Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Dan Tana AI simulator
(@Dan Tana_simulator)
Hub AI
Dan Tana AI simulator
(@Dan Tana_simulator)
Dan Tana
Dobrivoje Tanasijević (Serbian Cyrillic: Добривоје Танасијевић; May 26, 1935 – August 16, 2025), known as Dan Tana, was a Serbian and American restaurateur, professional footballer, football administrator and executive, actor and producer.
Tana is best known as the proprietor of an eponymous restaurant, Dan Tana's, in West Hollywood, California, as well as being closely associated with football clubs Red Star Belgrade and Brentford F.C.
Dobrivoje Tanasijević was born in 1935 to Serbian parents that had been residing in Belgrade. Dobrivoje's housewife mother Lenka Milošević gave birth in her home village of Čibutkovica near Lazarevac where she had temporarily moved to in order to stay with her parents while her kafana owner husband, Dobrivoje's father Radojko Tanasijević, was away serving his mandatory Royal Yugoslav Army stint.
Growing up on Kraljice Natalije Street near the Zeleni Venac open market in Belgrade, young Dobrivoje, nicknamed Bata, was a lively kid with a keen interest in football. With the outbreak of World War II in Yugoslavia following the April 1941 German invasion, Dobrivoje's father moved to the countryside, staying with his parents (Dobrivoje's grandparents) in order to avoid conscription. As a result, young Dobrivoje, who stayed in Belgrade with his mother, did not see his father for four years until the end of the war.
With the post-war transformation of Yugoslavia from a monarchy into a Titoist people's republic under the Communist Party (KPJ) rule of Josip Broz Tito, Dobrivoje's father Radojko, despite not participating in the war as part of any armed faction, was adjudged by the new communist authorities to be a class enemy and sentenced to 12 years in a labour camp while his pre-war kafana, Složna braća, was nationalized. The father ended up serving a year before being released and finding employment as an accountant in the now state-owned kafana that had been his before the war.
Tanasijević was spotted playing football at 12, and offered an apprenticeship with Red Star Belgrade. He spent five years at Red Star, developing as a striker.
Tanasijević was aged 17 when he toured Belgium in 1952 as part of the junior squad of the Yugoslav football team Red Star Belgrade to play R.S.C. Anderlecht. While in Brussels, Tana abandoned the team and stayed in Belgium.
While in Belgium, Tana saw the senior Red Star Belgrade team play Anderlecht, and was spotted in the crowd by the Red Star captain Rajko Mitić. Mitić told Anderlecht of Tanasijević's ability, and arranged a trial for Tanasijević with them. Anderlecht offered Tanasijević a four-year contract, but as a defector he could not play club football in Belgium for two years. Anderlecht loaned Tana to Hannover.
Dan Tana
Dobrivoje Tanasijević (Serbian Cyrillic: Добривоје Танасијевић; May 26, 1935 – August 16, 2025), known as Dan Tana, was a Serbian and American restaurateur, professional footballer, football administrator and executive, actor and producer.
Tana is best known as the proprietor of an eponymous restaurant, Dan Tana's, in West Hollywood, California, as well as being closely associated with football clubs Red Star Belgrade and Brentford F.C.
Dobrivoje Tanasijević was born in 1935 to Serbian parents that had been residing in Belgrade. Dobrivoje's housewife mother Lenka Milošević gave birth in her home village of Čibutkovica near Lazarevac where she had temporarily moved to in order to stay with her parents while her kafana owner husband, Dobrivoje's father Radojko Tanasijević, was away serving his mandatory Royal Yugoslav Army stint.
Growing up on Kraljice Natalije Street near the Zeleni Venac open market in Belgrade, young Dobrivoje, nicknamed Bata, was a lively kid with a keen interest in football. With the outbreak of World War II in Yugoslavia following the April 1941 German invasion, Dobrivoje's father moved to the countryside, staying with his parents (Dobrivoje's grandparents) in order to avoid conscription. As a result, young Dobrivoje, who stayed in Belgrade with his mother, did not see his father for four years until the end of the war.
With the post-war transformation of Yugoslavia from a monarchy into a Titoist people's republic under the Communist Party (KPJ) rule of Josip Broz Tito, Dobrivoje's father Radojko, despite not participating in the war as part of any armed faction, was adjudged by the new communist authorities to be a class enemy and sentenced to 12 years in a labour camp while his pre-war kafana, Složna braća, was nationalized. The father ended up serving a year before being released and finding employment as an accountant in the now state-owned kafana that had been his before the war.
Tanasijević was spotted playing football at 12, and offered an apprenticeship with Red Star Belgrade. He spent five years at Red Star, developing as a striker.
Tanasijević was aged 17 when he toured Belgium in 1952 as part of the junior squad of the Yugoslav football team Red Star Belgrade to play R.S.C. Anderlecht. While in Brussels, Tana abandoned the team and stayed in Belgium.
While in Belgium, Tana saw the senior Red Star Belgrade team play Anderlecht, and was spotted in the crowd by the Red Star captain Rajko Mitić. Mitić told Anderlecht of Tanasijević's ability, and arranged a trial for Tanasijević with them. Anderlecht offered Tanasijević a four-year contract, but as a defector he could not play club football in Belgium for two years. Anderlecht loaned Tana to Hannover.