Dejan Stefanović (

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 ...

: Дејан Стефановић; born 28 October 1974) is a Serbian former 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 is the president of the

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 ...

n footballers and sportsmen union. As a player he was a defender who notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. He also played for

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 ...

, Radnički Belgrade and Vitesse. He finished his professional career in 2009 whilst with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, although he briefly signed for non-league club Havant & Waterlooville a year later. Stefanovic was capped a combined 23 times by

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 successor nation

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

. He was part of Yugoslavia's squad for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

Early life

While growing up, Stefanović supported

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and idolized defender

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining th ...

, which inspired him to become a footballer.

Club career

Red Star Belgrade

Stefanović began his career in his home town with Dinamo Vranje before being signed by

. Whilst at the club he made his international debut for

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

, aged 20, against Hong Kong in January 1995.

Sheffield Wednesday

During the 1995–96 season, English club

signed Stefanović and his compatriot, striker

Darko Kovačević Darko Kovačević ( sr-Cyrl, Дарко Ковачевић; born 18 November 1973) is a Serbian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Kovačević began his career in his na ...

. Stefanović cost the English club £2 million. However, Stefanović struggled to break into the Wednesday side with Emerson Thome and

Des Walker Desmond Sinclair Walker (born 26 November 1965) is an English football coach and former player who played as a defender. At club level he played in seven cup finals for Nottingham Forest at Wembley, winning five of them. He was Forest's play ...

among those ahead of him in the pecking order. In 1998–99, after playing 72 games for the club, Stefanović was released on a free transfer after he failed to make enough first-team appearances to qualify for a work permit extension.

Vitesse

In August 1999, Stefanović moved to Dutch club Vitesse, joining three of his compatriots: goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevrić, midfielder Nenad Grozdić, and striker Dejan Čurović. Stefanović spent four years at the club, becoming captain during that time. At Vitesse he played 13

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

matches.

Portsmouth

At the start of the 2003–04 season, Stefanović returned to England with Premiership newcomers Portsmouth for £1.85 million. He established himself as a first-choice defender during the club's first season in the top-flight, and was a regular in the 2004–05 campaign, winning the fans' Player of the season award. He was made Portsmouth captain by

Alain Perrin Alain André Christian Perrin (; born 7 October 1956) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. Perrin made his managerial breakthrough at Troyes AC, Troyes, whom he took from t ...

in the 2005–06 season, although a dip in form and a habit of speaking out to the press earned him the ire of some supporters. Indeed, he confessed to "not giving 100%" under Perrin due to disliking the French coach, comments criticised as highly unprofessional by some fans. Stefanović's influence on chairman (and fellow Serbian)

Milan Mandarić Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. H ...

is said to have been an important factor in the dismissal of Perrin and the re-appointment of

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

, and he was an important member of the side that ensured Premiership survival at Wigan in the penultimate game of the season. Stefanović was converted to a left-back at the start of 2006–07 and was a mainstay of the defence that performed so well for Portsmouth during the season. However, the arrivals of Hermann Hreiðarsson and

Sylvain Distin Sylvain Distin (born 16 December 1977) is a French former professional association football, footballer. He is left-footed and played as a centre-back, and was also capable of playing at Defender (association football)#Full-back, left-back. Dist ...

during the summer of 2007 cast his position as a first team regular into doubt and he was replaced as captain by

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. Widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, he spent 20 years playing in the Premier League and had a ...

for the 2007–08 season.

Fulham

In August 2007, Scottish club

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

revealed an interest in signing Stefanović but he signed for

Norwich City

Having spent less than a year at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

, Stefanović dropped down a division to join

on 18 July 2008, agreeing a two-year deal. After twelve starts for the Canaries, during which he picked up one red card, Stefanović ruptured his cruciate knee ligaments and did not play again for

in the 2008–09 season. In August 2009, it was reported that Stefanović was in negotiations to leave Norwich, with the player wishing to return to the south of England. On 1 September 2009, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Havant & Waterlooville

Stefanović retired in late 2009 due to a knee injury. He remained living in the

area and on one occasion admitted his dreams of managing

one day. On 7 October 2010 Stefanović joined Havant & Waterlooville.

International career

Stefanović is a full

international, earning his first call-up in 1995 (the country was then known as Yugoslavia, changing to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003). He has a total of 20 caps to his name. Stefanović retired from international football in 2004.

Personal life

In September 2006, Stefanović caused controversy when he said that he will throw away his Serbian passport as soon as he gets his

British passport The British passport (or UK passport) is a travel document issued by the United Kingdom or other British dependencies and territories to individuals holding any form of British nationality. It grants the bearer international passage in acco ...

as he does not feel like a Serb any longer. He's now president of the Slovenian footballers and sportsmen union.

Career statistics

Vitesse Statistieken Dejan Stefanovic
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanovic, Dejan 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Vranje Footballers from Pčinja District Serbian men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Red Star Belgrade footballers FK Radnički Beograd players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players SBV Vitesse players Portsmouth F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Premier League players Eredivisie players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in England Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Serbian expatriate sportspeople in England English Football League players