Branko Culina (; born 1 October 1957 in

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

Socialist Republic of Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Social ...

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

) is a

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

coach and former player. He previously managed

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

and 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 ...

in the A-League.

Club career

Culina was born in

and emigrated to Australia with his mother in 1968, at the age of 10, settling in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

's Croatian community. His senior playing career began with St. Albans Saints where he captained the senior team at the age of 15. In 1974, he transferred to Essendon Croatia, he had seven successful years at the club which included winning the Victorian State Championship in 1978 and the Victorian treble (State Champions,

Dockerty Cup The Dockerty Cup is an annual association football knock-out competition open to all Victorian clubs across the Victorian football league system. The tournament is named after the former president of Football Federation Victoria Harry Dockerty. ...

and the State League Cup) in 1979. In 1980, he joined sister club

Sydney Croatia Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

before moving to

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 ...

club

Blacktown City Demons Blacktown City Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Blacktown, New South Wales. Founded in 1953, the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW. Blacktown City's home ground is Blacktown City ...

. After a season at each he returned to Melbourne with

St Albans Saints St Albans Saints Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in St Albans, Victoria. Established by local Croatian Australians as Dinamo, the club is a regular participant in the Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament. The c ...

, where he remained until retiring 1988.

Managerial career

After retiring as a player he stayed with St Albans as a coach in the

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

for the 1989 season before taking up a role at

North Geelong North Geelong is a suburb of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria. The suburb was bypassed by traffic from Melbourne coming from the Princes Freeway by the creation of the Geelong Ring Road, which was complete in 2009. At the , North Geelo ...

. At North Geelong, Culina lead the side to the 1990 Division One title leading to promotion to the VPL. He then won the VPL with North Geelong at the first go in 1991, beating Brunswick Juventus in the Grand Final at Middle Park. In 1992, he returned to the NSL at

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 ...

Sydney United

Culina returned to the NSL at

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

for the 1994–95 season. His three seasons at United would be his most successful to date, winning the minor premiership and reaching the competition Grand Final in the 1996–97 season, as well as winning the Waratah Cup in 1995 and 1996. Overall, he coached 133 games for Sydney United, with 62 wins, 32 draws, and 39 losses, including an Australian record of 8 consecutive victories. During this time he was also coach to his teenage son

Jason Culina Jason Culina (born 5 August 1980) is a former Australian Association football, soccer player and coach. Club career Culina began his career with Sydney United 58 FC, Sydney United under his father, Branko Culina, before moving to AFC Ajax, A ...

who was breaking into the Sydney United first team. While some accusations of

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

floated around Branko has said he 'didn't have to do

ason was a prestigious hereditary noble title in Japan, used mainly between Asuka and Heian periods. At first, it was the second highest, below '' Mahito'', which was given to members of the Imperial family, but after Heian period it became the high ...

any favours because he didn't need any', perhaps evidenced best by Jason's later success as a Socceroo. After his successful 1996–97 season, he was signed with great promise to take over .

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club, based in Belmore, New South Wales, Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan- ...

. Over three seasons, he would become Olympic's longest serving coach, narrowly missing out on a finals place in his first year before pushing the team into the finals in both 1999-00 and 2000–01 NSL seasons. In 2001, he returned to Sydney United, however the club was now less of a force in the national league. Following the demise of the NSL, Culina had been working as

Technical Director A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. This person usually has the highest level of skill within a specific technical f ...

for the state governing body Soccer NSW, which included a coaching role in 2005 for the NSW State Representative Team.

Sydney FC

In 2007, he returned to coaching at

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

. Sydney had accepted the resignation of former coach

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

at the close of a disappointing 2006–07 season, and on 13 February 2007 appointed Culina in an interim role, for initially six months, to guide the club in its first

Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

campaign. Culina then led Sydney FC to five wins in eight games, including a historic 2–1 away win against

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

– the first-ever victory recorded by an Australian club in the AFC Champions League. On 23 April 2007 he was confirmed as Sydney's permanent coach with a two-year contract. Despite the initial success with his new club, Culina found the A-Leagues 2007–08 season tough going. Highly inconsistent performance and an inability to win against teams both at the top and bottom end of the league table meant that Culina's Sydney found itself halfway through the competition in Round 9 with only two victories. after a 0–1 loss at home to Adelaide United, Culina was dismissed from his position with the club. During a Round 7 clash between Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory, he made controversial remarks about referee

Mark Shield Mark Shield (born 2 September 1973 in Fortitude Valley, Queensland) is a former Australian Football referee and national Director of Referees. He most recently refereed in Australia's A-League. He first played soccer for the Innisfail Tigers a ...

, claiming that: "''If the police need to escort you, it's not a good sign.''" "''Don't ask me about the referee, I can't afford the fine … however, if the referee needs to be escorted by police after the game, you make your own mind up whether he's had a good game or bad game.''"

Newcastle United Jets

Culina was named as the manager of

Newcastle United Jets FC 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 ...

from the start of the

A-League 2009-10 A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

season and given a two-year contract. He was previously working for the Jets as the

., Culina played an attractive brand of football. Newcastle made it the

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, losing to

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

. Branko was fined $3000, for using the word "

shit ''Shit'' is a word considered to be vulgar and profane in Modern English. As a noun, it refers to fecal matter, and as a verb it means to defecate; in the plural ("the shits"), it means diarrhea. ''Shite'' is a common variant in British an ...

" in a post-match press conference. After the takeover of the club by

Nathan Tinkler Nathan Tinkler (born 1 February 1976) is an Australian mining industry executive and was previously the principal shareholder of Aston Resources and Whitehaven Coal. He started out as a mining apprentice in the Hunter Valley, in New South Wales ...

, Culina signed with the club until 2015. On 4 October 2011, just four days out from the season opener, it was announced that Culina had been sacked as coach of the Newcastle Jets.

Rockdale City Suns

On 19 October 2012, Branko Culina was appointed the new manager and director of football of

NSW Premier League The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Northern ...

club

Rockdale City Suns Rockdale Ilinden Football Club (formerly known as the Rockdale City Suns Football Club from 1992 to 2020) is an Australian Macedonian soccer club based in Sydney suburb of Rockdale. Founded in 1969, the club competes in the highest men's comp ...

. In his first season in charge of the side, Culina lead Rockdale to a 4th placed NSW Premier League finish, and all the way to the Grand Final after defeating

Marconi Stallions Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times. The Stallions are the soccer team of Club Marconi, a social ...

, Sutherland Sharks and

Sydney United 58 FC Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

, but lost by 1-0 to

Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Bonnyrigg, Sydney, New South Wales, currently playing in the NSW League One. The club was founded in 1968 as Avala Sports Club and took its current name in 1992. H ...

in front of around 5,000 people.

Personal life

Branko and his wife Nada have two sons, former Olyroo Dean Culina and past

Socceroo The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

. Branko is a football analyst for SBS and

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

.currently ABC TV Grandstand.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;

* Victorian State Championship: 1978, 1979 * Victorian State League Cup: 1979 *

: 1979 ;Personal honours *

Player of the Year: 1985 with

Manager

;

* NSL Championship: 1996–1997 * Waratah Cup: 1995, 1996 ;

North Geelong Warriors North Geelong Warriors Football Club, formerly known as North Geelong Croatia, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club from the regional Victorian city of Geelong. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, Aust ...

* Victorian Division 1: 1991 championship winners *

: 1992 Premiership, 1992 Championship + Sydney fc - Group Stage Runners up -Asian Champions League 2007 + Newcastle Jets - Semi Finalist 2009 + Rockdale City + Grand Final 2013 +Pre-Season Cup 2014 + Semi Finalist 2014 ;Personal honours * Victorian Coach of the year 1992 * NSL Coach of the Year: 1996–1997 with

References

External links

Oz Football profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culina, Branko Living people Sportspeople from Zadar Croatian emigrants to Australia National Soccer League (Australia) players Blacktown City FC players Melbourne Knights FC players Sydney United 58 FC players Australian soccer coaches Sydney FC managers Newcastle Jets FC managers Australian television presenters 1957 births Melbourne Knights FC managers Sydney Olympic FC managers Sydney United 58 FC managers Expatriate soccer managers in Australia A-League Men managers Association football midfielders Australian soccer players