Bruno Pilaš (21 November 1950 – 11 June 2011) was a

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

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 played as a striker in the NASL between 1973 and 1977 for the

Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Playing career

Before his arrival to North America he began his career in 1969 with

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

. In 1971, he went abroad to play in the

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 ...

(NSL) with

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

, where he won the NSL Championship.

Managerial career

In 1977, due to chronic injuries he retired from professional football, and embarked upon a coaching career where he managed Toronto Croatia several times in the Canadian Professional Soccer League. In 1987, he served as the head coach for Toronto Croatia in the

. In 1993, he managed NSL rivals

Toronto Italia The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

References

1950 births 2011 deaths Sportspeople from Zagreb Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Toronto Croatia players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Canadian National Soccer League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada Yugoslav football managers Croatian football managers Toronto Croatia coaches Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) coaches Canadian National Soccer League coaches Yugoslav expatriate football managers Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Canada {{Croatia-footy-bio-stub