Srboljub Stamenković

Stan Stamenkovic
Personal information
Full name	Srboljub Stamenković
Date of birth	31 January 1956
Place of birth	Titovo Užice, FPR Yugoslavia
Date of death	28 January 1996 (aged 39)
Place of death	Užice, FR Yugoslavia
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team
1975–1981	Red Star Belgrade
1981–1983	Memphis Americans (indoor)
1983–1988	Baltimore Blast (indoor)
1994	San Jose Grizzlies (indoor)
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Srboljub Stamenković (Serbian Cyrillic: Србољуб Стаменковић; 31 January 1956 – 28 January 1996) was a Serbian football player. The most notable part of his career was spent in the United States playing indoor soccer for the Major Indoor Soccer League in Memphis and Baltimore. He was known professionally in the United States as Stan Stamenkovic.

Career

Born in the town of Užice (then called Titovo Užice) in Serbia, he started playing for Red Star Belgrade in 1975 and stayed until 1981, when he was transferred to the Memphis Americans of the Major Indoor Soccer League.^[1]^[2] He played there for two seasons before going to the Baltimore Blast and stayed there until 1988, after helping the team win an MISL championship in 1984. He returned to Yugoslavia afterward to start his own business, a pizza parlor. He tried a comeback with the CISL's San Jose Grizzlies in 1994 but nagging injuries, which had prompted his earlier retirement, stopped this after 8 matches.

Stamenković scored 231 career goals and tallied 311 assists for a total of 542 career points. He is sometimes referred to as the greatest player in MISL history. In 1984, he led the league with 34 goals. His unique dribbling was perfect for the indoor game. At times he made the ball look like it was on a string. He could also find a streaking player, and thread the needle behind his back, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

Personal life

With his wife Vera, he had two children: a daughter named Jovana and a son named Nebojša who is a soccer coach.^[3]

Death

Stamenkovic died after injuring his head in a fall on a sidewalk in Užice, just three days before his fortieth birthday.

Yearly Awards

MISL All-Star Team –; 1982, 1983, 1984
MISL Pass-Master (most assists) – 1983, 1984
MISL Top Points Scorer – 1984
MISL MVP – 1984

References

^ The Year in American Soccer - 1982
^ The Year in American Soccer - 1983
^ Blic (17 August 2015). "Stopama slavnog oca: Titula Nebojše Stamenkovića za Srbu" (in Serbian). Retrieved 4 September 2017.

External links

MISL profile

[1] The Year in American Soccer - 1982

[2] The Year in American Soccer - 1983

[Stopama_slavnog_oca-3] Blic (17 August 2015). "Stopama slavnog oca: Titula Nebojše Stamenkovića za Srbu" (in Serbian). Retrieved 4 September 2017.

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