Blagoje Bratic
Encyclopedia
Blagoje Bratić - Grof is a Bosnian Serb former football player and manager. He got his nickname Grof (meaning: Count as royalty title) directly from Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...

 in that famous game between Santos and representation of city Sarajevo. Pelé just said that he played like Count.

Playing career

Born in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, 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
FK Željeznicar
FK Željezničar is a professional football club from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo.The initial acronym stands for Fudbalski sportski klub , and the name Željezničar means "railway worker," given because it was established by a group of railway workers.Željezničar, alias "Željo," is the most...

 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
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...

 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 the total of 32 goals for the club in all competitions.

Bratić has collected 3 caps for the Yugoslav national team
Yugoslavia national football team
The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international...

.

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
FK Lokomotiva Brcko
FK Lokomotiva is a football club based in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina.It competes in the Second League of the Republika Srpska.-External links:* * at Transfermarkt.* at BiHsoccer....

, NK Famos Hrasnica, GOŠK Dubrovnik
NK GOŠK Dubrovnik
NK GOŠK Dubrovnik is a Croatian football club based in the city of Dubrovnik. It takes its name from the Gruž neighbourhood of the city .-Team:...

, 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.

Since 1994 Bratić and his family reside in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada, where he was for some period a Sports Director of the Toronto Metro Lions.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK