Filip Despotovski ( Macedonian: Филип Дecпoтoвcки; born 18 November 1982 in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

, Macedonia) is a Macedonian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 ...

who plays for

Gostivar Gostivar ( mk, Гостивар , Albanian and Turkish: ''Gostivar''), is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is one of the largest municipalities in the country with a population of 81,042, and the town also ...

Professional career

Early career

Filip Despotovski started his career in Macedonia in

FK Vardar FK Vardar Skopje ( mk, ФК Вардар Скопје), or simply Vardar, is a football club based in the capital city of Skopje, North Macedonia, North Macedonia. The club was founded in 1947 and currently competes in the Macedonian Second Foo ...

's youth school, SSK Mladinec, but would sign his first professional contract with Cementarnica 55. In his first professional season, Despotovski made 19 appearances and scored 4 goals for Cementarnica 55, which immediately earned him a transfer to prominent

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 club

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, ...

in summer 2002. In his first season with OFK, Despotovski made 17 appearances and scored 1 goal to help the team to a third-place league finish. The following season though, Despotovski was no longer a starter, and he would move on from the club. Over the next two-and-a-half seasons, Despotovski played for Macedonian club Napredok Kičevo and Serbian clubs

FK Bežanija FK Bežanija () is a football club based in Bežanija, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Belgrade Inter-Municipal League, the sixth tier of the national league system. History Founded in 1921, the club changed its name several times in its ea ...

and

Mačva Šabac Mačva ( sr-Cyrl, Мачва, ; hu, Macsó) is a geographical and historical region in the northwest of Central Serbia, on a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is nam ...

Ethnikos and Vardar

In 2006, Despotovski landed in Greece with

Beta Ethniki The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

club

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμιλ ...

, and the move proved to be a turning point in his career. After one season with Ethnikos, FK Vardar, Macedonia's most prominent club, took notice of Despotovski's impressive form and signed him to a contract in summer 2007. Despotovski's rapid growth as a player continued at Vardar, and as such he did not remain at the club very long. Despotovski was noted as Vardar's best player in the first half of the 2007–08 season, and during the winter transfer period

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League'') ...

club

Vorskla Poltava FC Vorskla Poltava ( uk, ФК «Во́рскла» Полта́ва ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Poltava that competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, the top flight of Ukrainian football. History Kolos Poltava The club ...

stepped in and acquired his services from Vardar.

FK Vorskla

In Despotovski's first full season with Vorskla, the team won the

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( uk, Кубок України) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003� ...

for the first time in club history; Despotovski played all 90 minutes in Vorskla's 1–0 defeat of

FC Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...

in the Cup Final. The Cup victory earned Despotovski the distinction of being the fifth Macedonian international to win a Cup title, after

Goran Pandev Goran Pandev ( mk, Горан Пандев, ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After establishing himself at Lazio, Pandev moved to Inter Milan in early 2010. While playing for the ''Ne ...

Goran Popov Goran Popov ( mk, Горан Попов; born 2 October 1984) is a retired Macedonian footballer, who played as a defender. Popov started his career with local side Belasica and moved to Greece with Proodeftiki and AEK Athens. He signed for R ...

, Zlatko Tanevski and Artim Sakiri. In league play, Despotovski made 25 appearances and scored 1 goal; Vorskla went undefeated in his first league 16 appearances. On 20 August 2009, Despotovski made his first appearance in European competition when Vorskla took on

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club Benfica in the

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

of the 2009–10

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Despotovski appeared in the second leg of the tie against Benfica as well; the Portuguese team would advance with a 5-2 aggregate victory. In league play, Despotovski made 14 appearances and scored 1 goal in 2009–10.

FC Inter Baku

Despotovski signed a 1-year deal with Inter Baku on 30 August 2010.

International career

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

On 6 June 2009, Despotovski made his debut for the Macedonian National Team against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

( UEFA Group 9); the Norway match was Macedonia's fifth of their eight total qualifying matches. Following his debut, Despotovski made two more appearancesboth startsin Group 9 qualification, against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

UEFA Euro 2012 qualification

As of June 2011, Despotovski has made five appearances (four starts) for Macedonia in

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held ...

(

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

Other

In 2009, Despotovski played for Macedonia in friendly matches against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. In 2010, Despotovski played for Macedonia in friendly matches against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. In 2011, Despotovski has played for Macedonia in a friendly match against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Honors

FK Vorskla

: 2008–09

References

External links

Profile at MacedonianFootball.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Despotovski, Filip 1982 births Living people Footballers from Skopje Association football midfielders Macedonian footballers North Macedonia international footballers FK Cementarnica 55 players OFK Beograd players FK Napredok players FK Vardar players FK Bežanija players FK Mačva Šabac players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players FC Vorskla Poltava players Shamakhi FK players FK Rabotnički players Pierikos F.C. players FK Teteks players Akademija Pandev players KF Gostivari players Macedonian First Football League players Ukrainian Premier League players Macedonian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Serbia Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate footballers in Greece Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan