Marcel Žigante (1929 – 8 March 2015) was a Yugoslav and later Croatian professional

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 bega ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

Playing career

Born in Rijeka,

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

, present day

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, Žigante's football career began in a small club called Šparta Zagreb in 1943. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he started playing for

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 ...

in 1945. He did not stay there for long though. First, Žigante went to

Čapljina Čapljina ( sr-cyrl, Чапљина, ) is a city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located on the border with Croatia a mere from the Adriatic Sea. The ...

and then, in 1949, he joined

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

. He played there until 1955, during which time he collected 96 league appearances. Žigante then played with Radnički Beograd as they reached 3rd place in the

1955–56 Yugoslav First League The 1955–56 Yugoslav First League season was the tenth season of the First Federal League (Serbian: ''Prva savezna liga'', Croatian: ''Prva savezna liga''), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishme ...

season. His next club was Sarajevo's fierce city rival Željezničar. He played in 41 league games and scored 11 goals for the club during his three-year tenure. Žigante decided to end his playing career in 1960 after leaving Željezničar. He is remembered as one of the best

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

s during the 1940s and 1950s in Yugoslavia.

Managerial career

Although he was a geography teacher as well, Žigante stayed in football as a manager. He was first manager of Famos Hrasnica (1962–1964) during which time they got promoted to the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

. After that, he was the manager of Rudar Kakanj (1964–1965) and Leotar (1965–1966). In 1966, Žigante returned to Željezničar where he was one of the creators of a great generation of players that won 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 1972 alongside

Milan Ribar Milan Ribar (21 November 1930 – 26 May 1996) was a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is the only manager in Željezničar history to have won the Yugoslav First League. Playing career Ribar played for hometown club ...

. He worked as the manager of Željezničar in the 1966–67 and 1967–68 seasons. In 1968, he became the new manager of Bor (1968–1972), which he promoted to the

in 1972. Žigante then managed Rijeka (1972–1973) and Čelik Zenica (1974–1975), with whom he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Death

Žigante died on Sunday, 8 March 2015, in his hometown of Rijeka,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Honours

Manager

Bor *

: 1971–72 (East) Čelik Zenica * UEFA Intertoto Cup:

(Joint Winner)

References

External links

*
Marcel Žigante
at nogomet.lzmk.hr {{DEFAULTSORT:Zigante, Marcel 1929 births 2015 deaths Footballers from Rijeka Men's association football wingers Yugoslav men's footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players HNK Čapljina players FK Sarajevo players FK Radnički Beograd players FK Željezničar Sarajevo players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav Second League players Yugoslav football managers FK Famos Hrasnica managers FK Rudar Kakanj managers FK Leotar managers FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers FK Bor managers HNK Rijeka managers HNK Orijent managers NK Čelik Zenica managers Yugoslav First League managers