 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Illés Spitz | ||
| Date of birth | (1902-02-02)2 February 1902 | ||
| Place of birth | Budapest,Austro-Hungary | ||
| Date of death | 1 October 1961(1961-10-01) (aged 59) | ||
| Place of death | Skopje,FPR Yugoslavia | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1919–1927 | Nemzeti SC | 84 | (34) |
| 1927–1932 | Újpest | 87 | (57) |
| 1932–1933 | Hungaria | 6 | (2) |
| 1935 | St. Gallen | ||
| 1936 | Zürich | ||
| International career | |||
| 1925–1931 | Hungary | 6 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1937–1939 | Hajduk Split | ||
| 1939–1941 | Građanski Skopje | ||
| 1941–1946 | Macedonia Skopje | ||
| 1946 | SR Macedonia | ||
| 1946–1951 | Partizan | ||
| 1953 | Partizan | ||
| 1954–1955 | Partizan | ||
| 1955–1957 | Radnički Belgrade | ||
| 1958–1960 | Partizan | ||
| 1960–1961 | Vardar | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Illés Spitz (Serbo-Croatian: Ileš Špic / Илеш Шпиц); 2 February 1902 – 1 October 1961) was aHungarian Jewish internationalfootball player and manager, best known for his work in Yugoslav football in the 1940s and 1950s. Spitz is among the few survivors of the Holocaust from Macedonia, after being saved by the Bulgarian authorities.[1]
Illés was part of theÚjpest FC's first "golden era" helping the club win theCoupe des Nations 1930 and three championships.[2] In 1935 he moved to Switzerland where he played one season inFC St. Gallen and another inFC Zürich. During his playing career he played over 1,000 matches and scored over 600 goals.[citation needed]
Spitz also played a total of six matches for theHungary national football team, having scored three goals.[2]
After finishing his playing career in Switzerland, Illés moved to Yugoslavia where he had a long managerial career. In 1937 he took charge ofHNK Hajduk Split, one of the dominant clubs of theYugoslav Championship. Despite not winning any titles during his two-year spell there, he is remembered in Split for having formed the generation that wwould later win the Croatian League in the1940–41 season and end the years of disappointment the club had during the 1930s.[3]
In 1939 he moved toGragjanski Skopje, the topMacedonian club at the time, which played in the regionalSerbian League, which served as a qualifier for the final stage of the Yugoslav national championship.[3]
In 1941 with the beginning of theSecond World War, the region ofVardarska Banovina where Gragjanski was located, was annexed byBulgaria, and the club was merged with other city clubs to formMacedonia Skopje. Spitz remained at the helm at the reformed club, along with most of players of Gragjanski, some even going on to become Bulgarian internationals. The club competed in theBulgarian Championship, which was played in a knockout tournament format. In the1942 season Spitz managed to take Macedonia Skopje club to the league final, where they lost toLevski Sofia in October that year.
In March 1943, Spitz was arrested by Bulgarian authorities and because of his Jewish descent was put on a train toTreblinka extermination camp in eastern Poland. However, he was rescued by the club's executivesDimitar Chkatrov andDimitar Gyuzelov. They took immediate actions after his arrest and succeeded in having Spitz taken down from the train nearSurdulica in modern southern Serbia, then in Bulgaria.[4][5]
At the end of the war, the region returned to Yugoslavia. However, the country was no longer a monarchy, and the new communist authorities disbanded most existing clubs to create new ones. Spitz stayed in Skopje until 1946, but then the newly formedFK Partizan inBelgrade - officially established as the club sponsored by theYugoslav People's Army (JNA) - was recruiting the best players from all over the country, and Spitz was brought in from Skopje, along with the star playerKiril Simonovski.[3]
Spitz was successful in his job as the first manager of Partizan in the 1940s, winning twoYugoslav First League titles and threeYugoslav Cups.[3] He later manager a smaller Belgrade side,FK Radnički Beograd and took them to the Yugoslav cup final in 1957.[3] By 1960 Spitz led his teams in the Yugoslav cup final a total of seven times, more thanany other manager.
In 1960, he returned to Skopje to coach the city's new top-flight team,FK Vardar, and it was in the dressing room, after a league match, that he suddenly died from a heart attack on 1 October 1961.[3]
Újpest
Partizan
Vardar