Crvena zvezda won the second championship title in 1951. More precisely, on 4th November, around 4:15 pm, our Crvena zvezda became the champion of Yugoslavia. In the end, Crvena zvezda was ahead of Dinamo from Zagreb, with the same number of points but with a better goal difference (0.018). This is how we won the championship title with a total of 35 points and a goal difference of 50:21.
In 1951, when the championship was played throughout the entire year, the team led by legendary Rajko Mitić, the first Crvena zvezda's star, started off very well with three victories, with a goal difference of 13:0. Everything went wrong then after losing a match to Mačva 2:1 in Belgrade, so Crvena zvezda finished the spring session ranked fourth with 14 points, behind Dinamo (20), Hajduk (17) and Partizan (16).
Several rounds before the end of the championship, Dinamo had what seemed to be insurmountable five-point lead. Then in the penultimate round in Zagreb, a real drama took place. Crvena zvezda took the lead through a goal scored by legendary Kosta Tomašević 5 minutes into the match, but then Dinamo evened out the score through a penalty shot by Velfli after 25 minutes. The hosts attacked fiercely, our team defended well, and towards the end of the game, after a counterattack led by Đajić and Mitić, the ball came to Tomašević, who cleverly tricked the guard and hit the goal right before the desperate goalkeeper Stinčić. This key moment of the big derby took place 82 minutes into the game. But Dinamo still had a point advantage before the last round, and that advantage seemed enormous.
In the last round, the most dramatic one in the history of Yugoslavian football up to then, Dinamo drew in a hot game in Belgrade played against BSK (2:2). Crvena zvezda needed to beat Partizan in the "eternal derby" with the score 2:0 or 5:1 in order to win the first title. Partizan football players were playing as if they too were fighting for the title, but at the time they were powerless against Mitić, Tomašević and the gang ... Crvena zvezda hosted the match at JNA Stadium before 50,000 spectators and they managed to wipe the floor with the great rival, thanks to the goals scored by Tomašević and Todor Živanović. The big stars of the match were Bobek, Čajkovski, Valok ... When the excellent referee Vasa Stefanović marked the end, such a celebration started, as Belgrade had never seen before. Thousands of Crvena zvezda fans celebrated the title even by lighting paper torches. The top scorer of the Championship was Kosta Tomašević with 16 goals.
- Even now I cannot understand ... how we managed to endure - said the Crvena zvezda’s team captain Rajko Mitić. - Time seemed to stand still. Partizan was becoming more and more aggressive, and we were running out of strength. Fortunately for us we endured to the end.
Roster:
Branislav Vukosavljević 6 games - 2 goals, Milorad Diskić 16, Predrag Đajić 22-1, Milivoje Đurđević 6, Todor Živanović 10-4, Aleksandar Zarić, Janko Zvekanović 14, Miljan Zeković, Siniša Zlatković 11-4, Jovan Jezerkić 18-7, Bora Kostić 3-1, Ljubomir Lovrić 14-17 received goals, Rajko Mitić 17-4, Miljan Miljanić, Svetislav Milić, Mrkušić Srđan 8-4 received goals, Branko Nešović 1, Tihomir Ognjanov 22-9, Bela Palfi 22-1, Pavle Radić 1, Perica Radenković, Branko Stanković 13-1, Momčilo Stanić, Dimitrije Tadić 12, Kosta Tomašević 21-16.
Coach:
Žarko Mihajlović