A decade ago, on May 21, 2016, Dragutin Spasojević Spaske, a coaching legend of Yugoslav and Montenegrin football, died.
On the green fields, among the smell of grass, the sound of football boots and the cheers from the stands, people are created who over time become more than just coaches and sports workers - they become legends. One of them was Dragutin Spasojević Spaske, a man who lived football with all his heart and for whom football was much more than just a game and results.
Many generations remember his voice on the touchline, his advice in the locker room and the passion with which he experienced every minute of the game. Spaske did not just build teams - he built football spirit, togetherness and love for the club and the sport. His name has remained deeply inscribed in football history, as a symbol of a time when football was played with heart, pride and soul.
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Dragutin Spasojević Spaske was born on February 15, 1934 in Cerovo, Gornji Pješivci, Nikšić municipality.
He doesn't even remember his father, Krsto, who died a few years after Dragutin's birth. His mother Zorka, at the age of 26, was left a widow with four minor children. Three sons: Danilo, Momčilo and Dragutin, and a daughter, Danica.
Without a home - a tenant, without a pension, she bore her life's torment with dignity and silence. She was brave, a fighter with a lion's heart. She dreamed of how to survive, educate and raise her four children. Very wise, beautiful, tall, dignified, prudent, elegant as a princess.
With a heavy heart, she allowed her son Dragutin to leave Nikšić at the age of 13 and go to Novi Sad for school. She sent him off with the words that the most important thing was to be a good man, that in the eyes of God money was not valuable, only the soul. Those words and his mother's endless love accompanied him throughout his life. He learned everything about life, good and evil, nobility and human dignity from her.
After graduating from high school in Novi Sad, Spaske enrolled in the College of Physical Education (DIF) at the University of Belgrade. While studying, he remembered Belgrade as a warm and wonderful city. A city that he would love and always be happy to return to. Because of such a Belgrade, a city of energy, ambition, and desire for success, Spaske would also become a "victim" of its seductive charm.
The odyssey of his coaching career began in 1963/64 in Kosovo and Metohija, in Pristina.
They finished the championship in third place - the greatest success in the club's history to date. And then came: Trepča, Metohija, Bor, Sloga, Spartak, Sjutjeska, Rijeka, Budućnost, OFK Beograd, Rad, Čukaricki, Čelik, Gošk JUG, Borac...
From then on, over the next few decades, he would become one of the most sought-after and respected football coaches in Yugoslavia.
Before beginning his coaching career, he founded the Pioneer Youth School in Prizren, the second of its kind in Yugoslavia, with his collaborator and fellow countryman Sobodan Backović from Straševina.
Nickname Spaske
The name Dragutin carried seriousness, and the nickname Spaske carried the warmth of a man whom people felt as one of their own. Such nicknames are not just abbreviations of names - they become part of the personality and the way a person is remembered by generations of players, friends, and fans.
In the football world, Spaske's nickname meant coaching mastery. It was better known than his long first and last name.
When you say Spaske, there was no confusion. Everyone knew, he was the man with dark glasses and a white coat. That nickname, as Professor Doctor Niko Raičković says, won a special place in the careers and lives of many, and had equal weight in all parts of our former homeland.
His life had drama.
For Spasket, football was not the ultimate goal. For him, football was like life, in continuous duration. He knew how to be brash, to snap, to make you angry...
He claimed that a person's physical limits are known, but that motivation and mental preparation can overcome all...
When the game started, he could not control himself. Under the charge of fierce emotions, he did not adapt, but opposed. However, despite this, football players often pointed out that they had never met such a strict coach on the field, and so pleasant off it. Many clubs rightly claimed that they had never had such a strong and honest man.
However, due to his iron principles and "awkward nature", the "Big Four" teams avoided him, even if they knew that Spaske was a top creative coach.
The miracle still didn't happen.
Even today, after 55 years, the people of Kraljevo still remember that time with undisguised excitement and joy, especially the qualifications for entry into the First League.
They still speak with great respect about Dragutin Spasojević Spasket, the creator of the greatest football spectacle in the history of Kraljevo. Why? Because they remember that in 1970, Kraljevo was "a festival, a celebration, a fair, but in the end, tears...".
The football miracle didn't happen after all. One team cried...Sloga players didn't leave the locker room for an entire hour. In the Crvenka locker room, there was indescribable joy and celebration. Crvenka entered the First League.
The football party of all parties
With Sutjeska's entry into the First League in 1971, after the Montenegrin victory at Karađorđev Park in Zrenjanin, the greatest football celebration that Montenegro has ever experienced in its sporting history took place.
The plane carrying the football players and club management had to circle because it could not land at the Titograd airport due to the crowds on the runway.
People in Montenegrin costumes could be seen on the streets of Nikšić. The first shots were fired from old holsters after a long time.
The police, led by commander Veljko Sjekloća, who was an ardent Sutjeska supporter, did not act according to their "official duty". The celebrations lasted until dawn. Only the street cleaners had their hands full in the morning hours. On the streets of the city they found many lost shoes, spent revolver cartridges, wilted flowers, broken clocks...
The Yugoslav sports press wrote extensively about Sutjeska's football players, and especially the creator of the legendary Nikšić team, Dragutin Spasojević Spasket.
Coaching avant-garde
Spaske was the coaching avant-garde of the 70s.
He became a legend of Rijeka, which he led to the greatest successes in the club's history, winning the Marshal Tito Cup in 1978, as well as the Balkan Cup, with a team composed mostly of players from his own school, and this was a sensational success at the time of the powerful "big four".
As Prof. Dr. Nikola Mijanović said with inspiration: "My God, what a team that was."
Kantrida welcomed him with skepticism. They did not trust the coach who had changed more clubs than any other expert.
However, Spasojević rolled up his sleeves and started creating a new team, new players, a new game. Very soon, Dragutin Spasojević became the leader of Kantrida – Spaske.
The famous Spaske was the only Montenegrin football coach to win a trophy in the former Yugoslavia.
Drugi o Spasketu
Dragutin Spasojević Spaske had the honor of having his coaching work discussed and written about by the greatest sports writers of the then Yugoslavia.
How much they appreciated Spasket and his coaching work is best confirmed by their words:
Ljubiša Vukadinović, the bard of Yugoslav and Serbian journalism, who was famous in the former Yugoslavia as one of the greatest aces of that era, said about Spasket:
"He is a typical modern football man, an expert of the future. He can congratulate himself, because everything he has achieved is the result of thorough work, perseverance, modesty and love for football."
Mile Kos, doyen of Yugoslav and Serbian journalism:
"He is a man whose word was respected and listened to. Among coaches who are vain and jealous of their competitors, there is one truth that Spaske is a top-notch creative coach, who has raised many players in various environments. He can be said to be one of the rare coaches who had influence when it came to resolving some important matters. He is a man behind whom no one stood, except his head, his attitude and his opinion...".
Miša Vasiljević, a legend of sports journalism and one of the best writers in Serbia and the former Yugoslavia:
"Spaske perhaps carried something strongly personal, deeply unique within himself more than Branko Zebec. When there are no more people like Dragutin Spasojević in football, they should be invented...".
Slavoljub Vujović, a master of the written word and editor of "Sport", after Sutjeska entered the First League, described Spasket in the following words:
"Highlander simple and honest, a bit clumsy, harsh, sometimes cheeky, sometimes annoying to those polished people, always consistent with himself, walked around many clubs, I made it to the First League...".
Dragiša Kovačević, famous sports journalist, founder and former owner of SOS Channel:
"I always invited him to the shows when there was a tricky topic and when I wanted the listeners to hear some observations and opinions that were not characteristic of many of his colleagues. I am sorry that there are no more creators and coaches "without a hair on their tongue" like Spaske. It was not by chance that the famous journalist Mile Kos called him the patriarch of Montenegrin football...".
Nikola Vrgotić, a well-known sports writer, after Sloga from Kraljevo's historic qualification for the First League, stated:
"He is a dictator, he was and he will remain one, but a dictator who is respected and loved."
Mišo Cvijanović, a legend of Rijeka and Croatian journalism, an erudite and Renaissance intellectual who was friends with Bobek, interviewed and drew Eusebius and Beckenbauer:
"Spasko, an inimitable, honest coach, who created both the game and victories and players."
Orlando Riveti, legendary Rijeka chronicler and columnist:
"Spaske was both Simeone, iron discipline to the point of pain, and Guardiola... A slave driver! A scourge of God! Demanding, but fair to the players. Sunglasses, Adidas tracksuit, Russian model, cleats for muddy pitches... It was truly Spasojević's team. One and only, unique, unrepeatable... Without exaggeration, the best Rijeka of all time. Rijeka is forever in the heart of the Montenegrin, as he is of the people of Rijeka. He wrote history in the first person...".
Sports workers
Slobodan Ćosić, legendary general secretary and founder of Red Star:
"Spasojević is an excellent man, honest, sincere and just. His greatest virtue is that he doesn't disagree with anyone in football. With people like that, a lot can always be achieved...".
Ljubo Španjol, legendary president of NK Rijeka:
"He was an excellent coach and an excellent pedagogue, and I met a lot of coaches not only in Rijeka but also in the federation, starting with Boškov and Miljanić and ending with Stanković... In essence, he won two Yugoslav Cups, regardless of the fact that he did not sit on the bench to win the other trophy."
Anecdotes
Many interesting stories from the real lives of players and coaches are of great interest to football fans. There are many anecdotes and other interesting facts from the life of the legendary Spasket, here are just a few:
Drago Kovačević, the best right winger in the history of Nikšić football, was late for his departure to Mostar, and only a minute.
The bus started, and Drago ran and waved for the bus to stop so he could get on.
The strict Spaske was relentless, he wouldn't let the bus stop, he told the driver: "Drive."
Slavko Magovčević played instead of the irreplaceable Kovačević. Sutjeska drew 1:1 in front of a packed stadium in Mostar.
It was impossible to see Spaske without his dark glasses. They were part of his image, almost a trademark. They perfectly emphasized his personality, meant communication with his surroundings without a single word spoken. On the Yugoslav football scene, there were only two coaches recognizable by their image, Dragutin Spasojević Spaske by his dark glasses and Ćiro Blažević by his white scarf.
Spaske was intriguing, not only because of his dark glasses, but also because of one interesting and unusual detail.
When his team scores a goal, when the stadium "explodes" with joy, cheers and firecrackers, when everyone enthusiastically jumps, kisses and rejoices at the goal scored, Spassky remains silent, does not get up from the coaching bench.
There was no outpouring of emotion on his face, as if he was maintaining discipline over himself and his team even in those moments. And it was precisely in that calmness that one could feel his strength and the security of a man who did not want emotions to be greater than the game.
He was also recognizable for never approaching the players or greeting them in the usual way before training.
He would enter calmly, with a serious expression on his face, like a man coming to a job he considered sacred. There was neither arrogance nor disdain in his restraint, but rather an old-school sense of discipline and order.
The players understood and accepted this, because the respect he had among them was not based on intimacy, but on his character, knowledge, and fairness.
Rijeka players commented on Spasket's characteristic of not wanting to lightly reach for the bench and disrupt what he had planned before the game started.
They used to say that Spassky would rather continue the game with ten men than introduce a player who would disrupt the rhythm and discipline of the game. And it was precisely in his stubborn consistency that the strength of authority lay, which the players respected, even when they did not understand him.
Promotion of the monograph
The promotion of the monograph "SPASKA", authored by Dragan PERUĆICA from Belgrade, was held on January 21, 2022, at the premises of the Football Association of Montenegro, a place that symbolically preserves the history and reputation of Montenegrin football.
That afternoon, not only sports workers, former players and friends of the club gathered - they were brought together by memories of a man and a time. The hall felt a sense of respect for the coach whose name remained deeply engraved in the lives of many generations of players.
They spoke of his strictness, fairness, and human strength, and between the words one could feel the quiet emotion of people who knew that such coaches and such people are not born often.
This is confirmed by the words of Prof. Dr. Dragan Koprivica, one of the distinguished reviewers of the monograph:
"We must happily admit that there are two magical big names in our football, the footballer Dejan Savićević and the coach Dragutin Spasojević Spaske. For us children, the figure of the man in dark glasses was magical. We didn't know what the role of a coach was, but when Spaske went out on the field, we would say to each other, there's Spaske, there's Spaske, look, there's Spaske. We all knew him, and as children we adored him. We were in love with him. And I can say that such a coach, fortunately or unfortunately, will never be repeated in Montenegro, and it is up to the current great coaches in Nikšić and Montenegro to try, at least to get as close to him as they can."
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Although 10 years have passed since the death of Dragutin Spasojević Spasket, this story is just an attempt not to forget and not to extinguish the memory of a legend, a coaching magician, the author of the Rijeka football miracle, the creator of the most beautiful pages in the history of the Nikšić club, the creator of the greatest football spectacle in the history of Kraljevo, a man of steel nerves and principles. A man who is unique and unrepeatable in many ways.
He was a professor, pedagogue, the most famous football strategist in the history of Montenegrin football, without whom the history of Montenegrin and not only Montenegrin football cannot be properly understood. A master of the game and spoken words. A brilliant tactician.
Specific and avant-garde. He demanded discipline, he was the most disciplined. He nurtured many great football names. He was always different from others. In all his choices, he made very personal decisions, behind which stood a strong character. He was loved by ordinary people, his colleagues, acquaintances, friends, relatives.
The family, sons Krsto, Ilija, Mirko and wife Lepa, were a peaceful haven for a man who spent his entire life in the rhythm of football, discipline and responsibility.
But time has taken its toll, taking away many matches, results and generations, but it could not erase what Spaske left behind. He remained in people, in their attitude towards work and life. And perhaps that is the greatest victory of a coach - when his players carry a part of him throughout their lives.
The writer of this text is Dragan Perućica, author of the monograph "SPASK", as well as the speech entitled "Speeches from the Faculty of Civil Engineering", published by Akademska misao, Belgrade
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