The former owner of several world football clubs, Milan Mandarić, visited the Vojvodina football club today.
As someone who grew up and spent his youth in Novi Sad, Mandarić never hid his sympathy for the Old Lady, whose matches he regularly attended as a young man, and at the same time he was a great friend of the great players of Vojvodina at the time, such as Vujadin Boškov, Todor Veselinović, Ilija Pantelić, Ivica Brzić and others.
He came to FC Vujadin Boškov in the company of his cousin Ranko Lončar and the general secretary of the Football Association of Vojvodina Miodrag Cvijić, and there they were welcomed by the director of FK Vojvodina Aleksandar Vojnović, the Manager Milan Rastavac, the director of the Youth Academy Ilija Pantelić Duško Grujić, marketing director Miloš Subotin and manager of FC Vujadin Boškov Mladen Kukić.
While visiting FC Vujadin Boškov, Milan Mandarić noted with satisfaction that Vojvodina has a modern and well-equipped training center, but he also emphasized that, unlike many other modern training centers, FC Vujadin Boškov simultaneously exudes tradition and the rich history of the Old Lady.
– If we look back over the years, we see that Vojvodina produced fantastic players here, world stars who loved their club. Vojvodina has wealth that cannot be measured with money, and that is something that everyone in this club, as well as everyone who loves this club, should be very proud of. Unfortunately, many of those who created the history of Vojvodina, such as Toza Veselinović or Ivica Brzić, are no longer here, and I still think that the time I spent in Novi Sad and spending time with them was probably the most beautiful period in my life – said Mandarić.
As an extremely successful businessman, he was once the owner of many football clubs, such as the Belgian Charleroi, the French Nice, where at that time the coach was another legendary football player from Vojvodina, Silvester Takač, then the English Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday, and in 1996, he was also one of the founders of the American MLS league. The last club he managed was Olimpija Ljubljana, which he then sold to investors from Germany.
– I got into football when I had already realized myself in the business world and I can say that there is no big difference between managing a club and a company. More precisely, the only but important difference is that the football club carries with it some emotion, because there are people, fans, who are very attached and loyal to it, and therefore experience everything the club is going through very emotionally. This is something that anyone running a football club must always keep in mind. I have always considered Vojvodina my club, and the closest I came to taking over its management was in 2002. However, due to other jobs and obligations I had at that time, primarily in England, it was not feasible in the end – Mandarić pointed out.
After a pleasant and cordial conversation about various football topics, as well as evoking memories of some earlier, more romantic times, Milan Mandarić wished the Manager Milan Rastavac and Vojvodina much success in the rest of the season, for which the representatives of Vojvodina thanked and repaid with appropriate gifts. among which was a jersey with the signatures of all the first team players of the Old Lady.
