Mirko Bazić (2 November 1938 – 10 March 2021) was a Croatian

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 lea ...

and later

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

Career

Bazić played in the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna liga,'' Croatian: ''Druga savezna liga'', Serbian: ''Друга савезна лига'', Slovenian: ''Druga zvezna liga'', Macedonian: ''Втора сојузна лига'', ''Vtora sojuzna l ...

in 1958 with

NK Metalac Zagreb NK may refer to: Businesses *Imerys, a French mining multinational (Euronext ticker:NK) *Nordiska Kompaniet, a Swedish department store *Northrup-King Seed Company, U.S. *Spirit Airlines, U.S. (IATA:NK) * NK.pl, a Polish social network (2006–2021 ...

. In 1962, he played with

NK Nehaj NK Nehaj is a Croatian football club based in the town of Senj Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress () which was compl ...

, and later with

FK Kozara Gradiška Fudbalski klub Kozara Gradiška (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Koзapa Градишка) is a professional football club from the town of Gradiška, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club played in the Premier League of Bos ...

Managerial career

In 1974, he was named the head coach for

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional association football, football Football team, club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They ...

in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

. In 1976, he led Zagreb to the

1975–76 Yugoslav Cup The 1975–76 Yugoslav Cup was the 28th season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup (), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (''Kup Maršala Tita''), since its establishment in 1946. Calendar The Yugoslav ...

final, but lost to

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

. In 1982, he managed

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian football club based in the capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of Croatian footbal ...

in the

, and later with

NK Bjelovar NK Bjelovar is a Croatian football club based in the town of Bjelovar. Bjelovar opened a new stadium in 2022. shortly before advancing to the new Second League. Honours Treća HNL – North: *Winners (1): 2003–04 Recent seasons Key ...

. In 1987, he went abroad to coach in Canada's

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

with

Windsor Wheels Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Quee ...

. In his debut season with Windsor he assisted in securing the regular season title. He also led the team in winning the NSL Canadian Championship. He re-signed with Windsor for the 1988 season. In 1989, he was named the head coach for

North York Rockets The North York Rockets were a professional soccer team based in North York, Toronto, Ontario that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992), Canadian Soccer League. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of ...

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

. He was dismissed on 21 August 1989. In 1993, he was appointed the head coach for

Melbourne Croatia 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 ...

in the

. In his debut season with Melbourne he was named the league's coach of the year. Throughout his tenure with Melbourne he led the club in securing the 1994–95 national championship. In 2002, he returned to manage Melbourne Croatia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazić, Mirko 1938 births 2021 deaths Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Croatian men's footballers FK Kozara Gradiška players Yugoslav Second League players Yugoslav football managers Croatian football managers GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers NK Zagreb managers FK Borac Banja Luka managers Melbourne Knights FC managers Yugoslav First League managers Canadian National Soccer League coaches National Soccer League (Australia) managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer managers in Australia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Australia