Dražan Jerković

Dražan Jerković (Croatian pronunciation: [drǎʒan jěːrkoʋitɕ];^[1] 6 August 1936 – 9 December 2008) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional football manager and player. A forward, his professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb and AA La Gantoise.

Dražan Jerković

Jerković with Yugoslavia at the 1962 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Date of birth	(1936-08-06)6 August 1936
Place of birth	Šibenik, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Date of death	9 December 2008(2008-12-09) (aged 72)
Place of death	Zagreb, Croatia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1954–1965	Dinamo Zagreb	142	(96)
1965–1966	AA La Gantoise	3	(1)
Total		145	(97)
International career
1956	PR Croatia	1	(0)
1960–1964	Yugoslavia	21	(11)
Managerial career
1971–1972	Dinamo Zagreb
1973–1974	Austria Klagenfurt
1974–1975	Villacher SV
1975–1976	Dinamo Vinkovci
1976–1982	NK Zagreb
1978	Yugoslavia
1990–1992	Croatia
Medal record Men's football Representing  Yugoslavia European Championship 1960 France Team 1971 İzmir as coach
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

His first name is sometimes (incorrectly) spelled "Dražen". He was born in Šibenik, at the time in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Club career

Jerković played for Dinamo Zagreb (1954–65). Severe injuries forced him to retire early, at the height of his career. With Dinamo he won the league title in 1958, and league cup in 1960 and 1965. In 315 games for Dinamo, he scored 300 goals.^[2]

International career

Jerković played internationally for Yugoslavia between 1960 and 1964, scoring 11 goals in 21 games. He participated in the 1960 European Championship and the 1962 FIFA World Cup. He was also part of the Yugoslav squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but did not play.

In UEFA Euro 1960, he scored two goals against France in the semifinal, which Yugoslavia won (5–4). In the final, Yugoslavia lost against USSR (2–1; AET), finishing second.

In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Jerković scored four goals and was, with five other players, the top goalscorer, winning the World Cup Golden Boot. Yugoslavia finished in fourth place. In the quarter-final, Yugoslavia beat Germany, while in the semifinal they lost to Czechoslovakia (3–1) and lost to Chile in the third place match (1–0).

Jerković played in a single international match with Croatia, as the Croatia national team was assembled in communist Yugoslavia once for a friendly against Indonesia in 1956. His final international was a September 1964 friendly match against Austria.^[3]

Managerial career

Dražan Jerković was also the first manager of the Croatia national team since independence, between 1990 and 1992. He died on 6 December 2008 in Zagreb.^[4]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[5]

Club	Season	League
		Division	Apps	Goals
Dinamo Zagreb	1954–55	Yugoslav First League	1	0
	1955–56		12	9
	1956–57		15	9
	1957–58		22	17
	1958–59		14	7
	1959–60		16	16
	1960–61		8	5
	1961–62		19	16
	1962–63		14	12
	1963–64		4	0
	1964–65		17	5
	Total		142	96
La Gantoise	1965–66	Belgian First Division	3	1
Career total			145	97

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Croatia	1956	1	0
Total		1	0
Yugoslavia	1960	3	2
	1961	5	3
	1962	11	5
	1963	0	0
	1964	2	1
Total		21	11

References

1. "Jerònim". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Jérković
2. "Najbolji strijelci". www.nk-dinamo.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 15 March 2011.
3. "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
4. "Umro Dražan Jerković, ponajbolji hrvatski nogometaš svih vremena". slobodnadalmacija.hr (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. 10 December 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
5. Dražan Jerković at National-Football-Teams.com

• Dražan Jerković at Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian)
• Nogometni leksikon (2004, in Croatian)