Sergije Krešić (born 29 November 1946) is a Croatian retired

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. Krešić coached a number of lower level sides in Spain, where he is known by the name Sergio Kresic.

Playing career

He joined Hajduk Split youth team in 1960, becoming a senior in 1965. That same year he played with a neighbouring club

RNK Split Radnički nogometni klub Split ("Workers' Football Club of Split") commonly known as RNK Split, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Split. History The club had a strong fanbase in the Split's shipyard. The club was fo ...

and a year later returned to Hajduk and became the youth squad coach. After finishing his high-school studies in 1968 he moved to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where he played indoor football with

Cleveland Stokers The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was Cleveland Stadium. History United Soccer Association I ...

. Afterwards he returned to Europe to play with Belgian club KSK Beveren. In 1970, he moved back to Yugoslavia and plays first until 1972 with

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

club

FK Bor FK Bor (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Бор) is a football club based in Bor, Serbia. History Early Years (1920s to 1960s) The club was founded in 1919 as a Serbian-French sports society under the name Association Sportive Bor (ASB). The club was ...

, and afterwards between 1972 and 1975 with

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...

. In 1975, he signed with Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Burgos CF Burgos Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The original Burgos CF (1936), Burgos CF was dissolved in 1983 after becoming Insolven ...

and stayed until 1978. His good attitude and quality exhibitions resulted in him becoming team captain in his last season there, an achievement hard to accomplish in those days for a foreigner. His last season as player was spent back in the States with Houston in 1978.

Coaching career

Krešić started his coaching career in 1983 as an assistant manager to Petar Nadoveza in

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 ...

. In 1984 Nadoveza was replaced by

Stanko Poklepović Stanko "Špaco" Poklepović (19 April 1938 – 24 December 2018) was a Croatian professional Association football, football Football player, player and Manager (association football), manager. Poklepović managed a number of teams over 46 years, ...

, and when Poklepović was sacked in 1986 Krešić took over but did not stay there too long. After 20 years of coaching in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

he returned to Hajduk but after a few months he left the club. Krešić is no longer currently coaching

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

, being appointed in July 2008, on 17 February 2009 was let go with Numancia in the Relegation zone of the primera liga.Krešić the new man at Numancia, UEFA
/ref> On 17 June 2009

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

have signed the coach until June 2010. In August 2012 he was appointed sporting director at

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

. After 9 months working as sporting director he was sacked by Hajduk chairman Marin Brbić in April 2013.

Honours

Manager

; Atlético Marbella *

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

: 1990–91 *

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

: 1991–92 ; Mérida *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

: 1994–95 ; Las Palmas *

: 1999–00

References

External links

NPSL and NASL league stats
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kresic, Sergije 1946 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Men's association football central defenders Yugoslav men's footballers HNK Hajduk Split players RNK Split players Cleveland Stokers players K.S.K. Beveren players FK Bor players OFK Beograd players Burgos CF (1936) footballers Houston Hurricane players Yugoslav First League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Belgian Pro League players La Liga players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain Yugoslav football managers HNK Hajduk Split managers Real Burgos CF managers Croatian football managers Real Betis managers CP Mérida managers Real Valladolid managers UD Las Palmas managers RCD Mallorca managers Recreativo de Huelva managers Real Murcia CF managers CD Numancia managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain