Ivan "Ivica" Grnja, also known as John Grnja (born 26 April 1949) is a Croatian football manager and former professional player.

Playing career

Grnja joined

NK Osijek Nogometni klub Osijek ( en, Osijek Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Osijek or simply Osijek (), is a Croatian professional football club from Osijek. Founded in 1947, it was the club from Slavonia with the most seasons in the Yugoslav ...

from Metalac Osijek in 1972, forming a formidable striking partnership with Ivan Lukačević and played in 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 ...

for the

Toronto Metros-Croatia 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 ancho ...

and the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

Coaching career

Grnja has managed Croatian club side

on two occasions – in 1991, and between 1993 and 1994. Grnja also managed the Croatia under-21 side in 2005, and the under-19 side in 2008.

References

1949 births Living people People from Darda, Croatia Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers NK Metalac Osijek players NK Osijek players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Croatian football managers NK Osijek managers Croatia national under-21 football team managers Croatia national under-19 football team managers {{Croatia-footy-bio-stub