Antun Kovacic (born 10 July 1981) is a former

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Club career

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

recruited Kovacic from

Oakleigh Cannons Oakleigh Cannons Football Club is a soccer club based in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. The club, established by members of Oakleigh's Greek Australian community, currently competes in the NPL Victoria. The ...

as a short-term replacement for the injured Daniel Piorkowski towards the end of the 06/07 season, featuring in two games. He also played for several years in the now defunct

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

with the

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

. In June, 2008 Kovacic began trialling with the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

and impressed in two pre-season games, including one against the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

. In early July Kovacic signed with the

on a two-year deal to bolster their defence. In March, 2009, Kovacic moved to

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 축구단) is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League ...

to take up the club's '3+1' ACL roster spot. He returned to Australia for one season, helping Richmond Eagles to the Victorian Premier League Premiership and Grand Final in 2010. In 2011, he moved to Indian

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

side

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

. In February 2014, Kovačić returned to the Melbourne Knights. With the Knights, he won the Dockerty Cup, helping the club to their first piece of silverware in 18 years. At the end of the season, Kovacic retired from competitive football.

References

External links

*
profile
at newcastlejets.com.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacic, Antun 1981 births Living people Australian people of Croatian descent Soccer players from Melbourne Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in South Korea A-League Men players National Soccer League (Australia) players Melbourne Victory FC players Melbourne Knights FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Ulsan Hyundai FC players K League 1 players I-League players Churchill Brothers FC Goa players Australian expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in India Association football central defenders Australian soccer players