Kulturna baština, No. 35, 2009.
Stručni rad
65TH ANNIVERSARY OF HAJDUK FOOTBALL CLUB REVIVAL ON THE ISLAND OF VIS
Mladen Cukrov
; Muzej sporta Splita - u osnivanju
Sažetak
The Italian occupation of the city of Split in 1941 marked the end of all sporting activites in the city. Only a few friendly football matches were played between the local clubs in the period between 9th and 12th May. All clubs in Split declined several favourable offers by the
Italian authorities to participate in the Italian championships. Therefore, on 19th May 1941, the governor of Dalmatia, Giuseppe Bastianni, officially proclaimed all Split clubs, that were not, at the time, supportive of the Fascist Party, illegal and, thus, nonexistent. The bilingual order number 13, was issued in the journal Službeni list Namjesništva Dalmacije, issue no. 2, dated to 1st August 1941. This act marked the official end of all sporting activities in the city.
After a number of failed attemps to revive the activity they originally stopped, the Italian authorities announced, in the daily newspaper Il popolo di Spalato, on 31st May 1941, their intention of establishing five Italian sports clubs. They were, as follows: Societa Nuoto Juventus Spalato (ex-Jadran), Societa Calcio Spalato (ex-Hajduk), Societa Conottieri Dalmazia Spalato (ex-Gusar), Societa Tennis Firule Spalato (ex-Jugoslavenski tenis klub Split) and Circolo della Vela
Adria (ex-Labud).
Establishing the aforementioned clubs was an end in itself. In other words, sporting activities remained dormant until the Italian capitulation in 1943, that is, until the era of the Independent State of Croatia. Split was under its rule from 26th September 1943 to 26th
October 1944. In this rather a short period, only two football matches were played. The first one was played on 21st May 1944, between Hrvatska mornarica (Croatian Navy) and Njemačka postrojba (German Squad). Hrvatska mornarica lost by a score of 3 to 2. The second match was played on 23rd July 1944 between Mornarička posada Split (Split Naval Crew) and Sinjsko podhvatno zapovjedništvo (the Sinj Town Command). Sinjsko podhvatno zapovjedništvo won by a score of 2 to 0. In 1943/1944, in Zagreb, and yet without success, several efforts were noted to reestablish the Hajduk club. The Partisans, however, succeeded in reestablishing the activities of Hrvatski športski klub Hajduk (the Croatian Sports Club Hajduk) within only one month. After a preliminary meeting, that was held on 9th April 1944 in Vrdovo near Sinj, doctor Šime Poduje managed to gather 14 players in only 28 days. Within the same period, and with the assistance of the supporters of the Partisan movement, he also succeeded in organizing their transport from
Split to the free territory of the island of Vis. There, the foundation meeting of HŠK Hajduk was held on 7th May 1944. The partisan and allied forces military repesentatives witnessed this important event. Randolph Churchill, the son of the British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill, was among them, as well. After it had been founded, Hajduk played three matches on Vis and then sailed off to Bari in Italy. The players were located in Monopoli base first and then relocated to the partisan military camp Gravina, in the south of Italy. The players of HŠK Hajduk NOVJ (NOVJ-Yugoslav National Liberation Army) were regularly trained there. In this period, 26 matches with the allied forces football teams were played.
Certainly the most spectacular match was played in Bari, on 23rd September 1944, in front of 40000 spectators. It was the biggest sporting event ever in the occupied Europe. The teams consisted of the following players: BRITISH SERVICES XI. : Renny (St. Miren), Andy Beatty (Preston), Malpass (Fulham), Collier (Aberdeen), Stan Cullis (Wolverhampton), James Merphy (West Bromwich), Tom
Finney (Presto), Bryn Jones (Arsenal), Gerog Wilkins (Bredford), Jimmy Rudd (Manchester City) and Willi Strauss (Aberdeen).
YUGOSLAV NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY XI.: Petar Brkljača, Ljubomir Kokeza, Jozo Matošić, Slavko Luštica, Dušan Bjelanović, Branko Bakotić, Ivo Alujević, Ervin Katnić, Miljenko Batinić, Frane Matošić and Ivo Radovniković.
Hajduk NOVJ lost by a score of 7 to 2, one of the reasons being the fact that its players had not fully recovered from malaria. And yet, this significant match was a symbol of friendship and alliance. Since then, the Partisans were treated with respect. The return match between British Services XI and Hajduk NOVJ was played in the
liberated city of Split, in front of 8000 spectators, on 26th December 1944. Hajduk NOVJ won by a score of 1 to 0. Frane Matošić scored the only goal. In the period between 7th May 1944 and 23rd October 1945, the Hajduk NOVJ team, as ambassador of friendship and alliance, played matches on 3 continents (Europe, Asia, Africa)
and in 7 countries (Yugoslavia, Italy, Malta, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine). The team travelled 30000 km and played matches in 44 towns. In the overall number of 90 matches, Hajduk NOVJ won 74 and lost 7 matches. 9 matches ended in a draw. The club received many awards for its success in sport and politics. Among the most notable ones were two awards: the first was received from Marshal Josip Broz Tito. The second one was a prestigious French award received in Lebanon, in May 1945: the club was acclaimed as honourable sporting team of free France. These glorious moments of the Hajduk club past must never be forgotten. They must be a constant reminder of both freedom-loving ideas and love of Split and Dalmatia.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
65952
URI
Datum izdavanja:
26.11.2009.
Posjeta: 6.386 *