FK BASK Beograd

Football club infobox
clubname = FK BASK

| fullname = _sr. Fudbalski klub BASK
founded = 1903
ground = Careva ćuprija
capacity = 2,000
chairman = flagicon|Serbia Bojan Radovanović
manager = flagicon|Serbia Simo Krunić
league = Srpska Liga
season = 2006-07
position = Prva Liga Telekom Srbija, 18th
"Relegated"
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leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=F1771D|body2=F1771D|rightarm2=F1771D|shorts2=F1771D|socks2=F1771D

Fudbalski Klub BASK (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК БАСК , English: "Football Club BASK") is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. It is one of the oldest clubs in Serbia. The club currently competes in Serbia's third division the Srpska Liga.

Formation of the Club

In the Kingdom of Serbia there had been many sports sections and associations, whose members were constantly increasing in number. So in the year of 1891. Belgrade gymnastics association “Soko” was established. One student, Andra Nikolić, who later got PhD, become chairmen of the parliament, minister of education and foreign affairs, academic and writer (today in part of Belgrade called Senjak, there is a street named after him, Dr Andra Nikolić”), together with Hugo Buli, was also and initiator of foundation “The first Serbian association for games with ball”, on 1st of May 1899. This association for games with ball is considered also the first Serbian football club on territory of ex and current Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, this club had been closed very soon and it disappeared. Nevertheless, it succeeded in organizing one real contest on the new football field built in Guberevac.

Members of Gymnastics association Soko With continued with ball games, and their enthusiasm had not diminished. They have been gathering on one meadow in Jugovićeva Street. The new younger members had constantly joined them, and then started generation replacement. These lovers of ball decided finally to organize again and once more to establish their own club. On member’s gathering, after the usual training, under the open sky on their field, they have founded their club. Among others, unavoidable Hugo Buli, Steva Stefanović, Milan Bajić, Ljuba Jovanović, Mita Đorđević, Mita Stamenković, Boba Marković, Momir Korunović, M.Milosavljević and others were present.

Inaugural meeting was held on 18 April 1903, under the clear sky, on unoccupied lot in Braće Jugovića Street, where in that time was summer playfield Belgrade’s gymnastics association “SOKO”.

Assembly’s Participants had by acclamation elected Ljubomir Jovanović, who later became minister in governments of Kingdom of Serbia and president of national assembly, and satisfied with the work done, went home. When had met the following day on the playfield, somebody said: “Oh, my God, people, we have founded a club, and nobody had remembered that we should give it a name.” Really, in very big exaltation the previous day they have completely forgotten about that “detail”.

They have assembled again and then they have started making suggestion. People said that this debate had been very long and at some moments also very bitter, until Ljuba Jovanović, newly selected president, did not propose the name “SOKO”. The others have all agreed, so on 18 April 1903. of the old calendar, the first football club in Kingdom of Serbia appeared (FC Bačka from Subotica had been founded in 1901, two years before „SOKO“, but on territory of Austro-Hungarian of that time.

The early years

The first and foremost problem of newly founded club was a playfield. The field in Jugovićeva Street was too tight for the playground so another suitable place in Venice bog was found, between current Belgrade fair and railway station. However, they could not stay there because the river Save had risen up, flooded and destroy the playfield. Finally, an adequate playground ws found in part of Topčider and at foot of Košutnjak’s wood, in the place of current Range station Topčider. Although the playground was quite far from the city in that time, “SOKO” arranged it very well and stayed there for a full 27 years, until the state did not expropriated it for railway needs.

Some years later, the stadium got and athletics track, the small tribune for standing like these we see today on the stadiums of some smaller clubs. Together with “SOKO”, this playground entered the history. Apart from many local games, the first international game in Serbia, between national team of Yugoslavia and national team of Romania was played on it, which ended with the victory of our neighbours, with result 2:1.

It was the third international match of our football national team at all; in the first match, we had been defeated in Olympic Games in Anvers in 1920 by Czechoslovakia 7:0, and in the second match, that had been played on 28 October 1921 in Prague we also lost to the same rival 6:1. The match with Romania that was played on 8 May 1922, in the honour of the wedding of King Alexandar and Romanian Princes Maria, was observed by over 1,500 spectators, which is remarkable for that time. The Yugoslavian team, which was in that time called “White Eagles”, played in a following line-up: Fridrin, Kujundžić, Šifer, Šterka, Dubravčić, Pupec, Babić, Zinaja, Perška, Vinek, Šojat, and the shooter of the single goal we made, was Šifer. At the start of its work, FC SOKO had faced a problem playing games, because it was the only one club in this country and it simply could not find any rival. Because of that, the players of the FC SOKO usually played among themselves.

It was noted that one of the first and the biggest public games among two teams of FC SOKO had been played on Đurđevdan, 1904, in the honour of the celebration of centenary of the First Serbian uprising. In that game (the score is not known) following players participated: Stevan Stefanović, Milan Bajić, Vladimir Skobla, Dimitrije Đorđević Piperski, Dimitrije Stamenković, Nikola Spasić, Hugo Buli, Vlada Krstić and other. Six months after the FC SOKO had been founded, Serbian football and engineering pioneer, Danilo Stojanović – uncle Dacha, on 14 September 1903, founded the football club “Šumadija” so the SOKO got the first rival.

Nevertheless, two years have passed until the match between two oldest clubs in the Kingdom of Serbia took place, mostly because of very bad traffic relations between the two cities. Finally, on 20 July 1906, ŠUMADIA and SOKO met in Kragujevac, and the SOKO won by 6:1. In rematch, in 27. August 1906, SOKO won again, but this time more convincingly, with the score – 9:0. Unknown chronicle registered that the crown prince himself, Đorđe Karađorđević, was also present. For the history of Serbian football, it is very important that these were the first games between two clubs in this country. This tradition of the rival matches between renewed by FC BASK – former SOKO and FC ŠUMADIJA, only in 1993 on the occasion of celebration of 90-anniversary of FC BASK. Since then, every year on Đurđevdan, on 6th May and on Krstovdan, on 14th September, when they celebrate their holiday ˝slavas˝, this two clubs visit each other and continue friendly games in the green field.

Troubling times

Everything died with the beginning of the First World War. The footballers replaced the ball with a rifle. In concurrence of events, after Calvary in Albania, very large group of players form SOKO club ended up in Rome, where the government sent them to educate. Very soon, they agreed to renew their club in the foreign country, so they joined Italian FC PRO-ROMA, and as a special section under the name SOKO PRO ROMA, they started playing matches with other Italian clubs. In the half of 1918, as war drew to it’s end, SOKO PRO ROMA took part in matches for the cup of the city of Rome, and after SOKO defeated all the rivals, mostly renowned Italian football clubs of the time, they won the first place and the first international trophy for our football sport. The finale was played on 16 June 1918, on Piazza Dissiena, and after the triumph of SOKO’s players, flag of the Kingdom of Serbia flew high on the mast.

Following players played in our team and reached this succes: Dušan Elezović, Pavle Bajić, Brana Veljković, Jug Nikašinović, Miloš Simović, Milan Miodragović, Svetozar Popović- Kika, Denić, Pavle Lukićević and Živojin Simonović. (Praise them!)

Hard days of postwar renewal also included the FC SOKO. The club was immediately re-established and continued with work, but the results of the team were alarmingly bad. At first, matches have been lost with 9:0, 8:0, 9:1, but this did not discourage the management and players. In constant struggle with problems, at the end of the second decade of that century, SOKO was neck to neck with the best Belgrade clubs, BSK and Yugoslavia. In some duels with them, in 1929. SOKO made the first triumphs, successfully played against clubs from Zagreb, Građanskim, Haškom, Konkordijom, and in Split, in the same year, it defeated FC Hajduk with the score 2:1. It was the first defeat of FC Hajduk on its own playing field and in front of its own public by one club from Yugoslavia.

For the first World Championship in Montevideo, in 1933, SOKO has three of its players in national selection: Milovan Jakšić, goalkeeper, who with great plays in Uruguay deserved the nickname “El grande Milovan”, doctor Milutin Ivković, captain and the best player of the representation, called “national brake” that played left, and Miroslav Hrnjiček, as a reserve player.

But then, in the days od SOKO’s climax, the members of the same-named gymnastics society, whom it belonged since the founding, and whose name it carried so high and proudly for a long time, did not want SOKO more in their surroundings. The jealousy and envy of some individuals, whose names stayed in the shadow of famous football players, took their revenge. The management and the players of SOKO have accepted this decision placidly, and on the assembly held in 1933, they decided to become independent, and they gave the club a new name - BASK, Belgradian academic sport club.

Almost simultaneously, the club ran into another, harder misfortune. Belgrade assembly for the necessities of the railway took away from FC BASK the playfield in Topčider, and for some time, and the club literally ended up on the street. Later, the BASK got the playfield behind Belgrade electrical central, which FC RADNIČKI got after The Second World War, whose players became the name “Masters from the Danube”, the name they still have today, even though they are located in New Belgrade – but this playfield ceased to exits long time ago. The resolute management and great team nothing could put out of track. BASK had even struggled for permanent place in competition for the Yugoslavian championship, which was played in the begin of 30s using cup system. In the season 1932/33, BASK was also a member of the first league in old Yugoslavia, which had double score system. In competition of 11 teams, BASK took the 5th place behind the champion – BSK, second-standing Hajduk, Yugoslavia and Hašk, but in front of Građanski, Konkordija, Primorje (Rijeka), Slavija (Sarajevo), Slavija (Osijek) and Vojvodina. In the next championship FC BASK was on the 7th place. In the season 1936/37, it was again on the 6th place. Next year it won the 4th place, and that was the highest achievement of this club behind the new champion Hašk, behind BSK and Građanski, but again in front of Slavija (Sarajevo), Jugoslavija, Hajduk and other.

The following year, the league grew to 12 clubs. The FC BASK was on the 8 place. In the last championship, but before The Second World War, which had been played in two leagues – the Serbian and Croatio-Slovenian, with 10 clubs each, final mini league was held with 3 the best clubs from each group. Bask did not get the standing required for the finals. During all this championships, FC BASK had brought out many excellent players. In addition to mentioned Milovan Jakšić, dr Milutin Ivković and Branislav Hrnjiček, there were also and Miodrag Ranojević, Stojan Popović, Miroslav Lukić, Đorđe Detlinger, Ferante Kolnago, Aleksandar Tomašević, Mladen Sarić and others. Among all these names, the name of Aleksandar Tomašević should be especially distinguished, because he was purebred scorer in the third decade, and in that regard also and the biggest rival of the famous Miša Marjanović. Uncle Tomaš left very deep mark in our football as a trainer as well in the period after the war. He was a coach of players in FC PARTIZAN, CRVENA ZVEZDA, HAJDUK, and the founder of the FC RADNIČKI (Belgrade) and it representatives – Petaković, Ognjanović, Ljubenović and other. He also coached FC SARAJEVO, OLIMPIJA and VARDAR.

After the Second World War, none of the clubs mentioned in this story existed any more, and all he other clubs that have written the history of our football sport. That sad destiny has also happened to BASK. New football collectives were founded, with new names that were appropriate to that time and circumstances.

Recent history

In parts of Belgrade, Senjak and Topčider hill, therefore mostly on territory of former FC BASK, club named SENJAK has been founded, and it competed with a lot of success in the best Belgrade league. In this environment was born the idea, that this club could take over the tradition of BASK, that has gathering young people from that part of the city, especially because the FC SENJAK had got the playfield on the edge of Topčider park, very close to former stadium of FC SOKO, where it is today.

The idea, nevertheless, could have not been realized immediately. No sooner than 1953, on 50-anniversary of SOKO and BASK, on the Annual assembly, in the presence of many members of the pre-war club, FC SENJAK took over the name BASK and all glorious traditions of this oldest football collective in former Kingdom of Serbia. For the first president of renewed club, with votes of assembly participants, famous representative Milovan Jakšić, “El Grande Milovan“ was chosen. Since then, until 2005, the FC BASK competes more or less successfully in the biggest Belgrade league.

In this period, the biggest success had been the winning of Cup of Belgrade liberation in 1958, the victory in the Cup of Yugoslavia in territory of Belgrade football association, and in the same year, the defeat in the final game of Yugoslavia cup for the Serbian territory from the FC BORAC from Čačak. In addition, after convincing triumph in the first place with nine points of advantage in the first Belgrade league, in 1971, the FC BASK competed in the Serbian league – north group. Today, FC BASK competes in the first Serbian league, whose member it is from 2005, and where it plays very considerable role.

The management of the club, with whose coming FC BASK became very well organized club, is again on the way to become that, what once was the pillar of Serbian football, whose founder it had been.