Date of birth 6 February 1902 Years Team Name Svetozar Popovic | Role Football player Playing position Position Defender | |
Date of death 26 October 1985(1985-10-26) (aged 83) Team coached Yugoslavia national football team (1937–1941) | ||
Place of death Belgrade, Yugoslavia | ||
Svetozar Kika Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Поповић) (February 6, 1902; Kragujevac – October 26, 1985; Belgrade) was a Yugoslav and Romanian national football player and coach.
He began his playing career while being a refugee in Rome, Italy, while the Kingdom of Serbia was fighting World War I. At the end of the war, he returned to Serbia and played with BSK Belgrade until 1925. Then, as an employee of the Commercial Bank Italia, he moved to Bucharest, Romania. While still a bank employee, he continued to play football by playing with Juventus Bucharest and Venus Bucharest. On May 1, 1925, he played one match for the Romanian national team as Svetozar Popovici, against Turkey.
After retiring, he became a coach. He coached BSK Belgrade in their 1940 Mitropa Cup campaign. He coached on three occasions the Kingdom of Yugoslavia national football team between 1937 and 1941. He was technical director of BSK Belgrade and later worked in the direction of Red Star Belgrade, where he was one of the founders of the club.