Vjeran Simunić (born 26 April 1953) is Croatian professional

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 Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

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 is ...

who is the manager of

Treća HNL The Druga nogometna liga ( eng, Second football league), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL) is the third tier of the football league system. The league was established in 1991 following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Cro ...

club NK Vodice. He holds the Croatian record for number of managed teams. Vodice is Simunić's 37th club.

Playing career

Simunić started his playing career in

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 ...

in the 1970s. He did not get too many chances in Hajduk as the competition was very big at the time. After Hajduk, his next station was

HNK Šibenik Hrvatski nogometni klub Šibenik ( en, Croatian Football Club Šibenik), better known as HNK Šibenik or simply Šibenik (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Šibenik. It competes in the Croatian Football League, and plays their ...

, then

Dinamo Vinkovci Hrvatski nogometni klub Cibalia, commonly known as Cibalia Vinkovci or simply Cibalia, is a Croatian football club from the town of Vinkovci in eastern Croatia. Cibalia currently play in the Prva NL, Croatia's second tier league. Their stadium ...

and

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian amateur football club based in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of ...

, where he spent most of the playing career. In 1982 he made transfer to Sporting Lisabon. After one season he moved to Japan. He was first European player to play in Japan. The club was

Tokyo Verdy is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of football in the country. Founded as Yomiuri F.C. in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated clubs in the J.League, with ...

. After two more challenges in Italy, he returned to native country. He finished his playing career in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with

NK Posušje NK may refer to: Businesses * Imerys (Euronext ticker code NK) *Nordiska Kompaniet, a department store in Stockholm, Sweden *Northrup-King Seed Company *Spirit Airlines (IATA code NK) * NK.pl, a Polish school-based social networking service Place ...

Managerial career

Simunić started his rich managerial career in

Lipik Lipik is a town in western Slavonia, in the Požega-Slavonia County of northeastern Croatia. It is known for its spas, mineral water and Lipizzaner stables. Settlements The settlements included in the administrative area of Lipik include: * ...

, in 1994. Then he changed a couple of Croatian clubs before moving to Bahrain. However, he could not stay too much abroad, and he returned to Croatia, starting impressive row of 13 Croatian clubs, interrupted by 3 Bosnian clubs (

Posušje Posušje ( cyrl, Посушје, ) is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Name The name Posušje is derived from ''suša'' ...

Zrinjski Mostar Zrinjski Mostar is a sports association from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was formed in 1905. Member clubs *Football: **HŠK Zrinjski Mostar *Basketball: **HKK Zrinjski Mostar (men's) **ŽKK Zrinjski Mostar (women's) *Han ...

and Čelik Zenica) in 8 years. He said that his mission is to improve table situation of every club he takes, and in most cases he did that. That is why he had so many offers. Searching for new challenge, he moved to Asia, this time Brunei. He managed club DPMM, soon after his good results with that club made him coach of the Brunei national team. He was very popular, had lot of fans in country and even got Happy Birthday song chanted by fans during one match. But, he suddenly returned to Croatia, and took manager chair of

NK Imotski NK Imotski is a 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_ca ...

, where he stayed for only one month. Then he took

NK Mosor NK Mosor, also known as HBDNK "Mosor – Sveti Jure", is a Croatian football club from Žrnovnica, settlement which is part of the city of Split on the Croatian coast. The club was founded in 1928. It existed until World War II when most of its ...

once again but left that club also, and after one half-season. He took Croatian second division club

NK Međimurje NK Međimurje is a Croatian football club based in Čakovec. The club is named after Međimurje, the region in northern Croatia where Čakovec is located. The club play their home games at the Stadion SRC Mladost, Čakovec, which has a tota ...

, at the start of 2010–11 season. He returned to coach Brunei's only professional club

DPMM FC Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club in English, commonly known as DPMM FC) is a professional football club based in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. The club played in the Brunei Pr ...

in 2012 after FIFA allowed it to rejoin

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

after 20 months of suspension due to government interference in

Football Association of Brunei Darussalam The Football Association of Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Persatuan Bolasepak Brunei Darussalam; abbrev: FABD) is the governing body of football in Brunei, controlling the Brunei national football team. History FABD is the successor organisatio ...

. Simunić lead Brunei DPMM FC to a successful season in 2012 S.League as he guided them to win 2012 Singapore League Cup and finished second in the 2012 S.League after two seasons without competitive football. Simunić was named as Coach of the Year at

S.League Awards Night Singapore Premier League Awards Night is a football awards ceremony held by the Football Association of Singapore since the S.League's inaugural season in 1996. Player of the Year Award Note nationality of players at presentation of award. A nu ...

for his achievement in 2012 S.League. In January 2013, Simunić was appointed as the Brunei national football team head coach. On 16 September 2014, Simunić was appointed as the head coach and technical director of

Perak FA Perak Football Club or Perak F.C. is a professional association football, football club based in Ipoh. Founded in 1921, the club's home ground since then has been Perak Stadium in Ipoh, Perak. The club represents the state of Perak in Malaysian ...

on a two-year contract, but after only two months he was replaced with

M. Karathu Datuk M. Karathu (born 23 February 1943) is a Malaysian Association football, football manager and former player. Career as player He was a former player for Perak FA in the 1960s to 1970s and won two Malaysia Cup. He also has played for Malays ...

before the season even started. Simunić were reassigned to youth development academy of Perak FA. Eventually however, in August 2015, he was reappointed as the head coach of Perak after Karathu were relieved of his position in July 2015 due to poor performances of Perak in the league. He was released by Perak at the end of unsuccessful Malaysia Cup 2015 campaign, and subsequently joined another Malaysian team,

Sabah FA Sabah Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a football club with ownership by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The football club competes in Malaysia's football league representing the state of Sabah in Borneo. They currently compete in M ...

, on December the same year. He only hold the post as the head coach of Sabah until June 2016, when he stepped down following unsatisfactory performances by the team during his tenure. After Sabah, Simunić returned to manage Zadar. After Zadar, he managed

Solin Solin (Latin and it, Salona; grc, Σαλώνα ) is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea and the river Jadro. Solin developed on the location of ancient city of ''Salona'', which was the ca ...

, Bosnian club

Vitez Vitez ( sr-cyrl, Витез) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 6,329 inhabitant ...

and Zagora Unešić. Since 21 September 2020, Simunić has been managing Croatian third division club NK Vodice.

Personal life

Simunić is married, and has two sons and one granddaughter and grandson. He speaks a few foreign languages – Spanish, German, Italian and English particularly well. An interesting fact is that he also finished college.

Honours

Manager

Posušje *

First League of Herzeg-Bosnia The First League of Herzeg-Bosnia served as the top football league in Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War and post-war periods of the 1990s. During these years, football was divided along ethnic lines, with the Croat, Bosniak ...

: 1999–2000 DPMM *

Singapore League Cup The Singapore League Cup was an annual soccer competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007, and was open to teams who play in the S.League. The 2007 competition was sponsored by SingTel, and officially titled the SingTel League Cup. Eight of ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links