Stojan Osojnak

Stojan Osojnak

Personal information
Date of birth	1923
Place of birth	Abbazia, Kingdom of Italy
Playing position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1949–1953	Rijeka		(45)
1953–1955	Dinamo Zagreb	22	(11)
1955–1959	Rijeka		(26)
Teams managed
1960–1961	Rijeka
1962–1963	Rijeka
1964–1967	Rijeka
1967–1968	Sion
1969–1970	Chiasso
1977	Chiasso
1993	Chiasso
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Stojan Osojnak is a former Croatian football player and manager. He played for Dinamo Zagreb and NK Rijeka in the 1940s and 1950s and is considered the most notable player from Opatija,^[1] and one of the five greatest forwards in the history of NK Rijeka (along with Bruno Veselica, Miodrag Kustudić, Milan Radović and Tonči Gulin).^[2]

Osojnak is also notable for appearing in the first ever match played by Dinamo Zagreb on 23 June 1945, a friendly game against the Yugoslav Air Force team played in Zagreb.^[3] However, Osojnak was dropped from the squad before the club started competing in post-war championships and he did not appear for the club in competitive matches in the following seasons.

Between the late 1940s and early 1950s he had his first spell at NK Rijeka (named "NK Kvarner" at the time) and scored 45 league goals for the club in the period from 1949 and 1953. In 1953 he was signed by Dinamo Zagreb and this time he appeared in 22 league matches and scored 11 goals over the next three Yugoslav First League seasons, appearing alongside other Dinamo greats such as Željko Čajkovski, Tomislav Crnković, Dionizije Dvornić, Vladimir Čonč and Luka Lipošinović. He is mainly remembered for his performances in the title-winning 1953–54 season, in which he scored 9 goals in 10 league appearances for the Blues, including the crucial goal against Red Star Belgrade at Maksimir on 25 April 1954, which sealed Dinamo's second championship triumph.^[2][4]

In 1955 he returned to NK Rijeka and played there until his retirement in 1959, scoring 26 goals for the club in his last four playing seasons. After retiring from active football, Osojnak started working as manager and had three managing spells at NK Rijeka (1960–1961, 1962–1963 with Angelo Zikovich and 1964–1967), his greatest achievements being finishing 4th in the Yugoslav championship in 1964–65 and 1965–66.^[4]

He also had managing spells at several clubs in Switzerland, including FC Sion (1967–1968, replacing his former Dinamo teammate Lev Mantula) and FC Chiasso (1969–1970 and 1993).^[5]

References

1. "Otvoreno preuređeno nogometno igralište". Opatija.hr (in Croatian). City of Opatija. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
2. Rivetti, Orlando (4 January 2010). "Ahmad bi na Kantridi zabio ono što promašuje na Poljudu". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 5 August 2010.
3. Jajčević, Zdenko (June 2005). "Od Dinama do Dinama" (PDF). Olimp (in Croatian) (Croatian Olympic Committee). p. 9. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
4. Rivetti, Orlando (30 August 2006). "Osojnak - legenda Rijeke i Dinama". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 5 August 2010.
5. Garin, Erik (20 June 2007). "Switzerland - Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 August 2010.

External links

• Short article about Osojnak at Jutarnji list (Croatian)