Legends

Vili Ameršek

He was born in the Zasavje region in 1948, and is one of the footballers that contributed greatly to the giant legacy of the Olimpija football club. This footballer from Trbovlje spent the largest part of his career in green and white. The only exception is the period between 1976 and 1979 when he played for Angers, France. He played 432 games for Olimpija. Nobody played more in the history of this Ljubljana club. He scored 106 goals and ranks second on the list of Olimpija’s best scorers. Only Zoran Ubavic scored more goals. Vili Ameršek, an elegant attacking midfielder with superior technical abilities, spent 16 seasons in Olimpija – the most seasons out of anyone who played for the dragons. He was also the club captain and one of the greatest all-round footballers in the history of Olimpija.

432 games, 106 goals

Tone Rožič

What Paolo Maldini means for AC Milan, Tone Rožič means for Olimpija. Even though he didn’t play as a defender, but as an attacker, he spent his entire career among the dragons, starting in the youth teams. This boy from Nove Jarše remained faithful to Olimpija even when the cult Crvena zvezda club tried to lure him to their team since he was one of the best football players in ex-Yugoslavia. His talent was also recognized by his inclusion into the youth and junior national teams of ex-Yugoslavia. He also played in the finals of the junior as well as the senior club cup of Yugoslavia. He wore the Olimpija jersey for 14 seasons, surpassed only by Vili Ameršek. There were few footballers in Olimpija’s history that were as faithful as Tone Rožič who had multiple opportunities to leave Ljubljana, but he never did. He left the public spotlight after his career ended. He was a junior team coach at NK Šmartno, but he never returned to Olimpija. Except as a spectator of course. Tone Rožič died after a serious illness in 2011. He was 60 years old.

385 matches, 68 goals

Zoran Ubavić

This son of a military officer made his first steps in Celje, where he was born, but he moved to Ljubljana at a young age. First, he played for Slovan, but later he moved to Olimpija where he quickly spent his worth as one of the most talented young Slovenian footballers. His debut for the seniors in the club was during times the club was playing in the ex-Yugoslav first league. After Slovenia’s independence, he became one of the most efficient attackers in the land on the sunny side of the Alps. He was the king of the penalty area and a nightmare for defenders and goalkeepers of opposing teams. He played 149 matches in the top Slovenian league and scored 82 goals. He scored 29 of them in the first season since Slovenia’s independence. He was the best scorer in the league and nobody has scored more goals in a season since then. His total statistic at Olimpija includes 283 matches played as well as 167 goals. He is the leading all-time scorer for the dragons, and he helped the club return from the fifth league back to the first league. Zoran Ubavić died in 2015. He was 51 years old.

283 matches, 167 goals

Branko Oblak

One of the best Slovenian football players of all time, one of the best football players in Olimpija of all time, and a legend of the club in every sense imaginable. Branko Oblak, a midfielder by football trade, wore the Olimpija jersey for eight seasons and left a mark that few can match. Among other accomplishments, he was the only teenager to score during his debut during Olimpija matches in the first Yugoslav league. His first appearance was in 1965 under Branko Elsner, and today he is one of the rare Olimpija players to score against Hajduk, Partizan, Crvena zvezda, and Maribor. He said his goodbyes to Olimpija in 1973 when he signed for where he only played for a couple of years. He played for Schalke and Bayern in Germany and won the national championship with the latter. He finished his career in the lower Austrian leagues. He wore the Yugoslav national team jersey 46 times and played in World as well as European championships. In 1974, together with Danilo Popivoda, he became the first Slovenian to play in the world cup. He also scored against DR Kongom, and he was selected to the world cup best XI! He returned to Olimpija as a coach and worked there during four different eras. He coached a total of 60 matches, wining 31 of them. He led the dragons to the national championship title in the 1994/95 season, and in 2009, he coached Jan Oblak during his debut. He was also the Slovenian national team coach, and UEFA selected him as the best Slovenian football player of all time during the celebration of UEFA’s 50th anniversary.

218 matches, 45 goals

Danilo Popivoda

He was born in Vojvodina in 1947 to Montenegrin parents. After moving to Ljubljana, he made his first football steps playing for Slovan at Kodeljevo. He came to Olimpija as a junior and later played 261 matches and scored 66 goals as a senior. He made history as one of the best and most of all one of the most popular Olimpija’s football players of all time. He played as an outside forward, famous for his quick drives and dribbling skills. He scored quite a few goals and was even the first scorer in the Yugoslav league 1973/74 season when he scored 17 goals. He outscored Dušan Bajević by one goal. After a decade of playing in Ljubljana, he moved to Germany in 1975 where he played 129 matches for Eintracht from Braunschweig, becoming one of the best foreign players in the history of that club. He played 20 matches and scored 5 goals for the national team of Yugoslavia and he played in the 1974 world cup. He finished his career early because he had problems with his eyesight. He played his last game on May 2nd 1982 against Hajduk. He was later an assitant coach for Srečko Katanec, when he led Slovenia to the European and World cups. When Olimpija climbed from the fifth league back to the first league, he worked as a staff member. Danilo Popivoda died in 2021, he was 75 years old.

261 matches, 66 goals

Miloš Šoškić

His debut in the green and white jersey was spectacular. When Miloš Šoškić, who came to Slovenia from Serbia when he was 21, first played for Olimpija, he played in the 2nd Yugoslav league match with Lokomotiva from Zagreb, where the score was 4:4! This was the first of 360 total games he played for the dragons which makes him third among the footballers who played the most matches. He was a sturdy and sharp defender who had lots of fighting spirit and was often team and did not only leave his mark as a player. He later coached the team as well. He started coaching Olimpija in 1988, during the debut of Robert Englaro, who was later part of the Slovenian national team. But wait, there’s more. During the three decades of his activities in Bežigrad, he was also a secretary, technical leader of the senior team, and even the sporting director of Olimpija! He is the only person who took on so many roles for the dragons.

360 matches, 1 goal

Radoslav Bečejac

Radoslav Bečejac is without a doubt one of the biggest legends in Olimpija’s history, even though he “only” played 136 matches for the dragons. Sometimes the number of matches does not tell the whole story which is definitely true in his case. He was born in December 1941 and started his career for the Serbian club Proleter as a midfielder, then he wore the jersey of the storied Partizan club from Belgrade. In the year 1967, he raised quite a few eyebrows with his transfer to Olimpija as a respected member of the Yugoslav national team. Beleive it or not, the team from Ljubljana Verjeli ali ne, this transfer was a nation-wide record in Yugoslavia! The paid 65 million dinars for Bečejac which was the most expensive football transfer in the entire country until then. According to an urban legend, the dragons had to hide Bečejac in Italy for a few days, so nobody could reach them. They were afraid that higher powers may block the transfer of such a good footballer from Belgrade to Ljubljana. Bečejac can also be proud of playing for Partizan in the finals of the competition which is now known as the Champions League, but Real was too strong of an opponent back then. After six years playing for Ljubljana, the popular Zaza went to Columbia for a short while, but he came back to Slovenia after his career ended. This starts an incredible story of a football expert, who played a key part in raising many successful Olimpija footballers, who were later successful as international players and players in the national team. He was a master at recognizing raw street talent and he brought many talented young boys to the club from the concrete street football fields of Ljubljana. He was a player development guru for Olimpija for three decades, developing Jani Pate, Gregor Židan, Primož Gliha, Zoran Ubavić, Stane Komočar as well as Branko Ilić, and Milivoje Novaković, but the list could go on and on.

136 matches, 24 goals

marko elsner

He was one of the most elegant footballers that the audience was able to see in Bežigrad, and he was naturally talented for playing football. He was brought among the green and white by Branko Elsner, Olimpija’s coaching legend. He left Slovana in 1977, and a year later played his first game for Olimpija seniors. He played a total of 112 matches and scored 12 goals in seven seasons. The fans were impressed by his cold-bloodedness on the one hand and incredible technical abilities on the other hand, which wasn’t common for defenders in his era. Marko Elsner first played as a midfielder and he played some forward as well, but in the end, he proved his worth as a defender. And he went very far as a defender. He played 14 matches for the Yugoslav national team and two matches for the Slovenian national team. In 1984, he played for Yugoslavia in the Olympics and was happy to receive a bronze medal in Los Angeles. After leaving Olimpija, he became an icon for Crvena zvezda fans, then he played for Nice in France, joined Admira in Austria, and spent his last days as a player at the Azure coast. He stayed there even after the end of his playing career. He opened a restaurant and transferred his love for football to his sons Luka and Rok. Luka Elsner was later Olimpija’s coach. Marko Elsner died in 2020 after a severe illness. He was 61 years old.

112 matches, 12 goals

SREČKO KATANEC

One of the best Slovenian football players of all time and later a coach for the golden fairytale which reached its pinnacle when the senior national team qualified for Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup, joined Olimpija as a teenager in 1981. Srečko Katanec spet four years among the dragons and proved his worth as one of the most talented midfielders in Yugoslavia. It was only a matter of time before he moved on. This happened in 1985 when he signed for Dinamo from Zagreb. He stayed there for a year, then moved to Belgrade where he played for Partizan, after which he played for Stuttgart and Sampdoria. He played in the UEFA Cup finals with Stuttgartom and with Sampdoria he played in the finals of the competition, which is now known as the Champions League. He also won the Italian championship with this club from Genoa, which was the biggest success in the history of Sampdorie. Katanec also won the Italian cup, the Italian Supercup, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup as a football player. This makes him one of the Slovenian football players who won the most trophies. As a coach, he led the Slovenian national team to their first appearance in two large competitions. He also coached Gorica, Olympiakos, North Macedonia, UAE, Iraq, and Uzbekistan.

81 matches, 10 goals

DUŠAN KOSIĆ

This midfielder was born in Ljubljana in 1971 and has worn the Olimpija jersey during two different periods. The first period was short-lived, Dušan Kosić only stayed one season in Bežigrad. He came back in 1998 and stayed for seven years. He played 292 matches in total in the green and white jersey. 235 of these in the national championship. No one played more league games for Olimpija since Slovenia’s independence. This footballer from Štepanjsko naselje was also the captain for many of these games. Kosić is in fifth place on the all-time list of matches played in Olimpija’s jersey, only Vili Ameršek, Tone Rožič, Miloš Šoškić, and Dimitrije Srbu played more games. After his rich football career ended, Kosić started coaching, he won the national championship with Celje (first time in club history). He was also Olimpija’s coach for 55 matches. Under his coaching, the team had 26 wins, 16 draws, and 13 losses.

292 matches, 51 goals