Darko Bodul (; born 11 January 1989) is an Austrian 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

Bosnian Premier League The m:tel Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, m:tel Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine / м:тел Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), also known as Liga 12, is the top tier football league in Bosnia and He ...

club Igman Konjic. He began his career in the Netherlands, where he played for

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

and for

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

on loan. He has also played for

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

in Portugal,

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

in Denmark, two Austrian clubs (

Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austrian f ...

and Rheindorf Altach), and

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

in Scotland. Born in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, Bodul is a

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs of Bosnia and H ...

and represented Croatia at under-19 and under-21 level. He has subsequently given up his Croatian citizenship and expressed an interest in representing Austria.

Early life

Bodul was born on 11 January 1989 in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

, a part of

SFR 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 Yug ...

. His family moved to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

when he was a child. He is the younger brother of Dragan Bodul, who would also become a professional

Club career

Ajax

Bodul began his career in Wien by DSV Fortuna Wien, joined

First Vienna FC First Vienna FC is an Austrian association football club based in the Döbling district of Vienna. Established on 22 August 1894, it is the country's oldest team and has played a notable role in the history of the game there. It is familiarly k ...

, and was snapped up by

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

in 2004. Bodul played in the youth teams of Heerenveen before joining

in the summer of 2008 on a free transfer. He made his senior team debut on 8 February 2009 against

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

. On 10 April 2009, Bodul renewed his contract with Ajax for two additional years. After being involved in the first team, he was soon on sidelined with ankle injury, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Following his recovery from injury, it was announced that Bodul was available to be loaned out for the 2009–10 season. It was announced on 31 August 2009 that he was to be loaned to

until 30 June 2010. Bodul made his Sparta Rotterdam debut on 13 September 2009, where he made his start before being substituted in the 60th minute, in a 1–0 win over

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

. Bodul then provided a double assist for Rydell Poepon, who scored twice, in a 3–2 loss against

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

on 27 November 2009. Few weeks later on 19 December 2009, Bodul scored his first and only goal for Sparta in the away game against RKC Waalwijk, 4–1 loss. Despite making 24 appearances and scoring once, it was announced that the club allowed Bodul to return to his parent club. Despite being given 31 shirt ahead of the 2010–11 season, Bodul appeared one match as an un-used substitute and was allowed to leave the club after being told by Manager

Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredi ...

that his contract was not going to be renewed.

Nacional

With his contract expiring at the end of the 2010–11 season, Bodul moved to Portuguese side

until the end of the season, with an option of staying for four more years. Bodul made his Nacional debut on 12 February 2011, where he made his first Nacional start, in a 1–0 loss against

Leiria Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...

. However, the club changed manager soon after and Bodul was left out of the first team. At the end of the season, Bodul was released by the club.

Sturm Graz

After being released by Nacional, Bodul joined

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

side

on a one-year contract, with an option of extending for another year. Bodul was previously on the verge of moving to

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

side

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

before joining Sturm Graz. Bodul made his Sturm Graz debut in the second leg of UEFA Champions League play-offs, in a 1–0 win over

Zestafoni Zestafoni or Zestaponi ( ka, ზესტაფონი, tr, ) is the administrative center of Zestafoni District in Western Georgia. Zestafoni is the center of an ancient, historical part of Georgia – Margveti, which is a part of Imereti ...

. Weeks later on 13 August 2011, Bodul made his Strum Graz league debut, in a 1–0 win over

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

. Bodul scored his first goal and then scored another, as well as, setting up a goal for

Andreas Hölzl Andreas Hölzl (born 16 March 1985) is an Austrian footballer who currently plays for SV Brixen in the Landesliga Ost (Tyrol). Club career In summer 2014, Hölzl returned to Wacker Innsbruck after having spent six years with Sturm Graz Spor ...

, in a 5–0 win over

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

on 27 August 2011, followed up by scoring in a next game against Admira Wacker, but was sent-off for second bookable offense, in a 2–1 loss on 10 September 2011. Despite being served one match ban, Bodul scored in the second round of ÖFB-Cup, in a 4–0 win over

SC Weiz SC Weiz is an Austrian association football club founded in 1924 and finished in 13th position in the Austrian Regional League Central during the 2017–18 season, securing a place in the same league for 2018–19. Current squad ...

on 21 September 2011. After serving one match ban, Bodul scored on his return three days later, in a 2–1 loss against

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...

on 24 September 2011. It took until on 26 October 2011 Bodul score again, in the third round of ÖFB-Cup, in a 3–1 loss against Admira Wacker Three days later, Bodul scored twice, in a 3–2 loss, which was followed up, scoring in a 1–0 win over

Kapfenberger SV Kapfenberger SV is an Austrian association football club from Kapfenberg. They won the 2007–08 Austrian Football First League and advanced to the Austrian Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1919 as ''Kapfenberger SC''. The club was renamed ...

on 6 November 2011. Bodul then scored twice, in a 5–1 win over Austria Wien on 10 December 2011. On 17 February 2012, it was announced that Bodul signed a contract with the club, keeping him until 2013. Bodul continued his goal drought and took until 8 April 2012 for Bodul to score his tenth goal of the season, in a 2–0 win over

Mattersburg Mattersburg (; formerly ''Mattersdorf'', hu, Nagymarton, Croatian: ''Matrštof'') is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is the administrative center of the District of Mattersburg and was home to former Bundesliga football team, SV Mattersburg. ...

. In the last game of the season on 17 May 2012, Bodul scored twice, in a 3–1 win over Austria Wien and helped the club finish fifth place. In his first season at Sturm Graz, Bodul made 28 appearances and scoring 12 times. His good performance attracted interests from

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

side

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

. However, his second season at Sturm Graz wasn't the same as the first. Though he provided assist for

Imre Szabics Imre Szabics (born 22 March 1981) is a Hungarian football manager and former professional footballer. Szabics was born in Szeged where he played as a youngster. He was spotted by Ferencváros and signed for them in 1990, making his professional ...

, in a 4–1 win over

Wolfsberger AC Wolfsberger AC, commonly referred to as Wolfsberg or simply WAC, is an Austrian association football club from Wolfsberg, Carinthia, who currently play in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, Wolfsberger AC enter ...

on 11 August 2012, Bodul struggled to score and as a result, Bodul was sent to play in the reserve. With lack of first team opportunities and fell out with Manager

Peter Hyballa Peter Hyballa (born 5 December 1975) is a German professional football manager, who last managed AS Trenčín. He also served as manager at clubs in Germany, Namibia, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland and Denmark. Before his career as a manager, ...

, Bodul attracted further interests from

J. League Division 1 The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian Football Confederation, Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promot ...

side

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

Odense Boldklub

It was announced on 31 January 2013 that Bodul joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

side OB on a two-year contract, keeping him until 2015 and was given number 10 shirt. After months of winter break, the club returned to playing in the league and Bodul made an impact at the club when he scored on his debut, in a 3–2 loss against

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 3 March 2013., followed up scoring three days later, in a 2–2 draw against AaB. It took until 31 March 2014 for Bodul scored his third goal, as well as providing assist for

Bashkim Kadrii Bashkim Kadrii (born 9 July 1991) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for OB. He has represented Denmark at senior international level. Club career Denmark Kadrii began his career with B.93 in the Danis ...

to score the first goal in the game, in a 2–0 win over

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

. In the last game of the season, Bodul scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 3–3 draw against

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Krisztián Vadócz Krisztián Vadócz (; born 30 May 1985) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder. Club career Early years Born in Budapest, Vadócz made his professional debut aged 17 with hometown club Budapest Honvéd FC, and ...

, in a 1–1 draw against

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Danish sport corporation. They have a football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female based in Aabenraa) and an ice hockey team (S ...

on 21 July 2013. During the match against AaB on 11 August 2013, Bodul suffered ankle injury and had to be substituted in the 24th minute, which OB drew 0–0 with AaB. After the match, Manager

Troels Bech Truls or Troels is a Nordic masculine given name. Truls is mainly used in Norway, and to a lesser extent in Sweden. Troels is predominantly used in Denmark. It is a short form of ''Torgils'', derived from Old Norse ''Þórgísl'' (Old Danish ''Th ...

expressed fears that Bodul's injury could be serious, which may put him on the sidelines for a long time. In the end, it turns out that Bodul's injury wasn't serious and hadn't broken his ankle, therefore avoiding sidelined for a long time. Following this, Bodul scored his first OB goal of the season, in a 9–1 win over FC Udfordringen in the second round of Danish Cup. His first league goal of the season came on 21 October 2013, in a 5–1 win over SønderjyskE. Bodul scored for the third time of the 2013–14 season when he scored twice, in a 2–2 draw against SønderjyskE on 28 March 2014. Despite missing some games due to being un-used on the substitute bench, Bodul made 27 appearances and scored three times. With one year left to his contract, Bodul find himself in a pecking order behind newly signing strikers Thomas Mikkelsen and

Vladimir Dvalishvili Vladimir "Lado" Dvalishvili ( ka, ვლადიმერ დვალიშვილი; born 20 April 1986 in Tbilisi) is a Georgian former footballer who now works for Dinamo Batumi as their Sport Director. Career Dvalishvili was signed by ...

and was determined to fight for his first team place in effort at OB of earning himself a contract extension. To fight for his first team place at OB, Bodul voluntarily to do extra training. Bodul then scored his first goal of the 2014–15 season, in a 2–1 loss against

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand ( da, Nordsjælland), refers to the northern part of the Danish island of Zealand which is not clearly defined but generally covers the area north of Copenhagen. The Danish tourist authorities have recently in ...

on 29 September 2014. In January 2015, Bodul left the club by mutual consent, just six months left to his contract.

Rheindorf Altach

After being released by OB, Bodul moved back to Austria, where he joined Austrian Bundesliga side Rheindorf Altach until the end of the season. Bodul made his Rheindorf Altach debut on 14 February 2015, in a 2–0 win over Admira Wacker. Bodul then scored his first goal for the club on 24 May 2015, in a 2–0 win over

Grödig Grödig is a market town of Salzburg-Umgebung District in the state of Salzburg in Austria. Geography Grödig is located south of the Salzburg city limits in the historic ''Flachgau'' region, near the border with Bavaria, Germany. The market tow ...

, in hopes of the club earning a European spot next season. After making 12 appearances and scoring once, Bodul was released by the club after being told his contract will not be renewed.

Dundee United

After being released by Rheindorf Altach, Bodul moved abroad to Scotland, where he signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side

on 20 July 2015, signing a two-year contract. Bodul was previously linked with a move back to Netherlands, as

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

were keen to sign him. But Bodul preferred joining Dundee United. Bodul stated his move to Dundee United was influenced by

Saša Papac Saša Papac (born 7 February 1980) is a Bosnian former professional footballer, who played as a left-back. Having started his career in his native country of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Široki Brijeg, he went to play in Austria for Kärnten an ...

and

Georgios Samaras Georgios Samaras ( el, Γεώργιος Σαμαράς, ; born 21 February 1985) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. Samaras started his career at OFI Crete, before moving on to Eredivisie side Heerenveen in 200 ...

. Bodul made his Dundee United debut in the opening game of the season, where he came on as a substitute for Mario Bilate in the 45th minute, in a 1–0 loss against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Having had limited opportunities to play, Bodul was told he would be allowed to leave during the January 2016 transfer window, but he remained with the club for the rest of the season. After making twelve appearances for Dundee United without scoring, his contract was cancelled by mutual consent in May 2016.

Amkar Perm

On 12 July 2016, he signed a 2-year contract with Russian side

Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб "Амка́р" Пермь ) is a professional football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and ...

Yenisey Krasnoyarsk

Following Amkar's bankruptcy, on 19 July 2018, Bodul signed a 2-year contract with another Russian club, Yenisey Krasnoyarsk.

International career

Bodul has represented Croatia at youth level, he won six caps at the under-19 level. He was a member of Croatia's under-21 squad and played on 11 February 2009 against the under-21 team from the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. Despite having Croatian heritage, Bodul said he revoked his Croatian passport despite playing for Croatia national team and holds an

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Shakhtyor Soligorsk *

Belarusian Premier League The Belarusian Premier League or the Vyšejšaja Liha or the Vysheyshaya Liga ( be, Вышэйшая ліга, russian: Высшая лига, "Top League") is the top division of professional football in Belarus, and is organized by the Belarusi ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Belarusian Cup The Belarusian Cup () is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs in Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, � ...

: 2018–19

Notes

References

External links