Those Glory - Glory Days

Former European Golden Boot winner Darko Pancev talks to Andy Greeves about Crvena zvezda’s European and Intercontinental Cup successes back in 1991.

Darko Pancev’s career began at his home-town club Vardar Skopje where he built a reputation as one of the top forwards in eastern Europe. His 132 goals in 207 Yugoslav First League matches between 1983 and 1988 brought him to the attentions of the division’s ‘Big Four’ – Crvena zvezda, FK Partizan, Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb – all of whom made efforts to sign him.

In the summer of 1988, it was Crvena zvezda who won the race to sign the prolific 22-year-old frontman.

“I chose Crvena zvezda because my whole family support them, including my father and my brother,” says Pancev, who was born in Skopje in the former Yugoslavia (now Macedonia) on 7 September, 1965. “The strange thing was that pretty much as soon as I joined the club, I had to spend a year in the army (the Yugoslav People’s Army). Life in the army differs vastly to the life of a professional footballer, that’s for sure. I had to wait a year to make my Crvena zvezda debut… a 6-1 home win over Sloboda Tuzla in which I scored a brace. That was a moment I’ll never forget!”

Gifted midfielder Dejan Savicevic also signed for Crvena zvezda in the summer of 1988 from Buducnost Titograd. He too was called up to the army shortly after joining the club but was given permission to play in Crvena zvezda’s continental games during the 1988/89 season despite being a serving soldier, making his competitive debut for the club against Dundalk in the European Cup in September 1988. The following campaign, the two players shone as Crvena zvezda won their 17th Yugoslav First League title, with Pancev’s 25 the division’s top goal scorer. The Belgrade giants also won the Yugoslav Cup in 1989 to complete the fifth ‘double’ in the club’s history.