Toni Savevski ( mk, Тони Савевски; born 14 June 1963) is a Macedonian

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 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 ...

. Savevski is widely regarded as one of the best foreign players to have played in the

Greek football league The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

. After retiring from as a footballer in 2001 he became manager and managed several clubs in Cyprus, most notably Omonia.

Club career

Savevski was born in

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

, SR Macedonia. He started his career in

Pelister Bitola FK Pelister ( mk, ФК Пелистер) is a Macedonian football club based in the city of Bitola, North Macedonia. They are currently competing in the Macedonian Second League. History FK Pelister, was formed in 1945. In 1946 they won the Bit ...

and then played for

Vardar Skopje FK Vardar Skopje ( mk, ФК Вардар Скопје), or simply Vardar, is a football club based in the capital city of Skopje, North Macedonia. The club was founded in 1947 and currently competes in the Macedonian Second Football League. The ...

, where he won the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

in 1987, but due to a point deduction punishment of

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

was overturned, the title eventually was awarded to the latter. In winter 1988 he signed for

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

at the request of

Dušan Bajević Dušan "Duško" Bajević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Бајевић, ; gr, Ντούσαν Μπάγεβιτς, ''Doúsan Báyevits''; born 10 December 1948) is a Bosnian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player. H ...

. Savevski quickly developed into one of the team's consistent players and, alongside

Stelios Manolas Stelios Manolas ( el, Στέλιος Μανωλάς, born 13 July 1961) is a Greek former international football player who played as a centre back for AEK Athens and a manager. Arguably the best Greek defender of his era, being one of the few ...

, became the permanent leaders of the great AEK of the 90s. He combined very well and assisted all the great stikers that played in the club during his era, such as

Batista Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player * Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also ...

, Dimitriadis, Alexandris,

Kostis Kostis ( el, Κωστής) is a hypocorism of the Greek name Konstantinos ( Constantine). Notable people with the name include: Given name *Kostis Adosidis Pasha (1818–1895), Prince of Samos *Kostis Chatzidakis (born 1965), Greek politician *K ...

, Nikolaidis. He also scored some very important goals, the most important of all being this against Rangers in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

qualifiers in the summer of 1994. He served AEK for 13 years winning the

four times and the

Greek cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

three times. He is the third foreigner in appearances in the history of the league, behind

Krzysztof Warzycha Krzysztof Ireneusz Warzycha (, el, Κριστόφ Βαζέχα; born 17 November 1964) is a Greek-Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward for Ruch Chorzów and for Greek club Panathinaikos. At international level, he re ...

and

Predrag Đorđević Predrag Đorđević ( sr-cyr, Предраг Ђорђевић; also transliterated Predrag Djordjević; born 4 August 1972) is a Serbian former professional footballer. Known for his set pieces, Đorđević played as a left midfielder for Greek ...

. Savevski urgently stopped football in the yellow-black jersey in January 2001 and within a few days he became the coach of the team, as a "duo" with

Eugène Gerards Eugène 'Gène' Gerards (7 May 1940 − 2 January 2018) was a Dutch football player, manager and scout. As a player, Gerards played for Limburgian clubs SV Limburgia and Fortuna '54. As a manager, he spent the majority of his career in Greece, ...

, a position in which he remained until the end of the season.

International career

He made his senior debut for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in an August 1988

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

away against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and earned a total of 2 caps for the team, scoring no goals, before debuting for Macedonia in an October 1994 European Championship qualification match against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He earned another 8 caps and his final international was a September 2000

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Managerial career

In January 2001, after the then coach AEK Athens,

Giannis Pathiakakis Giannis Pathiakakis ( el, Γιάννης Παθιακάκης; 15 June 1953 – 8 February 2002) was a Greek professional footballer who played as a midfielder and a later manager. After his death the stadium of Akratitos was named Yiannis Path ...

resigned, Savevski retired as a footballer overnight, in order to take the position of coach on the yellow-black bench, with Eugène Gerards as technical advisor. In the summer of 2001, the administrative instability of the club resulted in the Savevski and Gerards leaving. In the season 2001–02 he was the coach for Apollon Limassol. In 2002 he coached Omonia, where in 2003 he won the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

and the

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

, before leaving in 2004. In the summer of the same year, he assumed the position of technical director of the AEK Athens academies. During his tenure, the infrastructure departments of the club were organized and developed. Players such as

Sokratis Papastathopoulos Sokratis Papastathopoulos ( el, Σωκράτης Παπασταθόπουλος; born 7 June 1988), commonly known mononymously as Sokratis, is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League club Olympiacos. Club ca ...

Kostas Manolas Konstantinos "Kostas" Manolas ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μανωλάς; ; born 14 June 1991) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for UAE Pro League club Sharjah. Club career AEK Athens 2009–1 ...

Viktor Klonaridis Dorian Victor Klonaridis (Greek: Ντοριάν Βίκτωρ Κλωναρίδης, born 28 July 1992) is a Greek-Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or a second striker for Super League club Atromitos. Career AEK Athens Klo ...

Panagiotis Tachtsidis Panagiotis Tachtsidis ( el, Παναγιώτης Ταχτσίδης; born 15 February 1991) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Emirati club Khor Fakkan. Club career AEK Athens Tachtsidis was scouted by Toni Savevsk ...

and

Vasileios Pliatsikas Vasilios Pliatsikas ( el, Βασίλειος Πλιάτσικας; born 14 April 1988) is a Greek professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back. Club career AEK Athens Pli ...

were the results of his work. In the summer of 2010, Savevski was promoted to the position of head scouting of the team. By September 2012, he returned to Omonia as head coach until December 2013.

Honours

As a player: ;AEK Athens *

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 1988–89, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–2000 *

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek Football (soccer), association football one-match ...

: 1989, 1996 *

Greek League Cup The EPAE Cup, known as the Greek League Cup, a now defunct football competition, took place only once, in the year 1989–90 season. AEK Athens is the only winner of the League Cup, beating Panionios (3–3 and 3–1 on penalties), Aris (5–2), ...

: 1990 * Pre-Mediterranean Cup: 1991 As a coach: ;Omonia *

: 2002–03 *

: 2003

Personal life

Toni had humble upbringings and grew up in Bitola. He later moved to Athens, Greece after his first son,

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

was born. His second son was born in Athens, Greece

References

External links

* *
Profile at MacedonianFootball.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savevski, Toni 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Bitola Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Macedonian footballers North Macedonia international footballers Dual internationalists (football) FK Pelister players FK Vardar players AEK Athens F.C. players Yugoslav First League players Super League Greece players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Macedonian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Greece Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Macedonian football managers AEK Athens F.C. managers Apollon Limassol FC managers AC Omonia managers Macedonian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus