Saša Nikolić (; born 30 April 1964) is a Serbian

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 and former player.

Playing career

After starting out at

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

, Nikolić went on to play for Čelik Zenica during the

1988–89 Yugoslav First League The 1988–89 Yugoslav First League season was the 43rd season of the First Federal League (), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The season began on 6 August 1988 with its fall par ...

. He lastly played for

Železnik Železnik ( sr-cyr, Железник, ) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica. Location Železnik is located in the central part of the Čukarica mun ...

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 ...

, before hanging up his boots.

Managerial career

After serving as an assistant at

, Nikolić took over as the club's manager in May 2002, replacing Goran Stevanović. He quickly proved his talent and was voted the best manager in FR Yugoslavia for 2002 in a poll organized by ''

Politika ( sr-Cyrl, Политика, lit=Politics) is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and ownership is publ ...

''. In August 2003, Nikolić parted ways with the club. He then moved abroad to China and briefly managed

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

, before returning to Železnik as manager in November 2004. During the second part of the 2004–05 season, Nikolić served as the club's

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

. Later on, Nikolić managed numerous clubs, including

Napredak Kruševac Napredak, which translates from Serbo-Croatian as ''Progress'', may refer to: *HKD Napredak, cultural society of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina *FK Napredak Kruševac, Serbian football club *FK Napredak Aleksinac, Serbian football club *FK Napred ...

(October 2007–June 2008), Banat Zrenjanin (July–December 2008), Sloga Kraljevo (September–December 2009),

Inđija Inđija (, ) is a town and a municipality located in the Srem District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the town has total population of 24,450, while the municipality has 43,433 inhabitants. It is located in the geogr ...

(October–December 2010),

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

(April–June 2011),

Bežanija Bežanija ( sr-Cyrl, Бежанија, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Novi Beograd, in the Syrmia region. Location Bežanija is located west of the downtown Belgrade, across the Sa ...

(October 2011–April 2012), Radnik Surdulica (September 2013–April 2014), and

Loznica Loznica ( sr-cyrl, Лозница, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Mačva District of western Serbia, on the right bank of the Drina river. In 2022 the city had a total population of 19,515, while the administrative area had a ...

(December 2015–June 2016). From 2017 to 2019, Nikolić served as an assistant to compatriot Srđan Vasiljević with the Angola national team.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolic, Sasa 1964 births Living people Footballers from Slovenj Gradec Men's association football goalkeepers Yugoslav men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers FK Zvezdara players NK Čelik Zenica players FK Rudar Kakanj players FK Železničar Beograd players FK Železnik players Yugoslav First League players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbia and Montenegro football managers Serbian football managers FK Železnik managers Henan F.C. managers FK Napredak Kruševac managers FK Banat Zrenjanin managers FK Sloga Kraljevo managers FK Inđija managers PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv managers FK Bežanija managers FK Radnik Surdulica managers FK Loznica managers Serbian SuperLiga managers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate football managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in China Expatriate football managers in Bulgaria Expatriate football managers in Angola Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Angola