Darko Milanič (born 18 December 1967) is a Slovenian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

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 i ...

. As a player, Milanič represented both

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

at international level. He also

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

ed Slovenia at

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Club career

Born in Izola, Milanič began his football career with local side NK Izola. In the 1986–87 season, he joined Partizan. During his time at Partizan, he won the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

and the

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

twice. After the 1992–93 season, Milanič moved to the Austrian side Sturm Graz, where he played for eight seasons and won eight trophies, including two

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

titles, three Austrian Cups and three Austrian Supercups. In 2000, at the age of 32, Milanič retired early due to injury and to pursue a coaching career in football.

International career

During his spell at Serbian club Partizan, Milanič earned five caps for

. Even after Slovenia's independence, he was included by Yugoslavia in their squad for

Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

, but the nation would be suspended due to the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. Milanič later represented

, earning 42 caps. He captained his country at

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, including a match against his former national team, Yugoslavia, which ended in a 3–3 draw.

Coaching career

After his football career, Milanič turned to coaching. He started his coaching career at his hometown club Izola. After that, he was appointed manager of Primorje and an assistant coach at Sturm Graz under Franco Foda during the 2006–07 season.

Gorica

At the start of the 2007–08 season, Milanič was appointed as the head coach of Gorica, where he helped guide them to a third-place finish in the

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

. In the

2007–08 UEFA Cup The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, UEFA's former second-tier club association football, football tournament. The 2008 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, E ...

, the team was knocked out in the first qualifying round after losing over two legs to Rabotnički.

Maribor

On 29 May 2008, Milanič was appointed head coach at

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

by Director of Football

Zlatko Zahovič Zlatko Zahovič (; born 1 February 1971) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. After making a name for himself in Portugal, most notably with Porto and Benfica where he amassed Primeira Liga totals ...

. He won the Slovenian PrvaLiga during his first year in the 2008–09 season. In May 2010, Maribor won the Slovenian Cup. After winning this trophy, Milanič became the first coach that have won all three domestic trophies in Slovenian club football, having won the Slovenian League and the Slovenian Supercup before that. He has achieved that in only two seasons. At the beginning of the 2012–13 season, Maribor played in their fourth successive Supercup. The club defeated their "eternal rivals" Olimpija Ljubljana 2–1 to clinch their second Supercup title. In January 2013, Milanič was selected as the Slovenian Manager of the Year for 2012 by winning the league,

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

and supercup. Milanič led Maribor to the group stages of the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Are ...

as one of the losers in the play-off round of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, where they were eliminated by

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

. This was the second season in a row in which Maribor qualified to the Europa League main stages. They managed to get four points out of six matches, defeating Panathinaikos and drawing with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, both at home. On 9 November 2012, Maribor suffered a 3–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur after a hat-trick by Jermain Defoe. In the final game of Group J, Maribor suffered a 4–1 defeat to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. Maribor confirmed their eleventh league title on 11 May 2013 after defeating Olimpija Ljubljana 2–1. In the 2013 Cup Final, Maribor defeated

Celje Celje (, , ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, third-largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the traditional Slovenian region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria and the administrative seat of the City Municipality of Celje. Th ...

1–0, thus securing their fourth "

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

" in the club's history.

Sturm Graz

On 4 June 2013, Milanič became a manager of Sturm Graz in the

, with Novica Nikčević as his assistant. One of his first signings was Robert Berić, whom he signed from his former club, Maribor. Sturm Graz were knocked out of the Europa League after losing 1–0 on aggregate in the second qualifying round to

Breiðablik UBK Breiðablik (sometimes anglicised to Breithablik or Breidablik) is the home of the god Baldr in Nordic mythology. The name can also refer to: Locations * Breidablik Peak, a mountain in Canada * Breidablick, Washington, a community in the USA Spo ...

. He led his side to a fifth-place finish during his first season during the 2013–14 season. On 21 September 2014, during a press conference, Sturm Graz revealed that Milanič would be leaving the club to join an English side

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

after agreeing to buy out his contract at Sturm Graz to make the move.

Leeds United

On 23 September 2014, Milanič was appointed as manager of Leeds United on a two-year deal, replacing Dave Hockaday. He was joined at Leeds by his Sturm Graz assistant Novica Nikčević. Milanič parted company on 25 October 2014, minutes after a 2–1 loss to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, just 32 days after taking over, for failing to win any of his six games in charge.

Return to Maribor

On 2 March 2016, Milanič returned to the Slovenian PrvaLiga club Maribor. He became the Slovenian champion with the team in the 2016–17 season. Milanič led Maribor to the group stages of the

2017–18 UEFA Champions League The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

after eliminating Zrinjski Mostar, Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar, and Hapoel Be'er-Sheva in the qualifying rounds. In the 2018–19 season, he won his sixth league title with Maribor. He resigned in March 2020 after a 2–1 home defeat against

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

Slovan Bratislava

On 7 September 2020, Milanič took charge of Slovak club Slovan Bratislava, signing a one-year contract with an option for further two years, with Novica Nikčević named as his assistant. He was sacked on 9 May 2021 after a series of poor results, despite reaching the cup final and topping the league table.

Pafos

On 30 June 2021, Milanič was appointed as head coach of

Pafos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. It is the fourth-largest cit ...

on a two-year contract. He was sacked on 10 May 2022 after a 1–0 defeat against

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

, one round before the end of the season.

Anorthosis Famagusta

On 22 June 2022, he signed a two-year contract with

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club Anorthosis Famagusta. He was sacked on 3 October after managing just five games.

Baniyas Club

On 8 June 2023, Milanič signed a one-year contract with the UAE Pro League side

Baniyas Baniyas ( ') is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, western Syria, located south of Latakia and north of Tartous. It is known for its citrus fruit orchards and its export of wood. North of the city is an B ...

for the 2023–24 season.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Partizan *

: 1986–87 *

: 1988–89, 1991–92 Sturm Graz *

: 1997–98, 1998–99 * Austrian Cup: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99 * Austrian Supercup: 1996, 1998, 1999

Manager

Maribor *

: 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2018–19 * Slovenian Cup: 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16 * Slovenian Supercup:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Individual * Slovenian PrvaLiga Manager of the Season: 2011–12SPINS XI 2011–12
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References

External links