Jožef Velker

Jožef Velker (, , ; 5 December 1912 – 29 November 1995) was a Yugoslav football player active between the late 1930s and early 1950s. A Yugoslavia international, he is considered one of the most important players in the history of FK Vojvodina.

Early life Welker was born into a wealthy landowner family in 1912 in Šove (Schowe; today known as Ravno Selo), a small town mostly populated by ethnic Germans in the region of Vojvodina, at the time part of Austro-Hungary, today in northern Serbia. In the late 1920s he went to college in Novi Vrbas and has soon begin to show his passion towards football. While visiting an agricultural fair in Budapest in 1929 he had the chance to assist to his first football match played between Hungary and his country, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

NAK Novi Sad In 1931 he met an American named Cathy that was visiting her family in Šove and married her. In same year his football skills are spotted by scouts of NAK Novi Sad and he began playing for them. FK Vojvodina, the city rivals, immediately start following the new star of NAK in what will become in one of the longest chases ever, and will last for long six years. Curiously, Velker would have always great performances against Vojvodina and in consequence, instead of hating him, and specially because of his fairness and gentleman character, Vojvodina fans started appreciating him more and more. In Autumn 1937 the growing forces of nazism and fascism were bringing fear and anxiety to people in Europe, but Novi Sad was in a state of agitation not because of the economical speculation, or the international politics, but because of the long-expected sensational transfer of Velker to FK Vojvodina.

After liberation by Allies began, in Autumn 1944, the renewal of FK Vojvodina began. In 1945 the Championship was not played by clubs but by country's regions, and Velker played in the team of Vojvodina, made of players of FK Vojvodina and FK Spartak Subotica, finishing fourth. The club for a short period was named Sloga and initially played in the Second Yugoslav League. Many critics in Novi Sad believe that the club was dropped out from the top league because of the national representation and some animosity that the new communist authorities had towards the former burgeoise club. Velker was known in this period for his heroic performances even in a fixed-match games. The club suffered some difficulties in this period, and it is known that Velker financially supported, on several occasions, the travels that the club needed to make to play against opponents. However Vojvodina soon recovered, and in 1948 it returned to the First League. He was sometimes known as Josip Velker, and his surname was also spelled occasionally as Welker.

He is still today considered by FK Vojvodina fans as part of the best club team ever.