Zoran Milinković ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Милинковић; born 18 July 1968) is a Serbian

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 ...

Playing career

Milinković came through the youth system of Partizan, before starting his senior career at lower league club Mladost Petrinja. He returned to Partizan and made two league appearances during the first part of the 1990–91 season, before moving to

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

. Milinković also played for Mogren, Borac Banja Luka, Radnički Niš, Kispest-Honvéd, Tosu Futures,

Waregem Waregem (; ), spelled Waereghem before, is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality lies in the valley of the river Lys, between Kortrijk and Ghent. It is part of the administrative district of ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from ...

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

and

Doxa Katokopia Doxa Katokopias FC () is a Cypriot professional football club from Katokopia in the Nicosia District. History Doxa (which translates as ''Glory'') was promoted to First Division in 1998 for first time in their history, but after finishing 13 ...

Managerial career

Milinković started his managerial career as an assistant manager to Ratko Dostanić at Obilić during the 2002–03 season, before they both left and took up identical roles at Sartid Smederevo ahead of the 2003–04 season. He was appointed as the manager of Obilić in August 2004, but was released after only two months. He then became the manager of BSK Borča, having a lot of success in the following three seasons. He left the club before they made their

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

debut. After leaving BSK Borča, Milinković had unassuming brief spells at

Kolubara The Kolubara ( sr-cyr, Колубара, ) is a long river in western Serbia; it is an eastern, right tributary to the Sava river. Due to the many long tributaries creating a branchy system within the river's drainage basin, the short Kolubara ...

and

Srem Syrmia ( Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is ...

. In the summer of 2009, he was appointed manager of newly promoted SuperLiga club Spartak Subotica. He also worked at

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 ...

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

and

Voždovac Voždovac ( sr-Cyrl, Вождовац, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 174,864 inhabitants. The municipality is located in the south ...

Partizan

On 25 March 2015, Milinković was named manager of

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

after Marko Nikolić was sacked. On 4 April 2015, he made his debut on the bench of Partizan in a 2–1 home win against Radnički Kragujevac. In the spring part of the 2014–15 season, Milinković has returned the title of champion of Serbia to Partizan, which was last season won by

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. Milinković enrolled 7 wins with Partizan in the

in the spring part of the 2014–15 season and three draws, while in the

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...

he enrolled one win and one defeat. He began the 2015–16 season in a win over Dila Gori in the second qualifying round for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

on 14 July 2015. In the Serbian SuperLiga he also had a great start, defeating Metalac Gornji Milanovac 4–0, while in the second round Partizan won against

Jagodina Jagodina ( sr-cyrl, Јагодина, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica (river), Belica River, in the geographical region of � ...

6–0. On 5 August 2015, Milinković and his squad won against Romanian champions Steaua București in the second leg of the third qualifying round for the Champions League and so qualified Partizan to the Champions League qualifying play-off. The last time that Partizan qualified to the Champions League play-off was when it was led by

Aleksandar Stanojević Aleksandar Stanojević ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Станојевић, ; born 28 October 1973) is a Serbian football manager and player. Playing career Stanojević started his playing career in Partizan youth squad. From 1992 until 1997 ...

in the summer of 2010. On 26 August 2015, Milinković's Partizan was defeated by BATE Borisov and as a result entered the group stage of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Al-Ain

On 9 November 2023, Milinković was appointed as head coach of Saudi club

Al-Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al Ain is the largest inland city in ...

Al-Zulfi

On 3 June 2024, Milinković was appointed as head coach of Saudi club Al-Zulfi. He was sacked on 5 March 2025.

Honours

Manager

Partizan *

: 2014–15

References

External links