Have you ever heard of Ljubisa Brocic? If not, it’s time to meet the man regarded as one of the first great football coaches from the Balkans region. His name may not be widely known to the general public, but his biography is truly admirable. Today, if someone coached Barcelona, Juventus, and PSV, they would surely be celebrated as a star in Serbia. Here is the story of a legend of Serbian football who has been unfairly forgotten.
Playing Career
Personal details:
Date of birth: October 3, 1911
Place of birth: Guča 🇷🇸
Date of death: August 16, 1995
Place of death: Melbourne 🇦🇺
Unjustly forgotten, Ljubisa Brocic was the first true Yugoslav and Serbian coach of international renown. He was born in 1911 in Guča, later to become known as the capital of the trumpet. As a young man he came to Belgrade and joined the famous club SK Jugoslavija.
Playing position: Midfielder
Clubs:
1936–1940 🇷🇸 SK Jugoslavija (>200 appearances, 2 goals)
He played over 200 matches for Jugoslavija before World War II interrupted his career. After the war, he transitioned naturally into coaching, having studied at the Faculty of Physical Education.
Coaching Career
His first assignment, more of a state duty, came as coach of the Albanian national team, where he achieved a miracle for that time by winning the Balkan Cup. Albania sensationally triumphed ahead of Romania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia.
“I accepted the assignment without hesitation. I worked three months preparing the Albanian national team. They were very backward in footballing terms, but had several outstanding players, led by forward Boriçi. They were still playing the 1924 system – two full-backs at the back, the rest scattered. I reorganized everything, and turned Boriçi from a classic center-forward into a perfect playmaker.”
As one of the founders of Red Star Belgrade, he won two league titles (1951 and 1952–53) alongside Zarko Mihajlovic. At the same time, a major twist occurred during the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Brocic fell out of favor with the communist authorities after accusations that he allowed members of the Chetnik émigré community to take photos with Yugoslav players in Rio. Though he had been tipped to become the next national team coach, his career in Yugoslavia was derailed.
Public stigmatization naturally pushed him abroad. He later coached the national teams of Egypt and Lebanon, then returned to Europe to lead PSV Eindhoven and, most famously, Juventus in the 1957–58 season, winning the Scudetto – the club’s 10th league title.
He returned to PSV, and then in 1960–61 took charge of Barcelona. While he didn’t win the league, he became the first coach in Barça’s history to win the opening four La Liga matches, and the first to eliminate archrivals Real Madrid from the European Cup during their era of dominance.
Read more about which Serbian players and coaches were part of the famous FC Barcelona:
He would go on to manage Tenerife, the national teams of Kuwait, New Zealand, and Bahrain, as well as Al Nasr and Al Hilal, now giants of Arab football.
Coaching timeline:
1946 🇦🇱 Albania national team
1947–1950 🇷🇸 Metalac Belgrade
1951 🇷🇸 Red Star Belgrade
1952 🇷🇸 Vojvodina Novi Sad
1953 🇷🇸 Red Star Belgrade
1954–1955 🇪🇬 Egypt national team
1955 🇱🇧 Racing Beirut
1956 🇱🇧 Lebanon national team
1956–1957 🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven
1957–1958 🇮🇹 Juventus
1959–1960 🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven
1960–1961 🇪🇸 Barcelona
1961 🇪🇸 Tenerife
1962 🇰🇼 Kuwait national team
1962–1964 🇳🇿 New Zealand national team
1964–1966 🇦🇺 South Melbourne Hellas
1968–1969 🇳🇿 New Zealand national team
1969 🇦🇺 South Melbourne Hellas
1970 🇰🇼 Kuwait national team
1971–1975 🇧🇭 Bahrain national team
1976–1979 🇸🇦 Al Nasr
1984–1985 🇸🇦 Al Hilal
Brocic was also a visionary innovator. He was the first to introduce “interval training”, designed to create “universal players” – a revolutionary approach well ahead of its time.
Life Beyond Football
As mentioned, Brocic’s problems with the Yugoslav authorities began with the alleged encounter with Chetnik émigrés in Brazil. But the roots went deeper – his wartime ties with the Chetnik movement.
Ljubiša Broćić – Big chetnik and football globtroter. In his manager career coaching giants like: FCRS, Barca, Juve! pic.twitter.com/fRYE37G7bx
— EBFootball (@EBlocFootball) February 14, 2016
During World War II, while continuing to coach young players, he was also active in the Chetnik underground under General Draza Mihailovic. He was a member of Staff 501 alongside Rajko Mitic and future basketball legends Aleksandar Nikolic and Borislav Stankovic. Their unit operated under Major Zarko Todorovic Valter, notorious in German intelligence files.
“That’s when everything went to hell. Actually, it started earlier, when we met our émigrés in Brazil, and then when Rajko Mitić got injured entering the pitch, they again blamed only me. I would later win both the league and the Marshal’s Cup with Red Star, but the attacks never stopped.” – Ljubiša Broćić on his departure from Yugoslav football.
Although he had been assistant to the legendary Milorad Arsenijevic with the national team and a likely successor, the Brazil episode made his name a taboo in Yugoslavia. This led to his “journey around the world,” from Italy and Spain to the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand.
Na današnji dan 1911. – Rođen je Ljubiša Broćić, srpski fudbalski trener koji je trenirao 11 klubova (među kojima su najpoznatiji Crvena zvezda, Juventus, Barselona, PSV Ajndhoven) i 7 reprezentacija. pic.twitter.com/UPsKWubjia
— RobertRobi (@Robertdreco) October 3, 2019
Brocic was also a great benefactor, donating substantial funds to the construction of the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade. He never married and had no children. He never returned to his homeland and passed away in Melbourne on August 16, 1995. He left all his property to the Serbian Orthodox Church in Melbourne.
We conclude with a quote from the famous Miljan Miljanic, which best sums up Brocic’s greatness and significance:
“All our coaches should be grateful to Ljubiša Broćić, who left an indelible mark on football from Yugoslavia and Europe to South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia. He was a man of the world.” – Miljan Miljanić on Broćić.
Featured image: Wim van Rossem / Anefo, Nationaal Archief – CC0 (Public Domain)
