Brana Ilić (; born 16 February 1985) is a
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
n professional
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 le ...
who plays as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
for Sloven Ruma.
Club career
Zemun and Rad
Ilić made his first senior appearances with
Zemun
Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...
in the
2003–04 First League of Serbia and Montenegro
The 2003–04 First League of Serbia and Montenegro was the second and first full season of the Serbia and Montenegro's top-level football league since its establishment. It was contested by 16 teams, and Red Star Belgrade won the championship.
T ...
. He quickly established himself as a first-team regular, scoring four goals in 23 games. During his time at Zemun, Ilić amassed a total of 93 league appearances and scored 14 goals.
In the 2007 winter transfer window, Ilić moved to
Serbian First League
The Serbian First League ( sr, Прва лига Србије / Prva liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet First League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Прва лига / Mozzart Bet Prva liga) for sponsorship reasons, is the name for the second ...
club
Rad
RAD or Rad may refer to:
People
* Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver
* Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist
* Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician
* Radley R ...
, spending there the next two years. He helped them win promotion to the
Serbian SuperLiga
The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...
in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
.
Partizan and Vojvodina
On 9 January 2009, it was announced that Ilić signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with
Partizan Partizan may refer to:
Sport
* JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs:
**AK Partizan, athletics
** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling
** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo
**FK Partizan, association fo ...
. He made his competitive debut for the club on 14 March, coming on as a late second-half substitute for
Lamine Diarra
Lamine Diarra (born 20 December 1983) is a Senegalese former footballer who played as a striker. He was capped once for Senegal at full level.
Nicknamed ''Black Mamba'' and ''Mamba Di'', due to his speed and clinical finishing, Diarra is best r ...
in a 2–0 home league victory over
Čukarički. Four days later, in his second appearance for Partizan, Ilić scored his first goal for the club, giving his team a 1–0 away win against
Jagodina )
, image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png
, image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png
, map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...
.
On 1 July 2010, it was announced that Ilić signed a one plus one-year contract with
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
. He made 44 appearances across all competitions and scored 15 goals for the club, before leaving
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...
in the 2012 winter transfer window.
Kazakhstan, Greece and Hungary
In March 2012, Ilić moved abroad to Kazakhstan and signed with
Aktobe
Aktobe ( kz, Ақтөбе, Aqtöbe; russian: Актобе, Aktobe) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people.
Aktobe is located in the west of K ...
. He made 10 appearances and scored three goals in the first half of the
2012 Kazakhstan Premier League
The 2012 Kazakhstan Premier League was the 21st season of the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest football league competition in Kazakhstan. The season was scheduled to start on 9 March 2012 and to conclude on 27 October 2012 Shakhter Karag ...
, before leaving the club during the summer transfer window.
In the summer of 2012, Ilić joined
Superleague Greece
The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...
side
PAS Giannina
PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...
. He made his first appearance for the club on 25 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home
league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
draw with
Platanias
Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platania ...
. On 7 October, Ilić scored his first goal for PAS Giannina in a 1–2 home loss to
Panionios
Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...
. He finished his debut season as the club's top scorer with 11 goals (10 in the league). During his four-year tenure at PAS Giannina, Ilić amassed 138 competitive appearances and scored 28 goals for the club.
On 2 August 2016, Ilić signed with
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
club
Aris Thessaloniki
Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...
on a two-year contract plus one-year extension. He netted his first goals for the side on 18 December, scoring a brace in a 3–2 win over
Trikala
Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...
. Eventually, Ilić left Aris Thessaloniki after just one season.
After five years in Greece, Ilić moved to Hungary and joined
Nemzeti Bajnokság II
NB II, currently known as the Merkantil Bank Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of Hungarian football. At the end of the 2004–05 season, the tournament format was changed from one division of 14 teams to two divisions: ''Keleti ...
club
Kisvárda
Kisvárda (; german: Kleinwardein, yi, קליינווארדיין, Kleynvardeyn) is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary near the border of Slovakia and Ukraine. It is the 3rd largest town ...
in July 2017. He helped them gain promotion to the
Nemzeti Bajnokság I
The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, "National Championship"), also known as NB I, is the top level of the Hungarian football league system. The league is officially named OTP Bank Liga after its title sponsor OTP Bank. UEFA currently ranks the league 28th ...
in his
debut season, contributing with 10 goals in 35 appearances.
International career
On 18 March 2011, Ilić received his first call-up to the
Serbia national team for their
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers against
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
and
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, but remained unused in both matches. He eventually made his debut in a friendly match against
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
on 3 June 2011.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
;Partizan
*
Serbian SuperLiga
The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...
:
2008–09,
2009–10
*
Serbian Cup
The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round.
From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...
:
2008–09
;Individual
*Top Assist
Super League Greece
The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...
Runner-Up:
2014–15 (10 Goals
with PAS Giannina
PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...
)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilic, Brana
Association football forwards
Expatriate footballers in Greece
Expatriate footballers in Hungary
Expatriate footballers in Kazakhstan
FC Aktobe players
First League of Serbia and Montenegro players
FK Inđija players
FK Partizan players
FK Rad players
FK Vojvodina players
FK Železničar Pančevo players
FK Zemun players
Football League (Greece) players
Kazakhstan Premier League players
Nemzeti Bajnokság I players
Nemzeti Bajnokság II players
PAS Giannina F.C. players
Serbia and Montenegro footballers
Serbia international footballers
Serbian expatriate footballers
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan
Serbian First League players
Serbian footballers
Serbian SuperLiga players
Super League Greece players
1985 births
Living people