The story of sports in Novi Sad is a story of mutual giving. When we look at all the past successes of Novi Sad athletes from a time distance, the big question is whether sport has given more to Novi Sad, or Novi Sad to sport. From this came a great respect for all those who, playing and training in our city, won medals and cups, both at the national, European and world level. Wins and losses, as an integral part of any sporting competition, are what has been talked about for a long time in the capital of Vojvodina. All this is a pledge for the future, that some new kids train hard in all sports teams and at numerous venues throughout the city, so that they will be the object of admiration for all of us in the future.
Unrivaled, in the first place, when we talk about Novi Sad sport, is FC “Vojvodina”. It was founded on March 6, 1914 in Temerinska Street, with the love and commitment of the students of the Great Serbian Gymnasium in Novi Sad (today the Gymnasium “Jovan Jovanović Zmaj”), at a time when there were three football clubs in the city: Hungarian “NAK” and “UAK” and Jewish “Judah Maccabi”. The name of Kosta Hadži, a future prominent lawyer, as one of the founders of the club, remains inscribed in golden letters in its history. After the First World War, the club was restored and officially decorated thanks to the students who were studying in Prague, who brought the first football equipment, as a gift from “Slavija Prague”, which is why the colors of the Novi Sad club became red and white, and both clubs still play in such jerseys today. In its hundred-year history, FC Vojvodina has won the domestic championship twice (1965/66 and 1988/89) and the Cup (2014 and 2020) and once the Central European Cup (1977). The greats of the club, whose names will never fade in the hearts of the fans of the “Old Lady” (the nickname of FC “Vojvodina”), are Vujadin Boškov, Todor Veselinović, Silvester Takač, Jozef Velker, Zdravko Rajkov, Stevan Nešticki, Ilija Pantelić, Sima Milovanov, Dobrivoje Krstić and many others. Of the players who have almost finished their careers, or are still actively playing, it is worth mentioning Milos Krasic, Milan Jovanovic, Gojko Kacar and Dusan Tadic. The home of the football players of Vojvodina is the stadium “Karadjordje”, which was officially opened on June 28, 1924, and which was initially used by FC “Judas Maccabi”. Finally, it is important to point out that the football club, as one of the oldest in the country, has the first official fan club in Serbia, since December 15, 1937. Year. It is interesting that the first citizens of Novi Sad to win Olympic medals were football players: Vujadin Boškov (silver, Helsinki 1952), Todor Veselinović and Dobrosav Krstić (silver, Melbourne 1956) and Novak Roganovic (gold, Rome 1960).
FC “Vojvodina” is part of the wider sports society of the same name, which is the oldest and the most numerous association in the country in terms of the number of clubs. Since 2011, 18 clubs have been united into the Sports Society, which bear the name “Vojvodina”. Many Olympic, world, European and national champions have played and trained there.
Not far from the stadium “Karađorđe”, there is SPENS – Sports and Business Center “Vojvodina”, built between 1979 and 1981, according to the project of architects Živorad Janković and Branko Bulić from the Institute of Urban Planning of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo. The original name was the Sports and Social Centre “Vojvodina”, but the name SPENS has become established among the citizens – an abbreviation of the Table Tennis Championship Novi Sad, for whose needs the facility was built, because the 36th World Table Tennis Championship was held in Novi Sad in 1981. Today, SPENS is the arena of many clubs, because on over 80,000 m2 of space it contains two sports halls, an ice hall, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a bowling alley, boxing halls, judo and table tennis. Of the table tennis players, the greatest successes were achieved by Gordana Perkučin (bronze at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul) and Aleksandar and Slobodan Grujić. The biggest name in table tennis today is the Paralympic champion, world and European champion, Borislava Perić-Ranković, winner of the October Award of the City of Novi Sad and the Order of the State of Serbia.
The host of SPENS is the most trophy-winning club in Novi Sad – Volleyball Club “Vojvodina”, which, in addition to winning fifteen national cups, has won the title of national champion nineteen times, of which six in a row. Many volleyball players from Novi Sad are or have been national team members and winners of European, world and Olympic medals (bronze in Atlanta in 1996 and gold in Sydney in 2000), or have been selectors and coaches of national selection. It is worth mentioning the following names: Žarko Petrović, Slobodan Kovač, Vladimir and Nikola Grbić, Đula Mešter, Andrija Gerić, Slobodan Boškan, Vasa Mijić, Vladimir Batez, Đorđe Đurić, Igor Vušurović, Veljko Petković, Edin Škorić, Marko Podraščanin and Zoran Gajić, as the most successful coach and selector.
The second most successful club in Novi Sad, handball, which is a ten-time consecutive champion of Serbia, plays its matches in a hall located in the settlement of Slana bara, where, as well as at SPENS, there is also a swimming pool where swimmers and water polo players train. Since 1921, the citizens of Novi Sad have had contact with some kind of handball, more precisely its predecessor “hazen”, and since 1948 there has been a men’s handball club, which has brought numerous victories and titles to the city.
In the mentioned water polo, the women’s section is the current winner of the double crown, while in the men’s section, whose club has existed since 1935, the glory of water sports has been brought by many winners of the world’s greatest decorations – Slobodan Soro, Gojko and Duško Pijetlović, Miloš Ćuk and Branislav Mitrović. Swimming sports were improved by the construction of outdoor (1974) and indoor (1990) swimming pools at Sajmište and SPENS.
The people of Novi Sad were first introduced to basketball in 1924, but this game came to life during the occupation in 1942 within the UAK (Újvidéki Atletikai Club). A basketball court was built in the courtyard of the Serbian Great Orthodox Gymnasium in 1943. Year. The first results were achieved by the club “Egység”, which would later change its name to “Vojvodina”. Women left the most trace in the game of basketball – Marija Veger, winner of three European medals with the Yugoslav national team, and Jasmina Perazić (bronze at the Olympics in Moscow, 1980). Men celebrated street basketball, better known as basketball, which has been played for decades in all parts of Novi Sad, in schoolyards, on concrete courts between buildings, on the Strand. Playing basketball is woven into the growing up of many people from Novi Sad, whether they were professionally involved in basketball, or this sport was part of their free time. Thanks to this “tradition”, the Serbian national team, led by the people of Novi Sad, is the world leader in the Olympic discipline of basketball “Three on three” (3 x 3), which is now also an Olympic sport. Dušan Domović Bulut from Novi Sad is considered the most successful player of this sport in its history so far.
The first free and multiethnic organization of citizens in Novi Sad, founded in 1790, is the shooting society, which nurtured shooting as a form of development of physical culture, moral and combat skills of its members, but was also a favorite place of entertainment and leisure of citizens. Since 1812, there has been an annual competition for the best shooter of the New York Times. After the use of various adapted facilities, the Shooting Association received a purpose-built shooting range in 1890, with space for parties and dances. This building still exists today, and is known as “Egység”, which today houses the Cultural Station. In recent history, Novi Sad shooters have won more than 100 medals at international competitions. The best among them were the European champion Branislav Lončar (1965), who led the national team at the Olympic Games four times (1988-2000); European champion Desanka Petrović Pešut (1969, 1974), who won gold and silver at the 1970 World Championships, when she also became the world record holder; Junior European and World Champion and World Record Holder (1991, 1994) and Gold and Bronze at the Atlanta Olympics (1996) Alexandra Ivoshev and Aranka Binder won bronze at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. A member of the “Novi Sad 1790 Shooting Club” is the winner of numerous European and world medals, Nemanja Mirosavljev. Shooting is, without a doubt, a sport that will bring numerous trophies to Novi Sad and Serbia in the future.
On the initiative of Dr. Laza Kostić, the First Novi Sad Strong, Firefighting and Rowing Cooperative was founded (1872), which was not long-lived, but encouraged the establishment of a rowing club, and in 1885 “Danubius” was founded as a multinational sports association. The crew, a six-seater with a helmsman, for which the boat was purchased by Laza Kostić, was named “Štefanija”, and the duo with the helmsman was named “Ambrozije”. The club got its premises in 1913 on the banks of the Danube, near Brukšanci, and was moved to its current location, downstream from the Strand, in 1932. Year. In the first years of the Danubius club, rowers came mainly from wealthier families, because the equipment was expensive. He experienced his first successes at the beginning of the 20th century, and continued to form a great team of rowers until World War II. After the restoration of the club in the post-war period, especially since 1970, it experienced its most trophy-winning period. The first name among rowers is Zoran Pančić, winner of two Olympic medals (silver, Moscow 1980, and bronze, Los Angeles 1984).
While the leaders of the city are planning and preparing the construction of a magnificent athletic stadium, it should be noted that more than a century ago, certain athletic disciplines (walking, running, jumping and throwing) were represented in various sports societies such as “Egység”, “Preporod”, Youth Sports Club “Vojvodina”, “Judas Maccabi”, Novi Sad Athletic Club (“NAK”), which was founded in 1910. He was succeeded by the Athletic Club “Vojvodina”. The most trophy-winning athletes from Novi Sad were the high jumpers Dragutin Topić and the long jumper Ivana Vuleta (née Španović), who is undoubtedly the biggest name of Serbian athletics of the 21st century and the winner of the greatest European and world medals both in outdoor and indoor athletics. In addition to them, medal winners at European and world competitions were Olga Gere Pulić (high jump), Tamara Malešev (high jump), Petar Malešev (high jump), Stevan Zorić (high jump) and Mihail Dudaš (decathlon).
As far as martial arts are concerned, it is worth mentioning the successes of Vojvodina’s karate players, among whom the winner of the greatest medals and the most successful national competitor of all time, Dušan Dacic, and the winners of Olympic medals – wrestler Branislav Simić (gold, Tokyo 1964), judoka Slavko Obadov (bronze, Montreal 1976).
When it comes to boxing, the first professional match in Novi Sad was organized by the Himelsbach brothers in the 1930s. Amateur Boxing Club “Vojvodina” was founded in 1937, thanks to Anton Pocman. The greatest successes in this sport were brought by the Kačar brothers, Tadija and Slobodan. Both are Olympic medalists; Tadija won silver in Montreal (1974) and Slobodan won gold in Moscow (1980). He was a successful professional. In 1985, he became the world champion in the light heavyweight division.
The people of Novi Sad were also famous weightlifters, among which the most successful is the multiple state record holder Stojadin Stosic.
Mentioning the winners of Olympic medals, it is interesting to mention that at the first renewed Olympics in Athens in 1896, in the Austro-Hungarian national team, Novi Sad Serb Momcilo Tapavica competed and won a bronze medal in tennis. It is interesting that he also competed in weightlifting and Greco-Roman wrestling, and that after that he was an active member of the rowing club “Danubius”.
The first tennis courts, next to the Danube Park, were built in 1922, and the following year the Lawn Tennis Club was founded. The best tennis player in the period between the two wars was Djordje Dunđerski, who, in the jersey of Switzerland, of which he was a three-time champion, played at the Olympics in Paris (1924). During World War II, the club was called Ujvidéki Tennis Club, after the war “Sloga” and, finally, “Vojvodina”. The most famous member of the club is Monica Seles, a nine-time Grand Slam champion, with a total of 53 tournaments and at one time the first player on the WTA list. Without a doubt, she would have been the most successful in the sport ever if her up-and-coming career had not been interrupted by a stabbing in the back at a tournament in Hamburg on April 30, 1993, by the mentally ill Günter Parhe.
In order to keep guests as long as possible, coffee makers introduced bowling in their facilities, so the first club was established in the inn “Kod belog vola.” Before the Second World War, Novi Sad had 13 bowling alleys and over 30 clubs, including “Radnički”, “Vojvodina”, “Orao”, “Sloga”, “Mickey Mouse”, “Danubius”, “Egysé”. Winners of European and world medals in this sport were Ruža Vaštag (1955) and Franja Mihajlovic (1973, 1974).
Gymnastics as a subject was introduced in 1853 thanks to the initiative of Djordje Natošević, in order to improve the general health of students. The pioneer of gymnastic exercise in Novi Sad is considered to be Laza Kostić. At his suggestion, in 1872, the First Novi Sad Cooperative was founded, which would later change its name to “Soko”. In the eighties of the twentieth century, the Gymnastics Club “Vojvodina” was formed, which in 1992 returned its pre-war name to the Sokol Society. Since 2002, it has had a new name, the Sokol Society “Vojvodina” and inherits a rich tradition and successes of its members, many of whom were senior and junior national team members and state champions.
The favorite means of transport of many citizens of Novi Sad is the bicycle, because of the flat terrain, wide boulevards, well-maintained bicycle paths, which quickly reach from one part of the city to another. The Cycling Club was founded in Novi Sad in 1886, and three years later a concrete bicycle path or velodrome was built. Until 1915, Novi Sad hosted numerous cycling competitions.
In 1923, the oldest and one of the most successful aero clubs in Serbia, the Aero Club “Novi Sad”, was founded as a branch of the Royal Aero Club. It is engaged in training, training and organization of competitions for parachutists, gliders, pilots and modellers. Until 1953, the club used the airport in Jugovićeva, and then moved to the newly built airport in Čenej.
After World War II, automobile and motorcycle clubs were revived, and with the opening of the Freedom Bridge in 1981, several enthusiasts and lovers of motor racing realized that Mišeluk, an area on the right bank of the Danube between Novi Sad and Sremska Kamenica, was an ideal place for racing and socializing. Thanks to the leading people of motorsport, the first automobile race with a motor race on the famous circular rally track was held for the Serbian championship on September 18, 1983. Year. For the sake of interest, it should be mentioned that after Paris, Vienna and Pest, Novi Sad was the fourth city in Europe on whose streets one could see a model of electric car “De Dion-Bouton”, which was brought to Novi Sad around 1900 by Stevan Adamović.
The first equestrian association in Novi Sad, “Crown Prince Peter,” was founded in 1926, and the hippodrome where races and competitions were organized was built on Sajlov. This sport had several societies in the City: “Novi Sad Riding Society” (1931), “Sokol Society” which had an Equestrian Section (1934), Club “Sveti Đorđe” (1939). After the Second World War, the Equestrian Club “Graničar” was founded, which was considered one of the best in the former Yugoslavia.
Chess was one of the first sports in Novi Sad whose fans founded their own club. It was founded in 1880 by Dr. Joseph Noah, who participated in eight European chess tournaments. The first Olympian in Novi Sad was Imre-Mirko Breder (Stockholm, 1937). Due to the numerous successes of Novi Sad chess players, Novi Sad was given the organization of the 29th Chess Olympiad in 1990 – SCHONSI. The part of the New Settlement, where the buildings intended for the participants of the Olympics were erected, was named after that.
The skating organization was founded by Novi Sad archers and rowers in 1893 because they could not engage in their activities in winter. The first skating rink was built within the Shooting Range (“Egység” in Anton Chekhova Street). It was intended for adults and a “classy audience”. Otherwise, skating was also done on the Channel, on Šodroš and in the Danube Park. Artificial ice rinks were built at Sajmište (1972) and SPENS (1982). The Hockey Club “Vojvodina”, which was founded in 1957, the current champion of the country (a total of eight times and three times winner of the national cup) and the winner of the international Pannonian League in 2009, also plays its matches there. Year.
Of the events that the city is proud of every year, two marathons should be highlighted – athletic and mountaineering. The first Fruška Gora Marathon organized by the Athletic Club “Vojvodina” was held from 1962. until 1980. year, and the marathon runners went along the route Iriški venac – Novi Sad, 18 kilometers long. The 8-kilometer-long track between Sremska Kamenica and Novi Sad, called the Youth Marathon, was run by the participants in the period from 1969. until 1980. Year. The Novi Sad Marathon and Half Marathon have existed since 1993. Year. It used to be run on the route Novi Sad – Futog – Rumenka, and since 1998. It’s been a long time since the streets of New York. On the other hand, the Mountaineering Association “Fruška gora” was founded in 1924. years with the aim of promoting and organizing walking tours. Fruška Gora is 1960. It was declared a national park, and this was already preceded by actions of systematic landscaping of the forest complex for mass picnic areas and resorts, landscaping, construction of roads and trails. A large number of citizens of Novi Sad, of different ages, participate every year in the traditional Fruška Gora Marathon, which has been organized since 1978. It’s the oldest event of this kind in Europe.
Finally, a part of the text should be dedicated to two locations, where the people of Novi Sad practice their recreational sports activities, where some new champions begin to grow up, and which build on each other. Student playground, which is located along the left bank of the Danube, next to the University, and near the Strand. It was built in 1936 according to the project of engineer Milutin Matić. In addition to the football field, which was originally intended for landing exercises and athletic disciplines, an athletic track was built, which was used for skating in winter, as well as tennis, volleyball and basketball courts. The area is surrounded by densely planted apple trees, so the whole complex looks like a park. Novi Sad quay, which was formed by filling in the trenches and decommissioning of Brukšanci in the early thirties of the twentieth century. Later, the embankment was extended to the mouth of the DTD canal, paved and turned into a promenade with flower beds and grassy areas. Today, Novi Sad’s Danube quay is divided into three sections: Belgrade Quay, Quay of Raid Victims and Sunny Quay and has a total length of 5 kilometers. Today, the quay is a favorite pedestrian and recreational area intended for different ages. In addition to the cycling trail, a trim track has been built and exercise equipment has been installed. Along the Liman part of the quay there are facilities and grounds for sports and recreation.
Author of the text: Petar Đurđev