Career
Bobek was born in Zagreb and started playing at the age of 13 for Viktorija, a lower league club, using his brother's registration papers. When he was 20 he became the center-forward of Građanski Zagreb.
He was the top scorer of the Yugoslav First League twice, in 1945 (eight goals) and 1954 (21 goals).
He came to FK Partizan in 1945 and played for them until 1958. During his time in Partizan, he played 468 games and scored 403 goals, still holding the club record. Bobek won two Yugoslav League titles and the Yugoslav Cup four times. On 8 June 1946 in a league match played in Niš between 14. Oktobar and FK Partizan (1–10), Bobek scored nine goals – an absolute record that has never been broken until the end of Yugoslav First League or its successor leagues.
Bobek played in two World Cups, in Brazil 1950 (where he scored one goal in the 4–1 win over Mexico) and in Switzerland 1954. He also played in two Olympic Games, in London 1948 (where he scored 4 goals and Yugoslavia won the silver medal) and in Helsinki 1952 (he scored three goals in the tournament and Yugoslavia won the Silver Medal). On 8 June 1947, he scored a record nine goals in a game against 14. Oktobar in Niš.
After retiring from the play, he became a football manager. In 1959 he became the coach of CWKS Warszawa in Poland, moving back to Yugoslavia the next season to manage FK Partizan. The team won three successive Yugoslav League championships under him, after which he was replaced by Kiril Simonovski in 1963. In 1964 he had another spell in Warsaw, and then he moved to Greece where he led Panathinaikos in the 1960s. In the 1967–68 and 1968–69 seasons, he again returned to manage FK Partizan. In 1970, he moved to Olympiacos. In 1972, he was the manager of Dinamo Zagreb and during 1974–75 season of Panathinaikos for a second time, but without former success. He also coached Vardar Skopje and led them to 1978–79 Yugoslav Second League's East Division title and subsequent promotion to the First League.
In 1995, he was named the all-time greatest player of Partizan Belgrade. In 2009, Bobek's biography written by sports journalist Fredi Kramer was published. Bobek died shortly after midnight on 22 August 2010 in Belgrade. He was buried in Belgrade's Alley of Distinguished Citizens at Novo Groblje.
Read more about this topic: Stjepan Bobek
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