Tonight, the Club of Friends of FK Vojvodina, in cooperation with FK Vojvodina and the Section of Veterans of the Old Lady, spectacularly marked the 55th anniversary of winning the first red and white championship title, with socializing in the restaurant Zeppelin in Novi Sad, interesting multimedia shows on Petrovaradin Fortress and fantastic fireworks and torchlight procession.
Numerous current and former members of the club, veterans, media representatives and, of course, fans gathered at the Zeppelin restaurant. Among them were the president of FK Vojvodina Dragoljub Samardžić, a member of the Management Board Petar Đurđev, the president of the Assembly of the club Milan N. Đukić, sports director Ljubiša Dunđerski, director of the Youth Academy Ilija Pantelić Duško Grujić, members of the first champion generation of Vojvodina Vasa Pušibrk and Radivoj Radosav, former celebrated football player of Vojvodina and former member of the Serbian national team Miloš Krasić and many others.
All of them first had the opportunity to watch inserts from the documentary “Legends in Legend” by Miroslav Vislavski, which shows how Voša managed to become the champion of Yugoslavia for the first time in its history and also become the first team to break the myth of the so-called “big four”, winning the title in front of Red Star, Partizan, Dinamo and Hajduk.
Also, via a video message, the legendary football player of the first champion generation of the Old Lady Silvester Takač addressed the audience from France. In addition to cordial greetings for his former teammates and all those who gathered tonight at the restaurant Zeppelin, he also wished to the current generation of Vojvodina to end the upcoming season by winning the third championship title in the club’s history.
After that, another member of the first champion generation of Vojvodina and the current president of the Section of Veterans of the Old Lady, Vasa Pušibrk, addressed the audience, thanking everyone who participated in organizing the celebration of the jubilee of this great success.
– Vojvodina today has much better conditions for training than at the time when we played, but our success was primarily brought about by unity within the team and the fact that we had people around us who knew football and at the same time were fair about who should play. Some new Messi will appear in our factory in Veternik, but it is very important that we keep these talented players, as well as that we have real scouting and selection, especially from the territory of Vojvodina – said Pušibrk, with the message that Vojvodina will last at least a few hundred more years.
Petar Đurđev, a member of the Management Board of FK Vojvodina, then addressed the audience, who on behalf of the club greeted the members of the first champion generation of the Old Lady and at the same time thanked the Club of Friends of FK Vojvodina and Vukašin Tanurdžić for such a beautiful jubilee celebration.
– How is it possible to explain the connection between the City of Novi Sad and FK Vojvodina in just a few words? For me, it is an intertwined love, which has lasted for more than a century, and the names of the players who had the honor of wearing the red and white jersey in the 1965/66 season are written in golden letters in the already rich history of this club. Dostoevsky said: “Power is given only to those who dare to bend and lift it. Only one thing is important, only one, to be able to dare.” Thus, a group of modest, educated and honest young men, led by Branko Stanković and Vujadin Boškov, dared to overthrow the previously established order in the football world of the former Yugoslavia and put Novi Sad and Vojvodina on the champion’s throne – said Đurđev, emphasizing that Novi Sad reciprocated with its football heroes from 1966 with great love, which continues to this day.
After that, the Club of Friends of FK Vojvodina handed over letters of thanks to those who helped the realization of the project “Champions’ March”, namely Branka and Dragan Vitković, ie Technology Ltd, Put-invest Ltd, Velvet 021, SZR Lim – hidroterm, pizzeria Prima and graphic studio RP. A special thank you was also given to Dušan Pajović, the owner of the company D-Dalton.
Also, although not all of them were present tonight, letters of thanks for their contribution to winning the first championship title were awarded to all living members of the first champion generation of Vojvodina, namely Rajko Aleksić, Veljko Aleksić, Branislav Veljković, Adolf Lambi, Đorđe Milić, Anđelko Marinković, Vasa Pušibrk, Radivoj Radosav, Vladimir Savić, Dragan Surdučki, Tonče Stamevski and Silvester Takač.
At the same time, the Club of Friends of FK Vojvodina handed over a letter of thanks to the Section of Veterans of the Old Lady for their contribution to spreading the spirit of Vojvodina, after which the President of the Club of Friends of FK Vojvodina Nenad Miljuš addressed the audience, expressing hope that the celebration of this jubilee is the begining of spreading the Vojvodina spirit among all true Vojvodina fans. On that occasion, he presented a special plaque to the President of the FK Vojvodina Veterans’ Section, Vasa Pušibrk, as a lasting memory to the veterans of the great success achieved 55 years ago.
Even during the celebration in the restaurant, on the walls of the Petrovaradin Fortress, the motifs of FK Vojvodina and some recordings from the first championship season of the Old Lady were shown through a large projector, and after the celebration, the fans of Vojvodina prepared a torchlight procession at the fortress, which was watched with great attention by all those who were on the other side of the Danube at that time.
However, it was only an introduction to what followed about thirty minutes later, when a torchlight procession was held along the entire Žeželj Bridge and the Varadinska Duga, as well as from both banks of the Danube between the two bridges, all accompanied by fantastic fireworks over the river, which was enthusiastically watched by many Novi Sad residents. Undoubtedly, it was the perfect end to a beautiful day and the right way to mark the memory of the success that, even after 55 years, serves to the pride and joy of all fans and sympathizers of the Old Lady.
