Sergej Jakirović (; born 23 December 1976) is a Bosnian professional

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

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 ...

who is the current head coach of

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Club career

Jakirović played in the

Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

for

Neretva The Neretva (, sr-Cyrl, Неретва), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power plants with Dam, large dams (higher than 15 metres) provide flood ...

, Istra,

Kamen Ingrad NK Kamen Ingrad was a Croatian football club from Velika, a small town near Požega in the northeast of Croatia. The club was dissolved in July 2008 after serious financial problems. History The club was formed as NK Velika in 1929. After Wor ...

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian football club based in the capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of Croatian footbal ...

and

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

International career

Jakirović made his debut for

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 ...

in an August 2005

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 ...

away against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and has earned a total of five caps. His final international was a February 2006 friendly against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Managerial career

Early career

Between 2017 and 2018, Jakirović managed

Sesvete Sesvete () is the easternmost city district of Zagreb, Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwe ...

in the Croatian second division. On 20 June 2018, Jakirović was appointed manager of

club Gorica, which he led to fifth place in the 2018–19 season. On 24 February 2020, following a 6–0 loss to

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

, he was sacked by the club. On 23 April 2020, Jakirović was named new manager of

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

club

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

, replacing

Darko Milanič Darko Milanič (born 18 December 1967) is a Slovenian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. As a player, Milanič represented both Yugoslavia national football team, Yugoslavia and Slov ...

. He was sacked on 29 August 2020 after getting eliminated by the semi-professional Northern Irish team

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.

Zrinjski Mostar

On 28 December 2020, Jakirović became the new manager of

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

club

Zrinjski Mostar Zrinjski Mostar is a sports association from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was formed in 1905. Member clubs *Football: **HŠK Zrinjski Mostar *Basketball: **HKK Zrinjski Mostar (men's) ** ŽKK Zrinjski Mostar (women's) *H ...

, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract with the club. In his first game in charge, Zrinjski beat Krupa in a league match on 27 February 2021. He oversaw his first loss as Zrinjski manager in a

Bosnian Cup The Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kup Bosne i Hercegovine, Куп Босне и Херцеговине) is a knock-out football competition contested annually by clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The winner ...

game against

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 ...

, played on 10 March 2021. On 20 January 2022, Jakirović signed a two-and-a-half-year contract extension until 2024. After beating Radnik Bijeljina on 19 March 2022, Zrinjski broke the all-time Bosnian Premier League record with 13 consecutive victories, overpassing the previous record of 12 victories set by Željezničar in the 2011–12 season. On 16 April 2022, he managed Zrinjski to a 4–0 win against Sarajevo, clinching the club's record seventh league title seven rounds before the end of the season. Subsequently, he was named the Bosnian Premier League Manager of the Season. After getting eliminated from the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round by Moldovan club

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier o ...

, Jakirović led Zrinjski to the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round, where they got eliminated by Slovak club Slovan Bratislava following a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, missing out on a chance to play in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. On 29 November 2022, the board of Zrinjski confirmed that Jakirović had left the club, as he was set to sign a contract with Croatian top division side

Rijeka

One day after his Zrinjski departure was confirmed, Jakirović signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Rijeka with an option for another year. He made his debut on 21 January 2023, when Rijeka drew 1–1 away against

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

. On 28 January, Jakirović won his first match as Rijeka manager after a 2–1 win over

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

. After a four-game winning streak, he suffered his first defeat as the club's manager on 25 February 2023 in a 1–0 loss to

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in ...

. With Rijeka, Jakirović finished the season in fourth place, qualifying for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round. The club eliminated Kosovan side Dukagjini and Faroese side

B36 Tórshavn B36 Tórshavn () is a Faroese football club based in the capital of Tórshavn, playing in the Faroe Islands Premier League, the top tier of Faroese football. B36 Tórshavn has always played its home games in Gundadalur. Today B36 Tórshavn i ...

, before being drawn against

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

in the

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Dinamo Zagreb

2023–24 season

On 21 August 2023, three days before their match against Lille, Jakirović left Rijeka and was appointed manager of

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 ...

, replacing

Igor Bišćan Igor Bišćan (; born 4 May 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the currently head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Ahli. In his playing career, he was a versatile player and could play almost every posi ...

. Jakirović managed his first Dinamo Zagreb match against

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

in the UEFA Europa League play-off round, winning 3–1 at home on 24 August. However, following a 4–1 defeat to Sparta in the second leg on 31 August, Dinamo was eliminated from the Europa League and continued playing in the Conference League group stage. Following a second place finish in

group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for Touring car racing, touring cars and ''Group B'' for Grand tourer, GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (motorspor ...

, Dinamo eliminated

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

2–1 on aggregate in the

knockout round play-offs A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

, qualifying to the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. After winning 2–0 at home against

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

in the first leg, the side suffered a 5–1 defeat in the second leg, getting eliminated from the Conference League. On the domestic level, Jakirović led Dinamo to a league and cup

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, defeating his former club Rijeka 3–1 on aggregate in the Croatian Cup final.

2024–25 season

Jakirović's side started the 2024–25 season by beating Istra 1961 in the first round of the league season on 2 August 2024. Dinamo managed to qualify for the

2024–25 UEFA Champions League league phase The 2024–25 UEFA Champions League league phase began on 17 September 2024 and ended on 29 January 2025. A total of 36 teams competed in the league phase to decide the 24 places in the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League knockout phase, knockout pha ...

after eliminating Qarabağ 5–0 on aggregate. In the first league phase match, however, the team suffered a 9–2 defeat against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

; it was the club's heaviest ever defeat, and the first time that one side had conceded nine goals in the history of the competition. Two days after the match, on 19 September, he was sacked by the club.

Kayserispor

On 28 January 2025, Jakirović was appointed as the manager of

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

. Despite guiding the team to safety from relegation, he left the club by mutual consent on 8 June 2025, following the 2024–25 season's conclusion.

Hull City

On 11 June 2025, Jakirović was appointed as the new head coach of

on a two-year contract, with the club holding an option for a further year. It was announced that the Bosnian's exit from Kayserispor was down to Hull agreeing "a settlement" with the club which allowed him to sign for the

side. Jakirović was joined in England by long-time assistant

Marko Salatović Marko Salatović (born 4 December 1984) is a Croatian football coach and former player. He is currently the assistant head coach of club Hull City. Coaching career For the majority of his coaching career, Salatović has been the assistant of ...

, as well as the rest of his personal coaching team consisting of Marin Ivančić and Andjelo Roguljic.

Personal life

Born in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

, Jakirović has both Bosnian and Croatian citizenship. His father, Enver, was a goalkeeper for

. His son

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

is also a footballer.

Career statistics

International

Managerial

Honours

Player

Spartak Trnava *

Slovak Cup The Slovak Cup (), currently named Slovnaft Cup due to sponsorship agreement with Slovnaft, is the only nationwide Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in Football in Slovakia, Slovak football. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Euro ...

: 1997–98 CSKA Sofia *

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

: 2005–06 *

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Manager

Zrinjski Mostar *

: 2021–22 Dinamo Zagreb *

Croatian Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

: 2023–24 *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

: 2023–24 Individual * Bosnian Premier League Manager of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links