Mike Stojanović

Mike Stojanović

Stojanović (right, with ball) and Werner Roth (left) of the New York Cosmos in 1977
Personal information
Full name Momčilo Stojanović
Date of birth (1947-01-27)27 January 1947
Place of birth Lapovo, FPR Yugoslavia
Date of death 18 November 2010(2010-11-18) (aged 63)
Place of death Toronto, Canada
Playing position Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1969 Morava Velika Plana
1969–1973 Radnički Kragujevac
1973–1974 Vardar Skopje
1974–1975 Serbian White Eagles 85 (96)
1976–1980 Rochester Lancers 115 (51)
1979–1980 Hartford Hellions (indoor) 9 (1)
1981–1982 San Diego Sockers 52 (32)
1981–1982 San Diego Sockers (indoor) 5 (2)
1982 San Jose Earthquakes 12 (2)
1992 United Serbs 11 (5)
National team
1980–1981 Canada 14 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Momčilo “Mike” Stojanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Момчило Мајк Стојановић; 27 January 1947 – 18 November 2010) was an NASL and Canadian international soccer forward.

Early life

Mike Stojanović, nicknamed Stole in Serbian and Stollie in English, was born in Lapovo (PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia), to parents Vitomir and Ruža.

Career

There were many occasions when he was just unbelievable. I remember a game against a team that was very tough in another city – Ottawa. I don't know if we won 7–0 or 8–0, but he scored all of the goals. Believe me, we had some good players on the team that were capable, more than capable of scoring. But somehow it worked out that he got all of them. That's one of those things that is hard not to remember.

– Mike Bakić about Stojanović[1]

Club career

In Stojanović's career in his home land of Yugoslavia, he played for Radnički Kragujevac and Vardar Skopje which at that time were both part of the Yugoslav First League. Both clubs currently compete in their respective countries (Serbia and Macedonia respectively) top professional football leagues.

Before moving to North America, Stojanović was set to join OGC Nice but there were complications with his papers. A high scoring forward with the Rochester Lancers (1976–1980), Stojanović scored 17 goals and finished with 41 points which made him the NASL fourth leading scorer as a rookie in 1976. He was fifth best the following season with 14 goals and 33 total points. His most productive season was in 1981 when he finished third with 23 goals and 52 total points while playing for the San Diego Sockers (1981–1982) and was named the NASL's North American Player of the Year.[2] Stojanović also played for the Golden Bay Earthquakes (1982) which was his last season in the NASL. Stojanović is 9th on the All-Time NASL Top Scorers list with 83 goals in 179 appearances and 10th on the all time points list with 211, ahead of fellow NASL players George Best, Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer. He was a 2nd Team NASL All-Star in 1977 and an Honorable Mention All-Star in 1981.

Stojanović also played for a Toronto based club, the Serbian White Eagles FC from 1974 to 1975. The Serbian White Eagles FC played in the National Soccer League when Stojanović was there, but now competes in the Canadian Soccer League. Stojanović scored 96 goals in only two season including 52 in 1974 which was his first season with the club, and to this day is still a club and National Soccer League record. In 1992, Stojanović, aged 45, played for United Serbs FC based in Oshawa, Ontario.[3]

International career

Stojanović played in all of Canada's games in 1980 and '81, a total of 14 times. He scored in three straight games in the autumn of 1981.

Stojanović was 33 years old when he won his first cap with Canada's senior team on 15 September 1980 in Vancouver, BC (a 4:0 win over New Zealand). He also played for Canada's World Cup Qualifying team in 1980–81 (Canada failed to qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain by one goal). He scored a total of 5 goals in 14 caps for the Canadian National Team.

International goals

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 15 September 1980 Empire Stadium, Vancouver  New Zealand 4–0 4–0 Friendly
2. 18 October 1980 Exhibition Stadium, Toronto  Mexico 1–0 1–1 1981 CONCACAF Championship qualifier
3. 12 October 1981 Port of Spain  Trinidad and Tobago 4-2 Friendly
4. 2 November 1981 Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa  El Salvador 1-0 1-0 1981 CONCACAF Championship
5. 6 November 1981 Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa  Haiti 1-1 1–1 1981 CONCACAF Championship

Legacy

Stojanović was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Association Hall of Fame on 6 June 2009.

On 18 November 2010 (at age 63), Stojanovic died after a battle with stomach cancer in Toronto, Ontario.[4] He was laid to rest at the Serbian Orthodox monastery in Milton, Ontario.

References

  1. ↑ A legend from his first kick, Big Apple Soccer, accessed 27 November 2011.
  2. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1nNkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZX4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3054,3197264&dq=north+american+player+of+the+year+soccer&hl=en
  3. ↑ Glas kanadskih Srba (24 September 1992). "FK Ujedinjeni Srbi iz Ošave, Voice of Canadian Serbs #2607, pg. 14" (in Serbian).
  4. ↑ Lewis, Michael (19 November 2010). "Hall of Fame Inductee, Mike Stojanovic 1947–2010". The Ontario Soccer Association News. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
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