Enver Hadžiabdić (born 6 November 1945) is a Bosnian former
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
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 ...
, best known for playing for and later managing
Željezničar.
Hadžiabdić is the only person in Željezničar history to have won league titles both as a player and as a manager. As a player 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) ...
with Željezničar in 1972, while as a manager the
Bosnian First League in 1998.
Club career
Hadžiabdić started playing
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
in the youth teams of
Iskra Bugojno and Bratstvo Travnik, before signing his first professional contract with
Željezničar in 1965. During the next nine years at Željezničar, he played more than 450 games for the club. He also 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) ...
in the
1971–72 season with Željezničar.
In 1974, Hadžiabdić signed with
Belgian side
Charleroi
Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...
where he stayed for three seasons. After Charleroi he went back to
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
and joined
Velež Mostar. After 2 years at Velež, Hadžiabdić went to
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
and signed a contract with
AEL where he stayed 1 year and afterwards retired from professional football in 1980 at the age of 35.
International career
Hadžiabdić was one of the best European
defenders
Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to:
* Defense (military)
* Defense (sports)
** Defender (association football)
Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film
* ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary
* ''The D ...
in the early 1970s and he made his debut for
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 ...
in an April 1970
friendly match
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...
against
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and has earned a total of 11 caps, scoring no goals. He was also a member of the team that participated in the
1974 FIFA World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...
. His final international was a July 1974 World Cup match against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
.
Managerial career
After retirement, Hadžiabdić returned to
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
where he graduated from the
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...
Faculty of Physical Education.
Managing in Iran and Qatar
In 1994, Hadžiabdić became a manager of the
Iran Olympic team, and two years later in 1995, manager of the
Al-Rayyan youth team. He was the manager of the youth team until 1997.
Željezničar
In January 1998, Hadžiabdić took over the place of manager in his favourite
Željezničar. He managed to lead the club to the
Bosnian championship title in his first season. In the winter of 1999, Hadžiabdić stepped down because of disappointing league results, despite winning the
Bosnian Supercup in 1998 against the club's biggest rivals -
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
.
Nevertheless, he was back again next season in 1999 in which he guided the club to its first
Bosnian Cup title in 2000. He again left the club shortly after winning the cup.
Tirana
In 2002, Hadžiabdić became the new manager of
Albanian Superliga
Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...
club
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...
. In his only season with the club, he won the
Albanian Supercup on 14 September 2002 after beating
Dinamo Tirana 6–0 in that year's
Supercup. He was sacked by the club management on 21 February 2003 after a series of poor results.
Return to Željezničar
After several years working as a stadium director, Hadžiabdić yet again became manager of
Željezničar on 10 January 2007, working as manager until January 2008.
Honours
Player
Željezničar
*
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) ...
:
1971–72
Manager
Željezničar
*
Bosnian First League:
1997–98
*
Bosnian Cup:
1999–2000
*
Bosnian Supercup: 1998
Tirana
*
Albanian Supercup:
2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadziabdic, Enver
1945 births
Living people
Footballers from Belgrade
Bosniaks of Serbia
Men's association football defenders
Yugoslav men's footballers
Yugoslavia men's international footballers
1974 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1976 players
FK Željezničar Sarajevo players
Royal Charleroi S.C. players
FK Velež Mostar players
Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players
Yugoslav First League players
Belgian Pro League players
Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers
FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers
KF Tirana managers
First League of Bosnia and Herzegovina managers
Kategoria Superiore managers
Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina managers
Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Iran
Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Iran
Expatriate football managers in Qatar
Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Qatar
Expatriate football managers in Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Albania