In the ceremonial hall of FC Vujadin Boškov in Veternik, a memorial was held today in honor of the recently deceased Jovan Kovrlija (1942 – 2019), assistant coach of Vojvodina in the 1988/89 season, in which the club won its second Yugoslav champion title.
In the presence of family, friends, former teammates and co-workers, as well as members of the Board of Directors of FK Vojvodina Ljubomir Apro and Dragoljub Samardžić, the last tribute was evoked to a man whose name will forever be written down in the long history of the Old Lady of Serbian football.
Addressing the audience, President of the Association of Veterans of FK Vojvodina Vasa Pušibrk recalled the life path of Jovan Kovrlija.
– Another member of our family left, because the older I get, this is the way I look at Vojvodina. Jovan has always been a gentleman, in his private life very quiet, but as a coach very energetic, persistent and consistent. At the age of three, he came with his family from Bosansko Grahovo to Nakovo and then to Kikinda and later played for Proleter Zrenjanin, which was a very respectable club at the time. After finishing his playing career, he graduated at the College of Coaching in Zagreb and dedicated himself to the coaching vocation, which he successfully carried out – said Pušibrk.
At today’s commemoration, the audience was also addressed by our celebrated judo player and current president of the Association of Sports Veterans of Novi Sad Slavko Obadov, who, as a conditioning coach, made a significant contribution to the success that Vojvodina achieved in 1989.
– I had the honor and pleasure that, during the period when Vojvodina won its second league title, be a member of the coaching staff that built that success. Then, as a fitness trainer, for the first time I got to know how he works and what kind of man our Jova Kovrlija is. We knew each other before from sports events and I was extremely respectful of the results achieved by him and his wife, who was the world champion in bowling. Jova was always humble, consistent, did everything right and was constantly eager to achieve the best possible results – Obadov said.
The news of the death of Jovan Kovrlija has also hit his longtime friend, also a member of the Veterans Association of FK Vojvodina, Svetozar Gatarić.
– Jova Kovrlija was part of the generation of Proleter who promoted the club into the First Federal League of Yugoslavia, and then he was a very prominent coach, dealing exclusively with the pitch and players. As such, he also left a significant mark in Vojvodina, where he became great friends with Ilija Pantelić and it was a great privilege to be in their company for many times. Jova was a top footballer and coach, but also an exceptional husband, father and grandfather. May he have eternal glory for all that he has done in his lifetime – said Gatarić.
The funeral of Jovan Kovrlija will be held today at 12:45 pm at the New Cemetery in Novi Sad.
