Mladen Vranković (2 July 1937 – 11 February 2021) was a Croatian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager.

Career

Born in Rtina, he played for his hometown club,

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...

, for eight seasons, collecting 350 caps. He also spent three years 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 ...

playing for

Kansas City Spurs The Kansas City Spurs were an United States, American professional soccer team who played in the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer League, based in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kansas City M ...

. Following the end of his career he became a manager. He was Rijeka's manager between 1987 and 1989, leading the club to the

1986–87 Yugoslav Cup The 1986–87 Yugoslav Cup was the 39th season of the top association football, football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup ( sh, Kup Jugoslavije), also known as the "Josip Broz Tito, Marshal Tito Cup" (''Kup Maršala Tita'' ...

final against

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

. He briefly coached Australian club

Sydney Croatia Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

in the now defunct

Australian 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 d ...

during the 1991–92 season.

Managerial statistics

: *Dates of first and last games under Vranković; not dates of official appointments

Honours

Kansas City Spurs * NASL:

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

* Western Conference:

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

References

1937 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Rijeka People from Zadar County Men's association football defenders Yugoslav footballers HNK Rijeka players Kansas City Spurs players Yugoslav First League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Yugoslav football managers HNK Rijeka managers HNK Šibenik managers Croatian football managers Sydney United 58 FC managers HNK Orijent managers NK Zadar managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer managers in Australia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Australia {{Croatia-footy-defender-stub