In Novi Bečej, up until the Second World War, many young men from farming families attempted to take up football, but with little success. Agricultural work unfortunately coincided with the football season, making it difficult to reconcile the two. Most of them gave up after only a few training sessions, realizing that they could not achieve the required level to earn a place in the first team.
An exception to this rule was Veselin Marčić, known as Sele. Almost unexpectedly, he appeared in Zvezda’s first team in 1942. That year, two young farmers broke into the senior squad: Sele Marčić as goalkeeper and Veljko Stanković as full-back. They were not accidental additions or temporary solutions, but reliable pillars in the formation of a solid and competitive Zvezda team.
Sele guarded Zvezda’s goal during the period when the club fielded one of its strongest line-ups and achieved its greatest successes. He played against leading Belgrade clubs such as Obilić, Jugoslavija, Vitez and Jedinstvo, as well as strong regional opponents including Obilić from Kuman, Turul and other teams Zvezda regularly faced. Between 1942 and 1944, Sele made a total of 28 appearances for the first team of what was then an outstanding Zvezda side.
It is particularly important to emphasize that Sele played at a time when Zvezda had an unusually large pool of excellent goalkeepers. Alongside him were Zdravko Gavrić, who competed under the assumed surname Radosavljević, and Joca Vratan, who later defended the goal for Partizan’s second team as a reserve to the legendary Glazer.
Sele loved football deeply and remained devoted to the game, even though his daily work left him little time for regular training. He was naturally gifted, intelligent and ambitious, qualities that secured him a place in the first team even without continuous practice.
His talents extended beyond football. Sele was also an excellent ten-pin bowler, and later achieved notable success in chess, where his intelligence came fully to the fore. For many years, he was the leading chess player of Jedinstvo, leaving a lasting mark in that sport as well.
Zvezda, and later Jedinstvo, always had in Sele a loyal associate, a dependable sports worker and a devoted supporter.
Comments