Tomislav Crnković (footballer)

Tomislav Crnković (17 June 1929 – 17 January 2009) was a Croatian footballer. He was born in Kotor in what was still the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Club
As a defender, he played for HAŠK, Metalac and Dinamo Zagreb. Abroad, he later played at Linzer ASK in Austria and Servette Geneva in Switzerland.

With his 439 caps at Dinamo, Crnković was part of their Yugoslav First League-winning club in 1954 and 1958 as well as their Yugoslav Cup – winning team in 1951 and 1960. Crnković is regarded to be one of Dinamo's greatest defenders of all time. In 2006, he was also the founder of the Croatian Football Federation.

International
He made his debut for Yugoslavia in a June 1952 friendly match against Norway and earned a total of 51 caps, scoring no goals. He was part of the team that won silver at the 1952 Olympics, and was also a member of Yugoslavia's 1954 and 1958 FIFA World Cup squads. His final international was a May 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying match away against Portugal.

Managerial career
He also coached Austrian side Simmering.

Personal life
Crnković was a well-known womanizer, and was married at least five times in his life. After his football career ended, Crnković spent a brief time as a journalist and later the owner of a popular restaurant in Zagreb. He also found himself in financial trouble after being involved in a car accident where he was injured. He insisted to pay money to the other victims of the accident as well which left him nearly bankrupt. Near the end of his life, he was provided for by the Croatian Football Federation.