Dragan "Don" Popovic (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Драган Дон Поповић; born 1 January 1941) is a retired professional soccer

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and coach in the United States. He played professionally in Yugoslavia, Canada and the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. He later coached in both the

and Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1993 became the director of the youth soccer, Lou Fusz Soccer Club, which has teams playing in the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Youth Soccer Association (SLYSA) soccer league and the Midwest Regional League (MRL)

Playing career

Club

Popovic turned professional in 1958 at age 17 in Yugoslavia. In 1967, he moved to the United States to play for the St. Louis Stars of the first National Professional Soccer League. In 1968, the NPSL merged with the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

to form the

. That year, Popovic moved to the

Kansas City Spurs The Kansas City Spurs were an United States, American professional soccer team who played in the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer League, based in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kansas City M ...

where he played at least one full year and perhaps part of another. In 1969, he moved back to the Stars where he finished his NASL playing career in 1971. He then moved to Canada where he played for the

Toronto White Eagles 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 ...

of the

Canadian National Soccer League 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 ...

until 1973. That year, he played for the Canadian national team in an exhibition game with Arsenal F.C.

Managerial career

While playing for the St. Louis Stars, Popovic also served as an assistant coach. In 1974, Popovic became the head coach of the

. He took the team to the 1975

championship. In 1976, the Rochester Lancers of the

hired Popovic as head coach. In 1978, the New York Arrows entered the newly created Major Indoor Soccer League. It drew most of its players from the Lancers and hired Popovic as head coach. He led the Arrows to four consecutive MISL championships (1979–1982). The Arrows fired him at the end of February 1983 and he was hired a week later to coach the

Golden Bay Earthquakes Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

. He coached the Earthquakes during the 1983 and 1985 outdoor seasons as well as the 1983–1984 indoor season. The Earthquakes sat out the 1984–1985 indoor season. On 16 December 1984, the

Las Vegas Americans The Las Vegas Americans were a soccer team based out of Las Vegas that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League. Prior to Las Vegas, the team had operated as the Memphis Americans. They only played in Las Vegas during the 1984–85 seaso ...

hired Popovic to replace player-coach

Alan Mayer Alan Mayer (born July 3, 1952) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper. He played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League and earned six caps with the United States men's national soccer team. In 2019 ...

as head coach. When the Americans folded in June 1985, Popovic was hired by the Pittsburgh Spirit. The Spirit folded at the end of the season and Popovic committed to coaching a team in Portugal. In December 1985, the

New York Express The New York Express was a soccer team based out of Uniondale, New York that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They played only part of the 1986–87 MISL season before folding during the league's midseason All-Star Break. Their home are ...

made an offer to hire Popovic. While he began running practices and overseeing player acquisitions and even coached one games in late January 1987, the team never signed him to a contract. When no coaching jobs became available, Popovic entered the real estate business. In 1989, the expansion St. Louis Storm hired Popovic. He coached the team for nearly three seasons before being fired in March 1992. He was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004.

Honors

* 1971 – NASL All League First Team, while playing for the St. Louis Stars * 1971 – NASL All Tournament, while playing for the St. Louis Stars in an indoor tournament * 1981 – Coach of the Year while coaching the New York Arrows * 1983 – Coach of the Year while coaching the

* 2004 – Inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame

Youth Soccer Highlights

Popovic was the head coach for the following championship teams: * 2000 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-13 (under 13 years of age) * 2001 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-14 (under 14 years of age) * 2008 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-14 (under 14 years of age) * 2007 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-13 (under 13 years of age) * 2006 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-15 (under 15 years of age) TeamMania.net :: Lou Fusz Soccer Club >> Lou Fusz Strikers Soccer Club
/ref> * 2003 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-15 (under 15 years of age)* 2010 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-16 (under 16 years of age)

References

External links

Don Popovic's bio on the Lou Fusz Soccer Club web site

CSA - Real estate Coaching

TeamMania.net :: Lou Fusz Soccer Club >> Lou Fusz Strikers Soccer Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Don 1941 births Living people People from Berane Serbs of Montenegro American people of Serbian descent Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Red Star Belgrade footballers HNK Hajduk Split players St. Louis Stars (soccer) players Kansas City Spurs players Serbian White Eagles FC players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Canadian National Soccer League players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada American soccer coaches Yugoslav football managers Serbian White Eagles FC managers San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) coaches Canadian National Soccer League coaches Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches