Chicago Croatian

Chicago Croatian was an American Soccer Club based in Chicago, Illinois. The club competed professionally in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (National Challenge Cup), the CONCACAF Champions League (CONCACAF Champions Cup) and the National Soccer League (Chicago). All their home matches were played in Hanson Stadium and Winemac Stadium in Chicago.

Chicago Croatian
1985 CONCACAF Champions League Honduras Central America.
Photo from left to right top row: Coach Frank Basan, Joseph Malkoc, Yaro Dachniwsky, Leo Kulinczenko, George Rudman, Joseph Konarsky, Vlado Crnjak, Manager Joe Tadijanovic,
bottom row:John Galovic, Slavko Petrina, Tony Novacio, Tony Tadijanovic, Dusko Budimir, Zygmund Tryna.
Founded1949
Dissolved1990
StadiumHanson Stadium
LeagueNational Soccer League (Chicago)

The club was founded in the 1950s and is historically the most successful Croatian soccer club in the USA. The height of the Croatians success came in the 1970s and 1980s, when the team reached the final of the prestigious Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (National Challenge Cup) in 1974, 1979 and 1984.[1] They qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League in 1975 and 1980 but withdrew from the competition. They participated in the 1985 CONCACAF Champions League (CONCACAF Champions Cup)[2] and were knocked out of the competition in the 1st round by Honduras champions Club Deportivo Olimpia. Both legs of the match where played in Honduras: the 1st leg was played in San Pedro Sula and the 2nd leg in Tegucigalpa; the attendance was over 40,000 spectators for each match.

Honors

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Results
  • June 2, 1974 New York Greek American 2 Chicago Croatian 0
  • June 17, 1979 Brooklyn Dodgers 2 Chicago Croatian 1
  • June 24, 1984 New York Crete 4 Chicago Croatian 2 [3]

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK United States USA Yaro Dachniwsky
2 DF Croatia CRO John Galovic
3 DF United States USA Leo Kulinczenko
4 DF Croatia CRO Vlado Crnjak
5 DF Croatia CRO Dusko Budimir
6 MF Croatia CRO Slavko Petrina
7 MF Poland POL Joseph Konarsky
8 MF Canada CAN Tony Novacio
9 MF Croatia CRO Joseph Malkoc
10 FW United States USA Tony Tadijanovic
11 FW Poland POL Zygmund Tryna
12 FW United States USA George Rudman

Managers

  • CroatiaJoe Tadijanovic
  • CroatiaFrank Basan

References

  2. "CONCACAF Champions League 1985 Season Summary | SoccerStats.us". soccerstats.us. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2022.


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