Ivan Frankie Franjic (born 10 September 1987) is an Australian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays for

Heidelberg United Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Australia. The team currently ...

in the

NPL Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional association football, soccer league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the high ...

Club career

Victorian Premier League

Franjic played at Junior level for Meadow Park Eagles,

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

, and

St Albans Saints St Albans Saints Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in St Albans, Victoria. Established by local Croatian Australians as Dinamo, the club is a regular participant in the Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament. The c ...

. During the 2005 season he made his senior debut for the Saints, playing 39 times for a reward of five goals. He then moved back to his former Youth club

where he played 50 times, scoring nine goals. After the 2008 season he moved to

Oakleigh Cannons Oakleigh Cannons Football Club is a soccer club based in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. The club, established by members of Oakleigh's Greek Australian community, currently competes in the NPL Victoria. The ...

where his performances would soon earn him a move to the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

with

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

. Due to the

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

being a semi-professional league, Franjic also was employed as a

Carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

Brisbane Roar

On 31 August 2009, he was signed as a short-term injury replacement for

Andrew Packer Andrew Packer (born 16 June 1980 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia) is a former Australian footballer. Biography He attended St. Josephs Nudgee College in Brisbane. He was a member of Sydney FC's Grand Final winning side in 2005–06. In 2006 ...

. After being signed on loan to Brisbane he was signed on a long term contract. During his first season in the A-League he made a combined 20 appearances for the club. Franjic scored his first goal for Brisbane in a pre-season friendly against the Newcastle Jets on 2 July 2010. His 85th-minute penalty was the match-winning goal, with the Roar winning 1–0. His first

goal for Brisbane came in the Round 10, midweek clash with

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

with a powerful volley from outside of the box. His goal was made famous for his team's "human kayak" celebration. Brisbane won the game 2–0. Playing as a wingback, Franjic impressed at the Roar. In Round 17, Franjic scored an equalising goal against the

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from t ...

in the 85th minute. The game ended 1–1. This goal meant that the Roar continued their undefeated run, extending it to 12 matches. Franjic played at right-back for the Brisbane Roar in the 2011 A-League Grand Final. The Roar were down 2–0 in extra time against the Central Coast Mariners before scoring two goals in under four minutes to send the match to a penalty shoot-out. Franjic scored the first penalty for the Roar who ended up winning 4–2 in the shootout after two saves from

Michael Theoklitos Michael Theo (formerly Theoklitos) (born 11 February 1981) is an Australian goalkeeper who is the goalkeeping coach at A-League club Western United FC. Career Early career Theoklitos began his career as a young lad playing in the Victorian ...

. Franjic was one of six Brisbane Roar players to be selected in the All-Star Team for the 2010–11 season. Goal.com named Franjic as one of five Australian defenders in the A-League who are ready to play in Europe. In 2012, Franjic played in the 2012 A-League Grand Final against

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

, where he scored an own goal to give Perth an unlikely lead. Brisbane managed to claw back and take the lead courtesy a late penalty by Besart Berisha, becoming the first A-League side to win the championship two years in succession.

Torpedo Moscow

In August 2014, Franjic moved to newly promoted

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

side

FC Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pr ...

, signing a three-year contract at the club. Franjic made his debut for Torpedo on 25 October 2014, in a 0–0 home draw against

FC Kuban Krasnodar FC Kuban (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Кубань" Краснодар) was a Russian football club based in Krasnodar. The team began playing in the Russian Premier League in 2011, after it was promoted for winning the Ru ...

, coming on as a half-time substitute for Ivan Novoseltsev. During January 2015 Torpedo blocked a loan move for Franjic back to the

, with Franjic later being linked with a move to

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

during the summer of 2015. He quit Torpedo Moscow due to unpaid wages on 23 April 2015.

Melbourne City

Just over a month after leaving Russia, Franjic was unveiled as

side Melbourne City's first signing of the summer. Signing a three-year deal, Franjic expressed his pleasure at returning to his home town, and cited the prospect of first team football as a key factor in his decision to join City, particularly in light of his desire to retain his place in the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

starting line-up.

Daegu FC

After two injury-plagued seasons at Melbourne City, Franjic was released from the third year of his contract to allow him to join South Korean club

Daegu FC Daegu FC (Korean: 대구 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Daegu. The club was founded as a community club at the end of 2002, and made their K League 1 debut in 2003. Daegu has played mostly in the K League 1 but was re ...

. Franjic announced that he was leaving the club in October 2017, having made just two

K League Classic The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

appearances.

Return to Brisbane Roar

Franjic returned to

on a one-season contract in November 2017. On his second appearance for Brisbane Roar after joining he scored a left foot curled effort after two minutes on the pitch to claim a 2–0 win over

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

. At the end of the season, he refused Brisbane Roar's offer to re-sign him.

Perth Glory

On 31 May 2018, following his release from

, Franjic signed for fellow

club,

on a two-year deal.

Macarthur

In September 2020, Franjic signed with Macarthur for their inaugural season.

International career

In December 2012, Franjic made his international debut for the

under

Holger Osieck Holger Osieck (born 31 August 1948) is a German football manager who last managed the Australia national team. Prior to the Australian role, he most recently managed J. League club Urawa Red Diamonds, where he won the 2007 AFC Champions League ...

. In the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Brazil he started at right back in Australia's 3–1 loss to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. At the 35th minute he crossed to

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his ag ...

who scored Australia's only goal in the game. Franjic later succumbed to a hamstring injury and was substituted in the second half. He was later ruled out of the remainder of the tournament to his bitter disappointment. Franjic was named as part of Australia's squad for the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...

. Franjic started in Australia's first match of the tournament against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, playing the full 90 minutes and providing the assist for Massimo Luongo to score Australia's second goal of the match. Franjic started for Australia in the

2015 AFC Asian Cup Final The 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final was a football match which took place on 31 January 2015 at the Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, to determine the winner of 2015 AFC Asian Cup. It was played between South Korea and hosts Australia. Austral ...

. However, after suffering an injury in the middle of the second half, Franjic was substituted off for

Matt McKay Matthew Graham McKay (born 11 January 1983) is a retired Australian professional footballer who last played for Australian A-League club Brisbane Roar, and previously with the Australian national team. McKay currently holds the club's recor ...

as Australia won 2–1. Away from football, Franjic was completing a carpentry apprenticeship before deciding to pursue a professional football career.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Brisbane Roar *

Premiership:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 *

Championship:

, 2011–12, 2013–14 Melbourne City *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Perth Glory *

: Premiers 2018–19

International

Australia *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Individual

* PFA A-League Team of the Season:

, 2013–14 * PFA A-League Team of the Decade: 2005–15

References

External links

Brisbane Roar profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franjic, Ivan 1987 births Australian soccer players Association football fullbacks Australian people of Croatian descent Australia international soccer players A-League Men players Brisbane Roar FC players Melbourne City FC players Melbourne Knights FC players K League 1 players Daegu FC players Perth Glory FC players Australian expatriate soccer players FC Torpedo Moscow players Russian Premier League players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players Expatriate footballers in Russia Living people AFC Asian Cup-winning players Oakleigh Cannons FC players Heidelberg United FC players Macarthur FC players Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate footballers in South Korea Soccer players from Melbourne