Red Star Belgrade: A Serbian Powerhouse

Stevan Stojanovic: A True Red Star

He came through Red Star's youth ranks. He spent a couple of seasons as a substitute to Yugoslav internationals like Tomislav Ivković and Živan Ljukovčan before debuting in the 1986-87 season. He participated in Red Star's 4:2 win over Real Madrid in European Cup 1/4 finals and stopped a Hugo Sanchez's penalty kick in Belgrade.

He quickly became a fans' favourite and was nicknamed Mali Dika ("Dika Jr.") after Red Star's goalkeeper from late seventies and early eighties, Aleksandar Stojanović (no family relationship to Dika Sr.). He won his first Yugoslav title with Red Star in the 1987-88 season and repeated it by winning a national double in 1989-90. A few days before a crucial 1/8 finals UEFA Cup against 1. FC Köln, Stojanović broke his arm during practise. Although Red Star had a comfortable 2:0 advantage from the first match in Belgrade (in which Stojanović was the best player alongside legendary Dejan Savićević), its superstars fell apart at Müngersdorfer Stadion and conceded two late goals before losing 3-2 on aggregate.

After the departure of Red Star's captain Dragan Stojković in the summer of 1990, Stojanović was voted team captain and led his team mates to Red Star's first and only European Cup title in 1990–91. He missed only one game and bailed-out his superstar team mates on many occasions during the campaign. In a nerve-wracking semi-final against Bayern Munich he conceded a memorable goal from Klaus Augenthaler right through the legs, which turned the momentum in Bayern's favour. However, he blocked several difficult shots before Augenthaler scored an infamous own goal in injury time, which sent Red Star to Bari, to participate in the finals against Olympique de Marseille. Again, there was no glamour from Red Star's superstars Savićević or Prosinečki, it was Stojanović who stole the show during 120 minutes and especially in the penalty shootout, when he stopped Manuel Amoros's shot, which resulted in Red Star Belgrade triumphing 5-3 on penalties. Stojanović also became the first goalkeeper to captain a Champions' Cup winning team.

Later he played for Belgium's Royal Antwerp and made an appearance at the 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup Final against Parma AC.

22 years on and he is still a house hold name at the Markana and was appointed manager this month here is his story in what he and the board hope is many seasons of success back in the promised land of Yugoslavia.