Velimir NAUMOVIC

Yugoslav international with three caps, Velimir Naumovic began his professional career in 1953 with Red Star Belgrade, the emblematic team of his Serbian home town. But used sparingly, he would leave the club and join NK Rijeka, who also played in the top flight of the national league of the day. He would stay there for nine seasons in all before heading west to Belgium in 1965. The pacy and technically-gifted midfielder signed for Standard Liège, with whom he went on to win two national cups (1966 and 1967), and the Belgian league title in 1969. In that same year, he moved on to join Stade Rennais, where he would leave the impression of a reasonably-talented player, who could be both creative and a ball-winner. Seen as a footballing magician, he would notably lift the French Cup with Rennes in 1971. In his first season as a Rennes player, he was an undisputed First-Team starter, but that would be less the case in the second campaign, owing to the competition for places from the up-and-coming Kéruzoré, with whom he was part of the rotation alongside Garcia in midfield. He eventually left Stade Rennais at the end of the 1970/1971 season to return to Belgium, playing initially for RJ Bruxelles and then for Tilleur FC where he finished his career as a professional footballer. Sadly, he passed away in his adopted country, where he had been naturalised as a Belgian citizen in 1992, on 18th December 2011.