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Dragan "Don" Popovic (
Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...
: Драган Дон Поповић; born 1 January 1941) is a retired professional soccer
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 ...
and coach in the United States. He played professionally in Yugoslavia, Canada and the North American Soccer League. He later coached in both the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1993 became the director of the youth soccer, Lou Fusz Soccer Club, which has teams playing in the
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
Youth Soccer Association (SLYSA) soccer league and the Midwest Regional League (MRL)


Playing career


Club

Popovic turned professional in 1958 at age 17 in Yugoslavia. In 1967, he moved to the United States to play for the St. Louis Stars of the first National Professional Soccer League. In 1968, the NPSL merged with the
United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American ...
to form the North American Soccer League. That year, Popovic moved to the Kansas City Spurs where he played at least one full year and perhaps part of another. In 1969, he moved back to the Stars where he finished his NASL playing career in 1971. He then moved to Canada where he played for the Toronto White Eagles of the
Canadian National Soccer League The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the foldin ...
until 1973. That year, he played for the Canadian national team in an exhibition game with
Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (inc ...


Managerial career

While playing for the St. Louis Stars, Popovic also served as an assistant coach. In 1974, Popovic became the head coach of the Toronto White Eagles. He took the team to the 1975
Canadian National Soccer League The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the foldin ...
championship. In 1976, the
Rochester Lancers Rochester Lancers may refer to: * Rochester Lancers (2015), a semi-professional soccer team that competes in the National Premier Soccer League * Rochester Lancers (MASL), an indoor soccer team that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League 2 * Roch ...
of the North American Soccer League hired Popovic as head coach. In 1978, the New York Arrows entered the newly created Major Indoor Soccer League. It drew most of its players from the Lancers and hired Popovic as head coach. He led the Arrows to four consecutive MISL championships (1979–1982). The Arrows fired him at the end of February 1983 and he was hired a week later to coach the Golden Bay Earthquakes. He coached the Earthquakes during the 1983 and 1985 outdoor seasons as well as the 1983–1984 indoor season. The Earthquakes sat out the 1984–1985 indoor season. On 16 December 1984, the Las Vegas Americans hired Popovic to replace player-coach Alan Mayer as head coach. When the Americans folded in June 1985, Popovic was hired by the Pittsburgh Spirit. The Spirit folded at the end of the season and Popovic committed to coaching a team in Portugal. In December 1985, the
New York Express The New York Express was a soccer team based out of Uniondale, New York that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They played only part of the 1986–87 MISL season before folding during the league's midseason All-Star Break. Their home ar ...
made an offer to hire Popovic. While he began running practices and overseeing player acquisitions and even coached one games in late January 1987, the team never signed him to a contract. When no coaching jobs became available, Popovic entered the real estate business. In 1989, the expansion
St. Louis Storm The St. Louis Storm was a soccer team based out of St. Louis that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They played from 1989 to 1992. Their home arena was the St. Louis Arena. The mascot for the St. Louis Storm was named “Colt Flash” (1990 ...
hired Popovic. He coached the team for nearly three seasons before being fired in March 1992. He was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004.


Honors

* 1971 – NASL All League First Team, while playing for the St. Louis Stars * 1971 – NASL All Tournament, while playing for the St. Louis Stars in an indoor tournament * 1981 – Coach of the Year while coaching the New York Arrows * 1983 – Coach of the Year while coaching the Golden Bay Earthquakes * 2004 – Inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame


Youth Soccer Highlights

Popovic was the head coach for the following championship teams: * 2000 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-13 (under 13 years of age) * 2001 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-14 (under 14 years of age) * 2008 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-14 (under 14 years of age) * 2007 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-13 (under 13 years of age) * 2006 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-15 (under 15 years of age) TeamMania.net :: Lou Fusz Soccer Club >> Lou Fusz Strikers Soccer Club
/ref> * 2003 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-15 (under 15 years of age)* 2010 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-16 (under 16 years of age)


References


External links


Don Popovic's bio on the Lou Fusz Soccer Club web site



CSA - Real estate Coaching

TeamMania.net :: Lou Fusz Soccer Club >> Lou Fusz Strikers Soccer Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Don 1941 births Living people People from Berane Serbs of Montenegro American people of Serbian descent Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Red Star Belgrade footballers HNK Hajduk Split players St. Louis Stars (soccer) players Kansas City Spurs players Serbian White Eagles FC players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Canadian National Soccer League players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada American soccer coaches Yugoslav football managers Serbian White Eagles FC managers San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) coaches Canadian National Soccer League coaches Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches