Saša Nikolić (; born 30 April 1964) is a Serbian

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 ...

manager and former player.

Playing career

After starting out at

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 ...

, Nikolić went on to play for Čelik Zenica during the

1988–89 Yugoslav First League The 1988–89 Yugoslav First League season was the 43rd season of the First Federal League ( sh, Prva savezna liga), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The season began on 6 August ...

. He lastly played for

Železnik Železnik ( sr-cyr, Железник, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica. Location Železnik is located in the central part of the Čukarica municipality, southwest from downt ...

in the First League of FR Yugoslavia, before hanging up his boots.

Managerial career

After serving as an assistant at

, Nikolić took over as the club's manager in May 2002, replacing

Goran Stevanović Goran Stevanović (, ; born 27 November 1966) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Playing career He started his career in Partizan, a club where he passed all categories, from pioneers to seniors. He played a total of 328 games and ...

. He quickly proved his talent and was voted the best manager in FR Yugoslavia for 2002 in a poll organized by '' Politika''. In August 2003, Nikolić parted ways with the club. He then moved abroad to China and briefly managed Henan Jianye, before returning to Železnik as manager in November 2004. During the second part of the 2004–05 season, Nikolić served as the club's

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

. Later on, Nikolić managed numerous clubs, including

Napredak Kruševac Napredak may refer to: *HKD Napredak, cultural society of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina *FK Napredak Kruševac, Serbian football club *FK Napredak Aleksinac, Serbian football club *FK Napredak Banatska Topola Fudbalski klub Napredak () is a f ...

(October 2007–June 2008),

Banat Zrenjanin FK Banat Zrenjanin () was a Association football, football club based in Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia. History The club was founded in June 2006 by the merger of FK Budućnost Banatski Dvor, Budućnost Banatski Dvor and FK Proleter Zrenjanin, Pro ...

(July–December 2008), Sloga Kraljevo (September–December 2009), Inđija (October–December 2010),

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

(April–June 2011), Bežanija (October 2011–April 2012), Radnik Surdulica (September 2013–April 2014), and

Loznica Loznica ( sr-cyrl, Лозница, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Mačva District of western Serbia. It lies on the right bank of the Drina river. In 2011 the city had a total population of 19,572, while the administrative ar ...

(December 2015–June 2016). From 2017 to 2019, Nikolić served as an assistant to compatriot

Srđan Vasiljević Srđan Vasiljević (; born 1 April 1973) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Playing career Vasiljević came through the youth system of Red Star Belgrade. He went on to play for Radnički Beograd, Borac Čačak (twice), Obilić, ...

with the Angola national team.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolic, Sasa 1964 births Living people Footballers from Slovenj Gradec Yugoslav men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers FK Zvezdara players NK Čelik Zenica players FK Rudar Kakanj players FK Železničar Beograd players FK Železnik players Yugoslav First League players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbia and Montenegro football managers Serbian football managers FK Železnik managers Henan F.C. managers FK Napredak Kruševac managers FK Banat Zrenjanin managers FK Sloga Kraljevo managers FK Inđija managers PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv managers FK Bežanija managers FK Radnik Surdulica managers Serbian SuperLiga managers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate football managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in China Expatriate football managers in Bulgaria Expatriate football managers in Angola Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Angola