Ivica Raguž (born 24 June 1968) is a Croatian former

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 ...

who played primarily 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 ...

, where he had a notable run in the

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 ...

Playing career

Raguž played in the National Soccer League in 1991 with

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

, where he received the league's MVP award. In 1992, he played with

NK Zadar Nogometni klub Zadar ( en, Football Club Zadar), commonly referred to as NK Zadar or simply Zadar, was a Croatian football club based in Zadar, a city on the Adriatic coast, best known for playing in the top flight of Croatian football for alm ...

of the Croatian First Football League in 1992. In 1994, he went abroad to play in the American Professional Soccer League with the

Toronto Rockets The Toronto Rocket (TR) train is the fifth and latest series of rolling stock used in the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the trains were built by Bombardier Transpo ...

. He made his debut for Toronto on July 27, 1994 against Montreal Impact. He later played in the newly formed

with the

Singapore Armed Forces FC Warriors Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that played in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. Before changing their name on 20 January 2013, they were previously known as the Singapo ...

, where he formed an instrumental triumvirate with fellow Croatian imports

Velimir Crljen Velimir Crljen (born 23 July 1966) is a Croatian retired footballer and manager who played in the Croatian First Football League, American Professional Soccer League, Canadian Professional Soccer League, and S.League. He also had several notab ...

, and Jure Ere. In his debut season he was named the Player of the Year. During his tenure with SAFFC he won a league title,

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost football cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

, and the

Singapore FA Cup The Singapore FA Cup, (also known as the Singapore Pools FA Cup for sponsorship reasons), is an annual football competition in Singapore. Initially held for clubs from the S.League from 1996-1998, the Football Association of Singapore decided to ...

. In 1999, he returned to Croatia to play with

NK Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo ( en, Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as NK Slaven Belupo, Slaven Belupo or simply Slaven, and known internationally as NK Slaven Koprivnica, is a Croatian professional football club based in the cit ...

. The following season he had another season in Singapore with

Woodlands Wellington FC Woodlands Wellington Football Club is an inactive professional football club which played in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. They are based in Woodlands at the 4,300 seater Woodlands Stadium, where they have played sinc ...

. After a brief stint with Woodlands he returned to his former club Zadar for the 2001-02 season. In 2003, he returned to

to play in the Canadian Professional Soccer League.

References

1968 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers Toronto Croatia players NK Zadar players Toronto Rockets (soccer) players Warriors FC players NK Slaven Belupo players Woodlands Wellington FC players Canadian National Soccer League players Croatian Football League players American Professional Soccer League players Singapore Premier League players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Singapore {{Croatia-footy-midfielder-stub