Vujadin Boškov
- Dag Jenkins
- May 5
- 4 min read
Updated: May 24
Vujadin Boškov was born in Begeč (Novi Sad) in former Yugoslavia, on May 16, 1931. Novi Sad is now in modern day Serbia.
His football playing career was spent mainly with Vojvodina (Novi Sad) where he played 185 league games with 15 goals between 1948 and 1960. In 1958 he suffered a leg injury which limited his appearances for a couple of seasons. The "Crevno-beli" achieved a 2nd place in 1957 and were runners-up in the domestic cup in 1951.
In 1961-62 he spent a season with Sampdoria in Serie A. The manager was Eraldo Monzeglio and the Blucerchiati finished 10th. Boskov played 13 league games with 1 goal (Venezia) and 1 game in the Coppa Italia but suffered from physical problems.
His last two years of career were as player-manager with Young Fellows Zurich in the Swiss league. He played 14 league games and scored 4 goals.
While still playing in Yugoslavia he won 57 caps for his country. He won a Silver medal at the Helsinki Olympic Games. He took part in two World Cups (1954, 1958).
At 33 he retired and returned to his original club in his homeland. Between 1964 and 1971 he was technical director at Vojvodina. The Tulips won their first ever league title in 1965-66.
In 1966 he also had a brief spell as co-manager of Yugoslavia. A job he took on full-time from 1971 to 1973. He then left his homeland in disagreement with the Tito regime.
In 1974 he moved to Holland and joined ADO Den Hag. He stayed with the Storks for two seasons, winning the KNVB domestic Cup in 1975. In the league they finished 10th and 6th.
In 1976 he joined Feyenoord for two seasons. "De club van der holk (The People's club) finished 4th and 10th. He then left Holland due to new laws coming in concerning non-European Community workers.
In 1978 he moved to Spain and took on the job at Real Zaragoza for a season. Los Blanquillos finished 14th in the top flight.
In 1979 he became Real Madrid manager. In his almost three years there the Blancos won one league title (1980) and a Copa del Rey (1980). The Merengues also reached a European Cup semi-final (1980, SV Hamburger 3-5) and a final (1981, Liverpool 0-1). He was replaced in March 1982 by Luis Molowny.
In 1982-83 he stayed in Spain but joined Sporting Gijón. He stayed two seasons with the Rojiblancos and finished 8th and 13th.
In November 1984 he arrived in Italy. He joined Ascoli in Serie A as technical director and stayed two seasons. Foreigners often took on the title of technical directors in those days with Italians officially acting as managers for bureaucratic reasons. In the first the Bianconeri were relegated but in the second bounced straight back up again, winning the Serie B league.
In 1986 he joined Sampdoria where he would stay six highly successful seasons. The Blucerchiati won a Scudetto (1991), the Coppa Italia twice (1988, 1989), an Italian Supercoppa (1992) and Cup Winners Cup (1990, Anderlecht 2-0). In 1992 Doria also reached the final of the European Cup but were defeated 0-1 in extra-time by Barcelona, thanks to a Ronald Koeman freekick. In those years Sampdoria had some great players including Pietro Vierchowod, Hans-Peter Briegel, Toninho Cerezo, Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli, Gianluca Pagliuca, Moreno Mannini, Giuseppe Dossena, Attilio Lombardo, Srečko Katanec just to name a few.
In 1992 Boskov joined Roma. The Giallorossi finished 10th and lost the final of the Coppa Italia to Torino on away goals (0-3, 5-2). In Rome he gave Francesco Totti his debut.
In October 1994 he joined Napoli for two seasons. The Partenopei finished 7th and 10th.
In 1996 he left Italy and moved to Switzerland. He was in charge of Servette (Geneva) for a season. Les Grenats finished 7th.
In 1997-98 he was back at Sampdoria. From the 9th fixture onwards he took over from César Luis Menotti and the Blucerchiati finished 9th.
In the second part of the 1998-99 season he was manager of Perugia in Serie A. He took over from Ilario Castagner who resigned in February. The Grifoni finished 14th.
He then became Yugoslavia manager again. The "Plavi" (Blues) or Brazil of Europe, qualified for Euro 2000 but were eliminated by Holland 1-6 in the quarterfinals. He resigned at the end of the tournament. This would be his last managerial job.
Boskov was a midfielder. He was central playmaker and was known for his fair play and correctness. In his whole career he was never booked let alone sent off.
It was as a manager however he had most success, winning silverware in three different countries and was manager in 1019 professional games. Apart from his victories however, he will be remembered for his character. He had a unique sense of humour and became famous for his ironic comments. This ability to dissolve post-match tension in interviews made him a favourite both with the journalists and the fans. Two of his famous quotes were "a penalty is when the referee whistles" and when he compared Ruud Gullit "to a deer coming out of the forest".
Boskov died in Novi Sad on April 27, 2014.
Since his death the FK Vojvodina training facility has been named after him and in 2022 he was posthumously admitted to the Italian Footbal Hall of Fame.
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