Željko Bilecki
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Željko Bilecki | ||
| Date of birth | 28 April 1950 | ||
| Place of birth | Zagreb, FPR Yugoslavia | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1969 | Toronto Croatia | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1970–1974 | Toronto Croatia | ||
| 1975–1978 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 66 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 18 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor) | 12 | (0) |
| 1980 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 1 | (0) |
| 1980–1981 | Los Angeles Aztecs (indoor) | 18 | (0) |
| 1980–1983 | Tulsa Roughnecks (indoor) | 2 | (0) |
| 1981–1982 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 29 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1976–1977 | Canada | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Željko Bilecki (born 28 April 1950) is a Canadian retired soccer player.
Club career[]
Bilecki played at the youth level with Toronto Croatia's junior team in 1969.[1] In 1970, he played in the National Soccer League with Toronto Croatia's senior team.[2] He was named the league's top goalkeeper twice in 1971, and 1972.[3] In 1974, he assisted in securing the NSL Championship against Toronto Homer.[4] For the 1975 season he played in the North American Soccer League with Toronto Metros-Croatia.[5]
He later played for three other NASL sides in the United States: Tampa Bay Rowdies, Los Angeles Aztecs and Tulsa Roughnecks.[6][7] He won a Soccer Bowl with Toronto in 1976 and was a runner-up in 1979 for Tampa Bay.[8] He was the back up goalie for Tulsa when they won Soccer Bowl '83. Bilecki also won the NASL's indoor title in 1979–80 with Tampa Bay.
International career[]
Bilecki made his debut for Canada on 22 December 1976 in a 3–0 victory against the United States in a World Cup qualification match in Port-au-Prince. He won two more caps the next year, the last of these coming in a 2–1 win over Suriname on 12 October 1977 in Mexico City, where he came on at the start of the second half to replace Tony Chursky.[9]
References[]
- ^ Waring, Ed (1 September 1969). "Croatia off as Hamilton wins tourney". The Globe and Mail. p. 23.
- ^ Waring, Ed (30 July 1970). "Brazilian rookie now NSL's Pele". The Globe and Mail. p. 35.
- ^ "National Soccer League 1926 to 1992" (PDF). canadiansoccerleague.ca. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Waring, Ed (21 October 1974). "White Eagles romp to Canadian title, defeat Calgary 3-1". The Globe and Mail. p. S6.
- ^ Balberstadt, Alan (20 May 1975). "Metros have plenty of scoring chances but Cosmos defeat them in home opener". The Globe and Mail. p. 35.
- ^ Labow, Jeffrey (15 March 1979). "Rowdies get Bilecki in deal with Blizzard". The Globe and Mail. p. 50.
- ^ "Bilecki on move". Calgary Herald. 13 March 1981. p. 22.
- ^ "Toronto beats Kicks 3-0 in Soccer Bowl". Winona Daily News. 29 August 1976. p. 19.
- ^ "Zeljko Bilecki". www.canadasoccer.com. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
External links[]
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- 1950 births
- Living people
- Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Canadian expatriate soccer players
- Canadian soccer players
- Croatian footballers
- Yugoslav expatriates in the United States
- Croatian emigrants to Canada
- Expatriate soccer players in the United States
- Association football goalkeepers
- Los Angeles Aztecs players
- Naturalized citizens of Canada
- North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
- North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players
- Sportspeople from Zagreb
- Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players
- Toronto Croatia players
- Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players
- Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players
- Yugoslav emigrants to Canada
- Canada men's international soccer players
- Canadian National Soccer League players
- Canadian soccer biography stubs