Mladen Kranjc

Mladen Kranjc (12 April 1945 – 22 October 1988)[1][2] was a Croatian-Slovenian[3] footballer who played as a forward.

Mladen Kranjc playing for Maribor in 1969.

Career

Kranjc was born in Varaždin, present day Croatia, and played for Sloboda Varaždin before transferring to Slovenian club Maribor. Dubbed as the črni biser (English: The black pearl),[1][2] Kranjc spent the majority of his football career playing for the Slovenian side, having spent there a total of 12 seasons during the 1960s and 1970s.[4] He is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the club, and was the best goalscorer for the team in each of its five seasons spent in the Yugoslav top division, having scored a total of 54 league goals. His success eventually led to his transfer to one of the top Yugoslav clubs, Dinamo Zagreb, in 1972.[2][3] He played in Zagreb for one season and then moved to Olimpija. In 1974 he returned to Maribor and remained there until his retirement in 1977. Kranjc has made a total of 311 appearances for Maribor, scoring 104 goals in the process.[4] He died at the age of 43, after being involved in a motorcycle accident in Dolnja Počehova.[1][2]

See also

References
  1. "Zgodovina NK Maribor 1981–1990" [NK Maribor History 1981–1990] (in Slovenian). NK Maribor. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  2. Gomzi, Zmago (22 October 2008). "Mariborski črni biser" [Maribor's black pearl]. Večer (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. "Mladen Kranjc biografija" [Mladen Kranjc biography] (in Croatian). GNK Dinamo Zagreb. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  4. "Mladen Krajnc" (in Slovenian). NK Maribor. Retrieved 19 May 2013.


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