Vladimir Vinek's dribbles

Abstract

The paper attempts to shed light on the biography of Vladimir Vinek, a popular Zagreb football player during the early 1920s and one of the first real football stars in Croatia. It also attempts to explain his professional and private life, deeply connected with the contemporary social upheavals marked by repressive regimes of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and later of the Independent State of Croatia. After considerable success with football Vinek became completely dedicated to his police career, first serving to the regime of Yugoslav king Alexander Karađorđević and later on to the Ustasha regime of Ante Pavelić, which would ultimate lead to his demise.