Family members, many friends, former teammates, members of the management and employees of the FK Vojvodina, as well as many who knew him, gathered today in a ceremony hall of FC Vujadin Boškov to hold a commemoration and to evoke the memories of Vasa Rutonjski, a former longtime Vojvodina football player who passed away last week after a long and serious illness.
Vasa Rutonjski was born in Novi Sad in 1952 and wore a Vojvodina jersey from 1970 to 1979. During that time, he played 253 official games, making him the 10th-ranked player on the everlasting club’s list in terms of first team appearances. He was a member of the generation that won the Central European Cup in 1977, as well as one that was the runner-up of Yugoslavia in 1975.
After a minute of silence, the attendees today watched a short documentary by author Miroslav Vislavski, in which they had the opportunity to recall how Vasa Rutonjski spoke about his life, career, Vojvodina, his friends, coaches and teammates.
Addressing the attendees, the president of the FK Vojvodina Veterans Section, Vasa Pušibrk, recalled Vasa Rutonjski’s career and stressed that with his departure, the club’s Veterans Section suffered a great and irreparable loss.
– First of all, Vasa was a good man and he loved all of us who he knew from a young age, that is, from the moment he started playing football in Slavija, until his membership in our Veterans Section, which we formed together. Playing for 10 years in Vojvodina is a painstaking job and all of us who’ve been through it know it very well, but at the same time, it’s something extraordinary. What kind of a player our Ruta was, speaks the fact that, after Vojvodina, in the USA he played with such great players such as George Best – said Pušibrk.
After Vasa Pušibrk, in a very emotional speech, Dr. Vladimir Višković, a former long-time doctor at the FK Vojvodina, addressed the attendees.
– I am pleased that today we have come here in such a large number to give Vasa the words of our last greeting, and to his family words of comfort in this moment of insolence. I met Vasa as a football player in Vojvodina, and by following Vojvodina’s games, I also followed his development. Later, when he stopped playing football and became one of the veterans of our club, he regularly came to our meetings and had his place among the veterans, and now, upon his death, his chair remained empty – said Višković.
The funeral of Vasa Rutonjski will be held today at 3 pm at the Novi Sad Cemetery.
