Ivan Graf (born 17 June 1987) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a defender for

Opatija Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic buildings r ...

Club career

Born in capital city of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, Graf started his football path in football school of local city based lower league Kustošija football club where he spent his entire youth career. With Kustošija he also kicked off his senior career in 2006–07 season which was his first senior competitive season. After debut season with Kustošija he decided to leave his domestic club on a free transfer and joined another lower league city club, neighbouring

Vrapče Vrapče () is a neighborhood of western Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. It is administratively part of the district Podsused—Vrapče. Vrapče consists of Donje Vrapče (lit. Lower Vrapče) and Gornje Vrapče (lit. Upper Vrapče). Gornje Vra ...

on a two-year contract for the start of 2007–08 season. Graf spent two seasons in row with

and by the end of 2008–09 season with his two-year contract completed he decided not to extend his contract and stay at

. He felt as a free player it was time to move on and to change the domain of Croatian lower league football after playing it for three seasons.

Primorje Ajdovščina

Therefore, joining

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n club Primorje Ajdovščina the following season was seen as uncommon move due to general opinion at the time that Slovenian football was limited compared to Croatian one in almost all aspects of football such as tactics, training, style of play, finance, managing, fan base and overall status of football and was not attractive enough for Croatian football players whose financial demands were higher. However, Graf made a firm decision to join NK Primorje Ajdovščina due to initiative from Primorje head coach

Vjekoslav Lokica Vjekoslav Lokica (born 19 September 1965) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Managerial career He replaced Goran Sablić as manager of RNK Split in July 2016. Personal life He was married to Žana Lelas Žana Le ...

. Croatian coach Lokica after tight relegation from

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football league system. ...

in 2008–09 season was preparing the team for express comeback and saw in young Graf a key figure to secure the promotion.

NK Primorje Nogometni klub Primorje ( en, Primorje Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Primorje or simply Primorje, was a Slovenian football club which played in the town of Ajdovščina. After Slovenia's independence in 1991, Primorje spent a total o ...

was seen till then for a number of seasons as a stable Slovenian first division club and with Graf in defence they achieved the goal, becoming

Slovenian Second League The Slovenian Second Football League ( sl, Druga slovenska nogometna liga or commonly 2. SNL) is the second highest Association football, football league in Slovenia. The league was formed in 1991 and is operated by the Football Association of Slo ...

Champions with only two games lost and sixteen goals conceded in entire 2009–10 season winning so promotion to

for 2010–11 season in style. In October 2010, it was announced that the salaries of him along with four other players were due. As a result, he started a legal procedure. He was also linked to a transfer to fellow Slovenian club

Domžale Domžale (; german: Domschale)''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 24. is a town and the seat of Municipality of Domžale. The town lies ...

. In March 2011, he moved to Ukrainian club

Tavriya ''Tavriya'' (russian: Таврия) is a 1959 Soviet drama film directed by Yuriy Lysenko. Based on the novel of the same name by Oles Honchar. Plot Taurida Governorate, Falz-Fein steppe empire. The fates of the two friends Vusti and Hanna are ...

on a two-year contract and became the sixth signing for the club in the winter transfer window. In October, his contract was terminated by mutual consent. Graf returned to Croatia in 2012 and signed for

Lučko Lučko is a settlement in the Novi Zagreb - zapad district of the City of Zagreb, located south of the Sava and southwest of the city center. Lučko is located near the Lučko interchange that connects the A1 motorway, the Zagreb bypass and the ...

on an undisclosed fee. In 2013, he was transferred to

. In July, he joined fellow Croatian club Istra 1961. He made his debut in a 3–1 victory against

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

where he scored a goal in the 59th minute.

Kazakhstan

Graf joined

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

team

FC Irtysh Pavlodar FC Irtysh Pavlodar ( kk, Ертіс Футбол Клубы, ''Ertis Fýtbol Klýby'') was a Kazakh professional football club based at the Central Stadium in Pavlodar. Irtysh won the Kazakhstan Premier league in 1993 (as ''Ansat''), 1997, 1 ...

at the start of the 2015 season, being told he could leave the club in July 2015, before signing a new one-year deal with Irtysh Pavlodar in January 2016. Prior to the 2016 season, Graf joined

FC Kaisar FC Kaysar ( kk, Қайсар Футбол Клубы, ''Qaısar Fýtbol Klýby'') is a Kazakh professional football club based in the Gany Muratbayev Stadium in Kyzylorda. They are founding members of the Kazakhstan Premier League and have mis ...

. On 4 February 2021, Graf joined

Shakhter Karagandy Football Club Shakhter ( kk, "Шахтер" футбол клубы, Shakhter fýtbol klýby), commonly referred to as FC Shakhter Karagandy ( kk, Қарағанды/Qarağandı ;Russian: Караганда/Karaganda), is a professional footbal ...

from Kaisar. On 29 January 2023, Graf signed a contract with

FC Kyzylzhar FC Kyzylzhar ( kk, Қызылжар футбол клубы, Qyzylzhar fytbol kluby) is a Kazakhstani football club, playing in the north Kazakh city of Petropavl at the Karasai Stadium. They are founding members of the Kazakhstan Premier League ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graf, Ivan 1987 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers NK Kustošija players NK Vrapče players NK Primorje players SC Tavriya Simferopol players NK Lučko players NK Zagreb players NK Istra 1961 players FC Irtysh Pavlodar players FC Kaisar players FC Shakhter Karagandy players FC Kyzylzhar players NK Opatija players Slovenian Second League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Ukrainian Premier League players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Kazakhstan Premier League players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan