Dobrovolski 1992–93: Sonny Anderson 1993–94: Élber 1994–95: Petar Aleksandrov 1995–96: Viorel Moldovan 1996–97: Viorel Moldovan 1997–98: Shabani Nonda

Yugoslavia squad – 1974 FIFA World Cup

1 Marić 2 Buljan 3 Hadžiabdić 4 Mužinić 5 Katalinski 6 Bogićević 7 Petković 8 Oblak 9 Šurjak 10 Aćimović 11 Džajić (c) 12 Jerković 13 Pavlović 14 Peruzović 15 Dojčinovski 16 Vladić 17 Popivoda 18 Karasi 19 Bajević 20 V. Petrović 21 O. Petrović 22 Mešković Coach: Miljanić

Yugoslavia squad – UEFA Euro 1976 Fourth Place

1 Petrović 2 Buljan 3 Hadžiabdić 4 Mužinić 5 Katalinski 6 Šurjak 7 Popivoda 8 Oblak 9 Aćimović 10 Jerković 11 Džajić 12 Marić 13 Halilhodžić 14 Šljivo 15 Vladić 16 Vukotić 17 Žungul 20 Peruzović Coach: Mladinić

Yugoslavia squad – 1982 FIFA World Cup

1 Pantelić 2 Jerolimov 3 Gudelj 4 Zajec 5 Stojković 6 Krmpotić 7 Petrović 8 Šljivo 9 Zo. Vujović 10 Živković 11 Zl. Vujović 12 Pudar 13 Sušić 14 Jovanović 15 Hrstić 16 Šestić 17 Jerković 18 Deverić 19 Halilhodžić 20 Šurjak (c) 21 Pašić 22 Svilar Coach: Miljanić

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