Ivan Kurtušić (, born 28 April 1984) is a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n retired

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 most recently was the manager of

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 ...

club

Voždovac Voždovac ( sr-Cyrl, Вождовац, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 174,864 inhabitants. The municipality is located in the south ...

Playing career

Born in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

SR Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

, he started to play football with

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 ...

. In 2001 Kurtušić moved to

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Serbia, the second large ...

. In 2002 Kurtušić made his first professional contract with

FK Sartid Smederevo Fudbalski klub Smederevo 1924 ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Смедерево 1924), commonly known as Smederevo, is a Serbian professional football club (association football), football club based in Smederevo. At the beginning of the 2 ...

when he was only 17 years old. Next season, he played for

FK Vlasina FK Vlasina (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Власина) is a football club based in Vlasotince, Serbia, that competes in the Serbian League East. History The club is one of the oldest football clubs in former Yugoslavia. Founded by locals returning f ...

and

FK Obilić Fudbalski klub Obilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Обилић) is a Serbian football club based in Vračar, a neighbourhood of Belgrade. It was named after medieval Serbs, Serbian hero Miloš Obilić, a legendary 14th-century ...

in the

. In summer 2008, he moved to

FK Pobeda FK Pobeda () was a football club based in the city of Prilep, North Macedonia. History The club was founded in 1941 as Goce Delčev and renamed in 1950 to FK Pobeda. FK Pobeda has been a winner of Macedonian First League for two times (eight ti ...

of the

Macedonian First Football League The Macedonian First Football League (), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competition in Macedonia. It is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of ...

. After his spell in Macedonia, Kurtušić returned to Serbia and during the following seasons he represented a number of clubs, namely

OFK Kikinda OFK Kikinda () is a football club based in Kikinda, Vojvodina, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian League Vojvodina, the third tier of the national league system. History The first club in the town was founded in August 1909 as ''Nagykikindai Atl ...

FK Sinđelić Niš FK or fk may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block * Funky Kong, a video game character Place * F ...

and

Mladenovac Mladenovac ( sr-Cyrl, Младеновац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2024 census results, the municipality has a population of 56,389 inhabitants, while the urban area has 22,346 inhabitants. Name Its name stem ...

. During the winter break of the 2011–12 season, he moved abroad again, this time signing with

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as 360Sports Malta Premier for sponsorship reasons with 360Sports (colloquialism, colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Foot ...

team

Marsaxlokk Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional fishing village in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishing and history. As of March 2014, the village had a populati ...

. In the 2012–13 season he signed with

Gudja United Gudja United Football Club is a Malta, Maltese professional football (soccer), football club from the south-eastern village of Gudja, that currently plays in the Maltese Premier League. Gudja United plays in blue and white striped jerseys. Their ...

. He scored 4 goals in 9 games for the team and that was the perfect recommendation for the famous Maltese club Żejtun Corinthians to take him and sign him to the end of the 2012–13 season. He helped the club to stay in the league that season playing 5 games for them. His next career move was signing a contract with

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main domestic football competition in the kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1956-1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify f ...

team Manama Club on a one-year deal. In 2014, he got an offer and signed a contract until the end of the season for

Sheikh Russel KC Sheikh Russel KC ( Bengali: শেখ রাসেল ক্রীড়া চক্র) is a professional football club based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in 1995, the club currently competes in the Bangladesh Premier League. They won Feder ...

in the

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

, last year's champion team. With his new team he was part of the history of

football in Bangladesh Association football, Football is one of the most popular sports in Bangladesh, introduced during the late 19th century under British Raj, British rule, with Dhaka playing a central role in its development. The Bangladesh Football Federation w ...

as a member of the squad in the

AFC President's Cup The AFC Challenge League (previously known as the AFC President's Cup, abbreviated as ACGL) is an annual third-tier continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. The competition is played among clubs from n ...

, where the Bangladesh team reached the final round of this competition for the first time ever. In summer 2016, he signed for

Hong Kong First Division The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia, after Calcutta and Bombay. Moreover, it is the oldest top-flight league system ...

club Eastern District.

Coaching career

In 2020, Kurtušić was appointed a first-team coach of

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

defending champions

Tai Po Tai Po is an List of areas of Hong Kong, area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Mark ...

. The club started a six-game unbeaten streak, breaking into the semi-finals of the

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. T ...

References

External links