Darko Spalević (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Дарко Спалевић; born 24 March 1977) is a

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

professional

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 lea ...

who plays as a striker. Over the course of his journeyman career, Spalević scored over 150 competitive goals in six countries, having his most prolific seasons after the age of thirty.

Club career

Born in

Vučitrn Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria; sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн, ''Vučitrn'') is a city and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. According to the 2024 census, the town of Vushtrri has 28,150 inhabitants, while the municipality ...

, Spalević started out at Trepča, before transferring to

Priština Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...

in 1998. He stayed there for only one season. After a short stint at

Bane Bane may refer to: Fictional characters * Bane (DC Comics), an adversary of Batman * Bane (''Harry Potter''), a centaur in the ''Harry Potter'' series * Bane (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film trilogy * Bane the Druid, a Gua ...

in the fall of 1999, Spalević moved to Milicionar, spending there the following year and a half. In the summer of 2001, Spalević joined

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. He failed to make an impact at the club in a year and a half, before switching to Bulgarian club

Cherno More Varna Cherno More () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on 3 March 1913, as an association football branch ...

. In the summer of 2003, Spalević moved to another Bulgarian club

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

. He won the national championship title in the 2003–04 season. In the following three seasons, Spalević played for Russian club Dynamo Makhachkala (2004), Hungarian club

Zalaegerszeg Zalaegerszeg (; ; ; ) is the administrative center of Zala County, Zala county in western Hungary. Location Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders, and west-southwest of Budapest by road. Hi ...

(2005), and Chinese club

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

(2006), but without notable achievements. In early 2007, Spalević moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina and signed with Slavija Sarajevo. He spent the next two and a half years there, becoming the Premier League top scorer in 2008, and 2009. Spalević also helped the club win the Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup in the 2008–09 campaign. He subsequently switched to Olimpik, before returning to Slavija in early 2010. In July 2010, Spalević returned to Serbia and joined First League club Radnički Kragujevac. He was their top scorer in the 2010–11 season with 19 league goals, thus leading them to promotion to the SuperLiga. In the following 2011–12 season, Spalević became the SuperLiga top scorer with 19 goals. He stayed at the club for two more years, despite having some disagreements with the club's president, helping the side remain in the top flight. After leaving Radnički, Spalević moved to fellow SuperLiga club Donji Srem in June 2014, penning a one-year contract. He however failed to help them avoid relegation from the top flight in the 2014–15 season. In July 2015, Spalević officially returned to his former club Slavija Sarajevo on a one-year deal. In July 2016, Spalević returned to Radnički Kragujevac. He helped the side win the

Serbian League West Serbian League West () is one of four sections of the Serbian League, the third tier of professional football in Serbia. The other three sections are Serbian League Belgrade, Serbian League East and Serbian League Vojvodina. It is also the highest ...

in his comeback season, thus earning promotion back to the

Serbian First League The Serbian First League (), referred to as the Mozzart Bet First League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier in professional Serbia's football league. The league was formed in 2005, following a reshuffle of the second tier Serbo-Montenegr ...

International career

In December 1999, Spalević played for the FR Yugoslavia U23s in a 0–1 friendly loss against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Career statistics

Honours

Player

Lokomotiv Plovdiv * Bulgarian A Group: 2003–04 Slavija Sarajevo * Bosnian Cup: 2008–09 Radnički Kragujevac *

: 2016–17 Individual *

Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season The Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season is an annual award given to a set of 11 footballers in the top tier of Football in Serbia, Serbian football, the Serbian SuperLiga, SuperLiga, who are seen to be the best 11 players of the calendar season. S ...

: 2011–12 * Bosnian Premier League top goalscorer: 2007–08, 2008–09 *

top scorer:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

top scorer: 2011–12

References

External links

HLSZ profile
*
Futebol Mundial profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spalevic, Darko 1977 births Living people Footballers from Vushtrri Kosovo Serbs Men's association football forwards Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbian men's footballers FK Trepča players FC Prishtina players FK Priština players FK Bane players FK Milicionar players Red Star Belgrade footballers PFC Cherno More Varna players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players FC Dynamo Makhachkala players Zalaegerszegi TE players Henan F.C. players FK Slavija Sarajevo players FK Olimpik players FK Radnički 1923 players FK Donji Srem players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Russian First League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players China League One players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Serbian First League players Serbian League players Serbian SuperLiga players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina