Lazo Džepina (; born October 27, 1966) is a

Croatian Serb The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in ...

businessman,

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 former

football player 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 ...

. His playing career initially began with

Dinara Dinara is a mountain range in the Dinaric Alps, located on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It has four major mountains or peaks, from north-west to south-east: * Ilica or Ujilica (1,654 m) * Sinjal or Dinara (1,831 m), epony ...

, and later in the

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro () was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed as the First League of FR Yugoslavia following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, ef ...

with Rad. He received his first piece of silverware in the

First League of the Republika Srpska The First League of the Republika Srpska ( / ) is a Association football, football league in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Together with the First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it forms the second level of footb ...

with

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian Serb professional football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the main ...

by winning the

Republika Srpska Cup The Cup of Republika Srpska (Serbian Cyrillic: Kуп Peпубликe Cpпcкe, Serbian Latin: Kup Republike Srpske), also just known as the Republika Srpska Cup, is a secondary knockout football competition contested annually by clubs from the e ...

. His playing career concluded abroad in 2005 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. After retiring from professional football, he transitioned to the managerial side by managing his former club Dinara in 2010. After a season in Croatia, he returned to the Canadian circuit to manage

Brantford Galaxy Brantford Galaxy Soccer Club was a semi-professional Canadian soccer club based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, with their home venue located in Hamilton, Ontario at the Heritage Field Turf. The club competes in the Canadian Soccer League, a league ...

, where he led the team to a

CSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports le ...

. In 2011, he was relieved of his coaching duties at Brantford and was involved with the expansion franchise

SC Waterloo Region SC Waterloo Region was a Canadian soccer team based in Waterloo, Ontario. The club competed in various divisions in the Canadian Soccer League. The club was formed in 2011 under KW United FC and initially competed in the league's second division. ...

. His involvement with Waterloo included coaching responsibilities and financial shares in the club. He led Waterloo to its first championship title in 2013.

Club career

Europe

Džepina began his career with his hometown club,

. In 1990, he signed with Rad of the

and played with

where he won the

Canada

In 2005, Džepina played abroad in the Canadian Professional Soccer League with the Hamilton Thunder. In his debut season in the Canadian circuit, he helped Hamilton secure the divisional title. Their playoff journey concluded in the semifinal round after a defeat by the Oakville Blue Devils.

Managerial career

Croatia

After he retired from professional football, he managed NK Dinara in 2010.

Brantford Galaxy

He returned to the Canadian circuit in 2010 to manage the expansion franchise, the

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

. In preparation for the 2010 season, Džepina recruited several European players to Brantford. The acquisition of European imports contributed to the club securing a playoff berth by finishing seventh in the league's first division. In the opening round of the post-season, Brantford defeated the

Serbian White Eagles Serbian White Eagles Football Club (/''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian semi-professional Association football, soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a Non-FIFA international football, non-FIFA sanct ...

in a two-game series. Following their victory over the Serbs, the Galaxy would defeat

Portugal FC SC Toronto is a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1994. The team was a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and played its final home games at Lamport Stadium in the city of Toronto, Ontario. The club found success early on since its inceptio ...

in the semifinals. Džepina led Brantford to their first

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

success by defeating

Hamilton Croatia Hamilton Croatia is a Croatian Canadian amateur soccer team founded in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1957. It is supported by the Croatian Sports and Community Centre of Hamilton Inc. (formerly the Croatian National Sports Club of Hamilton, Inc. ...

in the finals. The following season, he continued in the capacity as head coach. However, after a mediocre start to the season, Džepina was dismissed from his post.

Waterloo Region

In 2012, Kitchener Waterloo United FC was promoted to the CSL's first division, and the team was renamed

, with Džepina becoming a shareholder in the organization. The managerial responsibilities were assigned to Džepina, who pursued a policy of European recruitment. In his first season with Waterloo, he failed to secure the final postseason berth by two points. Džepina would lead Waterloo to a playoff berth in 2013 by finishing fifth in the first division. Their opponents in the opening round of the playoffs were Brampton City United, and they advanced to the next round. In the next round, Waterloo defeated

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

in a penalty shootout to qualify for the championship. Waterloo would claim the championship title after defeating

Kingston FC Kingston FC were a Canadian association football, soccer team based in Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The team was awarded a franchise in 2011 as a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and participated in the league for three seas ...

. Throughout the 2013 campaign, Džepina also managed Waterloo's reserve team in the league's second division and led the team to the championship title. In 2014, Waterloo secured another playoff berth by finishing seventh. However, they failed to defend their championship title after an early defeat to Toronto Croatia in the quarterfinal round. Džepina led Waterloo to their third consecutive playoff berth by finishing fourth in the 2015 season. Waterloo reached the championship finals where they were defeated by the Croats.

Croatia

Džepina returned to manage his former club, Dinara in 2022 in the Croatian regional circuit. In the early winter of 2024, he left Dinara. After he had departed from Dinara, he was named the manager for NK Janjevo Kistanje.

Honours

Player

Borac Banja Luka *

Hamilton Thunder * Canadian Professional Soccer League Western Conference:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Manager

;Brantford Galaxy *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

;SC Waterloo Region *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

runner-up:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

SC Waterloo Region II * CSL II Championship:

References

External links

Lazo Džepina
- at

Croatian Football Federation The Croatian Football Federation (, HNS) is the national governing body of football in Croatia. It was originally formed in 1912 and is based in the capital city of Zagreb. The organisation is a member of both FIFA and UEFA, and is responsible f ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzepina, Lazo 1966 births Living people Footballers from Knin Serbs of Croatia Men's association football midfielders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Croatian men's footballers FK Rad players FK Borac Banja Luka players Hamilton Thunder players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Croatian football managers Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) coaches Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada