If Johnny was Mr Slavia then Vujodin Boskov is Mr Vojvodina. Born within a few miles of Novi Sad in 1931, Boskov made 185 League appearances as a defender for his boyhood club between ‘46 and ‘60, as Vojvodina emerged from the regional set-up to join the new Yugoslav First League. It would be a case of ‘close but no cigar’ for his playing career, in terms of medals, runner-up to Dinamo Zagreb in both League and Cup before moving to Italy and Genoa, for a final top-flight season with Sampdoria. That would be a life-changing decision.
Vujodin also made 57 appearances for Yugoslavia, gaining a silver medal in the Helsinki Olympics of 1952, as the Mighty Magyars took gold with their star-studded line-up featuring our old friends, Bozsik, Czibor, Puskas and Kocsis. He then appeared in both the ‘54 and ‘58 World Cup Finals, facing Scotland in a 1-1 draw in Sweden, with Celts Bobby Collins and Bobby Evans in opposition. On both occasions, the Yugoslavs qualified from their group but were beaten by West Germany in the Quarter-final.
In 1962, Boskov was on the move again, this time to Switzerland as a player-coach with the brilliantly-named Young Fellows Juventus. Returning to Vojvodina in ‘64 as Technical Director, with former international team-mate, Branko Stankovic, as first team coach, he revamped the ailing club from top to bottom. Just two years later, he managed the club to its first-ever Yugoslav title, earning entry to the European Cup of 1966/67. That championship would be the highlight of his domestic career.
A fourth-place finish the following season provided entry to the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, where Vojvodina enjoyed a great run to the Quarter-final, eliminating Portuguese, East German and Turkish opposition, before losing to Bologna. And bizarrely, despite finishing 13th in 1968, Vosa were put forward again for the Fairs Cup, together with fellow-strugglers, Olimpija Ljubljana and OFK Belgrade. It would be a short reprieve, Rangers beating them in the First Round by the odd goal in three. Another top four placing in 68/69 saw them return on merit to the Fairs Cup that year, this time Polish side, Gwardia Warsaw, taking the First Round honours, before they, in turn, were eliminated by Dunfermline.
His final two seasons at Vojvodina were disappointing, this time no European salvation forthcoming. In 1971, he left Novi Sad, to take charge of the Yugoslav national team, a role he held for two years.
Vujodin Boskov then spent the next twenty-five years managing clubs across the continent, winning trophies in Holland, Spain and Italy, whilst achieving success on the European stage.
First stop was Holland in 1974, winning the Dutch Cup with Den Haag in his first season, beating FC Twente in the Rotterdam final. That success opened the door to the European Cup-Winners’ Cup of 75/76 and home and away wins over Danes, Vejle BK and Lens of France, before losing out to eventual runners-up, West Ham United, in the Quarter-final. Celtic, including the adopted Roy Aitken and with new signing Johnny Doyle looking on, exited at the same stage to East Germany’s Sachsenring Zwickau.
Next challenge for Boskov was in Rotterdam, replacing the Pole, Brzezanczyk, who, despite losing the Dutch title by just a single point to PSV, had ‘failed’ to replicate the glorious era of Happel and Coerver, in his only season at Feyenoord. Remaining from their European and World Champions team at that time was future Celtic Head Coach, Wim Jansen. Vujodin’s side finished fourth in his first Eredivisie campaign, missing out on an Euro spot to AZ ‘67, before dropping to tenth in his final year at the club.
