Milko Djurovski ( mk, Милко Ѓуровски, translit=Milko Gjurovski, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Milko Đurovski, Милко Ђуровски; born 26 January 1963) is a Macedonian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He was regarded as one of the most talented Yugoslav players of his generation. Djurovski started out at

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 ...

, making his senior debut in 1979, aged 16. He spent a total of seven seasons in their first team, winning two national championships (

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

) and two national cups ( 1982 and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

). In the summer of 1986, Djurovski made a surprising and controversial move to Red Star's bitter rivals

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

. He stayed for four years at Stadion JNA, including an inactive season because of his compulsory military service. Some of his most memorable performances with the ''Crno-beli'' include a

1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1989–90 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won for the only time by Sampdoria in the final against Anderlecht, 2–0 at Nya Ullevi in Gothenburg, on 9 May 1990. They went on to win 1990–91 Serie A, also being runners-up in the 199 ...

tie against Groningen, which eventually secured him a transfer to the Dutch club in 1990. In his later years, Djurovski went on to play for several Slovenian clubs. Internationally, Djurovski represented both

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and Macedonia. He earned six caps for Yugoslavia between 1984 and 1985, scoring two goals. After the dissolution of the former country, Djurovski briefly played for his native Macedonia, making three appearances in 1994. He had previously won the bronze medal for Yugoslavia at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

. His older brother is Boško Djurovski, while his younger son is Mario Gjurovski.

Club career

Born in

Tetovo Tetovo ( mk, Тетово, , sq, Tetovë/Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, w ...

, Djurovski joined the youth categories of his hometown club Teteks. He subsequently moved to

in 1977. Still a junior, Djurovski made his senior debut for the club on 11 April 1979, coming on as a substitute for

Duško Lukić Dušan "Duško" Lukić (; born 7 November 1956) is a former Yugoslav, Bosnian Serb, football forward from the late 1970s and the 1980s. Club career Born in Brčko, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, back then within Yugoslavia, Lukić played for FK Jed ...

in the first leg of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

semi-final, a 1–0 win over Hertha BSC. He spent the following 1979–80 season on loan at Čukarički, becoming the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer of ...

(Group North) top scorer with 15 goals. After returning from a loan spell, Djurovski helped Red Star win the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

in the 1980–81 campaign, scoring five goals in the process. He was an integral part of the team and a fan favorite in the following years, leading them to another league title in

. In the summer of 1986, Djurovski switched to

in a move that caused much controversy among fans and the general public. He immediately established himself as the club's key player, being their top scorer in the 1986–87 season, as Partizan won the league title. Afterwards, Djurovski spent the following three seasons with the ''Crno-beli'', including one year of his military service. In the summer of 1990, Djurovski moved abroad and signed with Dutch club Groningen. He was the club's top league scorer in his debut season at Oosterpark with 14 goals, leading them to a third place, behind PSV and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

. In the following 1991–92 season, Djurovski again helped the club to secure a spot in the

. He was then loaned to fellow

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club Cambuur in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

. After returning to Groningen, Djurovski spent another few months at the club, before eventually leaving the country in the winter of 1994. After leaving Groningen, Djurovski moved to the newly independent Slovenia and signed with Maribor in early 1994. He later moved to French side Nîmes, but left the club after only a few games in December 1994. Later on, Djurovski made a return to Slovenia and joined Second League club Železničar Maribor in the summer of 1995. He then moved to the United States and briefly played indoor soccer for the

Kansas City Attack The Kansas City Attack, previously the Atlanta Attack and later known as the Kansas City Comets, were an indoor soccer team based for most of its existence in Kansas City, Missouri. In its various incarnations the franchise played in the National ...

in 1998, alongside his former Partizan teammate

Nebojša Vučićević Nebojša "Uške" Vučićević (; 29 June 1962 – 11 March 2022) was a Serbian football manager and player. Club career Vučićević started out at OFK Beograd, before transferring to Partizan in 1984. He spent the following five seasons with ...

. In the early 2000s, Djurovski came out of retirement and went on to play for

Slovenian Third League The Slovenian Third Football League ( sl, Tretja slovenska nogometna liga or commonly 3. SNL) is the third tier of the Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football system. Since 2019 the league consists of two regional groups (East and West). They ar ...

clubs Rogoza, Bistrica (twice), and

Malečnik Malečnik (, german: Maletschnig) is a village on the left bank of the Drava River east of Maribor in northeastern Slovenia. It belongs to the City Municipality of Maribor. There are two churches in the settlement. The local parish church is dedi ...

. He then served as player-manager of Bosnian club Rudar Prijedor in 2003. Afterwards, Djurovski made two appearances for

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

in the First League, before the club dissolved at the end of the 2004–05 season. He later served as player-manager of Malečnik, before joining newly formed Slovenian club Bežigrad in July 2005. Djurovski appeared in a couple of matches for the club, before definitely retiring from the game, aged 42.

International career

Djurovski made his full international debut for

on 31 March 1984, coming on as a substitute for

Miloš Šestić Miloš Šestić (; born 8 August 1956) is a former Yugoslav and Serbian professional footballer who played as a forward. Early life Born in Milosavci, a village near Laktaši (in present-day Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovi ...

and scoring the game's opener in a 2–1 friendly win over

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. He subsequently represented the country at the

, as the team won the bronze medal, defeating

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the third place match. In 1985, Djurovski made five more appearances for the senior team and scored once. In 1994, Djurovski accepted a call-up to represent the country of his birth. He made his senior debut for Macedonia in an October 1994 European Championship qualification match 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 ...

in Skopje and earned a total of 3 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a December 1994 European Championship qualification match against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

Managerial career

After his stint at Železničar Maribor as a player, Djurovski was appointed manager of the club ahead of the 1998–99 season. He was eventually unable to perform his function due to the problems with his license. In October 2005, Djurovski was appointed manager of Drava Ptuj. He left the club in July 2006. Shortly after, Djurovski was appointed manager of Nafta Lendava. He left them in August 2007. Two weeks later, Djurovski became manager of his former club Maribor, penning a two-year deal. He was released on 5 November 2007. In October 2008, Djurovski returned to his native country, being named manager of

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

. He left the club in January 2009. Later that year, Djurovski served as manager of fellow Macedonian club

Belasica Belasica (Macedonian and Bulgarian: , also translit. ''Belasitsa'' or ''Belasitza'', Ottoman Turkish: بلش Turkish: ''Beleş''), Belles ( el, Μπέλλες, ''Bélles'') or Kerkini (, ''Kerkíni'';), is a mountain range in the region of M ...

. Subsequently, Djurovski returned to Slovenia and took charge at Drava Ptuj for the second time, before leaving the position in April 2010. He also served as manager of Austrian club Pöllau in 2012. In June 2015, Djurovski was appointed manager of Slovakian club

Zlaté Moravce Zlaté Moravce (; 1776 Morawce, hu, Aranyosmarót, german: Goldmorawitz) is a town in south-western Slovakia. Basic data It is the capital and the biggest town of Zlaté Moravce District. It is approximately 120 km from the Slovak capital ...

. He once again returned to Slovenia and took charge at Zavrč in October 2015. In March 2016, Djurovski became manager of Bosnian club

Slavija Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Slavija Sarajevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Славија Сарајево) is a professional association football club from the city of Istočno Sarajevo, Republika Srpska that is situated in Bosnia and Herze ...

. He left the club only two months later after failing to avoid relegation from the top flight.

Personal life

Djurovski has two sons, Marko Djurovski (b. 1983), an RnB singer, and Mario Djurovski (b. 1985), a professional footballer. He is also the younger brother of Boško Djurovski. They played together at both club and international level.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Player

Red Star Belgrade *

: 1980–81, 1983–84 *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

: 1981–82, 1984–85 Partizan *

: 1986–87 *

: 1988–89 *

Yugoslav Super Cup The Yugoslav Super Cup was an annual football match played between the title holders of the Yugoslav First League and Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп ...

: 1989–90 Yugoslavia *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

: Bronze Medal

References

External links