Igor Prostran (, born March 29, 1979) is a Serbian

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 ...

manager and former player. As player, he played in the

Second League of Serbia and Montenegro The Second League of Serbia and Montenegro was the second tier of the football league system in Serbia and Montenegro, one level below the First League of Serbia and Montenegro. History Formed in 1992 after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it consisted ...

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

, and the Canadian Professional Soccer League.

Playing career

Born 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 ...

SR 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 ...

, then within

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 ...

, he spent his childhood in the neighbouring village of

Smoković Smoković is a village in Croatia, in the municipality of Zemunik Donji, Zadar County. Demographics According to the 2011 census, the village of Smoković has 110 inhabitants. This represents 10.69% of its pre-war population according to the 19 ...

which had a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

majority and family Prostran made about one quarter of the total population. His father Branko was a footballer and later became coach at local club ONK Smoković and later

NK Zadar Nogometni klub Zadar ( en, Football Club Zadar), commonly referred to as NK Zadar or simply Zadar, was a Croatian football club based in Zadar, a city on the Adriatic coast, best known for playing in the top flight of Croatian football for almo ...

. Igor's younger brother Nikša also plays football and he became a goalkeeper having played in Ontario.IGRAĆU DOK ME NOGE NOSE!
at vesti.rs, 21-3-2014, retrieved 10-11-2019 Igor started playing at local ONK Smoković in 1989 when he was 10. However, in 1991

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

against federal Yugoslav forces and local Serb population started, and, in January 1993, Croatian Army took the town in the

Operation Maslenica Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar, Maslen ...

and destroyed and burned the village. Prostran family left their home and belongings and had to escape, leaving for Serbia where they became refugees. Upon their arrival to Belgrade, Prostran joined the youth team of Serbian giants

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

where he played in an extraordinary generation along players such as

Dejan Stanković Dejan Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Станковић, , born 11 September 1978) is a Serbian professional manager and former player. He currently manages Italian club Sampdoria. He captained the Serbia national team from 2007 until 201 ...

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Zoran Urumov Zoran Urumov (; born 30 August 1977) is a Serbian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Early career Urumov began his career on the books of Red Star Belgrade, making his first-team debut i ...

Nenad Lalatović Nenad Lalatović (, ; born 22 December 1977) is a Serbian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is currently coaching the team FK Radnički Niš, Radnički Niš. Club career Lalatov ...

Ivan Gvozdenović Ivan Gvozdenović (Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Гвозденовић; born 19 August 1978) is a Serbian retired football defender, who is the technical coach Kategoria e Parë club Skënderbeu Korçë. Career Gvozdenović started his career at ...

, Pavle Delibašić,

Ognjen Koroman Ognjen Koroman (, ; born 19 September 1978) is a Serbian football manager and former professional player. As a player, he represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Club career After coming through the youth systems Željez ...

and coach Toma Milićević. However, less than a year after, in November 1994, he and his family moved to Canada. Immediately after their arrival, Prostran began to play for the youth team of FC Oakville. The club won the youth championship every year until 1998, and won two Ontario Cups, while only losing in the final in the other seasons. In 1998, besides the Ontario Cup, they won the Canadian U-19 championship with Prostran being honored as the MVP of the season and was also the league top-scorer. That same year he won the '' Srbijada'', competition between Serbian clubs in Canada, by playing with the Winona Serbs in

Winona Winona, Wynona or Wynonna may refer to: Places Canada * Winona, Ontario United States * Winona, Arizona * Winona, Indiana * Winona Lake, Indiana * Winona, Kansas * Winona, Michigan * Winona County, Minnesota ** Winona, Minnesota, the seat of Wi ...

. In autumn 1998 he entered

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

in Ontario. Prostran played for the university soccer team and became rookie of the year in 1999. In 1999, he returned to Serbia and played with IM Rakovica, Spartak Ljig (on loan from FK Rad), and

FK Beograd FK Beograd () is a defunct football club based in Karaburma, Belgrade, Serbia. History After winning the Belgrade Zone League in the 1993–94 season, the club finished as runners-up in the 1994–95 Serbian League North and earned promotion ...

. In 2001 joins Remont Čačak and next moved to city rivals

Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čačak ...

of the

. The following season, he signed with rivals

FK Borac Čačak Fudbalski klub Borac Čačak (), or simply Borac Čačak, is a professional football club based in Čačak, Serbia. The home ground is Čačak Stadium, which has seating capacity of 8,000. As of 2019–20 season, the club competes in third tier Se ...

, where he helped the club clinch its division, and win promotion to the

First League of Serbia and Montenegro The First League of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Прва савезна лига / Prva savezna liga) was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed following the breakup of Yu ...

. On March 18, 2004 the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes ...

of the

signed him to a contract. He made his debut for the club on May 1, 2004 in a match against

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

. In total he featured in 15 matches for the club. On March 30, 2005 he signed with Oakville Blue Devils of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. During the regular season he helped the club clinch a postseason berth by finishing second in the Western Conference. In the postseason he won the CPSL Championship by defeating the

Vaughan Shooters Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

by a score of 2-1. In 2006, he signed with the Hamilton Serbians of the

Ontario Soccer League The Ontario Soccer League (OSL) is a competitive amateur soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The OSL is affiliated with and governed by the Ontario Soccer Association. According to the OSA, the OSL has Provincial Leagues, Regional Leagues and Multi-J ...

. In his late stage of his career he helps to establish FK Obilić from Hamilton.

Coaching career

By the time Oakville SC celebrated its 40th birthday, Igor Prostran has already been working for some time coaching the youth levels of the club. On that same ceremony he got awarded as one of the 40 most influential personalities in club history. He has been also selected as coaching instructor in the Ontario Soccer Association and has been assistant in the coaching academy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prostran, Igor 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Zadar Serbs of Croatia Serbian footballers FK Rad players FK Beograd players FK Remont Čačak players FK Borac Čačak players Toronto Lynx players Brampton United players A-League (1995–2004) players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Association football midfielders Yugoslav Wars refugees Canadian people of Serbian descent McMaster University alumni