How Red Star was founded: "Guys, how about we call ourselves 'Star'? Great - just make it red!"

Red Star was founded on this day, March 4, in 1945. The club came to be on the initiative of the United League of Anti-Fascist Youth, with Zoran Zujovic, Ljubisa Sekulic, Slobodan Cosic, Dusan Bogdanovic and Svetozar Gligoric all involved in laying the foundations of a future sports society.

One month before that, the Red Star Youth Calisthenics Society was set up, and then it grew into the Red Star sports collective.

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The day before the founding assembly on March 4, delegates were still debating what name to give to it, when "godfathers" Slobodan Cosic and Zoran Zujovic, the club's first vice presidents, got involved.

Cosic said at that time, "Guys, let's call our society Zvezda (Star)?" - to which Zujovic added, "Great. Only, if it's Star - let it be red."

The first president of the club was Djordje Paljic, his vice-presidents Slobodan Cosic and Zoran Zujovic, with Ljubisa Sekulic serving as secretary, Dusan Bogdanovic as treasurer, and Predrag Djajic as kit man.

The club played its first football match on the same day, March 4, against  the First Battalion of the Second KNOJ Brigade. Red Star won 3-0 in a game played at the Student venue.

Red Star's lineup that day was the following: Golubicic (sub. Popadic), Stankovic, Filipovic, Pecencic, Ciric, Jovanovic, Velickovic, Tomasevic, Sapinac (sub. Stokic), Spasojevic and Horvatovic. The scorer of the first, historic goal for Red Star was Kosta Tomasevic.

During its first year, Red Star played a total of 36 matches, resulting in 30 victories, five draws, and a single defeat in Timisoara against Romania's national squad.

Rajko Mitic (right), Red Star's 1st Star; Photo: MN Press

Throughout history, Red Star produced a large number of legends, the biggest ones being "Star's Stars" - 5 of them so far - Rajko Mitic, Dragoslav Sekularac, Dragan Dzajic, Vladimir Petrovic Pizon and Dragan Stojkovic Piksi.

Still, the most celebrated generation in the history of Red Star is the one from 1991, which became European club champions in a final played in Bari, Italy. This generation of the club's football players was later proclaimed to be "The 6th Star" - though that moniker didn't take root among the supporters of the red-and-whites.

(Telegraf.rs)