Karađorđe, Voša’s fortress, we wish you happy 1st century of existence!

Today, Karađorđe stadium, Vojvodina’s 100-year-old fortress, celebrates its first century of existence.

On that June 28^th, 1924, today’s stadium was opened, the playing field of Vojvodina FC. The biggest credit for that goes to Daka Popović, in whose honor the delegation of Vojvodina FC visited his tombstone today, and laid flowers.

David Daka Popović was born in Novi Sad, on December 28^th in 1886. After finishing Grammar school, he graduated from the Polytechnic University in Budapest in 1914. He was a member of the Serbian national board in Novi Sad in 1918. His assignment was to overtake the bridges on the Danube from the German army that was retreating. For a while, he was an engineer in the direction of the National administration in Subotica. In 1921, Popović founded a private construction company. He built numerous residential units and industrial objects across Vojvodina.

He was the person who built the 7-kilometer-long embankment, from the estuary of Kralj Aleksandar canal, to Šajkaš Rit. That monumental job was completed in 1933. The powerful river was tamed, the people received 5.000 acres of arable land, and Novi Sad was free from flooding for a long time. About that job, he said the following:

I consider the embankment of Novi Sad my biggest political success, and if I hadn’t done anything else for my home town, this embankment alone was worth going into politics for. The ponds were gone from Novi Sad, and mosquitoes along with them…

Daka Popović used his political and economic influence to resolve the issue of building the playing ground for Vojvodina FC. He was the leading person behind the entire action, he made the construction plan, and he financed the construction of the stadium largely from his own funding. He came to the position of the president of Vojvodina FC in 1922, although he had already been actively participating in the renewal of the Club’s work. Novi Sad is especially indebted to him because of his historical research and works. He lived until 1967, and today, the director of the Historical Archive of the City of Novi Sad and the member of the Management Board of Vojvodina FC, Petar Đurđev, spoke about him by choosing his words carefully:

David Daka Popović has done so much for the cultural, social and sports life of Novi Sad. I would like to remind you that he was a royal senator, the first ban of the Danube Banovina, and through his engineering work he indebted Novi Sad. However, a less know fact is that he performed the function of the honorary president of Vojvodina FC. Also, from his own resources, he brought the first two professional players to Vojvodina. He was the key person for the completion of the process and the construction of the playing pitch for Vojvodina FC. He used his socio-political position wisely, and what he kept in his written sources, we can learn that he paid many of the promissory notes from his own resources. He was the first to design the west stand of the stadium, but also what he used to call ‘’oblačionica’’ (dressing room). The work was completed in 1924, and what is interesting is that the signature of the Club was given by Gregorije Živanov, the future priest-martyr, who died in the terrible January pogrom in 1942.

The wish of the founder and the first players was to name the stadium Karađorđe, which clearly speaks about the national prefix and the importance for the Serbian community. After 100 years, Karađorđe is still the home of the players of Vojvodina FC, the fans, and all those who carry Vojvodina in their hearts. That is why we are here today, to honor and thank Daka Popović for everything he has done for our club – Petar Đurđev said.

For the 100^th anniversary of Karađorđe, the stadium is also undergoing construction works on the pitch, that are expected to be completed by the end of the summer, and the new pitch will be according to the highest European standards. The director of the stadium, Jelena Kulpinski, spoke about it today:

The pitch of Karađorđe stadium will, aside from hybrid grass, for the first time have a heating system. That is very important because of the climatic conditions, and it enables us to have an optimal temperature throughout the year, which means that the weather conditions will not influence the game itself. Also, we are receiving an entire system of drainage, and thereby we will have a modern pitch according to the European standards. It is an imperative with UEFA inspection to have a system like this one, and the hybrid grass, which is 3-4 times more resistant. It consists of 98% natural grass, and only 2% of synthetic fibres, that are sewn at very small spacing on the entire pitch, which means that the root will be stronger and more resistant. It is important to add that Vojvodina will have to host Ajax in Bačka Topola for the rematch, because the works will not be completed by then. By the end of the summer, Vojvodina will get the pitch according to the highest possible standards – Jelena Kulpinski said.