On August 9th, 1960, in the house of the late Dane Vrbanic, 28 Croatian patriots from London & St. Thomas gathered to form the “Croatian Cultural, Educational and Leisure Society ‘Zagreb’” named after their beloved Croatian capital - or “Club Zagreb” for short. The first club officials were: Ante Pretpotnik, Drago Glavanic, and Rudi Martinovic. At the second meeting of the said society, all of the members agreed on forming three entities to promote the Croatian name and activities. Thus, the Croatian Radio of London, the Croatian Herald “Hero” (“Junak” in Croatian) and the soccer club “Croatia” were formed. The first president of the soccer club "Croatia" was Ante Pretpotnik, and the first secretary was Ivan Bali.The late 60’s brought a whole new exodus of Croatians leaving communist Yugoslavia for a better life in the free west and many decided to move to the London area. With poor political and economical conditions back home - especially for Croatians - these new immigrants were very motivated to preserve their own Croatian identity and promote the Croatian name and cause for freedom and independence. Thus, many found they were able to do so through soccer.
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Your location: 1994 Westminster Drive, London, Ontario, Kanada