Jurica Jerković

Jurica "Jure" Jerković (25 February 1950 – 3 June 2019) was a Croatian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. During his time with Hajduk Split in the 1970s, he was known for his amazing playmaker skills and for his romantic approach to football. He captained the Hajduk golden generation of that time under coach Tomislav Ivić which is considered to be the best Hajduk squad of all time.

Hajduk Split Born in Split, SR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia, Jerković started his youth and senior career at Hajduk Split. In the youth academy he was trained by Tomislav Ivić who would later become his senior manager. He went on a one-year loan to RNK Split. After finishing the loan in 1968, he went back to Hajduk where he made his senior professional debut. Jerković was a part of a new Hajduk generation created by Tomislav Ivić that would dominate the Yugoslav First League during the 1970s. Jerković won his first trophy in 1971 when Hajduk won the Yugoslav championship. It was Hajduk's first league trophy in 16 years. In 1972 Ivić took charge of Hajduk and Jerković won his first Yugoslav Cup. He won the cup again in the following season under Branko Zebec. In 1973 the "old guard" of Hajduk decided to leave which included players like Nadoveza, Hlevnjak and Vukčević. Tomislav Ivić returned to manage Hajduk and with the young forces he created a few years ago in the academy he was ready to dominate the league. In 1974 Hajduk played the last game of the season against OFK Beograd and they needed a win to secure the…Citește mai mult

FC Zürich In 1978, Jerković moved to FC Zürich at the age of 28. During his time there he won the Swiss championship in 1981 and the Swiss League Cup the same year. He played in the 1981–82 European Cup where he scored a hattrick in the First round against Dynamo Berlin. He won the Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year award in 1979, 1982 and 1983. He probably went into history as one of the best foreign players in the club. In 1985 at the age of 35 he left Zürich for FC Lugano where he played until his retirement in 1987.

International career Jerković made his international debut for Yugoslavia on 12 April 1970 against Hungary in a friendly match. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 victory against the Netherlands in the 1972 UEFA Euro qualifiers. In July 1971 he played at Pelé's farewell match where he scored an amazing goal from a long distance. He played three matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup in which Yugoslavia passed to the second round. He helped his team reach the UEFA Euro 1976 where he played in both matches but Yugoslavia lost them both. He played his last match for Yugoslavia on 29 November 1981 against Greece in the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He was selected in the Yugoslav squad for the 1982 FIFA World Cup but without any appearance. After the 1982 World Cup he retired from the national squad. He made 43 appearances and scored 6 goals for Yugoslavia.

Yugoslav First League: 1971, 1974, 1975 Yugoslav Cup: 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977

Individual Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award: 1971, 1976 Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1979, 1982, 1983

Jurica Jerković at Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian) Jurica Jerković – FIFA competition record (archived)