Mirko Grabovac (born 19 September 1971) is a Croatian former professional football player and coach. He had changed his nationality to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

an in 2001 in order to play for the

Singapore national football team The Singapore national football team (, zh, 新加坡國家足球隊, ta, சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய கால்பந்து அணி ) represents the Republic of Singapore in the senior men's international footb ...

before renouncing it in 2008.

Playing career

Club

Grabovac was the top scorer in Singapore's

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 ...

in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 while playing for 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 ...

(SAFFC), and again in 2005 playing for

Tampines Rovers Tampines Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singapore football league system. Founded in 1945, the club have won the national league c ...

. He was named the S.League's Player of the Year in 2000. With SAFFC, he scored a total of 150 S.League goals in five seasons along with seven goals in Asian competitions. In 2007, he scored his 240th S.League goals in the

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 ...

semi-final against

Bangkok University University (BU; th, มหาวิทยาลัยกรุงเทพ; ), commonly known as Mo Krung Thep ( th, มอกรุงเทพ), has operated since 1962, is one of the oldest and largest private, non-profit universities in ...

to overtake Egmar Goncalves as the all-time S.League top goalscorer. A year later, Grabovac was hired by Sengkang Punggol to play as a striker as well as double up as the assistant coach under head coach Saswadimata Dasuki. However, he was unable to pass the mandatory beep test twice, and served as caretaker coach for the Dolphins for a short period, starting with a 1–0 win over

Gombak United Gombak United Football Club was a professional football club which competed in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was based in Bukit Gombak. During the early years of the S. League, Gombak United played their ho ...

which was Sengkang's second victory of the season. Grabovac stepped down two months later as Swandi Ahmad was put in charge of the squad. He decided to leave Singapore on 5 October 2008 to rejoin his family in his native Croatia, renouncing his citizenship as well.

Managerial career

Grabovac started coaching in his native Croatia in 2009, taking charge of

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 ...

. He then joined

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 ...

in the same year, and coached them for 3 years. He then returned to Mosor and coached them for a further 4 years. In early 2018, Grabovac was announced as the new head coach of his former club

Warriors 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 ...

, this would mark his return to his former adopted nation in a footballing capacity since he renounced his Singaporean citizenship. The appointment was met with disapproval by Singaporean footballing fans and communities because of his citizenship affair stated above. He received his permit to coach Warriors from the authorities in March 2018. His time with Warriors were a disappointing one, finishing in fifth position out of nine in the 2019 Singapore Premier League. His contract were not renewed beyond that season.

Honours

Club

Singapore Armed Forces

: 2000, 2002 *

: 1999

Tampines Rovers

: 2004, 2005 *

: 2004, 2006 *ASEAN Club Championship: 2005

Individual

*S.League Top Scorer Award: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 *S.League Player of the Year: 2000 *S.League Player of Decade *244 S.League Goals

References

External links

*
Mirko Grabovac
at SLeague.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Grabovac, Mirko 1971 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Croatian emigrants to Singapore People who lost Singaporean citizenship Association football forwards Croatian footballers Singaporean footballers Singapore international footballers NK Primorac 1929 players HNK Cibalia players NK Zadar players Warriors FC players Tampines Rovers FC players Hougang United FC players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Second Football League (Croatia) players Singapore Premier League players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Singapore Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Singapore Croatian football managers NK Mosor managers NK Imotski managers Warriors FC head coaches Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Singapore