Velija Bećirspahić

Who is Velija Bećirspahić?

Velija "Dedo" Bećirspahić or Bečirspahić was a Bosnian football player and a coach. Widely known by nickname Dedo due to early hair hoariness, he spent his entire professional career with FK Željezničar.

He started his career in FK Pofalićki, a small club from Sarajevo. He was spotted there by coaches of FK Željezničar and in 1967 signed a contract with the club in which he would spend the rest of his career. At first, this left-footed player was a winger, but later he was moved to defence. He would become one of the most recognizable left backs in Yugoslav First League with a hard-nosed, old school attitude - "ball can get through, but not the player".

He played 222 league matches for FK Željezničar, scoring 12 goals. He was a member of the team that won Yugoslav championship in 1971–72 season. He retired in 1975.

After that, he became a coach of FK Željezničar youth squad. In 1978, Ivica Osim selected him to be one of his assistant coaches in FK Željezničar.

He suffered and died of cancer.