The Origin of Soccer in Serbia (original) (raw)

"The article aims to give a short overview of the origins and development of soccer in Serbia, from the introduction of the game to the public in the late nineteenth century until the beginning of the Second World War and the occupation of the country by the Axis powers. Soccer, an eccentric pastime in the beginning, in a brief period of fifty years managed to grow into a favorite national sport and to occupy the interest of millions of spectators, thus immensely influencing other spheres of life. The stages of development that soccer went through, connections between soccer and politics or between soccer and the economy, provides a broader picture of Serbian and Yugoslav society of the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century."