Emil Perška
Encyclopedia
Emil Perška was a Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

 footballer. He was born in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 and spent the majority of his career with Građanski Zagreb, with whom he won three Yugoslav championships
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...

 in the 1920s. He was also a member of the Yugoslav squad
Yugoslavia national football team
The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international...

 at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympic tournaments.

Born in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 in present-day Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, Perška was a member of the Slovak ethnic minority. Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Perška was wanted by the authorities as he was accused of desertion
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...

. Perška then escaped to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 to avoid arrest and it was there that he signed a professional contract with Građanski in 1919 before returning to the country.

He was called up for Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...

's first international tournament, at the 1920 Olympics
Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics
The football at the 1920 Summer Olympics, was one of the 154 events at the 1920 Summer Olympics, held in Antwerp. It was the fifth time football was on the Olympic schedule. The tournament was contested by 14 teams, with host country Belgium winning the gold medals...

 in Antwerp, and he appeared in the country's first ever international match on 28 August 1920, a 7–0 defeat to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia national football team
The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...

. After the tournament Perška had signed for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

ian side CA Sports Généraux and had a brief spell with them before returning to Građanski in the early 1920s.

During the 1920s Perška helped Građanski win three Yugoslav championship
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...

 titles (1923, 1926 and 1928) and was called up to the national squad for the 1924
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

 and 1928 Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...

, although he was unused at the 1928 tournament. He was capped 14 times and scored 2 international goals before retiring in 1929.

After retirement Perška worked as a journalist and sports historian. He was allegedly a supporter of the fascist Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...

 regime during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and was shot by the Yugoslav Partisans in May 1945 in Zagreb (like several other notable footballers such as Građanski's Dragutin Babić
Dragutin Babić
Dragutin Babić was a Croatian footballer who represented the national team of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics.-References:*...

 and Concordia
HŠK Concordia
HŠK Concordia was a Croatian football club formed in Zagreb. The club was founded asthe Srednjoškolski športski klub in 1906.By the end of the First World War the club had played many matches with both domestic and foreign clubs...

's Slavko Pavletić
Slavko Pavletic
Slavko Pavletić was a Croatian football midfielder who tenured within Croatia during his spanned career. He most notably participated for the Croatia national football team during the era's of the World War. Playing only 4 games for his temporary national side, he scored 2 goals in a majority of...

).

Honours

  • Kingdom of Yugoslavia Championship
    Yugoslav First League
    The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...

     (3): 1923, 1926, 1928

External links

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