Robert Koren (born 20 September 1980) is a Slovenian 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 le ...

who played as a

midfielder 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 ...

. Koren earned 61 caps and scored five goals for the Slovenia national team between 2003 and 2011 and played at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. Besides Slovenia, he has played in Norway, England, and Australia.

Club career

Early career

Koren played for

Dravograd Dravograd (; german: Unterdrauburg) is a small town in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria. It is the seat of the Municipality of Dravograd. It lies on the Drava River at the confluence with the Meža and the Mislinja. It is ...

and

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

in his home country, before transferring to Norwegian side

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

in 2004.

Lillestrøm

He became one of the most highly rated players of the

Norwegian Premier League Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

, many regarding him as the best foreigner in the entire competition. Koren was the definitive playmaker for Lillestrøm, and has often been compared to his former idol

Zlatko Zahovič Zlatko Zahovič (; born 1 February 1971) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. After making a name for himself in Europe in Portugal, most notably with Porto and Benfica where he amassed Primeira L ...

. During his time in Norway he was linked with a move to English club

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

West Bromwich Albion

On 4 January 2007, Koren signed for English Championship club West Bromwich Albion in a

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association ...

, penning an 18-month contract with a further year's option in the club's favour. He made his debut two days later as a late substitute in the Baggies' 3–1 win over

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

third round. Koren scored his first goal for the club in a 7–0 home win against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

on 6 May 2007, the last day of the league season. The victory ensured Albion's place in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

promotion play-offs. Koren started all three play-off games as Albion beat

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

in the two-legged semi-final but lost 1–0 to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in the

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

final. In July 2007 Koren suffered a freak accident in training when a ball hit him in the eye, causing internal bleeding and temporary loss of vision. Although he made a full recovery, he later admitted that he had feared for his sight. The injury meant that he missed the start of the 2007–08 season, but he returned to the side at the end of August as a substitute in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

game against

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. In mid-September he signed a new two-year contract at Albion, with a further year's option in the club's favour. He has been described by former West Brom manager

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...

as a "model pro". Koren's two goals in Albion's 3–2 defeat away at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in October 2007 earned him a place in the ''Championship Team of the Week''. Koren scored his first Premier League goal on 17 January 2009 and was named man of the match as Albion beat

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

3–0. His goal in Albion's 2–2 draw with Burnley in the FA Cup earned him the ''

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

goal of the round''. In the 2008–09 Premier League season, Koren proved his reliability and consistency by making the most appearances of the season for an outfield player at West Brom, only appearing fewer times than goalkeeper

Scott Carson Scott Paul Carson (born 3 September 1985) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City. Carson joined t ...

. On 17 May 2010, Koren was released by

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

after the club chose not to take up their option to extend his contract.

Hull City

On 13 August 2010, he joined

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

on a free transfer. He signed a two-year contract, with an option of a third year, just after the start of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

following their relegation from the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

with one game of the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

already played. He made his debut for the club when he came on as a replacement for

Will Atkinson William Henry Atkinson (born 14 October 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Having begun his professional career with Hull City in 2006, Atkinson spent time on loan with Port Vale, Mansfield Town, Rochdale (t ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

on 14 August 2010. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 home victory over

on 14 September 2010. He also scored goals away at

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and scored a 25-yard strike at home to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, and also scored what proved to be the winning goal in a 2–1 away victory over

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. On 17 September 2011 against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

at the

KC Stadium The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...

, Koren picked up possession, picked his spot and fired home into the bottom corner from 25 yards. On 24 September 2011, against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

at Ashton Gate Stadium, Koren played a neat ball into

Aaron McLean Aaron McLean (born 25 May 1983) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At international level he gained five caps for the England C team during his time in the non-league. McLean began his senior career with Leyt ...

's feet and when the pass was returned, Koren stroked a lovely low shot into the bottom corner of the net. On 22 October 2011 against Watford at the KC Stadium, Koren picked up possession midway inside the City half, drifted past three Watford players before driving home into the bottom corner of the net from 25 yards. On 29 November 2011, against

St Mary's Stadium St Mary's Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Southampton, England, which has been the home stadium of Premier League club Southampton F.C. since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest football stadium ...

, a flowing move down the left ended with

Tom Cairney Thomas Cairney (born 20 January 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Fulham, whom he captains. Cairney has previously played for Hull City and Blackburn Rovers. Born in England, he made his full international ...

pulling the ball back to Koren, whose shot deflected off

Matty Fryatt Matty may refer to: * Matty (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname, given name or surname * Matty, Hungary, a village in Baranya County * Matty Island, a Canadian arctic island * Former name of Wuvulu Island * Matty, ni ...

and brought a stunning save out of Kelvin Davis. But the rebound fell for Koren, who nodded home from close range. On 3 December 2011, against Leicester City at the KC Stadium, the ball was rolled nicely into the path of Koren and he struck a beautiful shot past Schmeichel from 20 yards. On 7 December 2011, against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

at the KC Stadium,

Cameron Stewart Cameron Stewart (born 1975) is a Canadian comic book creator. He first came to prominence when he collaborated as an illustrator with writer Grant Morrison, and he went on to illustrate ''Catwoman'' and co-write '' Batgirl''. He won Eisner and ...

got to the byeline down the right before firing in a vicious cross that was only cleared as far as the penalty spot where Koren readjusted his body to volley into the net. On 17 December 2011, against Millwall at the KC Stadium, a long ball forward was headed down by a Millwall defender and it dropped nicely for Koren, who adjusted his feet well before firing home a low shot from 20 yards out. On 11 August 2012, he signed a new two-year contract. On 15 September 2012, against Millwall at the KC Stadium, Koren picked up possession on the edge of the centre circle, advanced unchallenged before unleashing a powerful drive from 25 yards which flew past

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and into the net. After Hull's promotion to Premier League he was ruled out for four to five weeks for foot injury before the clash against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Melbourne City

On 3 August 2014, Robert Koren was announced as a marquee signing for Melbourne City in 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 ...

. After missing the first 10 games of the season with injury, on 20 December 2014 Koren made his debut in the Melbourne Derby, coming on as a substitute. On 30 December 2014, Koren scored a hat trick against

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

in his first starting game. On 21 January 2016, he was released from his contract to pursue new opportunities.

Personal life

Koren is married and has two sons and a daughter, Nal, Tian and Nia Koren.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Koren goal.''

Honours

West Bromwich Albion *

: 2007–08 Hull City *

: runner-up

2012–13 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 ...

: Runner-up 2013–14 Individual *

Kniksen Award The Kniksen Award ( no, Kniksenprisen), established in 1990, honors the best players in the Norwegian football premiership. The award is named after the legendary Norwegian football player Roald Jensen, nicknamed "Kniksen". Categories Categor ...

: Midfielder of the year in 2006 *

Player of the season and goal of the season 2011–12

References

External links

Player profile
at NZS * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koren, Robert 1980 births Living people Slovenian footballers People from the Municipality of Radlje ob Dravi Association football midfielders NK Dravograd players NK Celje players Lillestrøm SK players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Melbourne City FC players Slovenian expatriate footballers Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in Norway Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate soccer players in Australia Slovenian Second League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Eliteserien players English Football League players Premier League players A-League Men players Marquee players (A-League Men) Kniksen Award winners Slovenia youth international footballers Slovenia under-21 international footballers Slovenia international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players Slovenian football managers