Bob Kap

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Bob Kap
Personal information
Born:(1923-06-10)10 June 1923
Skopje, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Died:14 March 2010(2010-03-14) (aged 86)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Career information
College:University of Budapest
Career history
As a coach:
Bob Kap
Personal information
Position(s) Outside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Gradjanski
FK Vardar
Vasas Budapest
Levski Sofia
CSKA Sofia
Managerial career
1951–1953 PFC Botev Plovdiv
1967–1968 Dallas Tornado
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bob Kap (June 10, 1923 – March 14, 2010), also known as Robert Kapoustin[1] and Božidar or Bojidar Nikolaiovich Kapušto,[2] was a Yugoslav-Canadian association football (soccer) and American football coach who was a pioneer in introducing "soccer-style" kicking to the gridiron game.[3]

Soccer[edit]

Born in present-day North Macedonia while it was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Kap obtained a law degree at the University of Belgrade and played professional football in Europe[4] before moving to Toronto after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. In North America, he worked as writer-editor for the magazine Soccer Illustrated and published the North America and World Soccer News.[5] He is also described as having coached in Montreal, Quebec.[5]

In his capacity as a journalist, Kap corresponded with trailblazing sports promoter Lamar Hunt, owner of the fledgling North American Soccer League side Dallas Tornado, and learned that the club needed a head coach for the 1968 season. Kap told Hunt that he had studied alongside Hungarian footballing legend Ferenc Puskas at the national academy in that country[6] and, more dubiously, that he had played for English club Manchester United.[4]

On July 21, 1967 Dallas media reported that Kap had been contracted since June 1 as Tornado head coach and that his qualifications included having graduated as a specialist coach at the University of Budapest coaching school in Hungary.[5] Kap then spent several months in Europe to scout for players and took the team on an Odyssean seven-month world tour in 1967-68, beginning in August in Madrid[7] and involving 45 games in 26 countries. Kap kept a journal of the trip[8] which included Saigon during the Vietnam War.

After the team's return to the United States, they made a pre-season trip to Costa Rica and Honduras,[7] but following a poor start to the 1968 NASL season Kap was replaced as coach by Keith Spurgeon on June 8 after a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Sting.[9] He was not known to have coached professionally again.[10]

American football[edit]

Kap is credited with recommending the Austrian footballer Toni Fritsch to the National Football League[2] and the Dallas Cowboys,[11] where Fritsch became a successful placekicker. In 1973, he worked as a kicking coach for the Houston Oilers.[12] Overall, Kap claimed to have placed nine European kickers in the NFL.[13]

In 1974, Kap was involved in plans for six European cities to play in the Intercontinental Football League under American football rules.[14] The competition did not take place but is cited as having helped set the stage for the eventual NFL Europe.[3] Kap devoted more time to painting in his retirement, and one of his paintings hangs at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.[10]

Later life and family[edit]

Kap received the key to the city of Dallas from mayor Erik Jonsson at an unknown date (Jonsson became mayor in 1964).[15]

In 1978, Kap fronted a bid to bring Argentine World Cup star Ricky Villa to the United States, but Villa moved to Tottenham Hotspur in England along international teammate Ossie Ardiles instead.[2]

Kap's son Michael Kapoustin is reported as having grown up in Toronto and Vancouver, British Columbia.[16] Michael continued to live in BC before being arrested in Germany in 1996 and extradited to Bulgaria to spend time in prison for fraud. He maintained his innocence and the Dallas sports columnist Gene Wilson wrote a book on his situation[17] before the Canadian government successfully pushed for his release in 2008.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Soccer in a football world. WSC Books, Ltd. 2006. p. 140. ISBN 9780954013479.
  2. ^ a b c Neil Jones (January 9, 2014). "The forgotten story of... Dallas Tornado's 1967-68 world tour". The Guardian. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Fraley, Gerry (March 14, 2010). "Bob Kap, innovator in kicking approach who helped bring soccer style to NFL, dies". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Seese, Dennis J. (March 6, 2015). The rebirth of professional soccer in America : the strange days of the United Soccer Association. p. 198. ISBN 9781442238954.
  5. ^ a b c "PART ONE: THE PROCESS BEGINS – COACHING CREDENTIALS?". Southern Soccer Scene. November 5, 2017. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  6. ^ Richard Padula (July 4, 2014). "Dallas Tornado: Football's most bizarre pre-season tour". BBC News. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Jean Pierre Guzhnay (November 28, 2017). "50 YEARS LATER: The Story of the Dallas Tornado's Infamous World Tour of 1967". FC Dallas. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  8. ^ "Dallas Tornado World Tour: Bob Kap's Journal". FC Dallas. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  9. ^ "PART THREE: THE 40 IN 125 + 4 – REALITY". Southern Soccer Scene. November 5, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  10. ^ a b "PART FOUR: KAP'S RECRUITMENT METHODOLOGY – LIFE CHANGING". Southern Soccer Scene. November 5, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  11. ^ Robert W. Creamer (October 4, 1971). "Scorecard: Sidewinders". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  12. ^ Ian Thomson (February 12, 2014). "Triumph And Tragedy: The Soccer Stars That Chased Football Glory In Texas". The Soccer Observer. Archived from the original on May 26, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  13. ^ Tim Sullivan (August 17, 2005). "34 years ago, Kap put 'fut' in pro football". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on May 26, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  14. ^ William N. Wallace (June 6, 1974). "N.F.L. to Introduce Football to Europe". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  15. ^ "Bob Kap collection, 1940-1978". University of North Texas. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  16. ^ "Canadian released from Bulgarian jail still needs to pay 'ransom': lawyer". CBC News. July 3, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  17. ^ Don Martin (November 20, 2007). "Canadian in Bulgarian prison ignored by Grits". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  18. ^ "Man jailed in Bulgaria thrilled to be home with son". CTVNews.ca. July 8, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
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