Branko Stanković

Branko "Stane" Stanković (, ; 31 October 1921 – 20 February 2002) was a Yugoslav footballer and manager.

Club career He started his career in SK Slavija Sarajevo, as a youth player in 1936. In 1941 he escaped from Sarajevo and joined Yugoslav pre-war most successful club, BSK and played in the Serbian League during the war. In 1946 he came to Red Star Belgrade, where he established himself as one of the best defenders in the Yugoslav First League. Stanković played 195 games, with 14 scored goals.

International career Stanković mainly played for Red Star Belgrade and was capped 61 times for Yugoslavia. He participated at two World Cups and won a silver medal at each of the 1948 Olympics and the 1952 Olympics. His final international was a November 1956 friendly match away against England.

Because of his playing style, Stanković earned the nickname Ambassador. Players such as Bruno Belin, Milovan Đorić, Fahrudin Jusufi, Petar Krivokuća copy his playing style.

He retired in 1958 before his 37th birthday.

Managerial career Stanković started his managerial career in Sarajevo in 1960, as manager of Željezničar. In 1968 he moved to Greece and worked at AEK Athens. In his first season the club reached the quarter-finals of the quarter-finals of the European Cup. He left the club in February 1973 after a Cup elimination by Apollon Kalamarias. During his spell at AEK he won the Greek Championship in 1971. Later, he managed Red Star Belgrade and reached the 1979 UEFA Cup Final with them. Beside Red Star, he also managed a number of teams in different countries, such as Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş in Turkey, Porto in Portugal, Aris and PAOK in Greece. He also coached Željezničar Sarajevo, Olimpija Ljubljana and FK Vojvodina in the spells. During 1966, he was also co-manager of the Yugoslavia national team along with Aleksandar Tirnanić, Miljan Miljanić, Rajko Mitić and Vujadin Boškov.

He is also famous because of his incident with one of the most popular Yugoslav players during that time, Dragan Stojković. Stanković retired from coaching in 1989.

Personal life He had a degree in Physical education. He was married and had two sons, Dragan and Ratko.

Honours Player BSK Serbian Football League: 1942–43, 1943–44 Red Star Belgrade Yugoslav First League: 1951, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1955–57 Yugoslav Cup: 1948, 1949, 1950

Manager Vojvodina Yugoslav First League: 1965–66 AEK Athens Alpha Ethniki: 1970–71 Red Star Belgrade Yugoslav First League: 1979–80, 1980–81 Fenerbahçe Süper Lig: 1982–83 Turkish Cup: 1982–83 Beşiktaş Süper Lig: 1985–86

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 31 July 1948 Fulham, England 1–1 6–1 1948 Summer Olympics