Ilicin was a reliable right back and captain of NK Osijek for a long time with which he won the privilege of entrance into the First Federal League in 1977
When someone spends 10 years of his professional career in one, singular club, then he deserves to be called one of the legends of Osijek’s first-leaguer. Branislav Ilicin, an exemplary player who remained loyal to the Boys in White and Blue, never moved out of the club, up until retirement. There is no precise number of games he attended, but he is surely one of the club record holders because he was one of the classic A-team members in his time whom only the odd red or yellow card stopped from occupying the spot.
He started training in the 10-14 age group for then-Proleter, later showing his talent in the older age group, which hasn’t escaped the keen eyes of the club coaches, so that the explosive and brisk right-back quickly made it to the main team. That was in 1965, during manager Andrija Vekic’s time. Ilicin, number 2, was one of the pillars of the Osijek line-up who during the 70s relentlessly sought to be in first league company.
Being captain for many years, he played in unforgettable qualifiers for the First Federal during 1970, ’71 and ’73, when Zagreb and Osijek played it out in front of 64,000 spectators on the Maksimir stadium in which Osijek’s finest couldn’t cut it. Nevertheless, in 1977, the popular “Kobe” said his goodbyes to his teammates and fans and he resigned, even though being able to play a few more seasons. He never returned to football, but he will be remembered as one of the greats of that time.
