Today,
125 years ago, Luka Kaliterna, legendary coach of Hajduk, was born, the
man who wrote the history of Hajduk in the most beautiful way both on the field, as a player and on the bench, as a coach.
On
this occasion at Split cemetery Lovrinac, representatives and the former players of
Hajduk laid the wreath at his grave. On
behalf of the club and former players of Hajduk, the wreath was laid by his player Bogdan Kragić, and
there were many other former players of Hajduk who joined this occasion, such as Ivo Bego, Stanko Mrduljaš, Ante
Ivković, Stjepan Jukić Peladić, Ivan Katalinić, Sergije Krešić, Siniša
Fulgosi, Lukša Poklepović, coach Milivoj Buterer, secretary Goran Brailo, grandson of Frane Matošić - Frane Spain. Hajduk was officially represented by Club chronicler Jurica Gizdić.
The
present former players and coaches once again remembered the moments with the legendary coach, happy to tell his jokes and sayings, as there were plenty of them during his lifetime, but they also remembered the great
role of Luka Kaliterna in the history of Hajduk.
Luka Kaliterna, the legend of Split and Croatian
football, is inseparably tied to the beginnings and later almost all
the successes of Hajduk and our football in general. He was an outstanding football expert, with original ideas in the
methods of teaching and playing the game, an excellent educator and a
great creator of a number of excellent footballers.
From 1911 to 1923 he was Hajduk's goalkeeper and collected 160 caps. When he stopped playing, he became head coach of the senior squad, where he remained until 1930. At that time, he won the title of the national champion with Hajduk in 1927 and 1929. Then,
from 1931 to 1937 (with a short break in 1936) and from 1949 to 1951,
he was again the coach of Hajduk and won the title of the
national champion in 1950.
In
April, 1946, he passed the exam for football coach, in the
second session organized in Croatia, thus gaining the title of a
football instructor. It
is interesting to note that in 1922 Luka passed the exam for
the football referee and in 1923, he got the status
of a federal football jreferee.
Along
with work in Hajduk, he was rowing in the club Gusar from 1914 to 1924, with
which he won three Yugoslav titles and taught the first generation
of young rowers. He
participated in the regattas in 1923 in Crikvenica and in 1924 in
Zurich, as a member of the Yugoslav team in rowing.
Legendary Luka Kaliterna is certainly the first and biggest name of football in Split and Hajduk. It will remain recorded that he developed thousands of players of many generations. He was participating many of the biggest sports events, matches, tours, travels and was a distinguished expert of the highest authority. He was the Vice-President of Hajduk, renewed on the island of Vis in 1944.
He is the bearer of the biggest Hajduk's acknowledgments, the Golden Badge with the Brilliant and the Golden Captain Band. He
was awarded the City of Split Prize for Lifetime Achievement, and in
1979 he was awarded the Youth Trophy, Croatian Football Federation's highest achievement.
His famous saying will live forever: "The player without ball is the one who plays, and the basis of the football game is to accurately pass to a
team player, preferably from the first".
Still during his life, Luka Kaliterna has become a football legend. In
the true sense of the word, he created the history of football, a man who from the very first days was inextricably linked to Hajduk, regardless of
occasional separations.
He was a football visionary. He envisioned football 20 years in advance. His principles, exercises and trainings are the essence of a football game today. He was unique in our football. With his vision of football he rose far beyond the borders of Split and Dalmatia. He is the author of football alphabet. He was a football expert of the highest authority.
Luka Kaliterna died in Split on February 25, 1984 and was buried at Lovrinac cemetery. After his death, football lost its biggest son. Since 2007, he is a honorary member of the House of Fame of Split Sports.
13/10/2018 - 12:10 h
Miscellaneous
Photo: Ivica Čavka
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