Milutin Ivković

Club career

He started playing football in the youth team of SK Jugoslavija, and became a regular senior player for the club between 1922 and 1929 playing a total of 235 matches. Towards the end of his career he moved to another Belgrade club, BASK.

International career

Ivković played for the Yugoslavia national team a total of 39 times. He made his debut on 28 October 1925 against Czechoslovakia (0-7 defeat) in Prague, and his last match for the national team was played on 16 December 1934 against France (2-3 defeat) in Paris. He participated in the first 1930 FIFA World Cup in Montevideo.

In 1934, he graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine and after completing his military service he opened office in Belgrade. Ivković joined the Progressive Movement and was one of the leaders of the boycott of the Olympic Games in Berlin. In June 1938 he became the editor of Mladost, launched at the initiative of the Communist Youth League.

Death and legacy

During the occupation of Yugoslavia, he cooperated with the Yugoslav Partisans. He was persecuted and on several occasions arrested and prosecuted. On 24 May 1943, he was arrested and the next day at Jajinci he was shot and killed "for communist activities". His body was never found. The Football Association of Serbia set up in 1951 a plaque in the JNA Stadium (Partizan Stadium) and a street next to the Red Star Stadium (former playground of SK Jugoslavija) bears his name. Additionally, a monument made by Vladimir Jokanović, was erected in the outskirts of the same stadium and was inaugurated on 16 May 2013.

Ivković was born in Belgrade on 3 March 1906. His mother Milica was the granddaughter of the Serbian Vojvoda Radomir Putnik. It was during his childhood that he received his life-long nickname of Milutinac (pronounced [milutǐnats]).