Red Star Belgrade

Dragan Stojković| manager = }} Dušan Bajević | league = Meridian Superliga | season = 2005-06 | position = Prva Liga, 1st | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_redstripes|pattern_ra1=| leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FF0000| pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=| leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF| }} (Serbian Cyrillic: , commonly known in English as Red Star Belgrade) is a football club from Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia.

Red Star was founded by students from Belgrade University in 1945, their greatest achievement was winning the UEFA Champions League 1991 in Bari, Italy, and Intercontinental Cup the same year in Tokyo, Japan. The club also made the final of the UEFA Cup in 1979, losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

According to a recent TNS Medium Gallup poll,Red Star is by far the most popular club in Serbia.Red Star fans are called delije (делије - rough English translation might be the heroes).

In contrast with other teams' reliance on imported footballers, Red Star have had many homegrown superstars, such as Dejan Savićević, Vladimir Jugović, Siniša Mihajlović, Dejan Stanković, and Dragan Stojković.

The Stadion Crvena Zvezda has a capacity of 51,328 and is the largest stadium in the country, due to its former capacity of over 100,000 the stadium is commonly called "Maracana" after the famous Brazilian stadium.

Current squad

As of July 16, 2006

Notable players

The Stars of the Red Star

Red Star has almost 50 years long tradition of giving the title of the Star of the Red Star (Zvezdina zvezda) to the players that have had major impact on the club history and that have made the name of the club famous around the globe. So far, only five players in the club history were officially given the title. They are:

Though it may sound strange, none of the players that have won the only European Champion title for the club is titled Star of the Red Star. Actually, no new "stars" were added to the list since Dragan Stojković, titled in 1990, who is also the current president of the club. In his recent statement, Stojković said that the tradition of naming the club's stars is going to be continued, probably by naming Dejan Savićević the sixth "star", although there are opinions that entire 1991 generation should be named the sixth star.

The 1991 European Champions Generation

Goalkeepers:

Defenders:

Midfielders:

Strikers:

Coach: Ljupko Petrović

Other notable players

Coaching history

Bane Sekulić

1953/54 Ljubiša Broćić

Boško Ralić

1954/55 Milovan Ćirić

1955/56 Milovan Ćirić

1956/57 Milovan Ćirić

1957/58 Miša Pavić

1958/59 Miša Pavić

1959/60 Miša Pavić

1960/61 Miša Pavić

1961/62 Miša Pavić

1962/63 Miša Pavić

1963/64 Miša Pavić

1964/65 Ivan Toplak

1965/66 Ivan Toplak

1966/67 Miljan Miljanić

1967/68 Miljan Miljanić

1968/69 Miljan Miljanić

1969/70 Miljan Miljanić

1970/71 Miljan Miljanić

1971/72 Miljan Miljanić

1972/73 Miljan Miljanić

1973/74 Miljan Miljanić

1974/75 Miljenko Mihić

1975/76 Milovan Ćirić

1976/77 Gojko Zec

1977/78 Gojko Zec

1978/79 Branko Stanković

1979/80 Branko Stanković

1980/81 Branko Stanković

1981/82 Branko Stanković

Stevan Ostojić

1982/83 Stevan Ostojić

1983/84 Gojko Zec

1984/85 Gojko Zec

1985/86 Gojko Zec

1986/87 Velibor Vasović

1987/88 Velibor Vasović

1988/89 Branko Stanković

Dragoslav Šekularac

1989/90 Dragoslav Šekularac

1990/91 Ljupko Petrović

1991/92 Vladica Popović

1992/93 Milan Živadinović

1993/94 Milan Živadinović

1994/95 Ljupko Petrović

1995/96 Ljupko Petrović

Vladimir "Pižon" Petrović

1996/97 Vladimir "Pižon" Petrović

Vojin Lazarević

1997/98 Milorad Kosanović

1998/99 Milorad Kosanović

Vojin Lazarević

1999/00 Miloljub Ostojić (resigned 09/16/99 after UEFA Cup 1^st leg loss to Montpellier and poor league form)

Slavoljub Muslin

2000/01 Slavoljub Muslin

2001/02 Slavoljub Muslin (fired Aug '01, after loss to Bayer in wake of the feud with star striker Mihailo Pjanović)

Zoran Filipović

2002/03 Zoran Filipović

2003/04 Slavoljub Muslin

2004/05 Ljupko Petrović (resigned 09/17/04 after crashing out of Champions League and UEFA Cup)

Ratko Dostanić

2005/06 Walter Zenga

2006/07 }} Dušan Bajević

Trophies

UEFA Champions League (1):
1991

Intercontinental Cup (1):
1991

Mitropa Cup (2):
1958, 1968

State Champ (24):

Yugoslav Champ (18):
1951, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1991

Serbo-Montenegrin Champ (6):
1992, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006

National Cup (21):

Yugoslav Cup (12):
1948, 1949, 1950, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1982, 1985, 1990

Serbo-Montenegrin Cup (9):
1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006

World Cup 2006

Five Red Star players represented their nations at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Nikola Žigić and Milan Dudić played for the Serbia and Montenegro national team, while Dušan Basta and Vladimir Stojković were members of the squad, but did not play. Haminu Dramani was a part of the Ghana national team. Žigić scored a goal against Ivory Coast and Dudić made two penalties for handball on the same match. Dramani was the scorer of the first goal for his side on the match against United States.

Munich air disaster

Red Star played a peripheral role in a tragedy of football history. In 1958, Manchester United played at Red Star in a European Cup fixture. The plane that carried the team back to England crashed in Munich, shortly after refuelling. Among the dead were eight United players; manager Matt Busby and several other players were injured. The incident would forever be known as the Munich air disaster.

External links

Serbian football clubs | Yugoslav football clubs | Belgrade

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