Jasminko Velić (born 1 September 1965) is a Bosnian professional

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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player. In the 2006-2007 season, Velić was hired as a scouter for Panathinaikos, but after the sacking of

Hans Backe Hans Roland "Hasse" Backe (; born 14 February 1952) is a Swedish football manager and former player who most recently led Finland's national team. Prior to this he managed the New York Red Bulls. He has coached clubs in Sweden, Norway, Greece ...

, he was appointed as head coach for three games, from 15 September to 6 October, winning two of them and earning one draw. The next season, Velić was appointed technical director of Panathinaikos. In the 2007-2009 period Velić worked as a technical manager next to head coaches José Peseiro and

Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football coach and former player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. He then serve ...

, helping the club to make its return to the

UEFA Champions League Group stages The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, ...

. During these two years, the club managed to reach its highest position ever in the UEFA club rankings (19th).

Career

Playing career

Velić was born in

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 ...

and played for

club Željezničar before moving 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 ...

in 1992. Velic was one of the youngest players ever in the history of Sarajevo to make a debut in the Yugoslavian Football League at the age of 18. He spent three seasons at OFI where he was part of the most successful OFI team ever, becoming one of the best foreign players to play for the club. He then spent one season (1995-1996) at

Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region ...

. He then moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and played for two seasons for Estrela Amadora (1996-1998). He then moved to Spain before ending his career at

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

(1998-1999).

Coaching career

Velić began his coaching career as assistant manager to Fernando Santos. Their collaboration began at

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

in the 2001-2002 season, and continued at Panathinaikos (2002-2003) and

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

(2003-2004), before they returned for a second spell at

(2004-2005). In the 2006-2007 season, Velić was hired as a scouter for Panathinaikos, but after the sacking of

, he managed the Club as a head coach for three games (15/9/2006 to 6/10/2006 - 2 wins, 1 draw). The next season, Velić was appointed technical director of Panathinaikos. In the 2007-2009 period, with Velić as a technical coach next to head coaches José Peseiro and

club made its return to the Champions League group stages. During these two years, the club managed to reach its highest position ever in the UEFA team rankings (19th). In March 2013, Velić replaced

Georgios Paraschos Georgios Paraschos (; born 23 August 1952) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. Club career Paraschos began his career from the youth academy of PAOK in 1967. He became a professional player in 1971 and played with the Ka ...

as manager for

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, ...

. During his spell, he helped the club remain in the top flight of Greek football. In January 2015, he was appointed head coach of

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

side Episkopi. From January onward, Velić helped the club recover an 8 point deficit to enter the relegation play-offs, where the club played to remain in the Division. On August 5, 2015, Velić was appointed head coach of fellow

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

club

Ergotelis Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the Heraklion Football Clubs Association, FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, ...

. He left in October, due to the club's poor financial situation, which left no room for transfers aligned to his instructions, as well as

' rough start (1−1−2) during its 2015–16 Football League campaign. In June 2019, Velić and Episkopi reached an agreement for his return to the club, aiming at bringing Episkopi to the highest tiers of Greek football. During the 2019-20 season, Velic led Episkopi to promotion with an undefeated league record, recording 11 wins, 5 draws, and 0 losses. Episkopi was the only Greek club to end the season undefeated. The following season, in 2020/21, Velic led Episkopi to a 2nd position league finish in the Greek Football League, resulting to a second consecutive promotion. Velic became one of the only head coaches in Greek football history to achieve multiple league promotions.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velic, Jasminko 1965 births Living people Footballers from Mostar Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers FK Sarajevo players FK Željezničar Sarajevo players OFI Crete F.C. players Kastoria 1980 F.C. players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players CD Leganés players Yugoslav First League players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Primeira Liga players Segunda División players Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Spain Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers Panathinaikos F.C. managers Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff AEK Athens F.C. non-playing staff Levadiakos F.C. managers Episkopi F.C. managers Ergotelis F.C. managers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Greece